Weekend in Btown & General Conference

 It was fun to finally be back at my parents house in bountiful! I have been there in a year and a half, but yet seemed like we had been there recently. The kids had a great time playing with toys, and I had fun catching up with my mom. we went there because it was online Friday for my kids and so they are able to get their stuff done early and go do other things. We went sledding there and as we were getting off the freeway Nora asked me “mom, are you sure we’re going to be able to sled?” I looked around there was literally no snow, but I said “Nora, just wait for five more minutes till we get up the mountain.” And sure enough when we got up there, there was still a foot and a half of snow at grandma and grandpa‘s house! 

Then on Sunday morning, I was able to take Rees and Nora with me to the conference center in Salt Lake City. It was so neat to be able to be there again since it had been many years. Then we went to their house for the rest of the day, and had dinner with the cousins and family. 

Lamb of God Production

 This was my third year, doing the Lamb Of god production with witness music. I had an amazing time being a part of this production, but this year I got to be one of the narrators in addition to doing the choir. I absolutely love the spoken, Word, and being a narrator, was such a neat thing to be able to be a part of this year! I met some new people got to know Shane Mickelsen a lot better, as well as his wife and some others. I’m grateful for my experience and grateful for the spiritual boost that it gives me. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ so much, and I’m grateful for the gifts and abilities he has given to me and also grateful for Cade for allowing me to share my talents with others. 

Lucy's Hair Chopped

 Lucy was SO excited to chop her hair off and surprise everyone. I had an appointment scheduled and she really did keep it a secret from all of her family and friends. She was so excited for a big change. 

St. Patrick's Day Fun

 Our plans changed last minute. We had invited the Bleak's (Bryan and Jennie's family) over for St. Patrick's Day dinner but Andie ended up having an important event so we postponed. It ended up being really good that we postponed because we ended up having the stomach flu that went around the family 😳. So happy we didn't pass it on. But we still had fun with our traditional green dinner and treasure hunt. 

Gma and Gpa Bleak Get Home from Hawaii!!

 And just like that they're back! Eighteen months later and they're back from Hawaii. It's great to have them home and now it seems like their mission went quite fast. My mom said that the transition home has been quite easy mostly because they lived in a dump before with no AC, terrible beds, and no dishwasher or kitchen space to cook in...so their mansion in Bountiful has been very comfortable to transition to :). A lot of the people they loved and knew there are also not in Hawaii anymore and so that makes it easier to be home too. They've gotten together with a bunch of missionaries from their mission since they've been home. 

It was fun dressing up in Hawaii clothes and waiting for them at the airport. At least the dressing up made it exciting for my girls. We are excited to have them home and spend more time with them. 

Valentine's LOVE Dinner

 Our annual family love dinner was fun as usual. I really look forward to these fun family dinner traditions to go along with the holidays. It is just a tiny bit more effort than usual dinner but makes it so much more fun and special. 

Nora and Reese had a fabulous time being creative with their valentines boxes. I made the outside form and they painted and decorated and glued and loved the end product. 

Lucy had her Q and U wedding in 1st grade and got to dress up for that. 

One of our favorite traditions is opening our Valentines notes in our envelope. I love all the notes I get from my family. 

These two have become such good friends lately. I love how they interact with each other...of course as I write this they are screaming at each other...and now they are giggling like crazy. They are so fun. 

Lu Lu's 7th Birthday

 

Our spunky girl turned 7 years old on Feb 11th! She had been counting down almost since Christmas. In the morning she opened her gifts and chose to have Sophie's family over for spaghetti and ice cream and cupcakes. I'm not sure if she was more excited for her birthday gifts or for playing with Sophie :). 

Lucy got to bring a show n tell to her class and chose to bring her bunny, Socks. 

For her birthday parent date she decided to go swimming (no surprise there :)) and we ate some food at Cubby's because they had a hot dog for her. This girl LOVES to swim!!! We had a wonderful time spending time with just our Lu Lu. 

A few other things about Lucy...

She LOVES to be social and friends mean a lot to her. She runs around to everyones homes after school finding a friend to play with or I often set up playdates with school friends. She has been taking tumbling now for about 4-5 months and loves to do hand stands ALL DAY LONG. She constantly says "mom! Watch this!" and does a hand stand. She's getting really good at them already. Lucy learned how to ride a bike last month (she mostly learned last summer but now can start and stop by herself). She is full of energy and song and movement and we love her for it!