Spring Break

One of the days of spring break, we took the kids to temple square. They love to go to the Museum of Church Art and History, where they have a kids' area upstairs. They just opened a new one a few months ago, so it was really fun for the kids to just play and explore for a while.



Joshua playing in the toy kitchen

Rachel and Emma picking fruits and veggies from the garden

Elizabeth with scripture puppets

This part was so cute. There was a chicken coop with stuffed chickens, hay, and plastic eggs. When you gather the eggs, the chickens squawk.

Matthew checking out some golden plates. Since it was Book of Mormon themed, there was also a model of Nephi's boat that crossed to the promised land. The kids could climb on board, then fish over the side.




This was so adorable. There was an area where the children could dress up in traditional Mexican dance costumes and a running video with demonstrations of authentic dance steps. Rachel was so adorable, dancing with the other little girls.

Joshua in a pickup truck that was the perfect size for him. He is all boy!

Emma on a stationary bike

Next it was on to Temple Square. The kids love to go up the steps and touch the temple doors. Rachel, Elizabeth, Emma, Matthew

On another day, we went to Wheeler Farm. We love it there, because they have every farm animal imaginable, a bunch of old barns, a farmhouse, and outbuildings, wagons, and old tractors and farm equipment. Plus there is a duck pond and lots of shade trees. Bonus: it's free! (unless you want to ride horses or go on a wagon ride) We have another picture of Elizabeth sitting on this same saddle when she was about three.



Elizabeth (2006)

Elizabeth (2011)

Emma

Rachel

Emma's 6th Birthday

For Emma's 6th birthday, her grandparents gave her the ultimate surprise: horseback riding! For a girl who is completely obsessed with anything horse, this was a dream come true! We had gone to my parents' house to celebrate her birthday, and after dinner, we announced that we'd be taking a walk up the street. Little did she know that around the corner she would see the horse she would ride! Brother Miner from my parents' ward was so generous to let us ride one of his horses.




Emma grooming her horse before the saddle was put on (he was pretty dirty).



Getting the first ride. Emma is so amazing; she isn't scared of anything, it seems! She took to the horse like a fish to water!

Emma and Brother Miner

Back at Grandma's house...the rest of the celebration. Matthew asked if he could man the camera, so he took all these pictures.

Emma with her new Easter dress

The peeps sunflower cake

Elizabeth's Baptism

Elizabeth is growing up WAY too fast! I can't believe she is already 8! For a fun flashback, I thought I'd include a few pictures of her when she was younger (sorry I don't have any baby pictures-- that was back before our digital camera days).

Elizabeth was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on March 5. She was so excited for this special day and was well prepared. It turned out to be a perfect day. Lost of family were there to share this day with us, which made it even more special: Lisa & Steve and family, my parents, Dave & Ana and family, Brent & Mindy, Jenny & Bill and family, and my brother Chris. Elizabeth's friend Katelyn from our ward was also getting baptized that day. Brent got to perform the baptism, and also gave a talk on baptism. I was able to play the cello in a duet with Katelyn's mom on the violin and my sister Jenny on the paino, "I Feel My Savior's Love". Afterwards we took pictures and headed over to our house, where we had a yummy lunch and desserts.

I hope Elizabeth will always remember this special day and warm, pure, happy feelings she felt.

The families (except for Chris and Jenny & Bill) in a group shot

Our family: Rachel, Elizabeth, Matthew, Emma, Sarah holding Joshua, Brent

Elizabeth with her proud parents

Dressed in white for the baptism

Below are some of the pictures I took of Elizabeth in her new baptism dress (thank you, Costco!) on the Mt. Timpanogos temple grounds on a freezing cold February day. I think it was something like 36 degrees outside! I snapped pictures as quickly as I could while Elizabeth shivered through her smiles. She was such a good sport about it. I didn't make baptism announcements, but these were her "offical" baptism pictures.

Elizabeth's aunt Mindy works at a bakery, and she decorated this sweet ice cream cake in her honor. It really stole the show at the lunch we had afterwards, and also meant so much to Elizabeth. She also received a beautiful bracelet, necklace and pink CTR ring.

February 2011

Here are some random pictures from February and March that we thought we'd share.

Cousin Samuel (22 months) playing in the playroom with Joshua (15 months) and Rachel

Rachel looking so cute in her red dress

Joshua is at such a cute stage and loves to ham it up for the camera.

