Emma & Reese Mary Poppins Dance Concert

Emma and Reese have been in the same classes at the same studio this year. They do ballet and modern together and have had a lot of fun doing that. I am glad they get along so well. They also take modern with their friend in the cul-de-sac, Autumn. They did so well at their concert, Mary Poppins. It's fun to see them learn and grow.

Nora Boo Turns 4! Tea Party Fun!

Nora turned 4 years old! We love our sweet, darling girl so much. This year she wanted to have a tea party and paint nails for her birthday. We threw in a piñata just for fun :). She invited Caroline and Sarah and cousins Andie and Sophie and Grandma and Aunt Stephanie. It may have been the quietest birthday party on the face of the planet :).  She had a good time!

Some fun things about Nora:
*Nora is obsessed with elephants and finally got her very own elephant stuffed animal for her birthday.
*She can definitely play pretend like no one else. And if she thinks she's alone she will belt out songs that she makes up and it's so cute.
*Nora's best friend is Reese and since they spend so much time together I imagine when Reese is in full-day school in the fall, it will be hard on her.
*She still snores like crazy and her tonsils have not gotten any smaller. She will probably have surgery when she is 5 unless things have gotten better by then.
*She LOVES to have one-on-one time with mom or dad and loves to play board games (especially Candy Land) or go swimming for dates.
*Lately Nora loves to call me "munca"...not sure why but it's pretty funny.
*She is still very tender-hearted and wouldn't hurt a fly. She puts up a lot with Lucy as her younger sister, but she is very patient and loving with her.

New Years in Arizona & Ashur's Baptism

We spent the first week of the New Year in Arizona and it was perhaps one of my favorite times being down there with everyone. On the way down we decided to stop in St. George and make it a fun little trip for our family. And the fact that Lucy has changed the way we travel. We used to drive through the night but she would just scream and cry all night and make it miserable on the whole family. So staying in St. George made it seem more bearable! The girls were SO excited to stay in a hotel and go swimming! We ate at the Black Bear Diner (which was delicious!) and went to my Great Great grandpa and grandma Bleak's grave sites and home. WE also visited the temple visitor's center. The girls favorite part was definitely the swimming. My favorite part was that Lucy actually slept through the night (after crying for over an hour to get to sleep).

Proof that Lucy actually took a nap in the car....what???!!! That never happens.

We had a BLAST in Arizona this time around. All adults had off work and all kids had off school and we played HARD!!! We shot bows and arrows and guns (adults did), went to the zoo, guys went hunting, went to the Mesa temple, saw Ferdinand, and flew in an antique WWII open cockpit airplane. It was such a fun trip! The kids had so much fun together and never got sick of each other even after a whole week. 

Then the last day we were there was Ashur's baptism. We are proud of his decision to get baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful week!