April

A smile from Ivy to start out the post.

And with big sister, Brynn.

Stockton had the egg drop at school.  He decorated his hard-boiled egg before we wrapped it up. It is Luke Skywalker-if you look hard enough you can see his lightsaber.

We put it in bubble wrap and then in a towel.

The towel made it too heavy.  We should have stuck with just the bubble wrap.  It had a tiny crack through it.  Stockton was under the impression he was going to keep the egg forever because he colored a very special picture on it.

Another smile.  Too cute.

Ivy saves her best smiles for the person who gets her out of bed each morning.

She is swaddled in this picture, although she hasn't really been a swaddled baby in general.  She really didn't like it when she was brand new and so it never really stuck.

Spring Break was rainy but it didn't stop us from going to Temple Square to see the flowers.  My mom and dad met us there and Ali with her boys came as well.  (Our spring breaks are never the same week but Ali just took Gav out of school for the day.)  Molly and Gavin are really great buddies.

So are Stockton and Grant.

And, wow, those flowers!  We've been doing this for about four years now and the flowers are always impressive but this year, they were amazing!  The tulips were huge!  So, so pretty.

Grandpa got to come this time!

 

Can you see why it's one of my favorite things to do?

Grant, Stockton, Gavin, Molly, Brynn

Molly, Stockton, Gavin, Grant

 Ivy was so good just hanging out in the stroller but was happy to get out for a little bit.

Sister love.  We really couldn't ask for a better big sister.

Stockton's teacher sent a note home saying that there were baby buffalo in the property bordering hers.  It was out in Laketown (west of SF, close to Utah Lake) so we drove out there one day during the break to check them out.  There was a whole herd of buffalo and two babies.  We also got to see where Mrs. Tew lived.

Molly got rollerblades for Christmas from my parents.  She was very cautious at first but has slowly gotten better with more practice.  I even dusted off my old rollerblades and went with her one day.  It was fun!

Molly made brownies by herself, start to finish.  And not brownies from a box-they were made from scratch.  With peanut butter swirled into them.  They turned out pretty yummy.

She tried to make them again a week later and only added one cup of sugar instead of two.  Needless to say, it wasn't quite the success that the first batch was.

We had our sweet friend and neighbor, Sister Tucker (she's been mentioned on this blog before), over for dinner before our move.  Of all the people we love who we left behind, she was the hardest to leave just because we know that she is there to stay.  All of our other friends will move sooner or later so it wasn't as hard.  We love to listen to her stories of her growing up and her conversion to the church.  Her life has been anything but easy and she has been a great example to us.  We love her and the kids do too.

Brynn is a monkey, always finding places to try out new tricks.  This is in our closet.  Her size makes it easy for her to flip and roll...I'm looking into gymnastics for her this fall.

Finally...the much-requested purple crepes.  Brynn was a happy girl.  We've also done pink and blue since then.

This picture just completely cracks me up.  We moved before Stockton could participate in Kindergarten graduation...it's a good thing I have this photo though!

(They took them at school and sent home the packet trying to get me to purchase the pictures.  I didn't, but I did take a picture of it before sending it back.)

Stocky and Brynn thought this was a great ride!  This was a week before the move, the first load of stuff was getting hauled up to Heber by Justin, Brett, my dad, and Jeff.

Brynn likes to lay on the floor by Ivy to drink her milk in the afternoon.  One day she fell asleep and I took a picture before putting her someplace more comfortable to finish her nap.

After her nap, she was ready to play the rest of the day!

Molly's Valentine's Day date was for us to get our nails done so we were able to do that right before we moved.  We went to my friend, Jodi, and she did our nails the same...turquoise on all fingers except the ring finger which was pink with polka dots.  It was really fun-the first time I have ever got my nails done!

Oops!  Ivy woke up with her bow in her face.

 

I'm including this picture so you can get a good look at Ivy's thighs.  They are so chubby!  We have never had a baby this chubby before and we are loving it!  (This is April 19th, her 3-month birthday.)

I also have to include this picture.  This was Justin's last night of young men's and here are four of the boys that attended most often, that he got closest to.  His calling was busy, even busier than mine as RS President was, but it was rewarding.  He really loved working with the youth and it was a bittersweet release for him.  Good thing they still send him weird texts from time to time.

Parker Penrod, Brett Stewart, Josh and Jack Johnson

Molly really loved gymnastics.  This was her last day.  I still need to find a class here for her.  She was getting really good, especially on the floor.  She was starting to work on her back-handspring (she can do one on the tramp).

 

She was also so good at climbing rope...something I've never been able to do.

When I was little my mom had some black, knee-high boots with a heel and I remember loving to walk around in them.   I inherited these boots from Grandma Fletcher (which probably makes them as old as my moms) and now I get to watch Brynn try them on.  They go all the way up her thighs.

The second-to-last day at the bus stop.  Our bus stop was pretty fun...lots and lots of little Kindergartners.  They liked to take their scooters and ride around the basketball court while they waited for the bus.  More recently, they liked to start at the top of the sidewalk and fly down the hill.  They got going so fast!  Brynn is never one to be left behind...if the big kids can do it, so can she!

We had a gift card to Rita's so we decided we better use it before we moved away from one.

Brynn got into Anna character playing at the Fawson's house the morning of the move.

Molly was pretty sad and teary-eyed all day Friday and then Saturday morning the day we moved.  She cried pretty hard when we drove off for the final time.  Once we got to Orem and started heading up Provo Canyon, however, excitement started creeping in.  By the time we made it to our house, she was extremely excited...even more so when grandpa got to work setting up this climbing dome (an Easter gift from Grandma and Grandpa).

We tried to unpack the kitchen first but there was no way I was cooking on that first night.  Heber is limited in it's eating options so Arby's it was.  Molly's first-ever roast beef sandwich (from a restaurant, that is).

This is what we woke up to on our first morning in our new house.  Silly kids and a giant mess.  We also slept on the loft for a few days.

Our first week in our new ward and the kids were excited to find this little cubby outside of our church building.  Even now, they have to climb into it every Sunday on our way in.

Brynn got into my makeup on day while I was feeding Ivy.  She sure was proud of herself!

I love this profile of Ivy.  She has to most kissable cheeks and adorable nose. 

It took us a couple of weeks to find where the hardware to put all the beds together had been packed.  We ended up finding it in Molly's little side table...in the house the whole time!  Until we found it, mattresses on the floor was what we made do with.  All three kids are in one room for now, until we finish the basement, and it was so sweet one night to see Brynn snuggled up with Molly.

Brynn and Ivy.  These two will someday be best friends (hopefully).

**Ivy update, 6/25
-We reached 5 months last week and I can hardly believe that 6 months is on the horizon!
-She is rolling both ways now.
-She reaches for anything and everything that is put in front of her.  Once her cute, chubby fingers grasp hold, that item goes right to her mouth.
-She is so smiley and has a smile for virtually anyone who will look at her or talk to her.
-I rock her to sleep.  Someday this might backfire on me, but I was never great at the cry-it-out thing, and I sure love my time with my sweet baby.  I pretty much always know when she's tired so it's never much of a battle to get her down.
-She is still exclusively nursed.  I love nursing.  I don't even want to think about introducing food to her.  Luckily, she hasn't shown any interest in that yet.
-She discovered her tongue last weekend and kept sticking it between her lips.