Earth Day

Brian and I ran in the Tulip Festival 5k. It was cold and rainy. Our hands were numb and we were soaked to the bone by the finish. By the way, who pays for these images of runners crossing the finish line? They are so over priced....

We placed 131/132 overall out of 800 runners, finishing in 28:30. I was 12th in my age division and 43rd in gender (which shows the people who are passing me are mostly men or younger)! I feel pretty satisfied with our accomplishment! Not bad for just having a baby 4 months ago :) Brian made the race more enjoyable and I hope he'll join me on others!! I'm gearing up for the AF half in June and maybe the Freedom Festival 10k in July and the St. George half in October.... so long as my legs keep up with me :)

We made worms in dirt for a treat and watched the Disney movie of Chimpanzee for Earth Day.

He is Risen

I wish a happy Easter to all and echo the words of President Monson who stated: 

"No words in Christendom mean more to me than those spoken by the angel to the weeping Mary Magdalene and the other Mary when, on the first day of the week, they approached the tomb to care for the body of their Lord. Spoke the angel:

“Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.” 

The empty tomb that first Easter morning was the answer to Job’s question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” 

I have read—and I believe—the testimonies of those who experienced the grief of Christ’s Crucifixion and the joy of His Resurrection. I have read—and I believe—the testimonies of those in the New World who were visited by the same risen Lord.

I believe the testimony of one who, in this dispensation, spoke with the Father and the Son in a grove now called sacred and who gave his life, sealing that testimony with his blood. Declared he:

“And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

“For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father.” 

^{I am grateful for my Savior and for his sacrifice, so that I can be together forever with these guys! We had a great Easter and even got to squeeze in an Egg hunt before our 9am church (which is why my hair is still wet from the shower). We were all recovering from chest colds, so the Easter bunny thought money in the eggs would be better than a bunch of candy for sick kids! What a smart bunny! Of course, a few had some jelly beans. Turns out Jackson was all about the money filled eggs and would put back the candy ones and search for the ones that jingled with change! Right after this was taken, Brian received a call from the Bishop asking us to say the opening and closing prayers in sacrament meeting! So we hustled and scurried out the door that morning to be on time for church...but it was well worth it, the meeting and music were wonderful.} 

^{We had the Bell's over for Easter dinner. Rack of lamb, wild rice salad, naan and hummus...very delicious! Strawberry shortcake for dessert. Just perfect.}  

Spring break

Brian was brave enough to take the 3 oldest kids camping in Zion ALONE! I braided Zoey's hair in dreads before the trip so he wouldn't have to worry about her hair. It took a whole day to prep getting these guys packed, food purchased, and meals prepped and ready. It's more work getting out of town and cleaning up from a trip than the actual trip itself these days :) The kids wanted to pack their own bags, but luckily we went through them before departure, otherwise Eli would have been hiking in a swimsuit and a church tie! ha ha! 

 They headed out Thursday and spent that night in a hotel in Springdale and enjoyed the day at the pool. They swam for 4 hours!! The goal was to be down there so they could get into the park first thing the following day and get a campsite (first come first serve). The hotel served a Continental breakfast with omelets, waffles, muffins and breads..anything you could want. What did out kids pick? Cap'n Crunch! I guess it's more of a novelty for them since they don't get that at home :)

 They braved several hikes and saw some cool wildlife. A deer in the river and even pet a squirrel!

They all became Junior Rangers which they are all proud of...but especially Jackson. He took it very responsibly! This is them working on their Junior Ranger books...

They were pleased to see that I packed them hot chocolate for breakfast. I really did think of everything :)

While in Zion, Brian took the kids on a few hikes--Temple of Sinawava (1.5 miles) an Emerald Pools (5miles). When their legs got tired, Brian would let them stop and rest... until Zoey got smart and said her legs were infinity tired! And then it was the ice cream motivation to the end :)

 Brian rewarded the hikers with ice cream at the lodge afterwords. It was hard-earned! After coming home I asked them what they liked best and they all agreed it was the ice cream! I joked with Brian that it was a long trip for ice cream and maybe they could stay close to home next year, but he reminded the kids that the ice cream only tasted so good because they had to hike to get it!

