April

Spring Break fell on the first week of April.  At first we didn't really have any plans at all but then the week filled up and I was glad for that.  We had a really great week!  Monday was our only day at home-we decorated eggs that night.

On Tuesday morning we had tickets to go to the Jordan River Temple Open House.  Justin grew up with this as his temple and received his endowment there.  I have only been there a couple of times so I couldn't remember what it looked like before.  But every temple is unique and beautiful and it's always a good experience to take the kids inside the temple whenever possible.  Molly is so anxious and excited to do baptisms this year when she turns 12.  She has been making a list of things she would like for her birthday and a temple recommend is definitely on her list.

We took the kids to lunch after-we even splurged and went to the Cheesecake Factory.  It was so yummy and the kids were actually behaved.  We don't go out to nice restaurants often but it's nice to know that the kids are getting older and can handle it.

We met Erin in Centerville and dropped Molly off-she was going to be staying with the Walker's for a few days.  Then we stopped at Target where I bought Brynn her new sandals and we headed home after that.

When we were in Plain City for Easter the weekend before, Ali mentioned that she would love to get together for a hike or something like that.  We threw around a few ideas and decided to spend Wednesday at Antelope Island.  I have lived my whole life in Utah and actually never been there.  I looked up some kid-friendly hikes and we invited everyone else to come and we met there at the Visitor's Center Wednesday morning.  It was kind of chilly and a little overcast but not too much that we couldn't enjoy being outside.

Stockton, Grant, Gavin, Ben, Spencer

Brynn and Grace

We explored the visitors center, found a place to eat our picnic lunches, and then we did the hike that I had read about.  It was called Buffalo Point-it was short but steep but wasn't too hard for anyone-I even carried Ivy the whole way up.  When you got to the top, you had an amazing view of the Great Salt Lake and the surrounding valley.  It was pretty and I imagine it would be even more so on a clear day.  The best part for the kids was the rocks-several big boulders that they could climb and explore and play hide-and-seek in.  It was like a giant playground-without modern toys-and they loved it.  They played there forever and we had to drag them away from it.

Brynn and Grace

Grant and Stockton

Chloe, Molly, Tessa

We had already spent a large portion of time on the island but the kids really wanted to walk down to the beach and see the water.  We couldn't say no.  It was quite the walk and I was tired of carrying Ivy.  But it made the kids so happy so it really was worth it.  They skipped rocks and some of the braver ones took off their shoes and socks and waded. We didn't stay as long as we did at the top of the hike but I loved watching my kids enjoying nature and making memories with their cousins.  Antelope Island is a totally cool place and hopefully we can go back and visit again (although not in the summer because I have heard the bugs are awful in the summer).

Since we were so close to Plain City and had already planned on being there for our dentist appointments on Thursday, we just went to my parents and stayed there Wednesday night as well.  My mom and dad had their shifts in the temple so we ate with the Broadbent's and then the kids just played, which is really what they like doing the most.  Molly slept at the Walker's, Stockton at the Broadbent's, and Brynn at the Moyes's so I had an easy night with just Ivy.

On Thursday we packed a picnic to a new park in Ogden. We played there until we had to make it to our appointments with Dr. Jeff.  No cavities all around!

Grant and Stockton

Stockton, Molly, Ivy, Brynn, Grant, Jeff

The previous day caught up to Brynn!

My mom surprised me with tickets to Riverdance for my birthday and the tickets were for that night.  The kids were divvied out to aunts and uncles and grandpa while we headed to Salt Lake for dinner and the show.  Dinner was great and the time with my mom was even better...but the show.  There really are no words to describe it.  I knew it would be good and I was excited to go but it was incredible and amazing and every other word that means that same thing.  We stood and applauded them at intermission and then just looked at each other with our mouths hanging open.  The dancing and the fiddling were nothing like I had ever seen.  We were on a high as we headed to our car when it was over and I was glad I got to experience it with my mom and make that memory with her.

