We had so much fun at lake Osoyoos with the Leavitts this year. The Leavitt's are going to have to be careful - we might start inviting ourselves to the lake house every year!
The oldest two preferred playing games on the ipad (Angry Birds of course!) While the younger ones would rather be outside on the beach. Our kids matched up so well!
One-Eyed-Willie, the pirate left us clues to a buried treasure!
How many boys can fit in one standard size bath tub - I think we had all 5 in at one point!
Mmmmm! Milkshakes!
Happy Canada Day!
Proof that I was really there - and that Berlyn liked to suck on her life jacket!
The boys could not get enough tube rides! We would take them on a long crazy ride and they would cry for more when it was over!
My good friend Kate lives in New Jersery, but in June she came to Edmonton for a visit. When she comes that close I can't help it - I have to go and visit her.
I was only there for one day - a very short trip. But we loaded up the kids and went to West Edmonton Mall to ride some rides. It was so much fun. Moses is tall enough now that he could go on all the rides, as long as there was an adult with him. I am happy to say - he LOVES roller coasters! We had a great time running around and riding as many rides as we could in the the three hours our special discounted rate would allow us.
We all went on the balloon ride together. Berlyn and I are taking the picture.
Berlyn's first time ever on a carousel. In this picture she didn't seem too impressed - but once the ride started going she seemed to really enjoy it.
Moses and I on his first roller coaster ride. He was really nervous and even cried a little, but then he asked to go on it again. The second time he smiled and had a good time. Then we went on an even bigger one and he really enjoyed it.
After all the excitement we went back to Kate's Mom's house where the boys went outside and swam in the "lake" that had taken over parts of the yard. What could be better after that than a bubble bath in a HUGE jet tub?! The boys loved it. It was more like a pool than a bath. I need to get one of those...
Both boys played soccer this spring. I coached Kael's team. Kael was actually not that into the game, but I think it was an age thing. He probably spent just as much time sitting on the blanket with Berlyn as he did actually playing. Moses got more into it. Because I was coaching I didn't have a chance to watch him that much, but what I did see looked pretty good. Both boys had a lot of fun with it, so I'm sure they won't complain if we do it again next year!
One bad thing about coaching is that I can't get ANY pictures during the practices or games. A BIG thank you to my friend Annie for taking the above shot of Kael.
...from preschool. It's true. As Moses tells everyone when they ask him about school, "No, I don't have to go to school. I already graduated." They had a bike circus where they could decorate their bikes and ride around the empty ice arena.
Of course Moses wanted to decorate his bike like Angry Birds, the iPhone/iPad app that has become his latest obsession. He likes angry birds so much, that is almost all he would talk about for awhile. (He still only wants to eat PIG). And while one of his preschool teachers was in the states, she bought Moses an Angry Birds t-shirt. It was a little big, but I let him wear it with his angry birds bike.
I remember when I went to my 20 week ultrasound while I was pregnant with Kael. They told me I was having another boy. I'm not going to lie, I teared up a little bit. I was a tiny bit disappointed. I wanted a girl so badly. Obviously I was grateful to be told that I was having a healthy baby and I couldn't stay sad for long. A baby is a blessing no matter the gender. But if I had known then the little boy that was waiting to come join our family the way I know him now, my reaction would have been completely different. He is so amazing in so many ways. His sense of humor keeps us laughing almost non stop. He is so easy going and fun to be around. He has so much energy and sometimes it is contagious. He is so sweet and loving and he loves to cuddle. He is always eager to please and willing to help. His personality is so big for such a little person. What a three year old!
Kael and his Buzz Lightyear Pinata.
All day he got angry when anyone tried to sing him "Happy Birthday". We sang anyway. So here he is with his classic pout face (bottom lip WAY out there) that he has been perfecting since he was just a month or two old. I wonder if he will still do it as an adult....
He got a bike for his birthday. Here is a video of him riding it at Moses' preschool graduation party all by himself. It took him awhile to figure it out, and this was the first time he could really do it by himself. He's getting pretty good at it now.
So we have decided to stay in Claresholm for awhile. We bought a lot - a big, 0.7 acre lot - and are going to start building a house. (and as you can tell from this picture we actually bought it awhile ago - in April) The lot also has a barn on it. It was built in 1917 and moved onto its current location in the 70s. We are super excited! Our house plans are done and we are hiring a builder. I can't wait to move in!
Our Pre-Easter celebrations started with these really cool Borax crystals. I read about them online and knew I wanted to make them with the kids. We made shapes out of pipe cleaners, tied them to a pencil and soaked them overnight in a mixture of Borax crystals and water. The next morning the pipe cleaners were covered in crystals. We hung them in our window until after Easter. Scott made the coolest shapes (like this amazing frog!). It just made me realize once again that he should definitely be more involved in our craft time - especially if I want the crafts to turn out good!
We had a great time dying eggs! I made my own dye from food coloring this year. I thought it turned out pretty good, and it wasn't much harder than buying the little tablets. I would definitely do it again.
The Friday before Easter Scott's assistant, Marlys, dropped of an Easter basket for the kids. It was HUGE and filled with all kinds of neat stuff. She even remembered to put little things in there for Berlyn. (Like these adorable bunny ears!) It was so thoughtful and the kids really enjoyed it. Thank you, Marlys!
