50th

My parents both turn 50 within a couple weeks of each other so we had a combined 50th birthday celebration for them last Saturday, followed by a celebration of my Grandma Lyla's 75th birthday. Happy Birthday, Grandma!
My sister, Amanda, had the idea of how exactly we should celebrate our parents turning 50. Her idea was simple but brilliant. We would be spending the day in a way none of us had since the oldest, Emily, got married, which was 8 years ago. The idea: all of the kids (me and my siblings) would just hang out with our parents all day just like in the old days before we became grown-ups (without spouses or kids--eventhough I hate to leave my babies and my Clay behind, but we all agreed that it would be fun to kind of pretend it was just the 8 of us again.) We had such a great time together! We started the day with breakfast at Mimi's.

Then we went bowling. My dad was definitely the strongest player, with Mikey and Amanda not too far behind. I did so poorly that for the second game, I tried switching hands to see if that would help. It didn't.

After bowling, we went back to my parents house to play our favorite card game, spoons, plus some others. There were moments of laughing so hard that I cried (e.g. when soda came out of Amanda's nose, when my mom was caught hiding some cards under the table). We also did some singing round the piano. It was fantastic.
Next, we went to Mikey's basketball game. Here are all the girls (in order I might add) Emily, Amy, Amanda, Stephanie, and Katie (with my mom in back). The game was neck and neck and Mikey made some great shots. In the end, they lost in overtime. (Despite how the picture looks, we weren't the only ones in attendence;) After the game it was time to head over to my Grandma's for her party. It was such a wonderful day!

Me and Emily

Mikey, Steph, Katie

Talent Show

Cole recently participated in his school's talent show. He sang "I Just Can't Wait to be King". He used a parrot that attaches to his wrist (from a pirate costume) to be Zazu so that he could sing both Simba's part and Zazu's. I was constantly reminding him of the same 3 things to remember when he performs:
1. Sing LOUD!
2. Look HAPPY and
3. Don't FIDDLE with your clothes.
When it was show time, he remebered all 3 things and did a great job! We video-taped it and hopefully I can upload it at some point.

Feeling good after the performance.

I was so impressed with the older kids in the show. They really took the little ones under their wings and made them feel like stars. After the show, they were all asking for pictures with Cole. Cole and I were both just soaking it up.

100th day

For Cole's 100th day of kindergarten everyone had to bring in a display of 100 things. Cole and I decided to make a parking lot with 100 Hot Wheels.

I got to help in Cole's class that day which was so fun. They did all kinds of 100 day activities and made "derdnuh" (hundred backwards)which was a funny version of trail mix with 10 pieces of 10 different ingredients. The kids also got a visit from Zero the Hero. It was a great day!

A Wedding

On February 12, Clay's youngest bother, Mark, was married to our new sister-in-law, Corrine. We had a wonderful time being at the temple and getting to see how happy they both were.


Cole hugging the bride.



Cole was so excited to see his cousin, Sage, who flew many miles to see the wedding.

A Call I Hear

Back at the beginning of the year I was called to be the primary chorister. I have loved having this calling, in fact, I have never loved a calling so much. I really can't even put into words how much joy it brings to my soul. It just...inspires me! I love the songs in the children's songbook and I love singing them with the kids. I hope they keep me around for a long time. I get so excited for Sundays and I just get so giddy every time I think about singing time. I love, love, love it!

For my own benefit, in case I get this calling again in the future, I've started another blog to keep track of ideas and teaching plans for each week. So if you ever find yourself bored, there's a link to it on the sidebar (Sing Me a Song).

Hide and Seek

I found them! Here are the boys hiding from me (they like to pretend I'm a witch trying to bake them) inside a tent inside Luke's pack n play.

Homework

For the last few weeks, whenever Cole is working on homework, Luke insists on working on homework too. So we bring him a paper, preferably one that looks very authentic and official, and a pencil. Then he scribbles away and loves for us to praise his work.


I love how he holds the pencil just right.