My dad took these cute pictures of Ivy and Lucy playing while we were gone.  They aren't the same age but they are starting to become better friends as Lucy is getting older.

The weather had been okay all of the break but it turned on Friday and we woke up to a drizzly, wet day.  Jeff was going to take the boys on a bike ride (we had brought Stockton's bike) but our plans changed.  The kids were good sports and decided that they wanted to go to Toads, a local hangout with arcade games, mini golf, and laser tag.  They each got $5 for games and then were able to pick either laser tag or golf.  It was a fun morning and we went to lunch at Wendy's after.

Abby and Molly

We were heading home but I let the kids play for another hour or so before taking off.  It ended up being a great Spring Break and I am happy that we got to do some fun things.

Ivy likes to take the squirt bottle outside and spray the flowers.  This bush actually died over the winter which is a bummer but we'll replace it with something else.  The other plants and flowers are coming back great and it's so fun to see our yard get prettier and more colorful.

Stockton started his baseball season.  He has loved it so much-last fall it took him a little while to warm up to going to practices but he hasn't complained once this season and looks forward to it every time.  He plays pitcher a little every game but it's not his favorite-he loves to play short stop the most with 2nd and 3rd bases after that.  He is a good infielder and rarely lets a ball get by him.  Isn't he the cutest in his baseball uniform with his eye black?  I about melted when he came home from that first game. (I haven't been able to see a lot of his games since they've been on Monday nights, usually in Salem, Mapleton, or Spanish Fork.  Justin takes him and I stay home with the girls teaching piano, getting Molly to soccer, doing homework and bedtime.  He has three double headers in Heber so I'm glad for that so I can cheer him on.)

So nice to be able to go outside!

Brynn has been waiting forever to lose a tooth and it finally happened on April 12th.  She lost a second tooth a few weeks later and she has an adorable little gap in the bottom of her mouth.  The quarter was an advance from Dr. Jeff.  He tried to talk her into letting him pull it when we were there but she was too nervous.  So he gave it to her for when it did come out.

We made a count-down-to-summer chain when it was time to go back to school after Spring Break.  I think we started with 39 days of school left or something like that.  It's been fun to watch it get shorter and shorter.

Molly's soccer season started.  I feel like last fall was a rough season for Molly-she lost some confidence and isn't naturally aggressive and it was hard for me to watch.  I usually love watching any kind of soccer but it felt like an emotional roller coaster for me.  I went into this season with a goal to be positive about however it went.  If she didn't have a great game or get as much playing time as I thought she should, I was going to be her #1 cheerleader.  I did pretty well doing that and I do think she had a better season.  She is going through some soccer growing pains and they switched her positions for the last half of the season which I really think will be better in the long run.  Justin and I have had several people (who know what their talking about) talk about Molly's ability to control the ball at her feet and that they rarely see it that advanced at this age.  I think with some practice, she can really utilize that skill in this new position and it will be better for her long term.  Her season is ended now and she has tryouts in a couple of weeks.  One thing that was always encouraging was to see that smile at the end of the game when she was running the field with her team.  She loves soccer-the game and the friends she has made on the team-and hopefully that is not something she will lose anytime soon since it's been so good for her.

Random selfie.

One of the kids set up the hammock and it hasn't been taken down.  Brynn and Ivy love to swing in it.

One of our favorite things to do in the spring is to walk down to the end of our street and down the hill to the stream and see the water flowing down on its way to Deer Creek.  It's dry the rest of the year.

The kids love when we have canned whipped cream and Justin will squirt some in their mouths.  He puts way too much in there and they love that even more!

Hmm, I wonder if Ivy could fit more sunglasses on her face?

Molly got an early start on her birthday wish list.  She's going to have to be more specific because there's no way she's getting all of that for her birthday!  At least we won't be wondering what to get her for a while!

Look at that concentration!

Brynn does this reading program on the computer called Raz Kids and Ivy decided that she also needed to do Raz Kids homework everyday.  She's not at the age where she can navigate around a computer game so I let her watch Pinkalicious on PBS kids when she is needing to do her Raz Kids.

