A fun weekend in St. George!

Since I'm too much of a bum to load our new pictures, I thought I'd do a little catch up! Back in May we found out that my sister Nicole would be having a dance competition in St. George. So, we thought it would be fun to meet up with her and my Mom and catch some rays :)! Thanks to priceline.com and the Holiday Inn giving in to my pregnant and motherly concerns of wanting a nonsmoking room, we had a great trip! My dad grew up in St. George and we used to visit his parents there often when I was growing up. I remember hiking these same red rocks with my family, so it was a lot of fun to do it with my husband and kiddos!

Andy and Drew enjoying the beautiful scenery - we drove through Zion's National Park on the way home.
Jesi was pouting in the car, but Drew and Kassi were up for a little site seeing!

Sis and Bro had a lot of fun searching for rocks and exploring!

Kassi was due for a nap, but she wasn't shy about blowing us kisses!

The weather wasn't as cooperative as we had hoped it would be in May, but that didn't stop us from swimming in the freezing pool! I loved how Andy decided to put Kassi's coverup OVER her life jacket :). She didn't seem to mind that she looked like she weighed a hundred pounds! I was a little jelous when Andy and the kids got to go in the hot tub, whereas I could only put my feet in to try to get warm! I always crave hot tubbing when I'm pregnant!

The kids didn't seem to mind the freezing cold water as much as Andy and I did! It was a mostly outdoor/partially indoor pool and it was a pretty cold night and morning when we went swimming, with lots of wind, but we went strong until something was found in the pool that required a complete sanitization process. The kids were quite bummed, but we were happy to do something a little warmer!

The kids were so excited to spend an evening at Nicole's little pizza and ice-cream celebration with Grandma and Aunt Nicole at their hotel! I took a few pictures of Nicole dancing, but our camera somehow got put on a super high light setting, so most of my pictures make everyone look like angels and are hard to see! But, Nicole did a great job in all of her dances and we had fun watching and cheering for her! I thought this was a cute one of her with Kassi (again past due for a nap)!

My mom and I with the kiddos (and a little leftover ice cream on their clothes and faces)!

We were able to find my dad's parents' grave and the kids picked out a bouquet of 5 lilies, one representing each of us. I'm not sure why Kassi kept standing like this for the pictures?!? Funny girl! My grandma Mabel and grandpa Wilson McConkie are two of the most inspirational people I have ever known. They deserve their own post. Lets just say I miss them very much! My grandpa passed away when I was about 11 and my grandma passed away almost 4 years ago, just a few months after my dad passed. They are amazing examples of service, sacrifice, and love and I know my dad carried on those traits! I hope Andy and I can somehow pass those same traits on to our children!!! Since Andy is so much like my dad in those ways, hopefully it will happen!

The kids always LOVE visiting the visitor's center at the temple. One of their favorite parts is the Christus statue. I love how our youngest child always reaches out to Jesus when they see him. I'm pretty sure each of our children has done that, either in St. George or Salt Lake when they have seen this statue (between the ages of 1 and 2). It was Kassi's turn this time, but of course I didn't have the camera ready.

Kassi and Jesi at the top of the temple steps with Jesi's signature head tilt.

Daddy and his little girl.

I'm guessing Drew saw the flag and was being patriotic? The girls are smelling the beautiful flowers. I love how the temple grounds are always covered with beautiful flowers!

Cute girl posing!

The kids didn't cooperate for a picture - this was our last day in St. George and we were all suffering from a little lack of sleep. We went to church this day, then visited the temple and visitor's center, and then went up into the red rocks.

Since the kids wouldn't cooperate, Drew was happy to take a picture of Andy and I. I love and appreciate Andy so much for being willing to let me take a stroll down memory lane. He has expressed a wish to go on a trip to St. George once a year or so. He knows how much I love it there for the memories and the temple. The St. George temple is where my parents were sealed for time and all eternity and so I have always had a special love for this temple. I love how white it is and I always feel my dad close when we are there - whether I am inside or outside of it's walls. I remember sitting in front of the old visitor's center on my grandpa McConkie's lap as a little girl, while he told me stories about it being built! Anyway, thank you Andy for taking us down there to watch Nicole dance and to reminisce! And thank you for making our trips so much fun - even when the kids are screaming in the car and I am tired and grumpy sometimes from trying to make everyone else happy :)! I know they will have some fun memories as I have from my childhood trips, thanks to their amazing Daddy!!!