Rachel goes through phases of obsessions with different movies. This was during her Monsters, Inc. phase. With my help, she made paper flowers, cut them out, and taped them on her bedroom door so it looked just like Boo's door. It was too precious not to take a picture and share it!

Yet another one of Matthew's Lego creations-- some sort of battle charger. I don't know how well it would actually travel in battle, given that it only has two axles, but it sure looks menacing!

Elizabeth's 8th birthday was on February 28. She has been so excited to turn 8 and be baptized. Even with the dreary winter weather outside, she was glowing the whole day.

With her birthday "stash". She got rollerblades, a scripture case, a necklace, and a few other small things. Matthew and Elizabeth were so cute to her some of their things as gifts. Matthew gave her a homemade fossil hunting kit.

With cabin fever setting in during the winter, we brought the Cozy Coupe inside and Joshua absolutely loved going for spins around the house in it. He hasn't figured out how to propel it with his feet yet, so his siblings pushed him around.

Matthew and Elizabeth arriving home from school with their Valentine's day cards and treats. They are given insane amounts of candy year-round, it seems!

Disneyland Trip

In February, we went on a family vacation to Disneyland. It was the best thing for our family to take a break from all the stress we were under and just have a great time making memories together. Disneyland has always been such a magical experience for me that I never get tired of, and I think the most magical part about it is seeing my kids getting to experience it and seeing their reactions.

We drove down on a Saturday, leaving at about 5:30 in the morning, and arriving at Rob & Kimberly's around dinnertime. It was so nice to be able to stay at their house and spend time with them. The kids loved running around with their cousins that they don't get to see very often. After enjoying a relaxing Sunday with them, we set off for Disneyland on Monday. Luckily it's only a 25-minute drive from their house! We went back on Tuesday and Wednesday, took a break on Thursday, and then went back on Friday. Saturday we piled back in the car and headed home. Our kids missed a week of school, but it was so worth it to be able to go when the weather was picture-perfect and the crowds so minimal. We rarely waited in line more than ten minutes for anything, so we were able to revisit all the kids' favorite rides. It was amazing!

Some of the highlights of the trip:

*Matthew was selected to do the Jedi Knight training and got to fight Darth Vader!

* Rachel was begging to meet Minnie Mouse, and we were trying not to get her hopes up, but we ended up getting to meet both Minnie and Mickey!

*Discovering that both Elizabeth and Emma are thrill ride lovers after taking them on Space Mountain multiple times.

*Having enough time to do low-key things like visit the animals at Thunder Mountain Ranch, go to shows, and play at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.

*Joshua seemed to enjoy all the rides, just not the short waits in line.

*Being able to go on all the rides we wanted, other than Critter Country, which was closed.

*Successfully taking five kids to Disneyland without anyone getting lost!

We had to visit the Lego store for our mega-fan, Matthew.

Disneyland does wonders to cure sibling rivalry. Our kids were amazingly well behaved the whole time, except for Joshua being fussy at times.

On our break day from the parks, Kimberly and I took Carter and Joshua for a walk around the neighborhood. Joshua was not thrilled about going, but within a few minutes...


the two cousins had fallen asleep holding hands! Awww! We'll have to remind them of this moment ten years from now.

Elizabeth and Matthew on Jumpin' Jellyfish.

Matthew fighting Darth Vader! Sorry these pictures aren't that great. We don't get much zoom on our camera.

Matthew on the teacups

The most memorable moment of all: getting to take a picture with Mickey!

The last time Rachel went to Disneyland, she was six months old, so everything was so new and exciting for her. But she had seen a few videos of Disneyland ride-throughs on YouTube, so she had preselected her favorite ride: "the whale's mouth" (Storybookland Canal Boats). Taking her on it was so magical. It's a very charming ride anyway, featuring miniature settings from Disney movies amid miniature plants.

Emma on King Arthur's carousel

Rachel

We all got to experience a ride none of us had been on before: the Sailing Ship Columbia. Every other time we've gone, the Mark Twain Riverboat was going around the Rivers of America instead. The kids had so much fun exploring above deck and below. Joshua tried to take a nap in the meantime (naps presented an interesting challenge at the park!).

Emma at the wheel

At a cottage in Fantasyland

Joshua and Brent waiting to enter the spooky depths of the Haunted Mansion (Brent's personal favorite ride)

Just before entering the park on the first day (sorry these pictures uploaded out of order)