Trip to Kansas–Saying Goodbye

I wanted to include some pictures in here from when we were saying our goodbyes but I don’t have a lot to say about the pictures themselves.

Trip to Kansas-Devin and Chelsea’s Reception

I didn’t get very many pictures of the reception but it was decorated so beautifully. Amanda came up with some great ideas and it all tied together so well. Devin and Chelsea looked so lovely and in love. Micali was excited to get a picture with Princess Chelsea. She kept talking about how pretty she was in her dress.

I copied a picture from facebook to have it in this post. So happy we could celebrate with them.

Trip to Kansas-Temple

It was so amazing to be able to see the Temple. From the moment I saw them temple and especially when I got out of the car I was overcome with emotion. It is just so amazing that there is a temple where I grew up and I got to share that with my kids. They were so happy to go see a temple and to see what it was like where Mommy and Daddy got married. Micali kept asking why she wasn’t at our wedding and I had to remind her she was still in heaven when that happened.

It was beautiful and I was happy to share that experience with my family.

Trip to Kansas-Track Meets

The week that we were there we enjoyed two track meets watching “Dougie Fresh” and one Star ran in too.  Doug won the 800, the 4x8, and the 4x4. The kids definitely got lots of exercise running back and forth cheering for him during his races.

Trip to Kansas-Water Fun

This how it all started. A plan to wash the car in their swimming suits to help them cool off:

It quickly turned into this:

Trip to Kansas- Anniversary Flowers

Unfortunately the trip to Kansas included being away from Luke on our 8th anniversary. He sent me flowers to let me know he was thinking of me on our special day. It was such a sweet surprise. I am so grateful for Luke in my life. For the wonderful husband he is and for the amazing father he is to our children. Their favorite game to play with Daddy is basically hide and seek but you never know exactly what they will call him on any given day. They want to find the troll, the monster, the mean witch, the dragon, or the dog. Whatever it is they are so timid going around the house looking for him but, they squeal with excitement and run when we jumps from behind a door to get them. Occasionally if it has been awhile and they still haven’t found him they get food to feed to him to make him a nice troll or whatever it is so he is not too scary. I love watching them play and sometimes have to go through the house with them to coax them along( I won’t tell them I am scared out of my wits not knowing where he is going to jump out of). I love that he is so involved with them and willing to play along. Luke is also amazing at answering their questions. When they are outside and want to know what something is or how it works he tells them or finds the answer and then explains it all to them. They love their daddy time. He has been so busy this year with his new job, new calling as Bishop of our ward, and continuing his doctorate but he makes sure every minute he has with the kids counts. He also makes sure in his busy schedule that we have time for a date and we totally look forward to our uninterrupted time to be just us! I love you babe. Thanks for the flowers! They were beautiful!

Trip to Kansas-Having Fun at Kim’s

The kids and I made a quick trip to Kansas. It was actually for a whole week. We took Micali out of school and flew Dad up so he could help drive us down.  Devin and Chelsea were having their wedding reception and I had been thinking about trying to make it down to go to the Kansas City Temple open house. I didn’t think I would actually be able to get everything worked out but we did!

We spent a night over at Kim’s house. We met Marley’s would be girlfriend if we lived any closer. The kid’s loved playing with Molly. She was a lot more calm than Marley.

Watching a movie is much more fun with the proper head gear.

 

Kyson was so sweet reading them bedtime stories.

So I remember

One of my favorite times of day is talking to my girls after the bedtime routine is complete and they are laying in bed. This is when Micali tells me all about her day. She also asks lots of questions about random things.  A few nights ago we were laying there and she said, “Mom, I know there is a tooth fairy but are the any other kinds of fairies?” Because, on occasion, I like to tease her to get a reaction I said, “Oh! Your teacher hasn’t read you a story about the Finger Fairy yet?” That little thumb of hers popped out of her mouth so fast and she sat up in bed and said, “HUH?” We had a good laugh! And yes, now she knows I wasn’t serious!

Mid-March

Luke, his brothers, and Dad were able to go down to St. Louis and watch the NCAA Wrestling Finals. They enjoyed three full days of wrestling matches. He loved the opportunity to spend time with them. On the way back they stopped by for a cultural detour at Cahokia ruins which are a collection of dirt mounds that are huge. They enjoyed the road trip there and back and reconnected after so many years living apart.

Meanwhile all three kids decided to be sick while he was gone. We managed to have some fun though.

For St. Patrick’s day instead of adding green food coloring to any of their food we just had green smoothies the green of course was spinach.

Micali was the sick one this day.

While holding a sick Eli the next day

I was still able to be a photographer for a nice little fashion show. (Too bad I wasn’t able to fix their hair before Eli came down with the stomach flu.)

 

We took an intermission while Micali changed clothes and then she had a few more poses to share

For more entertainment, we got out balloons and, of course, took more pictures. It just-so-happens that it makes everything you do that much more exciting if you get to take a picture.

It wasn’t quite the fun weekend I had hoped to enjoy with the kids but we still made the best of it. The weather was so NICE like 70-80 degrees that week. We also spent time laying outside getting fresh air!