Celebrating G-pa Starkey's 90th B-day July 4th weekend in Colorado!

We had a great 4th of July weekend in Colorado celebrating Andy's grandpa's 90th birthday. Andy's parents rented a "cabin" that was beautiful and we enjoyed a day at the Gorge, where you could ride a little train right into the heart of the Gorge and participate in lots of activities including pony rides, a petting zoo, a carousel, dance to the live band instead of eating your lunch (we couldn't tell if everyone was clapping for the band or for all the cute little girls who were dancing), walk across the big swaying bridge (to my surprise this scared me much more than Andy and the kids), etc. etc. Andy's Mom prepared a beautiful birthday celebration for her Dad. It included dinner, entertainment, and a slideshow for all of his family and friends that were able to come! I would guess there were probably close to 80-90 people there in all. Andy's grandpa has always regretted not being able to receive his high school diploma. He had to work to support his younger brothers through school and then he served in WWII. So, it was a HUGE surprise for him to receive an "honorary high school diploma" at this surprise birthday party, due to his brave service in the war and his selfless sacrifices. Some of the great-grandchildren performed a talent that night as well. Drew has only been taking piano lessons for 2 months, but he has been doing great. So, he and I played a duet on the piano and Drew did perfect! I couldn't believe how well he performed with so little experience! All of the great grandkids sang "I've Been Working on the Railroad" complete with conductor hats and all. Drew got to blow his "horn" train whistle and I somehow managed to play the piano. They were adorable - which took some pressure off of my sad attempt to play the piano in front of such a big crowd. Andy's Mom chose that song because her Dad really did work for the railroad! So, it was pretty cute and the night was very sweet. Grandpa got emotional several times because he couldn't believe it. It was a great surprise. We also enjoyed visiting a HUGE castle that some man has been building for some 40 years or more. He is a little crazy - yelling antigovernment things and putting up HUGE signs proclaiming his hatred toward the government, but it is pretty impressive to see what he has done with his hands! We enjoyed a couple nights around the campfire - making smores and visiting. Some of the adults enjoyed the hot tub one night (Andy had to go without me since I'm expecting) and the kids enjoyed the hot tub a couple times. Drew couldn't be convinced to jump out for sparklers, but Jesi enjoyed them. The kids had a blast with all of their cute cousins and all of the dogs! Jesi didn't want to come home b/c she had so much fun with all the other girls her age. Drew got to ride to Colorado with Grandpa Walker. We had to laugh on our drive to Colorado when Jesi asked where we were. I replied that we were in "the middle of nowhere" and Jesi said, "Oh, I remember the middle of nowhere!" as if it were a specific spot:). We've definitely had a lot of trips with lots of "the middle of nowhere"! Kassi isn't the funnest age to travel with (or is she TOO MUCH fun?), but we made it back safe and sound and are so grateful for the sacrifices that Andy's parents make to bring the family together and provide such memorable experiences. And, I know it meant the world to Grandpa Starkey. Happy Birthday, Grandpa! You deserved every bit of that fun celebration! We all love you and appreciate the selfless service you have rendered throughout your life. The song that Drew played on the piano was "Jesus Said Love Everyone". We couldn't think of anyone who has more love in their heart and who treats people better than Grandpa Starkey. And, that is why we love Grandpa Starkey so much! May that be a lesson to us all! Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July weekend as well!!!

Fun on the Trampoline!!!

