Snowbird!

Aw, the blog. Where has the time gone? My high hopes of staying on top of it have been dashed. I think about it a lot and then see my book sitting on the hot chocolate table and the book wins out almost every time. But, today is the day! April brings with it, Snowbird. I used to love going to Snowbird. It was so fun to go up there and stay in the room whilst the skiers were skiing. I would talk with fellow non-skiers. Then kid number one came and it was still fun. Kid number two came and it was less fun, but still a good time. Then we moved away and couldn't go and I really missed being there. We moved closer and were able to go with kids one, two and three and I started to feel like it wasn't as fun as I remembered. The skiers still had a great time but the non skier club numbers fell drastically and trying to keep three littles entertained for four and a half days in a room the size of a hotel suite wasn't so fun. The half day that the littles went skiing was fun because I got to watch them ski. But when you aren't a skier and almost every game in the game room costs money so we blow through our game room budget like a tornado in a trailer park, you run out of things to do pretty quick. This year we got to take four kids to Snowbird. I did offer to just stay home with the youngest offspring whilst B took the three oldest. That way they could go skiing, I could stay home and take care of A and read. B said no way Jose',so to Snowbird we went. Now, lest you get the wrong idea, I love spending time with family. I love when everyone's done skiing for the day and the tinies  are in bed and the rest of us stay up way too late playing games and laughing too loud. I love watching our three oldest get better at skiing and realizing that they truly love the sport. B LOVES Snowbird and was so happy to go. We were so happy that B and S were going to be there with their two young ones. We were so happy that J and M were going to be there with their in utero one . Having mom there is a constant and we were so happy that she was going to be there. Even G was going to be there with K, the boy and K the girl. It was bound to be a party!

  Before we drove up the canyon we were able to meet my little sister's baby, K. K is on the left and is three weeks older than A. I love that they're holding hands. It was so good to see G, J and A and meet their second little one. I wish I had remembered to bring A's blessing dress then we could have gotten a picture of both of them in the dresses that my mom made for them. Nuts!

We got up to Snowbird on Saturday and unpacked everthing. Sunday was full of going to the game room and hanging out with the folks that needed to leave Sunday to be to work and school on Monday. Little B's favorite thing to do was play air hockey. He would play with anyone that told him yes. As soon as the game would end, he ran to find someone else to play with.

 First he played with B

 Next he played with B.J.

 Then he wanted to play with D

Then grandma agreed to play with him. I love their faces in this one. Even K is happy that little B just scored a point!

B was able to get a game of pool in with G. Notice in the background that little B found someone else to play air hockey with 😊

I love baby carrier things. A was content to just hang out with me while I almost wasted B in ping pong!

 K loved playing ping pong and grandma was happy to oblige. 

Look at that! M managed to play air hockey with someone other than little B!

When he wasn't playing air hockey, little B loved jumping from log to log.

After the game room we went back to the room where a grueling plank contest ensued. M here was too stubborn to lose to a girl so after two minutes I let him win.😉

After the plank contest was over these three crazy boys did push ups. 50 to be exact. I think they're nuts!

He loved walking around with ski boots on. He knew he couldn't wear them in the game room or to the pool, but other than those two places, he wore ski boots.

 Sleeping arrangements worked out pretty good. This little lady doesn't take up much space. We just slid her little bassinet thing under the counter and she slept like a champ. It slid back far enough that she was in the dark but for the picture we slid her out a little so we could see her face.

Little B loved sleeping in the chairs that were pushed together. He would fall asleep there as long as we agreed to move him to the couch bed with M and K when they went to bed so he could sleep with them.

On Monday morning, B took K and they went skiing just the two of them. K had a great time being with just B.

I asked B to take pictures of K skiing. This is the one and only picture that got taken. They said they were too busy skiing to remember to take more than one picture.

Tuesday was the day that B took the three big kids and went skiing. They loved it! Little B was very excited to learn to ski without ropes holding him back. 

