Big bunnies...

Ethan came to me this afternoon and told me that he found a good spot for me to hide an Easter egg. Here is how our conversation went:

Ethan: Mom, you could hide an Easter egg here.
Me:  You mean the Easter Bunny can hide an egg there?
Ethan: No, you.
Me: What do you mean?  Why do you think that I hide the eggs?
Ethan: Because there's no such thing as big bunnies.  I think it's really parents.

Sigh...I guess he's growing up.

It's official...

My baby boy is moving out.  Brett and Erik just reserved a dorm at BYU.  He will officially be a Helaman Halls resident come August.  We are so excited for this next stage in Erik's life.  Now we just have to wait to see who his roommate will be.  I've tried to convince him that I would make a great roommate, but he's not having it.

Finalizing housing in Provo!

Catching up...

I can't believe how quickly time passes.  Once upon a time I was an avid blog writer.  I tried hard to record the little details of our lives as they were happening, then life got in the way.  Things got very busy for me as I went back to school to accomplish my goal of obtaining my degree.  It took 4 years of hard work for me, but I did it!  I graduated on July 20, 2016 with a BS in Marriage and Family studies from Brigham Young University-Idaho.  Brett and I decided that it would be a great opportunity for us to head to Rexburg, ID to participate in the commencement and graduation festivities.  It was a surreal experience for me to step on campus for the first time and to reflect on all that I had accomplished.  I was so thankful that my family was there to support me!  Going back to school and getting my degree has blessed my life in so many ways. first, My secular knowledge and testimony have increased simultaneously.  I also gained greater confidence in myself and in my talents.  I learned to value family life in our society far more than I did.  I also developed skills that have helped me to strengthen my own family.  Even though the process of working towards my degree was difficult at times, it was so worth it in the end! This has become one of the greatest blessings in my life.

Other changes since I last blogged...
We moved to UT!  We were blessed in 2015 to be able to move our family home to Utah.  We now reside in Cache Valley and we couldn't be happier!  We love raising our family and living here in this beautiful valley.  When we moved here Erik started his junior year in high school, and had just gotten his driver's license.  Cameron started 8th grade.  Austin started 4th grade, and Ethan started 1st grade. The boys adjusted really well to their new schools and made friends fairly quickly.  We could truly see the hand of the Lord in our lives with all these changes.  The boys were truly blessed with good friends.  We have now been here for the past year and a half and still feel so happy and content to be here.  Erik is now 2 months away from graduating from high school.  Cameron is wrapping up his freshman year and is looking for ward to getting his learner's permit later this year.  Austin is finishing up 5th grade and has really enjoyed playing basketball and baseball here.  Ethan is finishing 2nd grade this year.  He is growing up so quickly!  He is counting down to his birthday in a couple of months and is really excited about the opportunity that he will have to be baptized!

Erik Junior year 2015-2016

Erik Senior year 2016-2017
Class of 2017!

Cameron 8th grade 2015-2016

Cameron 9th grade
Freshman 2016-2017

Austin 4th grade 2015-2016

Austin 5th grade 2016-2017
Student council

Ethan 1st grade 2015-2016

Ethan 2nd grade 2016-2017

 One more big change to share.  After graduation I stumbled across a job posting that I thought would be a perfect fit for me.  I applied, interviewed and got the job.  This past year I have been teaching preschool for Logan school district!  I love my job!  This year has been part-time which is perfect as it has helped me to ease back into the work force and has still left plenty of time to care for my family as well.  I am really enjoying putting my education to good use by working in a job that is challenging and extremely rewarding!

My baby is growing up...

We just got the good news...Erik will be attending BYU in the fall!  This boy has worked so hard to make this dream come true.  After months of waiting, he received his acceptance letter and will be a freshman there this fall.  I couldn't be happier or more proud of this boy of mine!

Family Fun Week!

