Spring Break-- Warning Long Post

Wow! What a refreshing Spring Break this was? It was so nice to have a full week off. Here is a run down of our week.

First,
we kicked off the break with Camille's dance program at school.
This is Camille and her dance partner.

This is the kids doing the waltz. So cute!


Then,
It was off to Kanosh for the Annual Easter Festivities.
Town Easter Egg Hunt
(We made it just in time this year... even with Cameron getting pulled over)
Then Family lunch and swimming at the pool.

The kids dyed eggs with Cameron's parents while we snuck out for a little date
and to hang out with our good friends Brandon and Christy.

The kids had a great time easter morning.
Pictures to come later...
They are on Cameron's camera.

This is Owen on Easter Morning... it was cold, so I put this Beanie on him.
With the outfit,
I thought he looked like Rocky.
I sang the "Eye of the Tiger" to him several times that day.

Next,
we decided to stay an extra day because Camille is doing her county report on
Millard County
(where we were, where Cameron is from)
We visited the Territorial Statehouse
Cove Fort
Lehman Caves (technically in Nevada, but in the Great Basin National Park
which is partially in Millard County)
This is the kids being sworn in as Jr. Rangers at Lehman Caves (after we did the tour).
Digging for Trilobites

Then,
We got home.
My good friend Meghan was visiting from Seattle
and brought her cute boys to come stay with us for a few days.
I didn't get a lot of pictures, but this is a cute one of our new baby boys.

They are only 2 weeks apart.
She calls her baby Bean, aka Zachary.
He is cute. Daniel (her older boy) and Spence fought most of the week.
They have a love/hate relationship. They always have.
We went to Chuckie Cheese to let the kids play.
The next day, I met Mike and his kids at McDonalds to play.
Then the kids had to clean the house.

On Friday,
we headed up to IKEA.
I bought some essential organizing items, and
let the kids play in the playland for an hour.
It was fun.
This is what I got done with the "stuff".

Following that,
we headed up to West Valley to stay at a sweet hotel.
It had an indoor water park.
We played for a few hours.
Little O loved his first time swimming.


The next morning, the older kids swam again.
Then we headed up to Syracuse for my cute nephew Z's birthday party.
It was a "Wild Things" party.

And then,
on Sunday, we started a new tradition with some of our ward friends.
Each Fast Sunday, we trade houses for dinner and a family home evening lesson.
It was fun!

We are plum tuckered out, but definitely feeling refreshed!
I think I can handle the rest of the school year now.

Last the Best of All the Game!

Whew! What a relief? We blessed our sweet baby Owen yesterday, and can now say that we are finished with that era in our lives. Cameron did a great job blessing Owen.

Some highlights were:

Strength
Be a leader by example
Stay righteous
Temple blessings

We feel so blessed to have our little Owen here safe and sound.
He is growing so quickly.
I can't believe how much I love that kid.
He is a joy!
He was the missing piece.
We are now complete.

With 5 kids, we're lucky to have had everyone sit still long enough to get these few pictures.

Wow!
That's a big family...
and you know what?
I love it!
I love that my kids get to grow up with lots of siblings and friends to play with.
I love that they have fun together and watch each other's backs.
(See how they have to touch each other in the picture... they adore one another).
I LOVED growing up with lots of siblings.
I can't imagine life without each of them.
They are the BEST!
They married great people too.
I am lucky.
I love my siblings more now than ever.
I adore their kids.
I am excited to start this new phase of our lives.
I think we are officially out of the "cute new little family" stage.
We are moving on...
On to bigger kids and exciting things.
I just hope my kids don't grow too fast.
I love squeezing them and will be sad when they stop letting me do that in public.

BRRRRR!

Katelyn had her first soccer game the other day.
It was REALLY cold.
REALLY
But she REALLY wanted me to bring the little kids to watch her.
I did.
We only made it through the first half.
I even tried to distract with snacks.
That worked,
but just for a few minutes.

This is Spence saying, "Mom, I'm preeeeezing!"

So was I.
Just after this picture, I gathered the little ones.
We watched the rest of what we could from the front seat of my car.
We hope for a warmer game next time around.

This kid seemed to be doing fine despite the cold.
She did great!
She's my competitive one.
She was the smallest on both teams,
but was FAST.
And, because she is aggressive,
she wouldn't back down from the ball,
even with people running straight towards her.

Fun Happenings

Cameron decided that for Valentine's Day he would take the girls out on a date.
They went to dinner and a movie together.
A daddy and his girls.... so cute!

Well shortly after I had little Owen, I was released as the 2nd counselor in the Primary.
I am now an Activity Day Leader.
It's been fun hanging out with Camille and her friends.
We taught the girls about modesty last week,
then went on a walk through the mall.
We looked for modest clothing.
The girls all got to try on a dress.
They loved it!
Here is Camille's pick.
This is most of the girls posing in a store window.
I'm sure the workers were loving us!

Camille had her best friend Sarah come with us.
Oh how I love these girls.
Sarah has been such a great friend for Camille.
She might move.
I'm sad about that.
Camille is even more sad.
I forgot how special it is to find a real best friend.

Daddy got to come on a field trip with my/Camille's class.
Camille chose to be in his group, not mine.
That's ok.
It's more cool to be with the cool dad, then the teacher.
It was fun to have my husband on a field trip with us. A little weird too.

Oh, and this kid is still growing like crazy.
I adore him.
He is such a nice boy.
I love to kiss his cheeks.
I love to snuggle with him.
Camille likes to dress him up a bit.
Like the glasses?
He didn't mind them being on.

Emmy's First Hair Cut

This cute kid has CRAZY hair... we lovingly refer to it as a RAT'S NEST.
So, we decided it was time to see if there was anything we could do... here is her first hair cut.

She wasn't so sure about the whole thing...

That poor girl who was cutting her hair... she kept moving around.

This is a slight improvement... Can't wait till it grows a bit more so she looks better.
She is still such a cutie, and I need to kiss and squeeze those cheeks every time I see her.

Flashback!

I found these pictures Cameron just scanned in from our senior year.
I know we look so young.

A Whole New Kid

My cute little guy started anti-biotics

on Friday for a double ear infection (poor little dude)...
WoW!
Am I ever grateful for modern-day medicine?
He's like a whole new kid.
Look!
And I thought for sure he'd lost weight
while feeling under the weather,
but NO,
he gained a pound in a week!
He's almost 13 pounds this little (not so little) guy

Side view of the cute CHEEKS. Don't you just want to kiss and squeeze them?
I do.
I must do it every time I see them.

Just can't get enough of this guy.

Emmy can't either.

So happy that he's feeling better.
We are loving learning
more about his personality.