It didn't seem right to have an entire post about Jesi without a piece of her artwork! She made this picture for Drew today. Can you tell what it is? I was spoiled a month late with my Mother's Day wish - a trampoline! I've been trying to find one on KSL forever with so luck, so we finally broke down and bought one from Walmart! It has been SO much fun! In fact, I'm wondering why I didn't get it for Father's Day or Andy's birthday (or some other good excuse) years ago!!! Ha ha. Sorry, the picture is a little hard to see. I guess I should have darkened it. But, Jesi has Drew, herself, and Kassi all jumping on the trampoline, net and sunshine and all. I'm sure there will be some photos of the kids jumping on it this summer. I hope you all are enjoying the summer as well! I'll have to post our favorite summer recipe soon. I just got done washing, stemming, chopping, and freezing 15 lbs. of strawberries to use in smoothies and our recent favorite - strawberry frozen yogurt! I couldn't pass up a neighbor's co-op that was offering strawberries for 65 cents a pound! Speaking of pounds, this baby is growing so fast - he is about 2 lbs. now and kicking like crazy! I can't believe we still have 3 months for him to grow and I swear my other kids didn't kick this hard when they were this little?!? We're so excited and I know September is going to creep up on us so fast because as my dad always said, "Time flies when you're having fun!" And, we are having a little too much fun! We are also SO excited that after 10 months of waiting, Drew is finally getting some neuropsych testing done at BYU. We're hoping to get some ideas of ways we can help him deal with the scar tissue around the ventricles of his brain which has caused some issues with problem solving, auditory processing, desire to start and complete tasks, etc. He has been doing great in baseball and having fun with cub scouts as well as beginning piano lessons! I guess he told his piano teacher this week that he wants to play a primary song in church and wants me to play the duet part with him!!! Yikes! I better start practicing! He is such a sweet boy and we are so glad he is learning and progressing each day! He has so many talents - most of which he gets from his Daddy, which means some girl is going to be really lucky some day - like his Mommy!!!

Little Miss 5 Years Old!!!

I can't believe our sweet little Jesi is 5 years old!!! She has been our little helper ever since she was about a year old! When I ask her to do something, she gets a big smile on her face and says, "Okay, Mamma!" or "Sure, Mamma!" I've always wished they had little pull-out steps for her in the kitchen - like those old cutting boards that are built into kitchen cupboards! Last Fall she helped me pick all the leftover tomatoes and we attempted canning salsa for the first time. I think next time we'll just can tomatoes - salsa was a lot more work than I anticipated! And, I've been so scared of killing my family with botulism that we still have all that salsa sitting in the basement! I just found out that if you are worried that you didn't prepare or cook your canned tomato products according to the "Ball Blue Book" instructions, that you can boil your jar for 15 minutes to kill any botulism! Good to know! She also helped me remove tons of pits from plums to make the kids' favorite (since we moved here and have a plum tree) jam!
These pictures are of Jesi helping me do some dry packing at home. I had the crazy idea to borrow a canner from the cannery and had no idea how HEAVY they were! Luckily our counter is still in one piece and we only had one big spill from my sweet little helper. We canned wheat, barley, rye, rice, beans, and milk! And, I'm very glad we did that before I got pregnant because that canner was much too heavy to lift with a baby in my tummy!

I think from now on we'll just do our canning at the cannery, but oh the sweet memories!
Jesi is also our little organizer! She is always "organizing" something and I always feel very guilty reorganizing anything that she has so carefully "organized"! This is a picture of her with the magnet frames that she organized!
She loves to dress up - as in the last post with Kassi! I love it when she puts the gloves on her feet!

This year Jesi enjoyed rotating from our home to two other homes of kids in our neighborhood who will be attending Kindergarten next year. Twice a week we would hold preschool for about 3 hours and plan activities that started with the "letter of the week". Jesi was so good at planning activities that started with the right letter! I couldn't find the other pictures, but we had so much fun! For the letter 'B', we made homemade Bread and homemade Butter and had the kids blindfolded with the 'B' box - where they had to guess what the thing was that started with the letter 'B'. For the letter 'H' Jesi decided that we should make a big Hopscotch and some funny Hats. This week (above) we were learning the letter 'N' and we made Necklaces and Nests. I can't remember the other letters off the top of my head, but the kids had so much fun together and us Moms enjoyed our time with the kiddos before the big transition to Kindergarten next year!!! Wow, time flies and your little one is off to school!