This year for spring break we were trying to decide what we wanted to do with our whole week off from school and work.  We had talked about going to Utah of Tahoe (our usual vacation spots).  Then Brett suggested that we could stay home, but do something fun and exciting each day of the week. The boys were very excited about this idea and we held a family council to decide just how our week would go.  The boys came to our meeting prepared with lots of fun ideas.  Cameron was our scribe and he wrote down all of our ideas.  We then whittled those ideas down to our favorites and plugged them into the calendar and a plan was born!  My Sister Allison called a few days before family fun week was to begin, and asked if she could come visit and join in the fun.  YAY!  That was one more fun thing to add to family fun week.  She came with my niece (Isla) and nephew (Nixon).  We had a fantastic time and created so many wonderful memories.  Here is what we did each day:

Monday:  Lego day
Day one began with a walk to the grocery store for donuts followed by some time to play at the park on the way home.  We then went to the movie theater to see the Lego Movie.  After the movie we went to the mall to the Lego store where each boy got a new Lego set to build.  We ate dinner at the mall to finish off day one.

Tuesday:  River Cats
Day two began with breakfast at Panera.  Yummy bagels and hot chocolate (too bad they were out of the chocolate chip marshmallows).  After breakfast we went to the church to play basketball.  This was so fun!  Then it was home for a few hours to rest up followed by a River Cats baseball game that night.  Gotta love $1 hot dog and dessert night.  River Cats won and we all had a great time!

Wednesday: Yes Day!
Day three started with tennis at the park followed by Jamba Juice.  For yes day each boy got to suggest an activity, or ask for something they wanted, and the deal was that Mom and Dad would say yes (there were some restrictions however).  Then for dinner it was homemade pizza.

• Erik : Cold Stone for ice-cream
• Cameron:  Egg rolls at Panda Express
• Austin: Download "Happy" by Pharrell Williams on ITunes, and a malt
• Ethan: Bubble bath

Thursday: Bowling/Skate park
Day four began with a trip to the skate park.  The boys love riding their scooters at the skate park.  We spent about an hour there and they pretty much had the park to themselves.  After the skate park Ali and I were able to go out without kids (thank you Brett) to run a few errands, and out to lunch at Chick-fil-A.  Then we took the kids bowling.  Later that night we made s'mores around the fire pit and then curled up for a movie night (The Croods).

Friday:  Six Flags day
Day five was a full day of fun!  Ali got to go to San Francisco to spend a couple of days with Ben and the kids and Brett and I took the boys to Six Flags.  We had a great day riding roller coasters and spending time together.  Even Ethan got to go on a few coasters.  He loved them and each time at the end of the ride he would say "That was awesome!  Can we go again!"  Our favorite ride of the day was the water ride, Monsoon Falls.  Thank goodness we saved it for last, because we got soaked!  After Six Flags we went to Napa to spend the night with Grandpa Jed and Kathy.  Brett and I went out to dinner (Don Pericos) and the boys got to have pizza at Grandpas.  We were pretty exhausted after this fun day.

Saturday:  Pink Bakery
Day six began with a run through beautiful Napa with Jed and his running friends.  Erik and I joined them for a quick little run.  Always fun!  Then we went to the Pink Bakery (AKA Buttercream Bakery) for breakfast.  This is a favorite spot for us to visit while in Napa.  After breakfast we went to a tomato show (pretty funny, we got there right at the end), followed by a street fair in Napa where we scored lots of free stuff (i.e. pens, water bottles, etc).  The it was off the park, home for malts and games and then I took Erik and Cameron to the outlet mall to visit the Adidas and Under Armour stores before heading back home.

Sunday: Easter
Day seven was Easter.  We went to church followed by a hunt to find Easter eggs and baskets.  I think that we were all pretty tired out from our busy week, so we just enjoyed our day of rest.  Ali, Ben and the kids came back for one more night and we had a great time playing games with them to end our very fun and successful Family Fun Week!  We had such a great time that we may consider doing this again next year.

What was everybody's favorite part of family fun week?

• Erik: Lego day
• Cameron: Six Flags
• Austin: Visiting Grandpa Jed and Kathy
• Ethan: Six Flags
• Mom: Creating memories and spending so much time with my family.
• Dad:  Everything!