He did it and loved it! B took a video of him skiing without ropes and in the video B asks little B if he's having fun. The little fella yells"Yeah!" It's so so awesome to watch this little human ski without help.

They said they needed to take a break and sat down in the snow.

Wednesday was the day that B took M and K on the big hills. This was the first time that they had been to real mountains to do the really big hills. They went skiing in Washington in March but Utah mountains are a lot bigger than the little hill they went on in Washington. They were so excited to go with just B. They started on green runs, which are the easiest ones and decided that they were too easy and they were ready to try the blues.

 They are pointing to the bananas run sign. That's the run they were going to try and they were so excited!

They loved it and they did a great job! Last year when we told them that they were going to do ski school, both of them whined and said they didn't want to go. B didn't give them a choice and now they love it and are so happy that they know how to ski.

 Thursday was the no skiing day. To the pool we went! Well, I designated myself the picture taker and opted out of the outdoor pool swimming experience. The snow on the ground may or may not have had something to do with us needing a designated picture taker.

The pool is heated and this little lady loved it! She got a lot of attention with her sunnies and her huge smiles. 

These people are my favorite people on the planet! It's so weird to me that I went most of my life without them and was a happy, relatively high functioning person. But, now that these folks are part of my life, I can't imagine a happy life without them. They are my entire world and I love them so much!

Finally! On Friday B was able to ski with his peeps! He was able to go at a good speed on runs that were a little more difficult. He loves taking our offspring skiing. He loves watching them improve and fall in love with the sport. But, skiing with his mom and his siblings is probably his favorite part of Snowbird. This year the numbers were small because neither M or J could go and they usually do. M had to work and J is pregers so her little hubby said no way. B said they had a great time skiing and wish they all could have been there. 

This young lass turned 3 months old whilst we were at Snowbird. Those are still newborn clothes that she has on. She's tiny and so loud and we're all totally enamored with her.

On Saturday we got to meet M and R's baby, R. She is almost two months younger than A. We loved meeting her and being able to visit with M and R and their kids since they weren't able to come to Snowbird. The visit to Utah was so fun and we made a lot of great memories. We are so thankful that we're close enough to family to visit so often during the year and can't wait for the summer so we can see them again!

Spring Break

Spring break came and with it, three of my sister's and most of their offspring! I was so excited that they wanted to come see us! There was a whole lot of cheering when I told M and K that we were having company for spring break.

My amazing sister, S, brought glow sticks and we made this awesome sign with them.

We had a dance party with them too. We danced long and hard. Hard enough that it got really hot in our house. 

We played a round of, left, right, center.

We looked at photo albums and braided hair. Can I just say that after everyone left, the amount of hair we found on the floor from having so many ladies here was nuts! I wish I had kept the hair because we could have made a loooong, fat rope out of it and stored said rope to use in emergencies. Like, escaping from a ten story building that was on fire.

We played on the trampoline. Well, I didn't, I would have peed my pants, but the kiddos had a really good time jumping around. 

We worked out and even convinced four of the little ladies to do it with us. I moved from next to the couch to behind sister, S. Man! She is so toned! I kept staring at her back and shoulders and thinking that she looks a-mazing. I'll just say that I was happy to have sleeves on my shirt. Anyway, the littles did the entire workout with us and it wasn't an easy one. I was so impressed with them for busting it out with us.

We went to the park and did cartwheels. I won't tell you how many times it took us doing cartwheels in order to get this awesome picture. Just know that it was long enough that the number of people who started doing it, slowly dwindled. Maybe it wasn't because it was taking a long time, maybe it was because we didn't line up right and someone got taken out. 😉

She wanted to know if she could do an elbow stand. She tried it and can do it. Awesome!

He was showing me that he can pull himself up to climb between the bars. He hangs upside down and then pulls himself up with his abs. He can stop halfway up and just hold himself there. He knows he had amazing abs and has heard probably close to one million times to be humble. To which he responds,"I know, but do most kids my age have abs as strong as mine? I mean, do they have a six pack like me? Can I get a 10 pack?" We try not to add to his ego, but, I think it's so cool that he can hold himself up like this that I had to take a picture.

