Celebrating Annalyn!

Annalyn had a pretty fun birthday this year and went to bed that night feeling pretty special. To start the day off the rest of the girls and I decorated the entrance to Annalyn's room with purple and pink streamers and fun notes on her door. Summer and the kids were so excited about it and Summer kept going into the room and woke Annalyn up so Anna got to see it the day before her birthday. I let Annalyn pick what we did on the day of her birthday. Since she didn't have school she helped me finish decorating the cake and I told her we could do whatever she wanted. Annalyn picked to spend the whole day playing on the I Pad watching YouTube videos. Annalyn and Kyla pretty much played on that thing for most of the day and she was thrilled that I didn't make her turn it off.

 To celebrate Annalyn's birthday party this year we decided to just have a family party which Annalyn insisted had to include as much of the extended family as could come. She had cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents there. Annalyn made a heart cake with a circle on the bottom that was covered with all kinds of shopkins and decorated with pink and purple frosting. When everyone came over we had pizza, presents, cake and ice cream. Annalyn loves presents and that was her most favorite part. We got her an "American Girl Doll" at least, it looks like one but it was the cheaper Target Brand. The doll was named Reese and Annalyn took the doll with her everywhere for the next few weeks. She loved it. She could not remember the name of the doll so she kept having to ask Kyla to tell her the name. She got several other fun presents and had fun playing with everything that night until it was time for bed.

I got to celebrate Annalyn's birthday with her at school the next day. We took in some ice cream cups for everyone to share and Kyla and Summer got to come with me and eat a treat with her class.

Annalyn really wanted to go swimming for her birthday but she also wanted to get her ears pierced. Joel insisted that she just pick one things so in the end she picked to go swimming. We invited whatever family that wanted to join us to come so both of my sisters and my brother Brian came with their families and we all had a blast swimming at the YMCA. Joel even went and took the older kids to the big pool for a while. He then took turns taking Annalyn and the little kids down the slide over and over again. They loved that thing. Joel got a good workout on from walking up all those stairs over and over again. Brynlee tried really hard to pass the test so she could go alone but couldn't swim for as long as she needed. Summer was a little dare devil and went down the slide in the kiddie pool over and over again without any fear. Annalyn was originally pretty upset that we were not going to an outdoor pool but when she realized how cold it was outside and started playing in the water she stopped being mad and had a fun day. We finished at the pool around lunch time and stopped at Burger King to eat before heading home. The kids had fun playing in the play place there and we all had a fun and magical day.  

March 2018

March was another fun filled month for our family. We had several days with nice weather where we got to enjoy playing outside. We had several friends over and I babysat a few times. The kids even pulled out the popsicles and have been eating them all the time. We went to the library once a week, I went to exercise with a few ladies from the church two times a week, and I went to book club, volunteered at the school, and took Brynlee and Annalyn to hip hop class every Thursday. We got ready for Easter, wore green on St. Patrick's Day, and celebrated Anna's birthday. 

                                  

 

     This month we had Regional Conference and Stake conference just two weeks apart. It was kind of rough to make our kids sit and be good for two hours but we managed. We also had Daylights Saving this month so everyone was pretty tired and grouchy for that week. We ended the month by watching General conference at our house. That meant I only had to teach primary once the whole month.

     The girls had their hip hop performance during their last class and enjoyed getting to show off all of the things they learned. In the end they said they enjoyed dance and wanted to try ballet next time. Annalyn did hurt her finger right before the end of class and then went home crying but her finger was fine.

     My nephew Jakobee had a birthday that I took the girls too. Brynlee was sick so she had to miss out but sent me with a card and some money to give him. The next weekend I went with my brother Josh and several other family members to the temple. It was Joshua's first time going and then he was set apart right after to be a temple worker. It was a beautiful experience.

     My sister Alesha watched my kids while we were at the temple. After the temple we got all the girls and went with everyone to eat at Idaho pizza. It was fun to spend the day with them. Joel missed out because he was helping his dad finish up the house. It was done by the end of that week and then Joel had time to work on other projects. We were all super excited to have him around on Saturdays again.

     The fist week Joel had free was a weekend he spent going paint balling with the youth. Later that week he worked on the upstairs bathroom and mostly finished it up. He got some cabinets that were damaged from work and he fixed them up. He put in a toilet and used some leftovers from our granite table to make a counter top. He also put some of the grout in the tile but he isn't finished yet.  It looks nice. Joel has the bathroom locked up tight for now because we do not want the kids playing in the water up there.