Daffodil Hill

Today was Stake Conference, and as a result it was a rare Sunday that Brett didn't have any meetings for church, so we decided that it was a perfect day to go on a little ride and picnic to Daffodil Hill in the foothills.  It was a beautiful day, so after conference, we packed up our lunch an we were on our way.  Lynda (Grandma Stewart) and Aunt Mo were visiting with us this weekend, so it was fun to have them come along.  The drive was a bit longer than expected, as I am pretty sure that everyone in Northern CA had the same idea.  It was so crowded.  When we finally arrived, we were all starving, so we had a picnic in the car.  Then we were off to see the daffodils.  It was really pretty to walk around and see the flowers, but my favorite part of the day was taking family pictures.  I have to say that the boys most definitely wouldn't agree with me, but I love the end result of having our family memories captured in a photograph.  We had so much fun going back through the pictures and laughing, because with a family of 6, 4 of whom are boys who don't want their picture taken, it is hard to get a picture where everyone is smiling and ready. 

Valentine's Day 2014

Valentines Day is a big deal at our house.  I love this holiday and it has become a fun family day for us.  True to our tradition, we had our annual, candlelight, heart shaped pizza dinner.  And as always, my boys surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. (For the record, Brett joined in the fun with us.  Not sure why he didn't make it into any of the photos.)

 

 

 



Funny boy...

Austin to Cameron: "Do you know what I learned about picking up garbage?"

Cameron: No, what.

Austin: Not to pick up garbage! Yesterday at school, I picked up 25 pieces of garbage and all I got was 2 red tickets!

The school gives out red tickets as a reward to kids who are doing good things. The tickets are used to buy little trinkets and toys. I guess 2 tickets wasn't enough payment for picking up all that garbage.

In the words of Napolean Dynamite, "That's like a dollar an hour!"

Cute boys!

Today Ethan climbed up the cabinets and onto the counter. 
Mom:  How did you get up there?
Ethan: I used my Ninja skills....I have some you know.

Apparently I didn't....now I do!


The other day Brett was helping Austin study for his spelling test. 
Brett:  If you don't get 100% on your test, then don't bother coming home.
The next day Austin got in the car and said:
"Well, I got 100% on my test, so I guess I can bother coming home!

Thank goodness, we would have missed him!

Austin is 6!

Way back in July, Austin turned 6 years old! He had lots of fun celebrating his special day. Because this was an even numbered birthday, he got to have a birthday party with all of his friends! We had a backyard water party. The kids ran through the sprinklers, played in the splash pool, had a water fight with water bottles, played water limbo, ate yummy snacks and cupcakes (made by Erik) and the big hit of the party was jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler underneath! And as if that wasn't enough fun....as a family we went on a bike ride to get donuts that morning and we went to Chick-fil-A for dinner and then of course there were lots of presents


Austin @ 6...
is still a cuddly little boy
loves to ride his bike, build forts from the couch cushions, and loves to tease his brothers and tickle his mom!
A few of His favorite things are :
Chick-fil-A
Kit Kats
Angry Birds
Phineas and Ferb
Video games

Happy Birthday Austin...We love you!

Happy birthday Ethan....

3 years old already?!  Didn't I just bring this baby boy home from the hospital?  We had such a great day celebrating this sweet, funny, mischevious boy!
The day started with a giant monster birthday card for Ethan to color with some help from his brothers
(illustrated with love by mom)

Then we had donuts and went to the splash park (Ethan's favorite place to go)

Then we stopped at Jamba Juice for one of Ethan's favorite treats, smoothies and Pirates Booty

 Later that day we had pizza and chicken nuggets for dinner followed by monster cupcakes with blue frosting.  Then time for presents!  Ethan got everything he wanted and more. Batman cars, Ligthning McQueen car,playdough,and animal cookie cutters (Mom, Dad and brothers). Nerf Gun, fingerpaints,smock and Bubble Guppies paint book (Grandma and Grandpa M), Money from Grandpa Jed and Grandma S. That's quite a haul I think!

