RS Hike...

For our last Relief Society activity, we utilized the beautiful terrain here in Colorado, and went on a hike. The weather could not have been more perfect...

 

 

 

It was such a fun group of women, and such a fun time!

Cricketstopher...

Hayden bought himself a little bug dome from the dollar section at Target with his very own money. So naturally, it was time to hunt for some bugs. It didn't take much persuasion to get his Dad to take him on a bug hunting expedition (if you know Rob well at all, you're not surprised). They weren't very succesful though, so what do you do if you can't find any bugs? Apparently, you go to Pet Smart and buy some. And that is how Cricketstopher joined the list of pets that get prayed for in every prayer uttered by our children...

 

Well, a few days later Cricketstopher just happened to "accidentally" get released from his enclosure into the vast unknown of our home. And so, of course, we needed another bug to reside in the bug dome. Thus, Cricket Columbus was acquired. The pet prayer list grows on and on...

Do kids ever stop praying for long dead pets??

The Virgin Islands...

I could go on and on about our trip to the US Virgin Islands, but I'll just let the pictures do the talking, they pretty much speak for themselves. I will just say that it was pretty much the most relaxing and wonderful week of our marriage (so far)...
























PS - Thanks soooooo much to Rob's family for taking care of our kids, it would not have been possible without you! We love you so much!

Homework Diversions...

Hayden decided that he wanted to do his homework under a laundry basket the other day, and so of course, Ana had to, too...

 

Hey, if they get their homework done under there, why stop them?!?

8 Kids...

We got to watch our friends kids for a couple days while they went on a quick trip. It was super fun for my kids to have a "sleepover", a rarity at our house. It was such a blast, the only chaotic part was trying to feed 8 hungry kids at one time. I'm really not sure how my Mom fed 11 kids EVERY day!

We went to a playland at a mall. How?? You may be asking... it had only one exit, so I could keep them all contained...

 

The mall also had a giant sandbox, Sophie and Lucy were in heaven...

 

Thanks for the fun time, guys! My kids already miss you...

Cupboard Scavenging...

We got some chocolate chips, we got some sprinkles, and what else...? I guess bananas will work. And that is how our afternoon snack evolved. Not bad for a quick, sweet treat...

 

 

 

And don't forget to lick the bowl... literally.

April 2011...

So I sort of forget to post about all the happenings in April. So I'm inserting these pictures in here so that we can document that we did celebrate Easter and Rob's birthday (Love you Honey!)...



The kids made Rob breakfast in bed. An apple, a plain bagel, and chocolate covered pretzels. It doesn't get sweeter than that...

For his birthday, Rob wanted to have a "guys night". So one of his friends brought over his poker table and they played and laughed until who knows when...

Happy Birthday Robbie!

Super-Sized Noogie...

Hayden's latest garage sale find led to the funniest family moment in a long time. Hayden and Rob are always giving each other "I love you" noogies. It's actually really cute, you can always tell when Hayden is really happy because he will give his dad a gentle noogie and say "I love you, Dad." Well, this is what I turned around to see when I heard Hayden say "I really love you, Dad" the other day....

 

And then Hayden laughed and laughed... and so did we.

Turning 8...

So we are a little behind on posting, but better late than never, right? That's just kind of the way we roll...

Hayden turned 8 this year, and so you know what that means... he got to decide if he wanted to be baptized as a member of our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I always just assumed that he would want to, and never asked him straight out until a couple of weeks before his birthday.

Me: "So Hayden, I never actually asked you this, but do you want to get baptized?"
Hayden: (apparently very offended that I had to ask) "Of course, yes!"
Me: "Sorry, just makin' sure."

So... he got baptized on March 5th, 2011 at 4pm, by his Dad. It was a wonderful, (but emotional) day. It is hard to believe that our sweet little (I guess not so little) Hayden-boy is old enough to decide what he believes. I'm so proud of the choices that he makes, he has great faith, and isn't afraid to show or share it...
(Please overlook the quality of these pics, never fails that something will get messed up with the pictures of important events)...


Both sets of his grandparents were able to make the trip out for his special day (Woohoo!), along with a few other aunts, uncles and cousins...






It never ceases to amaze me how we can never get a good family picture at important events...



...Seriously, what was Ana doing? Oh well, we'll have a good laugh over them in a few years. Those are the kind of pictures that you remember anyway, the funny ones.

It was a great day, sorry it took me so long to share it...

We also went to the new Real Pirates exhibit at the DMNS while everyone was here. The kids loved it...

Punkin Boink...

 

What is this?? (I'm sure you are asking yourself.) Well... Sophie has developed a strong (OK, strong is an understatement) attachment to this little piece of plastic, and has lovingly dubbed it her Punkin Boink. Ana got it as a prize from the Kindergarten treasure box a couple of months ago and it has been in Sophie's little fists ever since. She's very protective of the little thing. So I'll warn you now, if you're ever around Sophie, don't even think about swiping her PUNKIN BOINK!!

I just had to document this little craze that Sohpie has so that we wouldn't forget it once the Punkin Boink is lost or forgotten. Love you Soph... and your Punkin Boink.