There were little bodies all over our family room. I loved it! All the kids played and hung out so well together. I love my sister's so much and I am so thankful that three of them were able to come. I so wish that all of them could have come. We talked until way too late, tried wall twerking(which is A LOT harder than it looks.) ate cookie dough and went to lunch in B's sexy truck. It was a fabulous few days that went by way too fast. We can't wait for it to happen again!

Mommy wow, I'm a big kid now!

First of all, what's not to love about this picture?! Little B and his friend, I, are pretty hysterical together. I calls little B his brother and tells his mom that he needs to go see his brother whenever he wants to come play. Today was one of those glorious days that they were able to play together. We were sitting on the living room floor and he asked little B and I if we ever watch Scooby-Doo.  He said that he watches them and really likes them because they're super funny. Little B sat there very thoughtfully for a few seconds and then said,"When I was a kid I watched them too and liked them." Yeah, because he's 40 and not 4. Anyway, we talked for a few more minutes about falling out of trucks at our grandma's houses, landing on our faces and crying because it hurts a lot. They ran off to play and I started cleaning something in the kitchen. As I listened to them play I was thinking about when I was little and my older siblings would have friends over to play. I wanted to play with them too and would follow them around the house. Of course my sister's didn't love me hanging around and I would hear,"Stop following us!" I would often wonder how my mom didn't stop what she was doing and follow them around too. I really thought that she must have had so much self control to just leave them alone. I couldn't imagine not wanting to hang out with my older and much cooler sister's and their friends. I made a BIG discovery today as I stood in the kitchen. I had zero desire to follow these two little fellas around. My mom must not have needed to use any self control. The thought of following M or K and their friends around does not sound fun to me. I am so so happy to report that although I may not have graduated from wearing a training bra yet, I am big enough that following people and their friends around our house doesn't sound as fun as it used to.

Let's hit the slopes

I know, I know, I'm way behind on this here blog. The thing is, I would waaaaay rather read my book than update the blog. But, my life is run by guilt and I feel guilty that it's been so long. This here skiing adventure actually took place the first week in March but, we still talk about it fairly often. When grandma B came up for A's blessing, she stayed for the week. B saw it as a perfect opportunity to take the offspring skiing. M and K are pretty good and don't really need a lot of help, but they can't go off by themselves. Little B was still learning and so he needed someone to help him. B didn't feel like he could take all three alone. Grandma happily came to the rescue. I don't ski, unless you call careening down the mountain side whilst yelling for everyone to move out of your way and taking out a skiing instructor helping a very small child, skiing. It's in everyone's best interest that I stay home and take care of the baby.

This was how all three of the littles felt about going skiing. Not only did they get to miss school, they also got to ride in the truck! B LOVES his truck and doesn't like to drive it a lot because it might get dirty. True statement. I used to only compete with BYU football but, the truck moved in and I have fallen in ranking yet again. 😊 The skis had to get to the mountain somehow so the truck came out of hiding and they got to ride in it. Best. Day. Ever!

We spent so much time the night before making sure that the kiddos had everything they would need. B says that skiing when you're cold is the worst so we sent more clothing than they needed knowing that they could take it off if they got too warm. They got there and started getting all their stuff on and that's when B realized that he had forgotten his ski pants. Oops! Thankfully it was warm enough that his sexy tights and shorts were good enough. 

We have the best grandma in the world. She hurt her knees a few weeks before she came to our house and even though they were still hurting her, she went skiing. The kids loved being able to spend so much time with her.

As they were eating lunch, M couldn't find her turkey that she had packed for her lunch. She eats the bread plain and then the turkey because she's weird. Well, she ate her bread but couldn't find her turkey. When she saw the picture and noticed the turkey on her shoe, she laughed pretty hard. She may or may not have picked it off her shoe and eaten it. 