We ended the night with homemade monsters from Mom and a movie night watching Monsters Inc.

It was a super fun day and we all loved making Ethan feel special!

A few things about Ethan at 3:

• Ethan may be the youngest and the littlest boy in the family, but he is the boss.  He has secret tricks for almost always getting his own way!
• Ethan loves babies and dogs.  Whenever he sees either, he wants to go and touch them and talk to them. 
• Ethan is very active. He rarely sits still and loves to jump off of everything.
• Ethan gives great hugs and kisses.
• Ethan uses good manners and he always says "tank you Mommy" When I do things for him.
• Ethan won't sit in the shopping cart and makes shopping a challenge as he has a mind of his own and likes to wander off to look at whatever catches his attention.
• Ethan loves to paint.  It is an activity that can actually keep his attention for quite some time.
• Ethan loves Lightning McQueen.  Cars is his favorite movie.
• Ethan loves to play with his brothers.  Jumping on the trampoline is a favorite activity.
• Ethan constantly says the word "stupid" and has been known to yell it out in the middle of sacrament meeting and in nursery.  A few weeks ago Ethan was escaping from nursery and one week in particular he stood by the door, said "this is stupid" and took off down the hall....awesome!  His teacher and I had a little discussion about how to handle the "stupid" word issue.  To all the other mom's of nursery age children, I am sorry if your child comes home from church with a new, choice word.
• Whenever we take pictures of Ethan he makes goofy faces and says "cheeeeeeeese"

Happy Birthday E! 

Crazy Cafe....

This year as a family we set a goal to read our scriptures together every night.  We decided that it would be a great motivator for us if we had monthly goals to work towards and when we met our goals, we would get fun reward.  So, I found a calendar on pinterest where we could keep track of our reading and then as a family we decided what each months reward would be.  Our goal was to read 90% of each month which only allows us to miss about 3 days.  I am happy to report that since January, we have not missed a monthly reward yet! 

So, for April's reward we decided that Mom and Dad would host a Crazy Cafe for the kids. This was such a fun night and a great memory for all of us.  The boys were sent outside to play while I got things ready.  First I set the table and prepped all the food.  Then I created the menu and had crayons ready, because you can't go to a restaurant without kids meals and crayons.  Next the boys were invited in.  I made them go around the house an in the front door where I greeted them as their hostess.  Cameron walked in and immediately handed me a piece of paper all folded up.  I opened it and as I read it, I burst out laughing.  In true C family form, he had created a coupon!  I love this kid!  I think it's in the genes probably originating with his great grandpa C. 

Next the boys were seated and given their menus. This is where it gets fun. The boys have to pick an appetizer, main dish and a dessert, but the catch is that they don't know what they are ordering. We used Disney character names in place of the actual items and each boy had to order one of everything. Then Brett and I served the boys their 3 course meal. The boys thought that it was so funny to see what they had ordered. Here is a list of what was on our menu.

• Mickey Mouse=pizza
• Mini Mouse= strawberries
• Huey=straw
• Duey=cup of ice
• Luey=napkin
• Donald Duck=apples
• Pluto=party mix (crackers, pretzels, cheetos, etc)
• Goofy= dessert (cookies)

 Then as we sat and ate dinner, we played a fun game that we often play at dinner time. It is called "Would you rather?" Two options are given and the rule is you HAVE to choose one. For example, "Would you rather have your grandma's hairdo or her name?" It's always good for lots of laughs! The boys all said that this was a lot of fun and have requested to do it again. 

Up next, May reward!  We're looking forward to another fun activity!

Just because....

The other day I was making lunch for Austin and Ethan and Austin said "Mom, take a picture of us".
So I did:

CHEESE!

Bubbles

Ethan is growing up so fast in some ways and not fast enough in others, but moments like this make me wish that he would stay little forever.  Ethan went outside and parked himself right in front of the door and blew bubbles.  I couldn't help but grab my camera to capture these cute pictures of him entertaining himself.

Look at those cheeks

Notice the fingerprints on my door...Hmmm, I wonder who did that?!

Caught me spying