We had a cousin's barbeque at our house with all of Andy's siblings and cousins in the area (except Darren and Cari unfortunately, who were out of town). We decided to celebrate Jason and Jesi's b-days after the dinner with some of Andy's Mom's infamous chocolate pudding cake! It was fun to see Andy's cousins who we just don't get together with enough! Now I'm determined to plan one for my side of the family as well! I love barbeques, esp. with family and friends!!!

Jesi announced shortly before her birthday that she wanted her cake to be "half Cinderella and half Strawberry Shortcake!" That was a pretty tall order for an amateur cake decorator like myself. So, I sent Andy off the night before in search of a Cinderella doll and a little Strawberry Shortcake. It was probably cheaper than buying a nasty store bought cake and Jesi was very excited for her new toys! Jesi is showing off her nails that were freshly painted that day. She chose to have her nails painted, paint with Mom, and watch a princess movie. I'm pretty sure it was Beauty and the Beast. The rest of the night is still to come in this post. Kassi got these pj's from her grandparents for her b-day and Jesi wanted a matching pair. I somehow found her size on the clearance rack in time for her b-day!!! I grew up with Strawberry Shortcake and Hello Kitty as well! Of course, Strawberry Shortcake wasn't quite so 'hip' back then!

Jesi really wanted to go to Chuck-e-Cheese for her birthday. So, we went out to eat and then stopped by for a little bit of fun with a few tokens! She loved this headband and shirt from Darren and Cari! In fact, she insisted on wearing them two days in a row!

Originally Jesi said she wanted to go to McDonalds for her b-day dinner. We reminded her that she doesn't care for hamburgers and every time we go there she is upset because we tell her she needs to eat before playing! So, we were happy that her second choice was Chuck-a-Rama! Her Grandpa McConkie would be proud - that was always his favorite place! The kids always have a blast there and we just walked in the door before the dinner pricing kicked in - yes we planned it that way :)! We found it amazing that both at Chuck-a-Rama and a store where we were ordering Andy a suit, an older person, knowing that it was Jesi's birthday, gave her a dollar bill! Andy and I thought between all of our kids, we could really start up a business that way!

Andy and Drew picked out this fun coloring/painting book for Jesi and she has thoroughly enjoyed it! She is definitely a little artist. She is always making sweet pictures and cards for people that brighten their day. She can be pretty shy, but is beginning to come more and more out of her shell and it is fun to watch! (She is rarely shy for us, but it takes a while for her to warm up to others.) She amazed us last Fall during the primary program. In front of the huge congregation, during the primary songs, she would belt out the song so that we could hear her voice above all the other children and she was twirling around in the front row on the stage for all to see. It was sooo cute! So, she has her moments when that shyness melts away and others can see the little girl that we love so much! She is such a sweet girl, always making profound statements that amaze us. She definitely has a good sense of who she is and where she came from. She knows that she is a princess because Heavenly Father is a king and she is His daughter. I hope she always remembers that and stands tall knowing that she is a daughter of God. We love you, Jesi! Happy belated b-day! Your silly mom is in tears now realizing how soon you will be leaving home and finding your prince!

Kassi turns 2!!!

Kassi is trying to show you how old she is with her fingers. She is a little concerned at this point. Andy would say that her facial expressions - especially those that involve the eyebrows come from her Mother?!?
I hope Andy doesn't think the same about this face :). She can't quite get those two fingers to stay up!
Okay, now she is getting a little upset at those two fingers for not doing what she wanted them to do!
With a little help from Mom, it worked! She was quite proud of her accomplishment!
She loved her new "Hello Kitty" night gown from Grandma and Grandpa, her necklace from her aunt and cousins, and her scooter from Mom, Dad, Drew and Jesi! It took her a little while to figure out how to ride it. She was quite creative in her first approaches - riding on her bum and scooting with her legs and having Jesi help her steer!

She also LOVES this dress from Grandma and Grandpa Walker. I'm tempted to have her wear it every Sunday because it is so darling on her (and my favorite color)!!!

