Easter Sunday

Alright, I admit it, I am trying to catch up. I realized last night while looking at our blog that I have not posted in over a month. After two colds for me and most of the kids, I am hoping the warm weather is here to stay and we can keep away from colds. However, the prospect of a pandemic and staying in the house for an extended period of time does not excite me at all. I guess time will tell what happens and what lengths we will have to go to in order to protect our loved ones. I find it difficult to send Michael to work and the kids to school even at this stage.


On a happier note, Easter Sunday actually cleared up enough to be a beautiful day. The kids looked great in their Easter clothes and were so excited by their gifts from the Easter bunny and getting to hunt for the treats inside the house this year. For me Easter was a great time to remember the Savior and be grateful for His life and great sacrifice that makes it possible for me to be with my family forever. There is nothing more important to me than my loved ones. My greatest blessings in life are my husband, children, and extended family. We are so grateful for each of the wonderful family members that bless our lives.

Who would have thought that these kids would just keep growing. This morning we were amazed by Jonathan getting himself completely dressed including his socks. I am busier running here and there in the car, but the kids can do an amazing number of things for themselves. I remember when I would spend a long time getting out the door. I would put on at least 3 pairs of shoes, not to mention diapers, getting several kids dressed, etc. There were definitely days I thought I would never survive; however, I would not have traded it for the world. I guess anything really worthwhile comes at a price, and that usually means it is HARD! So I guess I better stop all this philosophy and get back to work, I am sure there are more tough days to come.

Anway, Happy Belated Easter to everyone! We wish we could have been with more of you.

Is there anything better than these chessy grins? Not for me anyway.

What a haul of Easter eggs. The Easter bunny was very generous to the kids this year.

Disney On Ice

Michael's parents gave us Disney on Ice tickets for Christmas. It was really fun to spend the day with the kids. They loved the show, especially the Peter Pan performance. I really liked the skating for The Lion King.

There were also Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Daisy in the show.

Here is everyone's favorite pirate Captain Hook, Smee, and the other pirates.

Laurel and Evan eat a snack while waiting for the second half of the show to start.

The performance was in the Energy Solutions Center where the Jazz play. We had really good seats in the center facing the front of the ice.

Clogging Competition

The girls had a clogging competition up at Thanksgiving Point the first weekend in March. They did a really good job. They compete individually to receive a score of first, second, or third for each solo they do. The girls last competed in November and they both improved getting really great scores. I thought I should get these pictures up and two videos to give you an idea of what the solos are like. They perform four at a time and the are all lined up into rows, which is what you are seeing in the pictures and video.
I love Laurel's huge grin while she dances.

Here is Lindsay dancing and Laurel is waiting to dance next in the row behind her.

The video above is the show solo. They learned 5 solos in all and they are at the youngest level of novice. These are not full dances, just small solos to show basic clogging skills.

This is my favorite. It is a traditional solo and styled after more traditional clogging technique.

Jonathan's Third Birthday

It was so fun to have Grams and Grampa with us for Jonathan and Michael's birthday. Jonathan gives Grampa a big hug. He loved his Jedi costume.

The birthday dad with all of his kids. Michael got some new church shoes that are sitting on his lap. He wore the same pair of shoes for 10 years and it was time for some new one.

Jonathan loved opening up his presents. He kept asking me how many more days until he could open his presents. When I told him how many he would say, "That takes too long."

Here is the great Jedi knight Jonathan. This is his happy Jedi face, but down below is his very serious, dont' mess with me face.

Jonathan also had a really fun date with his grandmommy for his birthday. He got to go out to breakfast and out to find a present. He chose a Spider-Man scooter. He loved getting to spend time with grandmommy!

Laurel's Baptism

I am pretty sure that this day snuck up on me. One second I had a tiny baby in my arms and the next she was ready to be baptized. She understood why she wanted to be baptized and felt that she was ready. Here are some of the pictures from that day. She was so sweet and beautiful in her white dress.

Laurel with her mommy before the baptism.

This was just after she was confirmed with Mom and Dad and Grams and Grandpa. Laurel is so blessed to have so many wonderful people who love her.

Here she is with Grandmommy and Grandpa Higbee and Mom and Dad. Both sets of grandparents were able to fly in for her baptism.

Here is our precious little family. Michael and the children are my greatest treasures in life. I am so blessed to have each of them in my life.

This is Laurel with her Dad before the baptism. It was so wonderful that Micheal could baptize and confirm her. Don't they both look wonderful in their white clothes.

Laurel's Birthday

Laurel is about to blow out her candles. She did not get the nicest rendition of "Happy Birthday." Some family members decided to sing it as loud as they could, so I think some of our ears were about to start bleeding from the sound. Laurel was a good sport and has a great big happy grin on her face.

This is one of the kids' favorite traditions, Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast. Laurel and Evan's birthdays are close to Valentine's Day, so they always get the chocolate iced sprinkles and the sprinkles are red and pink.

Laurel was really nice and let Jonathan help her open her gifts. Jonathan was having a hard time understanding why he could not open all of the presents. She was really calm while she opened her gifts.

Laurel is holding her figurine from Grandmommy and Grandpa Higbee. She gets one for each birthday. Doesn't she look so grown up in this picture? She is a beautiful, sweet girl who is also smart and full of love. It is hard to believe I have been at this mom thing for 8 years now.

Laurel loves to take care of Jonathan. He was really happy to help her open her gifts. They are really cute together. Jonathan even likes to climb into Laurel's bed in the early morning and snuggle with her.

Evan's Birthday

Evan turned 5 years old on Monday the 9th. It is hard to believe that my tiny baby who spent 9 days in the NICU is such a big boy who can do so many wonderful things. He is still obssessed with Star Wars, and thus his birthday revolved around his favorite movies. You can tell by the look on his face in the pictures below that Star Wars is very serious business.
Here he is wearing his new Jedi costume and holding his new gun and his lightsaber is already hooked onto the belt of the costume. He is ready for action.

This is the scooter that he got for his birthday and he is holding up the musical card Grams and Grandpa sent him. It played the Star Wars theme song and Evan love it. He played it over and over and over again.

I made the cake for Evan and amazingly enough it turned out well. He wanted a Star Wars cake, so I came up with the simple idea of lightsabers to decorate the cake. He loved it.

This is a little bit happier picture of the great Jedi knight. He has had me put this costume off and on a million times in the last week.

He loves his gun from Auntie. We have taken this everywhere with us over the last week. It is definitely hard to believe how fast the last 5 years have flown by. Evan is such a sweet boy. He will start Kindergarten in the fall and it will be strange having him gone so often. He gives the best hugs and is a great cuddler.