February Little Things

Sundays are always a struggle as to how to entertain different than the TV for the sabbath day.  The kids decided to set up a salon for me and Lincoln and Ella but she didn't want to do it so Grace got to soak a little differently. :)  

it was pretty great treatment getting our feet done and having a special drink.

Our makeup was a little crazy.  Molly was a unicorn, Alissa a buttefly, me - earth, Ella a fish and Lincoln just let them do his hair.

We have had so many friends over and late nights since moving and we are loving it.  Molly and her friend Kimmi dressed up as matchies and made some cookies.  It was pretty cute.

The girls got to go sledding with our new activity days group at Freeman park.

The girls made Valentines again, I didn't get a picture of Alissa's by molly did Airheads and Alissa did otter pops.  They both spent a lot of time making the perfect Valentine box and Molly's class had a competition, which she won Most Creative.  She was pretty pleased about that. 

I got to make cookies with these cuties one day. 

Learning how to be messy...

We had a combined FHE at my house in February and decorated a lot of cookies and delivered them for Valentines Day.  The kids had a lot of fun.

I had a pretty great birthday with a trip to the temple with my sweet Ella, watching Molly play basketball, eating Johnny Carinos, taking a little nap and a beautiful necklace Dustin gave me of a nest with 5eggs representing my babies.  Alissa went to a choir clinic and these cute girls text me this picture for my birthday too.

We spent a few days making forts and sleeping in them. 

Lunch with the kids. 

One evening they were playing doctor and they were doing "surgery".  They had the weighted blanket like from the dentist and had found a chip clamp and they taped it to a phone charging cord and used it as their oxygen tester.  I love how creative they are when they play!

Skiing

These girls just love skiing.  Ella saved her money and was able to pay half of a season pass to Kelly Canyon for this upcoming year so she can go with her friends whenever she wants.  She is pretty excited about that.  Alissa went and skiied with her the other day.  They never think to take their own pictures so I got one before I left.  So blessed!

Toothless

Lincoln pulled his front tooth out and was feeling so self conscious about it so we pulled some pictures out of his sisters when they were toothless too.  Such cuties!  I love these kids!

Shakespeare Goes to Gravel Gulch

Ella loves drama and musicals and being on the stage.  One of her dear friends, Mykl knows that and realized they were short some cast for the melodrama and recruited Ella to join as "Cheerful" an apprentice to the unknowing bad guy.  She had so much fun being a part of it and it was a good experience for her.  

A few young women came out to watch her and another girl from our ward and also a picture of her and her good friend Hailey. ♥

Eternal Family

So few experiences in my life have been as powerful and spiritual as the experience was in the temple today.  After waiting 61 years for an eternal family, grandma Bateman was able to kneel across the altar from grandpa (Jeremy was proxy for him) and be sealed for eternity.  Then watching Jay, Curtis, Mom & Jed (dad played proxy for him) also kneel with the two of them and be sealed as an eternal family my heart was completely full of love and gratitude for my Savior Jesus Christ.  He made this possible.  Lastly, I was able to be a witness to the sealing of grandpa Bateman to his parents and it was again a very powerful experience that I was so grateful to be a part of.

I was anxious for days for this moment.  I had thought so much about growing up and hearing my mom talk about how her family wasn't sealed.  I had grown up and most recently heard grandma talking about how she felt like she didn't' belong to a family.  I can't imagine the heartache of losing a spouse without being sealed.  I was imagining the break in the family chain and so thankful that link was finally sealed shut.  We are all together now, for eternity.

The gospel is such an important part of my life.  I came home and made my family come in for a group hug with Dustin's arms wrapped around all of us.  Truly thankful for my eternal family!!

Happy Birthday Alissa!

Sadly Alissa was sick with Influenza B for her birthday party this year.  We were grateful she felt better on Saturday to go sledding with her friend Lia.  We took them up by Kelly Canyon to the tube run and it was a hit!  They had so much fun sledding!!

I pulled Gracie around on the tube and she had just a fantastic time chilling in the tube and watching the kids.  When the kids are happy, mom is happy. 

She was able to have her friends over for a late night the upcoming week.  They did face masks, fingernails, decorated cupcakes and ate her favorite meal of chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes & corn.

Kennedee, Ashlynn, Alissa & Hadlie - what a group of crazy girls!

Alissa is an amazing daughter.  She has so many gifts and talents and does pretty well to act on them.  She is so organized and has a calendar on her mirror she writes on every evening, has all her clothes neatly folded in her drawers and organized by color or pattern.  She is a great friend and does well to get along with a lot of kids.  

She does still struggle a bit with being slow, but is making huge improvements on speeding it up which is a BLESSING!!  She is also super stubborn which can certainly be a blessing and a curse.  

She is always my go to girl anytime I need something done I know I can ask her and she will agree.  I know I can trust her to get it done too.  She does so well to help me with her younger siblings and takes good care of them.

She is smart and has straight A grades.  Doesn't struggle with much of anything besides a lack of desire to read but she will still make sure she hits those reading goals.  I love her determination.  She is still part of the GATE program (gifted and talented) and goes every Monday.  

Right now she is in gymnastics and is starting volleyball.  She told me she doesn't like to be involved in too many things becuase she needs to leave time for play dates. :)  Love this girl so much and am so thankful she's a part of our family!

Girls Night @ Hilton

I have been bugging mom for years to have a girls night sometime during Christmas break with these cute girls.  I'm glad we could finally make it happen this year.  We met up for dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe and then went to the hotel where we played a game that Kourtney made in Activity Days, did face masks and swam.  These girls love each other so much! So glad we could have this fun time together.

Happy New Years!

We are so happy we could celebrate New Years in our new home with our very best friends Mike & Farrah and a surprise visit from our cousin Mak!  We had fun playing games and hanging out together.  This is going to be a fantastic year!!