It's Summer Time

The best part about being in TX for the summer, is living (somewhat) close to my parents and Cherry's family again. It's not as close as we were last year, but a 2 hour drive is a lot closer than a 2 day drive! The girls and I drove out to Keller and stayed a few days at my parents house. The weather this time of year is just beautiful at least in Texas it is so my mom and I took the kids to the park!

I just love Makenzie's face in this picture...deep concentration yet complete satisfaction that she made it accross.

And Max, the cute little stud, going across too!

After dinner, Grandpa got out the kites and let the kids have a go.

Sisterly Love

I love to see how much Kaitlyn and Makenzie LOVE Heidi! They love to 'help' me take care of her, always getting me diapers, blankets, burp cloths, pacifiers, and sharing their favorite things with her. It was so cute to see that they had tucked her in with Makenzie's favorite doll and Kaitlyn's favorite blanket.
I wonder how long this willingness to share their favorite things will last

Heidi's Blessing

So our very first day at our new ward here in Tyler we blessed Heidi. Dan had gotten in contact with the bishop here and got it all arranged. Dan's parents were originally going to be able to make it out here for it, but things didn't work out, so it just ended up being my parents, Cherry and her kids, and Joseph. I'm so grateful that they were all able to make it (especially since Mom, Dad, & Cherry had to drive 4 hrs) I'm also grateful that we made it to church on time. Dan got there early, but I literally walked in (with Heidi) just minutes before the blessing.

All the kids


Mom, Me, & Cherry


Dad, Dan, & Joseph

Heading out to Tyler, Texas

Ever since we've had kids, Dan has always driven out by himself for the summer and I got fly out with the kids. But this summer we decided it made more sense to drive out all together. Our deal was that he got to drive the whole way and I got to deal with the kids. I think we were both pretty happy with that arrangement.

The girls started out happy and hyper.

Then about an hour into the drive Makenzie started complaining that her tummy hurt. I thought she was just hungry since she didn't really eat breakfast but a few minutes later...yup she up chucked. Luckily she was holding a cardboard book in her lap so most of it landed there and all over her shirt. So after a quick stop on the side of the road to change her clothes and wipe off the book we were back on our way. And shortly after that we had some quiet in the back seat.

Yay for sleeping kids! at the same time too!!

After a lunch the girls enjoyed some coloring, and luckily Makenzie's tummy didn't bother her anymore.

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful...and all I have to say is thank goodness for the dvd player. We stayed the night at a hotel in Amarillo. Kaitlyn was soooooo funny, she gets excited about hotels everything in the room was just so awesome to her.

Day 2 - luckily was a much shorter drive! We all started out happy...


and ended like this...

My parents live on the way to Tyler so we stopped by their house on our way and dropped Kaitlyn and Makenzie off to stay for a few days so I can get all settled in.

Oh and Heidi was awesome, she just slept the whole time...seriously such an angel baby!

Provo Canyon

Since it was our last weekend in Utah before we left for the summer, Emily and I decided to meet up in Provo canyon to enjoy the day outdoors. The morning started out a little chilly, but as the day went on it warmed up quite a bit and it was a perfect beautiful day in the mountains. We had a little picnic and let the kids play at the park for a bit.

Clogging up the slide is always a hit
unless there's some other kid trying to go down the slide and their mom gets peaved

Then we decided to go out and walk the trail.

Luckily I brought my double stroller because we walked quite a ways and some of the kids began getting a little tired.

Ok well just mostly Makenzie

I carried her back the entire way, but in her defense when I took her boots off the poor little thing had blisters on her ankles.

And of course Heidi enjoyed her first day outdoors very much!

Afterwards we met back up at Emily's house with our husbands, Owen and Alyssa, and Sam and Katherine for a fun night of games. Thanks guys for a fun day...we'll sure miss you over the summer.

Easter

My cute little Easter bunnies!


We had such a great Easter this year. The girls had fun seeing what the Easter bunny gave them in their Easter baskets. The Easter Bunny has been pretty good about finding toys that the kids and adults find entertaining. First it was the floam/bounce catch, last year was "pin the fluff on the bunny", and this year...


We had a wonderful Easter morning and took it easy and enjoyed Conference from the comfort of our couches. Then we headed over to my Aunt Cathy's house for a wonderful Easter dinner. And we weren't about to let the SNOW stop us from enjoying an Easter egg hunt!


Kaitlyn, a.k.a. little miss competitive I wonder where she gets it from...DAN, was having so much fun. I could not get her to stand still for a picture.


On the other hand, Makenzie was completely content with her 7 eggs.


And I just love the intensity on Aaron and Jack's faces...no mercy from these boys!