Drugs at Chuck E. Cheese's?

This is quite possibly the kookiest set of pictures of my kids that I've ever seen. They all make me laugh. We were all especially laughing at the hilarious Chuck E. Cheese "drawings (the black and white pictures). I LOVE Natalie's face above. And the picture of Angela holding her goofy picture . . . priceless.

This was our birthday celebration for Natalie. We called grandma and grandpa at the last minute and they joined us too. Good old Chuck E. Cheeses has some kind of magic that keeps the kids coming back for more. Maybe it's some kind of drug they pump in the air. That would explain my kids' extra goofy behavior as well. See for yourself . . .













See, I told you.

Happy Birthday Nat!

8 years ago this adorable blue eyed, brown haired, freckle faced girl joined our family! We love you Nat! (I love Sarah passed out in the background.)

Twilight loves birthdays too - she always loves the boxes and bags to hide in!

Natalie passed out donuts with sprinkles to her class and, of course, I brought her a balloon. (o:


The girls' school has a good set up for lunch visitors. They have a separate table the kids can go to with visitors and they can choose 2-3 friends to come along too. We had a fun lunch all together since Sarah has her lunch at close to the same time as Natalie.

Isn't this such a Natalie shirt? It looked so cute on her for her birthday outfit.

ART!

At the girls' school, every spring, they have a little art night. Since they all LOVE to paint and draw I thought it would be fun to get them each a canvas to make a creation on. Sarah wasn't sure what to paint when we talked about this idea and I needed something to hang up in our bathroom downstairs, so I commissioned her to create a masterpiece using paint colors that match the towels and shower curtain. We found an idea in an art book that inspired her abstract design. Unfortunately, we were so busy the week that the paintings were due, it ended up being a very last minute thing and more stressful than it should have been. Natalie and Angela finished their works of art in plenty of time. However, Sarah's more complicated piece of art took a really long time. She wanted to be finished when she was halfway through. But, me being the mean mom that I am, prodded her to keep going even though it meant a later bed time. I didn't want her to give up halfway through. So her experience doing her art was not the relaxing and fun event that I wanted it to be, but when she was done, she was pretty happy with the result. I think she was glad she stuck with it.

At the art night, the girls were all proud of their works of art. Sarah and Natalie also participated in the talent show portion playing piano and violin. They got a little trophy for their participation (which Angela was very jealous of) and they all got ribbons for their lovely artwork. Natalie got a special award for hers - the students at the school got to vote on their favorites and Natalie's was chosen. It was a fun night and everyone walked out happily with their awards and pretty paintings that we get to hang in our house now.

Natalie's cute princess-y picture, I like the castle in the background, nice use of perspective. (O:

I love Angela's, she did this all on her own.

And my lovely piece to add to the bathroom! Thanks Sarah!

Conference Weekend

Sunday morning of conference, we always have the tradition of eating sticky buns. It was a little bittersweet as we watched because the last time we watched conference was right before we started packing up the house to move from Oregon. I did enjoy getting an extra hour of sleeping in since conference starts here at 10 am instead of 9 am. (O: I loved conference - always do, but they just seem to get better and better. I think it is really neat how every conference the speakers can choose their own topics, they don't know what everyone else is speaking on, and yet, there always seems to be a theme or two that run throughout. They are definitely inspired by the same source. (o: This time seemed to focus on service and charity. It was very uplifting and made me want to reach out to others more. I love our church leaders and their loving example. I am proud to be a member of our church, especially when I hear of all the good being done throughout the world by our church welfare program. It truly follows the example of the Savior and I believe He leads and inspires the efforts of our leaders to bless others.

During the break on Sunday, we took a little drive. I've really been wanting to drive past my old house I grew up in ever since we came back. Good old house. It looks so run down now. My dad used to take such good care of the yard.

We went by Frank's* house too. The funny thing about us is that we grew up just a few miles away from each other and our houses were the exact same floorplan only swapped and his had a carport.

Natalie has become quite the connoisseur of snow since we moved to Utah. (O:

A little game of Slamwich is always good on a Sunday afternoon!

More Fooling Around

Once again, a favorite resource, my Family Fun magazines, inspired this one. I always wanted to do it. I think it turned out pretty cute! Chocoloate Rice Krispie meatloaf and candy peas and carrots. (Those flavored Tootsie rolls did the trick.)

Angela was my little accomplist and helped make the veggies. She was so excited to trick the girls when it was time for snack!

Funny random story. Kassee - Sarah's friend on the left - ate the green peas and they actually pulled out one of her mollars that had been loose! It was so funny. The darn mollar had been bugging Kassee for days, so she was very grateful that she ate her peas that afternoon!

Jacqueline and natalie liked their tricky food!

April Fools Fun

This is a simple enough joke to play, but the girls got a kick out of it. When I made their lunches for them the morning of April Fool's I mixed up what was in the packaging. So in the granola bar package they found teddy grahams. In their chips, they found a different flavor than it was labeled.

