~Vacation to Utah 2012: The week of sick kids~

We arrived in Utah to a family dinner and lots of helpful, smiling faces.  I felt extremely tired and very loved and everyone pitched in to unload my van and care for my sick munchkins.  The rest of our first week was mostly spent laying around my parent's house with sick children, trying to get them to take medicine.  Surprisingly, Cordy never got sick!  She was so lucky to have so many people to keep her entertained while the big kids were being cuddled and cared for.  As yucky as it may be to be sick at someone else's house and not get to sleep in your own bed, I felt like it was a huge blessing to be at my mom's house where there was always someone available to help out when all three of them needed/wanted me at the same time.  I think Erin gave my kids baths 10 times a day!  When we finally decided to take the kids into the doctor my mom came along to help.  When Alec refused to take anything but grape flavored medicine, Robert ran out and bought some.  When Elyssa wanted to sleep on my lap and Alec was crying for me to come snuggle, Liz stepped right in and stroked Elyssa's hair till she fell asleep in her lap.  Not every second of every day was spent feeling miserable.  When we did convince the kids to take medicine they would have a few hours of feeling awesome!  Then once we got them on antibiotics for their nasty strep throat, they felt a million times better, making for a better end to the week.  And now massive amounts of photos for your viewing pleasure......

Cracking walnuts on grandma's back porch= Hours of entertainment.

Awesome uncles willing to play with my kids and do Elyssa's bidding. 

Ship making with Grandpa Steve=Awesome.

The awesome final products sailing the globe.

Lots of story reading and Angry Birds.

Family viewing of "The Muppet Movie" followed by much singing of "Life's a Happy Song".

Dinner and chalk drawing on the front driveway.  

(Elyssa drew the picture of Cordy.)

 

Elyssa hadn't even seen "Brave" yet, but awesome Mike made her a bow and she knew how to use it.

Swimming at Rob and Liz's apartment pool, playing at the park, and bike riding along the Provo River Trail with second cousins.

Backyard campout with Grandpa Steve since all the mountains were on fire.  

What an awesome way to spend a sick week, eh?  We are so very lucky. :-)

~On the Road Again~

Erin was kind enough to make the drive out to Utah with me and the munchkins.  We were going to be at my parents house for an entire week before Nick flew out, leaving us lots of time to swim and play.  Unfortunately the morning that we left on our major road trip Elyssa didn't feel well.  I loaded everyone in the car anyway, and with the help of ibprofen things were semi-managable.  Then by mid-morning Alec was feeling awful as well and they were both holding onto extremely high fevers.  It made for one very long, hard day in the car.  As we were coming to the end of crossing Nebraska Alec cried "I don't want to see any more corn fields anymore!"  Oh honey, I understand!!  Nebraska is not my favorite drive.  

We arrived in Fort Collins to stay for the night with my dear friend, Nicole.  She was a kind, gracious, and generous host despite my sick munchkins.  I was sad that we didn't get to go swimming in her pool, but I was sooo glad that I actually got to see Nicole and spend at least a little bit of time with her this summer.  She has to be one of my all time favorite people ever.  

After a fitful night, with Elyssa's temp spiking at 104 degrees, we got up, ate yummy breakfast with Nicole, snapped a few pictures for proof, and headed on our way to Utah.  

Thank you, Nicole, for letting me and my munchkins crash your place!  We love you to bits!

~Swim Lessons & Erin Comes to Visit!~

Alec and Elyssa were pretty excited to start swimming lessons again this year.  They jumped right in and got to work from day one.  It was so fun to watch them work hard and learn new tricks!

Cordy was pretty annoyed that she didn't get to jump in the pool and swim too.  Thank goodness Erin was there the second week to help entertain her.  Yay for Auntie Erin visiting!

Blueberries made the best snacks.

During the last week of lessons Alec started diving from the side of the pool.  It was so cool!  Erin actually got a video of his first dive ever and it's pretty impressive.  Unfortunately I can't find the video. This picture will have to do.  

I am so thankful we found this swim lesson program and have been able to do it for the past few years. The teachers are awesome and the kids learn so much in such a short amount of time.  I am really impressed with the progress my kids continue to make, especially since I can't get in the pool with them and practice as often as I would like.  Can't wait to do it all again next year!

~Father's Day 2012~

It wasn't her party, but she cried because she wanted to and Nick was such a good sport about it all.  :-)   Happy Father's Day to one of the coolest, best Dad's around!

We kicked of the day with cut out heart french toast, blueberries, strawberries, whipped cream, and smoothies.  Yummm!

Then it was time for presents.  Nick and Alec both agreed that the silver Transformer Autobot cufflinks were pretty awesome.

Then it was church, naps, dinner, and happiness all around.  Nothing an oreo cookie with Dad couldn't fix.  :-)

We think Nick is one of the best Dad's in the whole world.  He loves his children and loves being a father.  We are so lucky to have him!  

Happy Father's Day, Nick!

~Friends Make Life Fabulous~

These two cute little ladies are only a week apart.  I remember going through my 3rd pregnancy, talking/grumbling/whining with Tiffany all the time,  dreaming about the arrival of our impending little girls.  

When they get together you can totally tell they are around the same age, doing similar crazy stunts and making me laugh.  Sofie and Cordy together make an awesomely cute team.

Here's a shout out to good friends everywhere, who make life that much more awesome.  :-)

~Mohawks Rock~

This little man had a LOT of hair.  He won't let you do anything with it but comb it all down, but this day I somehow managed to give everyone a mohawk in the tub without them knowing.  It was awesome!

I know I won't be able to get away with pictures like this for much longer, but I thought this one was too funny not to share.  How I love my funny kiddos.