Not twins, but almost.

I often get asked by strangers if these two are twins.  I made them stand back to back so I could get a picture of how close they are in height.  Alissa has 1" on her and Molly has at least 1 pound on Alissa.  Alissa steps right up to mothering her when Ella is gone and then goes with the flow when Ella is home.  Most generally with whatever Ella says.  They keep me busy.

 

 

Molly is messy.  She gets into everything but mostly food and crumbles muffins or breads, spills drinks, dumps things out and is so independant there is not too much I can do about it without putting up a pretty big fight.  We have a pantry lock specifically for this little girl.

 

However.. she is so happy and so easy going.  She is the most friendly and the most content of all my kids. 

 

Alissa has been demanding a lot more attention.  If I am occupied doing something she tries to sit on my lap or at my feet or on my back.. whatever she can access and BEG me to play Go Fish or Polly Pockets or whatever!!  She is generally pretty content other than wanting to do something with me all day.  I am always glad to have Ella home cause I get a little break while Ella plays with her. 

 

She has gotten so smart and knows all her letters and their sounds and can write most all of them.  She loves to sing and does some pretty awesome Barbie rockstar moves. :)

 

What an adventure, wouldn't you say?

Feeding the Ducks

In between conference sessions today I persuaded Dustin to come with me and the kids to feed the ducks and walk around the temple.  It was an item from our spring bucket list.

 

The kids had such a good time and believe it or not I think Dustin did too. :) 

 

We fed them frozen hamburger buns. 

 

Then enjoyed the peaceful feeling of being near the temple.  Ever since Ella was a little girl I made a big deal of touching the temple walls.  She had to go touch all the doors and walls.  I love it.  I love my little family.  They make this life so happy!  It's such a blessing to have healthy bodies and the means to go do fun things like this.  THIS is what life is all about... FAMILY.

Achievement Days?!

At church on Sunday I got handed a little invitation for Ella and her parents to attend and Achievement Days event.  Instantly I felt tears come to my eyes as I showed it to Dustin.  It is exciting to enter a new phase with kids getting older and yet so sad for me to remember that she was only 19" at one point. 

 

When we got home I got the measuring tape out to show her 19" and ask her how come she is now 50".  She just smiles and says, "I can't help it mom."  She loves growing up, just like I did when I was a little girl.

 

She got a little mirror that says Be YOU tiful and of course she brought home a balloon and an E (for Ella) that were both used for decoration that night. 

 

Only a few weeks and she turns 8 and will be baptized.  Such a blessing to be her mom!

Scout Recognition Award

We had the opportunity to attend a Scout recognition meeting this past week where Dustin's mom received an award for his dad. 

 

It was a neat event and we were glad to attend.  Dustin's brothers Brian and Kirk were able to be there as well as Cindy and I.

 

 

 

We have sure missed Grandpa David the last few months!  I stumbled upon these pictures tonight and made me miss him even more.  So grateful for our memories with him in the garden.

 

So grateful for his support of us getting through school.  I am grateful that the last time Dustin got a raise, he took his mom and dad out to dinner to tell them Thank You for all they did for him.  He will never regret that.

 

I am so grateful for the life he lived and the legacy he left behind.  He will forever be an example for us to follow.  We love and miss him!

Preschool Continues...

Last month we had another field trip to Bakers Dozen.  The kids got to tour the back and see all the big mixers, ovens and dough.

 

The best part was they got to pick any doughnut they wanted and eat it! 

 

This past week we were able to have our last field trip for the year to Reeds Dairy.  There was no official tour, but we got to pet some animals and eat ice cream. 

 

We invited some extra friends and had a terrific turn out! 

 

The kids watched the cows while they ate their ice cream. 

 

We had our last official class at my house this past week with letter U.  I made them these U hats and for some reason they associated it with marching band so we pulled out our instruments and marched around.  They thought it was pretty awesome.  I sure do love these kids! 

Spring Break

The night before everything goes back to normal from spring break and I'm thinking it feels more like we have been out for a few months.  We crammed the week with all sorts of fun and thankfully the weather was beautiful and provided us lots more opportunities to be outside and have more energy.

Our house is a mess and the kids are sleepy and it feels successful.  Aside from the cabin and spending 6 hours at the park this week and having a cousin sleepover for 2 nights, we had a bridal shower and Easter celebrations.

Friday night we had Hansens over to our house for dinner and coloring Easter eggs.  Farrah brought 5 dozen eggs!!  The kids had a good time and didn't ask for more for the first time. :)

 

 

Kaiden actually looks a little bored. :) 

 

Sage got a little crazy with the dye and colored her fingers green.  We tried soaking them in vinegar and hand sanitizer but nothing worked so we painted her nails a different color to make her feel better.

 

So when we got the fingernail polish out, everybody else needed their fingers painted.  Kaiden kindly volunteered to paint a few of our toenails (as long as he didn't have to touch them).  I heard him giggling as he painted Alissa's and soon found out why...

 

 

We like to celebrate the bunny part of Easter on Saturday so Friday night the Easter bunny came and left lots of eggs all over the house and a basket for each kid with a few fun things.  They were so excited because they didn't even anticipate the Easter bunny this year.

 

We met my family for lunch and went to a park for a few minutes to wait for everybody to be ready for the big hunt at grandma and grandpas house. 

 

Mom handing out the baskets to all the kids with a jacket in it. 

 

She had a little kid, bigger kid and adult hunt this year. 

 

Everybody had way too much fun and got spoiled again.  Such good grandparents!

 

 

Sunday has been a different Easter for us than normal.  We were a lot more emotional and grateful for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It's become much more personal.  So thankful for the opportunity to be reunited with spirit and body and be able to see our dad/grandpa David again.  We know we will and we strive to live righteously to be able to be a forever family.

 

I love my husband and am so grateful for the example he sets for our family of faith.  He is strong and he displays such acceptance of the Lord's will.  I am grateful for his testimony.