Molly had to do a science project and she decided to do it on volume.  She researched and found an experiment where you layer different liquids with varying densities and they form layers.  It was really cool.  She did everything on her own and it turned out great!

Stockton learned how to make French Toast.  He was supposed to make a healthy dinner for a Faith in God activity.  I don't know if french toast qualifies as healthy but I passed it off for him anyway.

Ivy got this crazy idea that a bad guy had come into her room and made a bunch of holes in her bed with a sword.  She didn't seem scared by it and talked about it very matter-of-factly.  However, she would not sleep in her bed because she didn't want to fall through the holes.  I asked her if she wanted me to set up the port-a-crib and she liked that idea.  I am careful to pick my battles so I let her sleep in the port-a-crib at night until she was ready to go back to her bed.  She slept great all night in there and eventually, after a few weeks, the holes were repaired (all it took was Brynn to go in there and pretend like she was filling them in with something) and she is back in her big-girl bed now.  Such a silly thing!

In the middle of the season, Molly's team played in a tournament in Salt Lake.  It made for a crazy week but we were able to make it work thanks to some other moms who helped with rides.

She is third girl from the back

I was so happy that our ward was able to have a Pinewood Derby after all!  Stockton made a Utah Jazz car in the colors of their "city" jerseys.  Before it started, they gave out awards...Stockton earned his wolf so I got to go up and have the pin pinned on my shirt.  I am sad that scouting is going away but I'm sure the church with roll something out that is even better. 

Stockton was super proud of his car, and maybe Justin was too.  They watched YouTube videos on how to make a car faster.  The computer randomly puts boys in heats and they get to race their cars three times.  They drop the slowest time and then average the other two and that is how the winners are chosen.  Stockton ended up taking 2nd place and he was super excited about that.  Especially since Easton got 1st-it was a Crazy Acres Road domination!

Stockton and Easton Anderson

Seth had a preschool field trip at the zoo so Ali invited us all along since she was able to get discount tickets.  We have lucked out with two beautiful days at the zoo this year! 

Seth, Harper, Ivy

Harper and Ivy.  Harper got to skip a day of Kindergarten!

Seth, Ivy, Josie, Harper, Lucy

Ivy and Raylie have become best little friends lately.  When the boys come over after school, Raylie often comes with them and her and Ivy play-house or princesses or doctor or whatever else they come up with.  There have been a few bumps in the road for them but overall they play well together.  They sure get excited when they see each other!

Raylie and Ivy...ahem, Elsa and Anna!

I've said it before but I'll say it again...we are so glad the Anderson's are right next door.  There are a few other kids on the street but not many and it is so nice to have some good friends close.  Molly plays with Easton, Stockton plays with Easton or Corbin, Brynn plays with Corbin, Corbin is so sweet to Ivy, and Ivy plays with Raylie.  So everyone has a playmate!  It works great.  They play here or there and I am glad that Nicole is laid back like I am.  Sometimes they act more like siblings and there are arguments but they usually get over it quick and are back to playing.

Corbin, Brynn, Ivy, Stockton, Easton, Raylie

The greenhouse is starting to take shape.  Justin had some help from his dad and brothers cementing all the posts in, then my dad helped him put all the trusses together, then a ward member brought his tractor over and helped get the trusses put on the frame.  Zach and Justin are working together to finish both of them (the Anderson's got the same grant) and there is still a lot of work to be done.  I don't plan on planting anything in them this year (it's going to be a big enough job getting it put up) but I am starting to get less overwhelmed and more excited about it.  There will definitely be a learning curve but what an awesome place to experiment and learn!

We went on a walk to get the kids from the bus and I had brought Cash along for the walk.  We have a leash that hooks to his collar as well as my belt loop so I can have my hands free and Ivy wanted me to hook it to her that day.  We both thought it was funny when Cash got so excited to be outside that he was pulling Ivy along behind him!