 After ice cream, they played tag... newly found energy from sugar can go a long way

Until it's gone... and the hike caught up to them and they sacked-out! They wore each other- even their dad- to the bone! They slept until 6pm, played hide and go seek (in the tent!) while Brian made dinner, and staye  up late watching a movie. Spring break at its best! A little getaway, a little warm sunny weather, playing hard and no home rules to worry about!
 

They wanted to stay longer, but made the drive home in time to catch Everette's baby blessing on Saturday afternoon.

Issac is 4 months!

Isaac is 4 months old now! He is about 14 pounds and has the cutest chunky rolls forming around his thighs and arms. He has graced me with 2 full nights of sleep (from 7pm to 7am), both of which I wasn't able to enjoy because Calvin got sick and took Isaac's place in nighttime awakenings :( Now Isaac is also sick and not sleeping through the night. poor guy! He's had a fever the past 3 days and pink eye in both eyes, cough and cold and lost his voice. Just when I got all the humidifiers cleaned up and put away for the winter, I have to drag it all back out again. Ugh. 

Other than that, he's a happy guy. He's pretty smiley and laughs frequently. He loves being held and talked to and is really social when he's awake. In fact, when he first wakes up from his naps, he's so happy it impedes his nursing because all he wants to do is look and me and smile and coo. I love those moments. I think he might be an early talker because he tries so hard to make sounds come out of his mouth, moving his lips and making bubbles. Sometimes he'll fix eye contact and try so hard to "say" something I swear he's trying to communicate to me. He demands attention and doesn't like to be left alone for long. He's also very spitty! I can't get through a day with a clean shirt, but that's par for the course for our kids. I'm looking forward to being done with that phase :) 

His eyes are still blue, but I just saw the faintest speck of brown the other day! I'm hoping his eyes stay this color. 1 out of 5 could end up with my blue eyes! I'm crossing my fingers!!

He is the center of sibling rivalries these days. Everyone wants to hold him, or play with him, or make him smile...all at the same time (which translates into fights between the older kids and a crying baby). 

Zoey looks like she is about to drop Isaac, but she's actually quite motherly with him. She always wants to help change a diaper, get him dressed, wrap him in a blanket or find a binky. She's the first to be willing to hold him so I can cook dinner. She loves her little brother! Sometimes she sneaks him into her room and plays "baby" with him. I guess having a real baby to play with beats having baby dolls, although she likes those too! 

P.S. I love my tulips! I'm going to plant more next year...

Isaac's cousin, Everette Gray was blessed at our home on Saturday afternoon. The Gray's stayed with us that weekend and we wnjoyed their company.

April Fool's Day

The kids have been looking forward to this little silly holiday for weeks. In fact, Zoey was so excited to do tricks, that she started doing them before April Fool's day (I would find my clocks all set at different times, or the computer turned off). So while they were planning to do fun things to catch us in surprise, Brian and I also had a few tricks up our sleeve.

For breakfast we made cornmeal pancakes. Usually the kids are starving and will snarf them down quickly. Today, Brian made pancakes the size of a pencil eraser and asked "How hungry are you? How many pancakes do you want?" When numbers were called out, he brought over the requested amount and arranged them so cutely on their plates. Totally confused, and Zoey almost in tears, they wondered why they were so tiny. April Fool's! Brian then made up for it with any requested shape pancakes the kids wanted: fire truck, train, rocket ship, and a heart to name a few.

Jackson always has a hard time getting ready for school and drags his feet until the last minute. He was just barely dressed, but with no socks/shoes, or teeth and hair brushed when I yelled that his ride was there to pick him up. I ran upstairs all in a panic to get him ready for school and rush him out the door. He was beginning to feel the panic and ran downstairs only to look out the window and realize that it was April Fool's! At least he was ready to go!