The Saturday before Easter, we went to Scott's parents house for Easter Dinner and, of course, an egg hunt.
The festivities began with a lesson on the true meaning of Easter. There were a dozen eggs and each one had a different object inside to remind us of the story of Christ's atonement and resurrection. Here, Moses opened his egg to find a little cross and a nail.
The Egg Hunt...
Dividing the Spoils ...
Enjoying the treats...
This picture reminded me of how when Kael was little (before he turned one) he crawled over to a cream egg, unwrapped it and had eaten about half before I found him (he was quick!).
Scott's uncle needed a family photo for a family history book he was working on. We hadn't taken one with Berlyn yet, so we did an impromptu one. We actually had a little extra time one Sunday morning. (I think it was Stake Conference so Scott and I didn't have any meetings.) All dressed up, it was the perfect time for a family pic - especially considering the boys only allow me to comb their hair Sunday mornings. A few violent threats to Moses later, andvoilà...
The weekend after our trip to Montana, we met up with Scott's family at a hotel in Calgary for more hotel fun and more waterslides. Can you ever really get enough waterslides? (Scott took these pics on his phone - not bad considering the poor lighting)
Yes - this was one crowded hotel room! Luckily we just ate in here - we slept in separate rooms!
"My hands are messy." (Moses still hates to be dirty)
"My face is messy." (Kael still couldn't care less.)
After staying at the hotel we hurried home to watch conference as a family. We love conference. We stay in our PJs all day and eat lots of Jelly Beans. The boys play conference Bingo with them while Scott and I just eat them. :) This year we also printed the pictures of the First Presidency and the twelve apostles from the friend and the boys found the picture of whoever was speaking. By the end of the last session on Sunday the boys aren't as excited about it. But the first session on Saturday they listen almost the entire time. I feel so grateful to have a living prophet at the head of our church today. And I love the opportunity we have twice a year to listen to our leaders and learn what the Lord wants us to do to become more like him.
I haven't posted in a really long time. I can't say it's because my three children take so much of my time that I can't blog because most of my friends have at least three children, most of them have more, and they all find the time to update their blogs. (Don't stop ladies because I LOVE reading them!) I have been busy, a very happy busy. And I really do want to share what I have been doing with all my family and friends. And I realize it is all about priorities. So this week, my blog will be my priority. And I am going to try and post one post everyday to get caught up. Even if it means watching Berlyn eat cookie crumbs off the dining room floor (like she is doing right now!).
I will start with my birthday trip to Missoula, Montana. Now Missoula, Montana may seem like a random place for me to go to celebrate my birthday. But I wanted to go to Montana to do some shopping in the USA - I know you Americans take Target, Ross, TJ Maxx, and all your other wonderful shopping stores for granted but I miss having them accessible. We knew we wanted to take the kids to do some fun things, so we picked the closest hotel with a waterslide. One Google search later and we were planning a trip to Missoula, Montana!
We had a realy good trip. It was Berlyn's first time swimming and she LOVED it. Even when she started getting so cold she was turning blue she was smiling, giggling, kicking her feet, and splashing. She was actually kinda hard to hold onto in the water. Neither of my boys liked swimming that much their first time. They sure love it now though!
On our first day, the waterslides didn't open until 4pm. We took the kids swimming, then went out and got lunch and did some shopping. We timed it so that we would be back to the hotel with just enough time to get changed and make it down to the waterslides right at 4. We got down to the pool and the slides weren't on. Scott went to ask someone to turn them on, only to be told that we weren't allowed to use the pool, let alone the slides, at all that night since it was rented out for a private function. Needless to say, our boys were really upset. Moses started crying on the spot! We were really angry with the hotel. I'm not sure if they realized that we had picked that hotel specifically for their waterslides! In the end they really did feel bad and gave us one of our nights for free. We went swimming the next day and they turned on the slides a little early just for us. So it all worked out for the best!
We decided to take the kids bowling - anything to not sit in a hotel room with two very disappointed boys! We had a great time at the bowling alley. At this bowling alley, the bumpers moved up and down based on who was bowling. We could all bowl in the same lane, and thanks to the bumpers I got the lowest score! Yes both my boys out bowled their mother! Maybe I should use the bumpers next time....
We had taken Scott's neice, Jaycee with us. She is 12 years old and a great babysitter. I would recommend always traveling with a babysitter. She made it so that Scott and I could go out just by ourselves part of the time. Besides shopping at the above mentioned stores, we went out to watch a musical at the University of Montana. It was really fun! Scott and I both enjoy musicals and we don't go watch them as often as we should. The music and dancing were both great! I actually found a clip on YouTube from the actual show we went to. According to whoever posted it, it was even recorded the night we were there. (In fact, we remember a guy recording the show with a video camera in the row in front of us and thought he was a loser!) Not sure if they were supposed to record it or not, but I just had to post it and let all of you experience the show too. (click here to watch the video on YouTube instead)
Thanks for such a fun birthday trip, family. And that includes you, Jaycee. It wouldn't have been as good without you there!
