Spring? Is that you?

I still haven't remembered why I live here. That doesn't happen until the wind stops. I endure the cold, then the wind and suddenly I love living here again. But, luckily there have been a few really, really, really nice days that we have been able to go out and enjoy. And when those days come we take total advantage of them. Take Monday for instance. We were outside for 6 hours. The girls have a ball while I sit outside and talk to Heather, fold clothes, talk to Heather, read, talk to Heather and sometimes just talk to Heather.

Here's what we've been doing.

Addie got a new Power Wheels Barbie Jeep that she LOVES.

And I don't know if that says enough!

Addie loves to take her Jeep out into the garden "area" (I have to say area because that is where the garden would be, if I had one. Briana, can you teach me a thing or two?). She loves to romp the dirt piles. This picture makes me laugh. Here she is in her preppy little dress, going four wheeling. I wish you could see the look she gets on her face. Dad has seen it and it made him laugh. It's a good one. I'll see if I can't get a picture.

Kimber had just demolished my daffodil. She pulled the flower off (which was fine because Addie has already ran it over, wreckless driver!) and then broke every single leaf off the rest of the plant. Doesn't this face say innocence?

Addie took this picture. Pretty good, except I look like a scrub.

You do the math

What do you get when you take this:

And this:

Minus this:

No we do not eat outside! I didn't get a chance to take a picture inside before Jared took it out.

Plus 60 minutes?

You get this:

I know this is a terrible picture! There are acutlly four more chairs and a leaf to make it a perfect square, but we were tired and thought this would do for now. Either way, I'm happy!

Queen Creek's Easter Egg Hunt

Heather and I took our kids to the town's Annual Easter Egg Hunt. The kids all had a great time! It really wore them out and us out too! Each hunt was divided into age groups so that every child would have an opportunity to get eggs. There was all kinds of festivities that the kids enjoyed.

This was at the end of the day when everyone was going through their goodie bag to see what they had inside.
Some of the Easter eggs were hard to open. Devin is using all his strength while Kennedy is trying the teeth method.
Both Calvin and Devin had eye patches in their eggs.
For more pictures, see Ben and Briana's blog.

Happy Birthday Brigham!

I know that there have been a ton of birthdays lately, but we can't forget about Brigham!

(Or Brig, Briggy, Briggy Neal, Briggy Boy, Brigs, or what ever you call him.)

Brigham is so cool!

He is always having fun. He makes us laugh. He is very thoughtful. He is a good friend.

He is always fun to be around. He is a great brother and an awesome uncle.

Happy 11th Birthday Briggy!

Briggy, I like how you look like your about to bust up laughing! Soren, we will see you in 24 days!

Brig, do you have your Bluetooth? (An inside joke, everyone.)

Happy Birthday Caleb and Carson!

What can I say? We LOVE these boys!

They are such good boys.

They are always well behaved and always making us laugh.

They will be getting baptized soon as well.

We love them very much

For those of you that don't know which is which-

Caleb

Carson

Happy Birthday Caleb!

Happy Birthday Carson!

Her Father's OTHER Child

This one's for you Marlene!

Yes, this is a tantrum face. If you remember back to this post, you will see why I used the title I did. Much to my dismay, Jared loves to give the girls Coke. To him it's the cure-all and I'm pretty sure it runs through his veins. Anyway, after dinner tonight I cleared off the table and threw the Coke can away. A few minutes later I see Kimber walking around with the empty can, trying her hardest to get a drop. I took the can and threw it away once again and thinking I was going to out smart her I smashed the trash down. Uh, that didn't work. Before I knew it she was ticked off because she couldn't get even the slightest drop. I'm not telling Jared about this post, I don't want him to get all proud.

On another note, I would like to thank Sponge Bob Square Pants for teaching Addie to tell me she is going to "kick my butt."

Mac & Cheese

Today was our weekly meeting for Components. Doug's step-mom most always keeps Kennedy for me since they live close to our office but she hasn't been feeling well. So, Doug's mom volunteered to keep her for me. She planned a fun day with Kennedy's cousins at the park.
Well, I got a call on my cell phone from Doug's sister who said "Don't freak out, but Kennedy's been hurt". She proceeded to tell me that Kennedy had tripped on the stairs while holding her chips. Her little chin met the stair and it didn't go so well.
My mother in law and sister in law didn't even realize Kennedy was hurt until they saw some other moms around her. She never even cried. She was just upset about her chips and her hands being dirty. Needless to say I told my sister in law just to take Kennedy to her house and I would come look at it.
When I got there we all took a look and decided we better have it looked at by a professional. Since Kennedy's pediatrician doesn't do stitches at his office they suggested taking her to an urgent care. In the mean time Kennedy was hungry. She wanted Mac & Cheese!! So, before going to the urgent care she enjoyed a bowl of mac & cheese all while her chin proceeded to bleed.
At the urgent care they looked it over and before the doctor could even say stitches to me I asked if they could use the glue and steri-strips to close the gap. She said that was fine. I couldn't have held Kennedy down for stitches!!
So, here it is. She hates the strips and asks me to take them off. The photos don't do it justice believe me its not just a scratch.
I am glad she is okay and I told my mother in law that she is still allowed to watch Kennedy!!