I switched doctors and made the 40 minute drive to see my old doctor. Right after I made the decision to go back to my old doctor I found out that the girl's pediatrician was going to retire at the end of the month. I went ahead and took Annalyn in for her check-up and switched to another doctor at the same clinic for Summer's next check-up. We will see if we stay with her or not. It is such a hassle to switch doctors.

     The girls both has their picture taken at school. Brynlee ended up wearing a dress that was way to big and it had sleeves that kept falling down. She promised to keep them up for the picture but then told me they accidentally fell down for the group picture. She looked cute in her individual picture but would not even let her dad see the group picture. I got to take all of the kids to school one morning for donuts and a book. It was super crowded in that gym but I always love the chance to be in my girl's school. 

     The last week of the month was Spring Break. We spent a good part of the break just doing chores and relaxing. We spent an evening clearing out grandma's garden getting it ready to plant next year. We went to to the library one day, they had a bunch of fun stem things the kids got to do. I had some things planned to do at the end of the week but Brynlee got sick so we just stayed home. Joel and I even had a date night that we had to cancel because she was sick. I really did enjoying having that week with all of my kids at home. It was nice to sleep in and hang out around the house. 

Joel took Annalyn on a date night to Wahooz last month and then Brynlee and Kyla filled up their shell jar and both wanted to go on a date night to Wahooz as well. I convinced Brynlee to bring me on the date so we could all just go together with dad. First we ate at McDonald's and then headed to Wahooz. The girls had fun riding on the rides. Joel went on one with Brynlee while I took Kyla to play some games. Brynlee was brave and went on a lot of the rides all on her own.  It was a good fun filled night. The girls got lots of prizes and came home pretty happy. It was fun to just go out with a couple of our kids and spend some one on one time with them. 

Easter 2018

We had an Easter egg hunt at my mom's house much earlier than usual this year. My sister Alesha put one together so she could tell us her exciting new; She is going to have a baby. Her baby is due in the middle of October and we are excited for her. She hid a giant Egg that Brynlee found and it had her ultrasound picture in it. I think everyone was pretty surprised to learn the real reason behind the egg hunt but still super excited. The kids had a blast and came home with lots of toys and candy. Summer got right into the whole finding egg things and went and put some in her basket before the hunt even officially started. We got to roast hot dogs and marshmallows while we were there and the kids decorated some eggs. It was a fun filled day. 

The day before Easter the kids had us take them to the community egg hunt at the local High School. They remembered going last year and were talking about going again all year. Brynlee got sick and threw up a few times the night before but woke up that morning and felt great. She got dressed right away and begged me to take her to the egg hunt. Joel went with the older girls while I went with Kyla and Summer. Summer was a little nervous about all the people and did not want me to put her down. As soon as the egg hunt started I set her down to get some eggs and she threw her basket (she almost hit her Uncle Randy in the head with it) and laid on the ground and cried. She threw a good little temper tantrum for a while. Kyla ran off and got a lot of eggs and I eventually got Summer to pick some up. She mostly went after the suckers and got a good amount of candy. Summer threw another little tantrum when it was time to put the eggs back in the big buckets. Brynlee and Annalyn both won a few little things and then we went home so we could watch General Conference. 

We didn't get the kids a lot for Easter but Joel got a few giant chocolate Easter bunnies to share and he got some Jelly Beans and a bag of chocolate candy. I hid the candy in some eggs and the kids had fun going on another egg hunt in the backyard. They love the thrill of finding eggs. Brynlee ended up getting sick again the night before and threw up again that morning so we had a low key day of staying in the house and watching conference. It is great to hear the words of the prophet and there were some great talks. It was a fun day to remember our Savor and his resurrection. There may have been sick kids and fighting for some of the day but we persevered and had a fun day. Brylee felt too sick to have Easter dinner at Grandma Hirtle's house so I stayed home with her while everyone else went. They came back during the second session of conference. Joel was supposed to bring food home for me but he didn't so I left him with Brynlee and went over to grandma's house so I could enjoy Easter dinner with them. I brought some food home for Brynlee and Joel. I was glad I got to get out of the house for a couple of hours. 

I am very grateful for my Savior and his resurrection. I love celebrating Easter with my little family. I am going to leave you with a picture Summer took on my phone of some Jelly Beans on the floor with her little feet peeking out and a finger covering up the bottom of the picture. She probably took 30 of the same picture. I deleted most of the pictures but I ended up saving this one. There was just something about it that seemed to capture the way our Easter went. It was a little chaotic and crazy and we didn't get to do everything we wanted to do but it was still a good day. Despite the finger covering up part of the picture, I think those cute little feet make the picture magical.