She was so excited to get this card and a package in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa Starkey!

This picture and the next show what was in the package - a cute little dress w/ matching shirt and 2 adorable hats that she and Jesi like to wear together! This is her new wave - it is a true wave involving the movement of each finger!

Grandma and Grandpa Starkey actually sent Jesi her striped pink dress a year or two ago and it has been one of her favorites. So, of course when Kassi got her dress, they decided to dress alike! And the hats completed the outfit and the love! They were best buddies all day - as they are most days!

Andy's family was in town and it was Kassi's aunt Cari's birthday that week as well. So, we all ate at the pizza factory together and then came home for some chocolate cake and homemade strawberry frozen yogurt! I was planning on making Kassi another "themed" cake later, but she seemed plenty happy with this one!

Kassi and Jesi LOVE to dress up with all the hats, gloves, scarves, etc. that they can find! I'm a little sad to box up these clothing items for the summer that have provided hours of entertainment! But, I'm sure they'll be back at it again next year! And, Kassi might have her hair fixed for more than a few minutes at a time due to finding a winter hat! I must admit that I almost put my foot down to Kassi's insisting on sitting on her Dora potty chair. You probably can't tell in the picture above, but she is sitting on her Dora attachment. But, if she thinks sitting on the potty chair is as fun as dressing up, maybe that is a good sign for the future?!? I'm hoping Kassi follows in her sister's footsteps and decides to basically potty train herself one of these days before the baby comes?!? Here's to wishful thinking!

Is this what they mean when they call the age of 2 the "terrible two's"?!? Kassi's favorite activities lately include climbing to find scissors, permanent markers (as in this case) and anything else that could be dangerous or make a mess, such as toothpaste, food, etc. We have worried more about her than any of our other children when it comes to making messes and getting hurt due to adventurous ideas including climbing! I had a cute picture of her with just a plain old smile, but this picture shows her personality a little better!

I'm pretty sure it was the same day (despite the different outfit) that she found the salt shaker and went a little crazy. She is always proud of her art work on the wall, furniture, etc. as well as most of her other messes! How can you be upset with this cute girl? Her vocabulary has picked up like crazy the last couple months since her birthday! On her birthday, her new word was "WHY?" The next day, her new word was "MINE!" And the following day, her new word was "Snack?!?" Since then she has been learning several new words and/or sentences every day and it is so fun to hear what her little mind is thinking.

Kassi is our little fruitaholic! If she sees fruit at the beginning of a meal, she refusses to eat anything else! So, we always have to hide the fruit and serve it as dessert! She has recently become deathly afraid of "bugs"! If she sees a dark mark, anything floating in the tub (including grass, lint, etc.), a dead fly in a light fixture, etc. she is horrified. Occasionally she will wake up screaming in the morning because she thinks she sees a bug in her room. I'm afraid she gets that from me - although I've really calmed down over the years, so I'm surprised that it would have passed on to her?!? I feel horrible about the possibility that I could have instilled fear in my child by running away from a bee or screaming when I kill a spider! Her favorite things lately have included "sicles" (popsicles), "roni and cheese" (ever since Drew fulfilled a cub scout requirement by making from-scratch macaroni and cheese for dinner, she has been asking for it often - this morning she insisted on "roni and cheese" for breakfast!), playing outside, reading books, watching "Signing Time", dressing up or playing house with her big sis, playing cars with her big brother (despite his occasional protests), entertaining just about anyone, brushing teeth and then finding a spot of floor somewhere in the house to leave her tooth brush, smashing Mom's toes with her million mile per hour stool, and choosing her own clothes to wear. She prefers p.j.'s during the day and clothing at night, so if you see her in her pajamas in the middle of the day, you'll know that I lost the battle. She loves to have her "bankies" and will insist on every blanket in sight when she goes to bed. So, we have to hide some, or she will cry until she has 10 or more blakets covering her. She loves kitties and puppies and we love how she calls kitties "meows". She loves to pretend she is a kitty. She goes around on all fours and likes to lick her food and your hand! Oh, and another favorite of ours is when she tells us whose turn it is to pray. At night we have scriptures together and then take turns saying prayers together as a family. Kassi will say "Daddy, your turn!" and proceed with everyone in the family from oldest to youngest. She calls Jesi, "Sissy" most of the time which we find adorable. Sometimes she decides to go first, such as for dinner tonight. She blessed "Gamma, Gampa, Jazz" and then said "Daddy, your turn!" She has gotten a little confussed and thinks we always need to take turns praying every time someone prays! Kassi has been a pure joy to have in our family and we don't know what we'd do without her. She is always making us laugh and we have no doubt that she will continue to entertain us for the rest of her life! We love you, Kassi! Happy belated Birthday!!!

