Easter 2016

Easter went like this:

 First thing in the morning, the girls hunted for their baskets.  The Easter bunny went easy on them this year...and all but Morgan found them right off!  We'll have to remedy that for next year!  Morgan, however, had a bit more trouble and eventually found hers in the dryer.  Rookie move on her part...everyone knows the first place to look should be the dryer!

I made french toast for breakfast and then it was off to church.

 Me with my girls.

My mom hosted a lovely dinner at her house that evening complete with an Easter egg hunt for the kids.

And this year my brother Andrew was with us!

So because it's kind of a rare occasion that all three of my brothers and I are together at the same time we had to document it with a photo.

And of course we had to pose exactly the way we did from our last Easter picture in 2013...

Other than my legs are leaning to the other side...I think we nailed it.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

St. George Weekend

 Last weekend we hit the road and headed down to St. George for the Tour de Sol stage race.

I was soooooo looking forward to a little weekend getaway.  The last time we had a little trip was Thanksgiving!  And I think we were all looking forward to some sunshine!!

We packed up Friday afternoon for the four hour drive and Rory was asleep before we even got to the freeway!

We stayed right in the middle of town...this little gem that used to be a women's dorm for Dixie State but is now converted into a hotel.  It's a single story, pretty small place...perfect to let the kids roam around without getting lost.  There isn't a TV in the room but they have a great common area with a TV, games and books that the kids loved.  I have a hunch this will be our new go to place any time we have to stay in St. George!

Saturday morning was the Time Trial.

 Ryan's start wasn't until late morning so we all decided to go with him.

 Snacks on the curb.

 The crit wasn't until Saturday evening so we spent the entire afternoon at the nearby splash pad letting the girls play...they had a ball!  We even found a little place to grab lunch across the street and picnicked at the park.

Kisses before the race...this has quickly become one our favorite pictures ever!

 The crit was not the most exciting to spectate.  It was held at a little airport, which doesn't make for a very thrilling course.

 I backed the truck along the side of the course so the girls could have somewhere to sit and watch...there wasn't a whole lot for them to do, but I have to say they were able to amuse themselves pretty well.

Of course it wouldn't be complete if there wasn't quite a bit of bickering as well..."She's sitting in my space!!"  "She took my book!!"  "She sat on my picture!!"  "She licked my foot!!!"  (Yes, that last phrase was actually said by one of my children...I don't even want to know...)

Sunday morning was the road race.  Ryan left first thing in the morning while I stayed back and got the girls ready and packed up the hotel.  We drove out to see the finish, but we ended up getting there too early and had quite a bit of time to spare.

 Luckily there was a great park right near the finish line the girls could play at.

 Haley and Morgan were so helpful with the little ones.  Haley played tag with them in the field and Morgan piggy backed Rory all around when she got tired.  Oh, I just love it when my kids get along!!

 Post race.

 We headed to a grocery after to grab some lunch.

Rory of course zonked out...it had been a action packed weekend so I'm not surprised she fell asleep in a shopping cart.

 Lunch of choice...party size 7 layer dip with tortilla chips.  Ha!

Before heading out of town we hit up the splash pad one more time...the girls' choice...and let them play for a good hour before we hopped back in the car to head home.

But before I close, I need to share this last picture of Morgan.

 She has an old pair of glasses (without the lens)...I think they belonged to my dad maybe.  Anyway, she pulls them out every now and then to wear.  She keeps them in her travel bag, so when we're on the road I'll notice she's got them on.  I had to sneak this picture of her without her noticing.  Anyway, I think it's super cute that she likes to wear them.

And that is that my friends.

Happy Thursday!

St. Patrick's Day

Last Thursday was St. Patrick's Day and we celebrated like we always do...

...with green donuts first thing in the morning.

 The girls had their outfits already picked out from the night before.

 And Rory helped me make broccoli cheddar soup and a green cake for dinner while the girls were in school.  

In these busy days...it's all about keeping things simple!

I'll have to blog again soon as we had an action packed weekend in St. George.

More to come!

Happy Monday ya'll!

Everyday Life

 When everyone is off at school Rory becomes my little buddy...very rarely leaving my side.  I try to encourage her to play with her dolls, or Legos, or with the neighbor girl, but she is very content to follow me around helping me with my daily chores.  One her favorites is to watch me fold clothes and as I'm folding each thing she calls out who's it is and what pile it goes on.  She also loves matching up the socks.  I'm hanging on as long as possible to this...it won't be long until she's in school.

The other week Rory and I were running around on some errands...we came out of Target when I noticed this:

 Flat...or nearly that is.

I noticed it wasn't driving quite right, but Ryan had just got the tires rotated and I thought it was something from that.  Anyway, I called Ryan first who was actually really close by and drove over to keep me company while we waited for AAA.  They pumped it so we could get it to a place to get it repaired.

I'm still working every weekend and Mondays up at the resort.

 Jeffy is my driving buddy.

I love working with this guy!

One month to go.

 A few days ago the girls' school hosted a skate night at a local skate place for all the families.

The girls had been several times before for various reasons (parties and such) but I had never been.  Haley and Morgan weren't too shabby, but it took some time for the little ones to pick it up. And Ryan, I had never seen him roller skates before and he was quite good!

Now, I grew up speedskating and did quite a bit of inlining for training too.  But there is something about 4X4 skates that kinda freak me out.  Maybe it's because my mom broke her arm quite severely skating on these types of skates and she needed lots of physical therepy to heal and I've been traumatized from her experience...I don't know.  I was pretty much convinced that someone from our family was going to leave that place with a broken wrist.  But luckily, that didn't happen.  I even gave it a shot (although I'm sure I had the look of sheer terror on my face the whole time).  And after some practice time I started to feel a bit more comfortable.  In fact, I think I want to go again sometime to give it another go!

 Haley can not only wear some of my shoes but she is now wearing same size clothes as me too.  The other day I picked up a dress for myself...I ended up grabbing one for Haley too (same size).  And today she's wearing a pair of my jeans (to be honest they were a little snug for me).  This concept of her growing so fast right now is just very surreal for me.  

 And speaking of Haley...yesterday after school she walked over to our little market near our house because she noticed they put all their flowers out and she was dying to buy some.  So with her own money she bought a little flat of pansies, came home and found some potting soil in the garage and planted them in some pots (and maybe some of my Tupperware, which doesn't thrill me but I'll let it go).  I was so impressed!  She even added a little fairy house complete with stepping stones in them...so cute!

Now hopefully for my next post I will have caught Morgan in some photos!

That girls is always on the move, she hard to catch sometimes!

Today it's supposed to reach the low 60's, I'm super excited about that!

I'm welcoming Spring with open arms!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Last Friday I celebrated my 38th birthday.

38...wow, so weird.

 Ryan ran out first thing and picked up some cinnamon rolls from Shirley's Cafe (the absolute best place for sweet rolls!) for my birthday breakfast.  I don't really think there is any better way to start the day off than with a sweet treat and a bold cup of coffee...seriously.  

I had to scoot off to work shortly after...boo hoo.

Ryan had been asking what I wanted to do for my Birthday dinner, and honestly the only thing that sounded good after a long day skiing was a hot shower and staying home.  Ryan ended up bringing us home some Cafe Rio for dinner and we all celebrated with cake that night.

I really know how to party!  Ha!

In my defense I had a really bad cold too and was feeling pretty crummy...so cut me some slack!

Oh, and Ryan gifted me some new Vans, because you can never have too many pairs of Vans...am I right?!

Happy Birthday to Me!