Real Fast One

Well I got a 2nd chance to e-mail because my district leader didn't get to email and so I am on exchanges.

I get to update the blog real fast

the 1st one is Elder Thorpe and an investigator

the 2nd one is my green eggs I made for St. Patties day

the last one is me trying not to get run over by a tank!

Happy Birthday Allie!

Happy Birthday Allie!

Since it would only be fair to name a FEW of the reasons that we love Allie, here we go!

She is a GREAT mom! If everyone could see the way Cooper looks at her, you would

understand. He adores her! (Okay, just because he isn't even looking at the camera in the above picture does not mean it isn't true!)

She has a great sense of humor.

She is always fun to be around.

Now, I don't know if Travis deserves some of the credit here too, but you could eat off their floor. Their house is e-mac-u-late!

She always has way cute hair.

She makes some killer chocolate covered pretzels. I don't know what she does to them but I probably eat three-fourths of them by myself.

She always wears super cute clothes.

We are so glad to have you!

Happy Birthday!

Nightmares...

Last night we went to Winslow (not a destination I recommend, sorry Ashby!) to see Jared's dad. We ended up being there longer than we anticipated so by the time we were ready to go the girls were starving. We decided that McDonald's was fast and easy so we decided to eat there. Now, I never eat there and actually hate the place, but if I remember right they ask what kind of toy you would like, one for a girl or a boy. Am I right? I thought that since the cashier could see Addie he didn't bother asking. Well, here is what we found in the bag.

Can some body please tell me why this is a good toy to give a 3 year old GIRL!?

Here is a close up.

And since that isn't creepy enough, it has a laser light that shines out of it's mouth.

Enough said.

ONE reason we love Grandma Hatch

Yesterday the girls received their birthday package from Grandma. She hit a home run. Here is a short run down of them opening their presents.

Here are the gifts; pre-attack. My Mother in law can wrap like no one else I know. Her wrapping is always perfect and gorgeous. I don't know about you, but I am too impatient to take the time to make my ribbons look so gorgeous. And while we are on the subject, she makes her own Christmas bows. She puts the rest of us to shame.

I love Addie's face in this picture. She isn't anxious to get this open at all.

She is now wearing the little dress that was in the package. So cute! I wish that I could better explain this picture. Look at her mouth- she is screaming in a horribly high pitched noise "Cin-da-rell-A!" (I know that is misspelled!) This is "A" part. Ear piercing, truly.

The results.

Here is the cute little dress...with her favorite shoes. A cute little navy blue wedge with white polka dots. Cute, but not a match.

I couldn't get a picture where you could see Addie's eyes so I asked her to open them a little more. Here is what I got.

Now on to Kimber...with a lot of help from Addie.

It's a good thing that Kimber is still so young. Who else would patiently sit by as their older sister opens their gift?

Addie is seriously holding this about 2 inches from Kimber's nose.

I made Addie let Kimber try to open one on her own. Addie was trying to be patient and coax her along.

Naturally, it ended up like this.

Addie was so excited (okay, I was too)! It was a matching dress!

Thank you, Grandma Hatch! We love you!

Happy Birthday Addie Kay!

Happy 3rd Birthday Addie!

Maybe I am a little nerdy, but I get so excited about my girls' birthdays.

Addie has been looking forward to this for weeks!

March 5, 2005
(Check out that perfectly round head! There is something about this C-Section thing!)

Three years later, here we are

Happy Birthday Addie

Happy Birthday Addie. We sure love you and you are such a sweet little girl. Don't worry we all know you are Grandpa's favorite. Who couldn't love you?

We love that you always make us laugh with you silly little ways. You are the only little girl I know who wanted to be potty trained and master it in just days.

I will never forget the day you were born. What an cute baby! As soon as we saw your dad holding you we took one look and fell in love.

We hope your third birthday is a special one.

Fish Fry Anyone?

Sunday while making my bed I glanced over at the Betta fish we have on our dresser. I started thinking to myself how much I hate cleaning it's bowl. We've have had that fish since Kennedy was born.

Then, I had a moment of clarity. I was just going to flush that thing down the toilet and be done with it. So, I did.

Later I was in the kitchen making dinner when Kennedy came to me crying. I thought she had been hurt. At first I couldn't understand her then she said "where's the fish"? Oh boy!! I told her it went bye bye and she just cried.

I figured she would get over it. But, the very next morning she woke up and the first thing she asked for was the fish. I guess my conscience got the best of me.

So, long story short last night for FHE we went to Petsmart and bought Kennedy a little fish tank and three goldfish. She was so excited. We put the tank on the counter top at the end of the hall near our room. She loves to get her stool and watch the fish.

Moral of the story is...don't ever think you can pull a fast one on your 2 year old!