Easter 2010!

This last weekend we celebrated my sister, Stacy's birthday, which sadly is also the anniversary of my dad's unexpected passing 4 years ago. I'm glad we got to spend that day together this year at my Mom and Kim's home. I forgot to take my camera that day, but I thought I'd post some pictures from my favorite holiday. Easter has been my favorite holiday ever since my dad passed away. I wasn't surprised to hear of a woman's similar love for Easter in our last general conference due to her own personal loss of a loved one. Losing someone close to you definitely makes the significance of the Savior's resurrection more aplicable to your life and it has brought a new meaning to the holiday of Easter for our family. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter with family and friends! We enjoyed a quiet Easter weekend in our home coloring eggs, watching conference, and celebrating Andy's birthday. We also enjoyed some fun time spent at my mom and Kim's home, where they so kindly provided an Easter Egg Hunt, a b-day celebration for Andy and Taylee's birthdays (that thing on Andy's head is a giant cupcake), and an Easter dinner! The kids had so much fun with their cousins, grandparents, and of course their aunt Nicole. It was a wonderful weekend! And, even at the 4 year anniversary of my dad's passing, we are able to feel the joy of the blessings of the Savior's Atonement and I am glad that we have the Easter holiday to remind us of the reality of the resurrection! Happy Belated Easter everyone!

It's a boy!

I know I have a lot of catching up to do (our family birthday marathon, Easter, our little trip to St. George to see my little sis dance, etc. etc.). But, I've been putting this news off long enough! I apoligize to any of you who don't know that we are expecting a baby! We just found out last week at the 20 week ultrasound that this baby is a boy! Technically, we weren't suppose to bring any children to the ultrasound apointment, but we planned on bringing Drew and Jesi until Jesi decided last minute to stay and play with her friends that were going to have Kassi over to play. I spotted the little boy part very early, but the guy who does our ultrasounds wouldn't confirm it until the end of the apointment! But, we were just happy to see that this baby is growing and developing well and looks as healthy as can be! Drew has always wanted a baby brother and is VERY excited! Every time he sees me, he puts his hand on my tummy and says "Hi, Nathan!" I was surprised when I received a baby announcement from my old roommate and friend who just had a baby boy! We somehow picked the exact same first and middle name for our little boys and they won't be more than 6 months apart! I was amazed because they aren't really popular names (as far as I've heard lately). Thank you Lindsay for not minding us using the same names! If my baby sister Nicole was a boy, my dad wanted to name her "Nathaniel" after our ancestor, Nathaniel Ashby. So, everyone in our family has known that we needed to have a little Nathan running around someday. So, we've had that name in mind since Drew was born. Andy's best friend growing up was also named Nathan, so it wasn't hard to convince him of that name. And, most of you know that Paul is my Dad's name and although I wouldn't mind having a little "Paul" running around someday, we don't know that we'll have another boy! We are due the 15th of September, but with cesarean births they usually schedule you a week early. We are so excited for this little boy to join our family - well actually I know he already has! He is moving around and kicking like crazy. I think he might be excited to meet his brother and sisters, and hopefully his parents as well! Jesi wanted a boy at first. Then, she decided she wanted another sister. She argued that we needed another girl because we have "4 boys" in our family and only "3 girls". When people would question her math, she would explain that Heavenly Father and Jesus are part of our family, so we need to have another girl! My children are so sweet and I know that young children have a special bond with Heaven. The miracle of bringing children into this world definitely reaffirms that to me! While the world may tell us that raising children is too much work and not worth our time, I am grateful to know that bearing and raising children brings blessings that can come in no other way. I am grateful to be a mother and have a wonderful, supportive husband, and that my children are patient with the shortcomings of their mommy! I learn just as much or more from them as they do from me and I feel very blessed to have that opportunity to grow right along with each one of our sweet children! Kassi is still a little confused about the whole "baby in the tummy" thing. She thinks everyone has a baby in their tummy now and that every bump is a baby! But, I'm sure she'll be a fun big sister. Fun is probably underestimating her abilities. She keeps us on her toes these days! Actually, she likes to SMASH my toes in the kitchen often with that wood stool of hers that she likes to scoot around 100 miles an hour when she decides she wants something! You usually know when she is up to something because you will hear the stool, a chair, or the bench scratching across the tile floors from one end of the tile floors to the other! And, if I'm not paying attention (since that sound has become very familiar as of late), you might hear me scream in pain as well! Maybe I should just make a habit of wearing shoes!?! Andy and I are convinced that her recent mischievousness started the day after conception of this baby. I think someone knew that we might have second thoughts about having another baby this soon if she started any sooner! Thankfully Jesi decided a week before the ultrasound that she wanted a baby brother. So, everyone is happy and we are very excited to welcome this precious baby boy into our home and wanted to share the news with you!!!

