Monday, June 11, 2018

Fun with Colby

We always love it when Becca, Preston, and Colby can come down to visit.  They came down at the end of May and although Preston was in Hawaii for a conference for most of the trip, we were able to have lots of fun with Becca and Colby.  


Pullen Park is always a must.  It's really the park from my childhood and the kids are at the perfect age where it's magical.


Since Ella was a small baby she always made these really feminine movements with her arms and we called them her "ballet arms."  My mom kept saying, "She's going to be a dancer," and I just laughed it off thinking that it was just a baby phase.  But she never stopped doing her ballet arms and she does them every single time she goes on a carousel for whatever reason.  So we all know to keep an eye on her whenever she gets on one.  My mom took this video.

Skyler deals with a lot of anxiety.  One of the things that has been hard for him to overcome is his fear of carousels.  He didn't struggle with any of the rides at the fair, but carousels?  They freak him out.  But that day he told me he was going to get on it and ride one of the horses that actually went up and down.  And he did it!  I was proud of him.


Cute Colby and Becca

This high quality photo from my phone of a moving carousel.  Whew.  So good!  Figures, this is the one time I get a picture of Thad's natural smile...

While everyone went on the train, Ivy and I sat on a bench and cuddled while she napped.  This sweet baby has to be swaddled no matter how hot it is and so I have to bring a thin blanket with me everywhere.  

The kids had a water balloon fight at our house.  It took them literally five minutes to get through 175 balloons.  After the fight we went to the pool to go swimming and 10 minutes after we arrived a big rainstorm hit with thunder and lightning and we had to get out of there.  We came home more soaked from the rain than from the pool.  It was an adventure, that's for sure.



And this was when it all ended and I had to pull out the, "You don't ever throw a water balloon at me when I'm holding a camera," talk.

Playing in the sprinkler at Nanni and Papa's.  I think they had more fun trying to catch water with cups and buckets than they did actually running around and playing in the water.



As always it's sad when we have to say goodbye to family, but luckily they'll be moving even closer to us in less than a month!  Instead of a six hour drive it will only be three!  We can't wait to visit them in their new home in Virginia!

Saturday, June 9, 2018

Mother's Day

My first Mother's Day as a mom of five.  After a night of feeding Ivy, Ben let me sleep in until noon.  Let me repeat that.  I slept in until NOON.  Has that ever happened to me in motherhood?  Nope.  Has that ever happened to me before motherhood?  Nope.  It was the first (and only) time I've ever had to hurry to get ready for 2:00 church.  

My parents came to church with us that day and got to see the kids sing.  I took this picture of my mom holding Ivy during Relief Society.  Aren't newborn poses just the best?

The guy who made my day so special.  I love him so much.  

Ella's Ballet Recital


This beautiful girl finished her second year of dance.  This year she took a ballet/tap class so she had two pieces in the recital.  We loved seeing her perform.  She had the best smile through the whole performance and she was so proud of herself for knowing the moves well enough that she didn't have to peek at her teacher behind the curtain.


After her recital finished we went to have dinner at Olive Garden but when the wait was over 2 hours we opted to go to informal Freddy's instead.  The kids had just as much fun.



It was another great year with Ms. Carrie.  I'm so grateful to have her awesome example in my girls' lives.