Then you sneak in a little message and glue the packaging back together! (O:

I "Heart" my Oregon friends!

Since we moved here almost six months ago (wow!), we have been so lucky to have visits from wonderful friends. The good thing about moving to Utah is that a lot of people come here to visit family or to pass through. I can't wait to see more of you! And hope to get some repeat visits as well. (Lots of hint dropping here!) Our first Oregon friend came just before Christmas. I was so thrilled to hear from Kelly and find a time that she could come. (Though, I missed Tylin )o: her daughter, who was one of my YW.) We love Kelly - the girls were almost as excited as I was that she was stopping by. It was fun to take her on the official new house tour, but we got side-tracked a lot just talking. I loved hearing about the ward and how everyone was doing. It was weird saying goodbye and not seeing her just walk home. (We lived just around the corner from each other.) It was a quick visit, but it was so great to hang out for a little bit and catch up. It felt so comfortable and easy having an old friend to talk to. Thanks so much for coming Kelly! Love ya lots! Shortly after Christmas, we got to see the Halls! Natalie was so excited to see Lydia. These were our wonderful "backyard" neighbors and good friends. Natalie and Lydia were best buds and all our kids got along so well. It is such a weird feeling not having them right behind us. I miss Shannan's incredible pies she used to pass over the fence to us. How my stomach aches for those pies! (o: It was so fun to hang out and show the house and try to talk them into buying the house behind us here. (o: We got to go out to lunch all together and had such a fun time. We laughed a lot and talked about getting together again in the summer. It was so nice to have Shannan and Matt and the kids visit. We miss them lots! Cute Shannan - It felt just like "old times" hanging out again! These two made plans for a sleepover in the summer! In February I got a text from Kaitlyn that she was going to be in our neck of the woods over President's Day weekend. Yahoo! Monday night she and Alan (her dad) came over after a day of exploring the BYU campus. Again, the girls were so excited (they loved my young women) - we had a fantastical time talking, eating homemade ice cream. Love ya Katie!! I love hanging out with you! (Man, this post is making me homesick . . . ) And just last week we were so excited to see Tina and Tori! Angela has had a picture of Tori on her dresser in a cute "Friends" frame that Tori gave her before we left. Whenever my girls have a "sleepover" on the weekends, Angela brings her pillow, her blanket, a doll and the picture of her and Tori. (o: They had fun playing just like old times, while Tina and I talked. A tradition that Tina and I had through every one of our kids. I still remember hanging out while Sarah and Taylor crawled around on our living room floors. Tina always had the best advice, listening ear and fun ideas. I can't believe how fast time goes by. Look how color coordinated we are! I miss you tons Tina! Thanks soooo much for coming! You're the best!

And just recently, I finally got to visit Kirstin, who happens to be a fellow Utahn (for now). I never would have guessed that when she and Jeff came to get an MBA at BYU that we would be following them here a year later. I'm so glad our paths crossed before they graduate and head to California. The girls and I headed down to Provo on one of their days off at school and we spent an afternoon with Kirstin and Lia, who has grown up so much!

I loved getting to see Kirstin's home and talk about her new adventures coming up. We always have the best talks and Kirstin always makes me want to be a better person. (o: She is awesome. It was a wonderful Friday afternoon together!

My amazing Oregon friends will always be near and dear to my heart. They taught me so much and took such good care of my little family during the decade we spent far away from our extended family. They were our surrogate extended family and mean the world to us - and ALWAYS will. Hugs and Kisses to all you Oregonians reading this post. Love you all - and I'm working on catching up on the blog from January so you can see what we've been up to!

Science Guy

For Science Club in March, one of the dads came (apparently, this is tradition) and brought some liquid nitrogen and froze a bunch of different things. One of the moms said this has nothing to do with his job, it's a hobby. Liquid Nitrogen - that is unique!

The kids and adults enjoyed watching this dad and his son freeze marshmallows, a feather duster, a barbie doll and all kinds of other weird things and then smash them.



My girls always love a good "explosion" and this definitely fit the bill!

Guess What We Put Out?

When we told the girls last summer that we were moving to Utah, the first two questions they asked were, "Can we bring Twilight?" and "Can we bring the trampoline?" Those were their two main things they wanted if we were going to uproot them from everything they knew.


When we moved into the house last November, it wasn't the time to set it up. So the girls have waited anxiously for several months and finally were reunited with their beloved yard toy. If only we could have brought our awesome swingset too.

The Everyday

I don't remember how long ago we started "store" - it's been over a year. The girls get Disney bucks for good behavior and then they get to use their bucks at the mom "store". They still haven't gotten tired of buying little trinkets and always spend tons of time deciding on what they want.

Natalie still has a reputation for very colorful fashion sense. There are still some days when she comes downstairs that I have to blink a few times to get past all the colors and patterns going on!

This is a favorite hiding spot for Angela and Natalie - our winter gear box in the closet. The cat also enjoys hopping in here for naps when the closet is left open.

Angela is learning how to do her laundry now. She is getting so big!