Valentine's Day weekend!

Since everyone has been posting Easter pictures, I thought I better do something more recent than Christmas :)! But instead of jumping to Easter, here is a quick little post of our Valentine's Day weekend. Andy and I try to switch who gets to plan Valentine's Day and our Anniversary date each year, and this year Andy got Valentine's Day. A couple days before, he saw a flier for dinner and dancing at a golf course restaurant up in Springville canyon. Other than a little miscommunication with our babysitter, and thinking for an hour or so that we might not be going out at all, it was perfect! Luckily we were able to reschedule our dinner reservation! It was the perfect date - just the two of us in a room of strangers (not that we don't LOVE going out with friends as well), with great food and great music. Andy danced several songs with me in the little neglected dance corner of the restaurant, often just the two of us. I felt bad for all the women who were wishing their husbands/dates would do the same! I was hoping they'd break out some music we could swing to, but it's probably a good thing they didn't because I tend to laugh too much when we make the attempt to swing dance, and I'm sure we would have created quite the scene!!! Anyway, thank you Andy for planning our fun little date and for being willing to dance with me through eternity!!! I can't imagine a better dance partner. You are the best!!!

A sweet lady in our neighborhood had the young women make up this darling Valentine house for us! I wasn't home when it was delivered, but apparently they even sang "Happy Valentine's Day to You"! The kids had way too much fun picking at this house all month and I had to test out the red, white, and pink candy corns I'd never seen before! Such a cute idea!

This is the last "Hurrah" for eating off of the Valentine's House. The kids really got into it - they completely removed it from it's base during their demolition!

We also were given an invitation (from some guy we did our mortgage with many years ago) to go ice skating for free! So, we took the kiddos and although it was extremely crowded, we all had a great time. They didn't have skates small enough for Kassi, but Drew and Jesi had lots of fun trying out their ice skates and holding onto me or the wall! Jesi especially loved it despite her many falls!

Andy knows how much I love to ice skate, so he was quite the trooper watching Kassi on the sidelines while I helped the other kiddos skate!

Oh, the memories! I don't think I got a decent picture of the kids and our little Valentine tradition this year. My dad used to put a signed card on the front porch, ring the doorbell, and run around to the back door. Of course, we all knew the cards were from him, but we all loved it! So, we continue to do that in our family. This year the kids each got a little book with their love notes from Mom and Dad on the front porch. Every year the holidays and the traditions that go along with them are more and more fun. I hope you all know how much we love you too! Maybe next year you can join us on the dance floor and we can request a couple swing worthy songs for us to laugh our heads off to as we attempt to pretend like we know what we're doing!!!