Happy Valentines Day!

We love Valentines Day at our house! I think a reason that we make such a big deal out of this holiday in our house is because we have to find ways to get rid of the Winter blues! That and we love each other. (But seriously, I'm ready for Spring). 

We went on a family date to the aquarium in town. We have a membership and it's fun to go and check out the animals. We even met a mermaid this time. Paul and I went on a really fun date, too. We went out to dinner and then rock climbing! So fun! Our muscles were pretty shaky by the time we left. 

 Other Valentines fun included decorating our house, making Valentines, and making heart cookies. Braden had a little Valentines party for our preschool playgroup. And Susie was SO excited for her kindergarten class party. She took great care in writing her valentines. She has a crush on a boy in her class named Hagen and she was excited to get a valentine from him. 

We had heart pancakes on Valentines day for breakfast. It was a pretty fun holiday! 

Here are a few other pictures. I got braces last week. They've been pretty painful but I'm finally starting to get used to them. We went tot Cedar City for Presidents Day weekend with Aunt Livy and JP. 

Happy Birthday Clark

The last year has gone by fast, I can't believe Clark is already one. We were all just getting over a bad case of the flu, so we didn't do too much for Clark's birthday. We did make him a fun banner and some yummy cupcakes. He absolutely loved his first ever cupcake and I think he's the only kid out of the three that ate the whole thing. 

Clark is a happy little boy. He loves to sit in people's laps. He often finds a toy he likes then crawls over to mom or dad and plops himself down. He is taking two naps a day right now but I'm not sure how much longer that will last. He is enjoying Vitamin D milk and is transitioning to sippy cups well. He hates to stand up so I'm sure walking is a long way off yet. We try to practice with him whenever he will let us. He doesn't give many kisses (voluntarily) but will snuggle with me if he has a binky and is tired. He loves Susie and Braden except for when Braden plays too rough. 

A week after Clark's birthday Braden turned 3 1/2! I let him pick out a frozen treat at the store to celebrate. He picked an Oreo pie. He can't wait for his 4th birthday so he can have presents and more cake. He has a different idea every day what kind of cake he wants me to make. I keep telling him July is a ways off... 

My mom and sister came and stayed during MLK weekend for some girls time. We had big plans to have lots of fun but unfortunately we had to nix lots of them because mom wasn't feeling too well. She struggles to feel well often because of her Addison's disease. It was still so nice to spend time together. 

The children are doing well with learning new things. We have a workbook at home for Braden and Susie to work on to earn TV or iPad time. Braden throws a pretty good fit when I ask him to do a page but we usually get through it. He is doing a good job learning his letters and numbers during preschool playgroup, even when he is in a whiny mood... I am working on getting together a preK class for the fall. I'm excited!

Susie loves school. We just attended a celebration of learning for her class to celebrate their American citizen unit. They learned about three symbols of America, the flag, the eagle, and the Statue of Liberty. Susie is doing an amazing job reading. We have her read 3 books to us every day. She just did a dolphin report at school and memorized her presentation. It was so cute!

We had pudding with groundhogs (gummy bears) for Groundhogs day and we've done a few crafts for Valentines, too. 

Christmas and New Years Eve 2016

We had so much fun having Christmas with Paul's sister and her family this year. My kids couldn't wait for the cousins to arrive. Anticipation was high until they finally saw the van pulling into our drive. Hurray! 

 

We braved temple square and I'd like to say it was great, but it was actually way too crowded and freezing! We didn't last too long, but hey, we tried? Braden and Clark did look pretty adorable all bundled up though. 

My kids loved hanging out with their cousins all week. We have a lot of artistic talent in this family, so coloring was a frequent activity (until after Christmas, then it was all video games!). They all slept together which make for long-- I mean fun-- nights! Paul and Dustin and Grandpa took all the kids a cool train museum in Ogden. 

On Christmas Eve we had our devotional. Everyone shared a story or scripture or song. Dustin played a beautiful rendition of Away in a Manger. Susie memorized a scripture about Mary and baby Jesus. The best part of the devotional was having the kids act out the nativity while Grandpa read us the Christmas story. Turns out my boys make pretty cute sheep. 

After the devotional we unwrapped new jammies and then heard a knock at the door! It was Santa! Susie couldn't be fooled, she knew it was Grandpa right away but the little boys ate it up. Santa didn't stay for long, he said he had a busy night ahead of him. 

It was one of the best Christmas' I can remember. We had so much fun! I'm so grateful they were able to travel all the way from Texas to spend Christmas with us. It was a blast! 

A few days after Christmas I had a reunion with my college roommates. It was so fun to see them and catch up. I owe those girls a lot. I've learned so much from each of them and they continue to be great examples to me. For New Years Eve we took the kids sledding. We laughed at the "no sledding" sign... we're such rebels. We decorated the New Years tree and we hung out with some friends later that night eating snacks and playing games. We counted down at their house around 8pm and rang in the new year early!