I am so proud of these little people. They all love to ski and that makes B's heart almost burst with happiness. M and K are getting really good and are excited about skiing on the big hills at Snowbird and little B likes to tell anyone that'll listen that he can ski.

Boys

Look at this face.

He's pretty cute right? Thanks! I think so too. Well, yesterday I was going to look at something on the iPad just real quick like. I pushed the button at the bottom and the color was all wonky. Now, I am not ashamed to say that I have no clue about most technology. I don't know how to do very much on these newfangled contraptions. I knew by looking at the iPad that the color was off so I went to the settings thing and looked for color fix-it option. It wasn't on the list in settings. I sat there totally stumped as how to fix it. I looked up and saw little B playing with some cars on the hot chocolate table. Two things: first, I know you were shocked to read that one of our boys was playing with cars. They just love them! Truthfully this one doesn't love them as much as K loves them but he still likes them. Next, we have called it a hot chocolate table for so long, like since B and I got one right after we got married, that I forget that the rest of the world calls it a coffee table. We call it a hot chocolate table because we drink hot chocolate, not coffee. Anyway, so little B was playing with cars and I asked him if he knew how to fix the color on the iPad. He stood up, walked over to me and and said, "yeah, you just push this button three times." I pushed the button three times with no result. He took the iPad from me and said,"here, let me do it." He did it and it magically fixed the color. He handed it back to me and said,"there you go mommy!" I sat there in stunned silence. It's crazy that I knew he would know how to fix it and that he carried out the instructions after I didn't do it right. It's just the time he lives in right?

  The other month really we were all sitting around on a Sunday afternoon and B asked M and K if they could go anywhere in the world, where would they go. M didn't even hesitate,"Paris, London, Hawaii, Greenland, Iceland, China Antarctica, Africa." Once she stopped to take a breath  I told her she better marry someone rich so that they can travel the world together. K said, "Hawaii so I can go swimming." We told him there were a lot of places a lot closer than Hawaii where he could go swimming. He said he knew that but, wanted to swim in Hawaii. Then he said that he wanted to go to China. M got all Huffy and said,"You only said China because I said China." Of course he denied it so B asked him why he wanted to go to China. K sighed a mighty sigh, like he was trying to explain something so simple to complete idiots,  and put his head in his hand. When he looked up at us he said,"because, I want to learn Spanish!" Because that makes perfect sense. B and I about died laughing! Oh how I love our kids and their brains and the funny things they say!

Blessing day

 This little lady got blessed a few weeks ago. I love that we live closer to family, however, I hate that we're still far enough away that coming to our house can't be a weekend vacation. The only people that were able to come to her blessing were our mom's. Having them come was awesome but my heart was sad that there were no brothers or brothers-in-law to stand in the circle. Not saying that I want a huge circle, I don't. But I love when family is able to come for any reason really but, especially things like blessings. Annnnyway, the blessing was so so good! Some of the things B told her in her blessing were that she has been blessed with a strong, loving personality, even before she was born and that will continue throughout her life. He also told her that there are loved ones beyond the veil that love her and are cheering her on. He said that as she stays close to the Savior that she will be able to recognize the temptations of Satan and be able to overcome them. I love baby blessings! I think they are so special. As B was finishing the blessing I wondered if my dad was there. Almost as soon as I thought it, I felt him so strongly. B told me later that he felt his dad and his younger brother there too. I love that first of all we have the knowledge that death is not the end, and that even though people  beyond the veil are so busy, they still come around. I am missing my dad a lot today. I love knowing that he came to her blessing and that he is still aware of what is going on in our lives.

We had to take a picture of A with my mom. My mom is so talented and she made her blessing dress. My little sister had a baby in December and my mom made her baby a matching blessing dress. I told her that she should sell them on Etsy. A lady in our ward stopped us to look at the dress and agreed that she should sell them. I love that it's so simple. I am not one for frills and lace and so this dress was perfect. To quote my beautiful sister in law, "I can't believe she was conceived, it's inconceivable!" We concur completely, she is our miracle baby and we all love her and are so thankful that she came to our family.

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