I packed Jackson's lunch today, with nothing but a sandwich box that had 2 slices of bread and a posted note in the middle that said "April Fool's" Brian was planning to meet him at school with a hot lunch and eat with him...I wish I could have seen his reaction :) I was so excited for the surprise I asked Brian to call me afterwards and tell me how it went. Here's what went down:

Brian showed up at school with Cafe Rio and waited in the lunchroom. He saw Jackson walk in with his class and grab his lunchbox, sit down to open it and look completely dumbfounded at the empty lunch before him. He picked up his sandwich container and shook it. He looked around at all of his friends opening their lunches. He slowly opened his sandwich container and looked at his two pieces of bread. By this time Brian had made his way behind Jackson, reached down, opened the sandwich to reveal the post-it note and said "APRIL FOOL'S!" Jackson was so excited (he even spilled the special drink Brian got for them all over the table). Brian enjoyed surprising Jackson... nothing better to break up a normal workday than Cafe Rio, tres leches, and  a lunchtime full of chatty first-graders who wished they had as cool of a dad! It went exactly how I hoped it would :) I wish I could have been there.

On a serious note, I got a text from Eli's Primary teacher this week that said, "The best thing Eli said to me last week during sharing time (talking about Jesus) he turned to me and said, 'we can't see him but we can feel him in here (pointing to his heart).' It was so sweet and not prompted by anyone, and made me cry. That is why I love Primary! Eli is truly one of my favorites. He has energy but is sensitive to gospel teachings, loving and so darn cute!" I was grateful to receive the text because Eli has a ton of energy and I wonder how he is during primary. I know what he's like at home and in sacrament meeting. He has more energy than my other kids ever had, and is loud and strong and active! He's a non-stop mover and talker...an "in-your-face" kind of kid. I'm glad to know he has a primary teacher who loves him. The comment made my day!

 

Daddy Date

Brian took the kids on a date the other weekend to the space museum. They had fun and enjoyed the special attention from Dad. He treated them to a picnic and ice cream!

 Zoey got her first haircut at a "Salon".. she loved it! She even got to pick a bouncy ball!

Pi Day and other Spring Happenings

March 14 celebrates Pi Day (3.14). We made a banana cream pie, which barely made it to the table in individual dishes. Calvin approved of the finger licking goodness…

I celebrated St. Patrick's Day by making green eggs and ham for breakfast, outfitting the kids in green, and planting some green house plants for my bathroom! 

Zoey's love for crafts keeps me hopping. Yesterday she wanted to make hats and this is what we came up with for Zoey and Eli (spring flowers and a nest). They showed them off to our neighbor Betty who said they were cool and gave them a cookie...

                  

I did a ladies craft night with my mom and sister and some other gals last night and we made these fun Easter signs. I got all my Eater decorations out and I'm ready for Spring!!

Grandma Gray came to visit the other night with temple shaped sugar cookies. Brian was out of town and she helped with the other kids while I put Isaac to bed. Jackson wanted to draw his own temple and made this rendition with tulips in front. He's a great artist and thinks of the details! 

We started sleep training Isaac last weekend. he had started waking 4 times a night. I've noticed lately that when he wakes up at night, he's not really hungry, he just wants help to get back to sleep. As I was working with Isaac the other night to calm him down, his cry seemed to sound like he was whimpering "why? why?" It was so sad. It's so hard but he's ready.  SO the hard decision to move forward with sleep training was made! A few days in and he can make it until about 4am. I'm hoping withing another month or so he will cut that feeding out as well. He's a happy baby and has been laughing and smiling a lot more lately! 

Isaac had an allergic reaction to something. He was covered in hives and his eyes were practically swollen shut. Poor Guy. We're thinking it might be peanuts coming through in my breast milk? I've been eating more than usual lately a post-run snack, other than that nothing in our diet or household has changed, so I can't figure it out. I cut the peanut butter and he was better within 3 days...who knows! Zoey was the most concerned about his new look and asked if I still loved him. Ha ha! I had to explain it was only temporary, but of course I would still love him even if it wasn't. We had a talk about how love is not an expression because of the way we look...but about the way we feel about who someone is. 

Isaac's Blessing Day

Today was a special day for our family! Brian was able to give a name and blessing to Isaac. We love having him in our home and enjoyed the spirit of the meeting. It was a special blessing and special day. We were glad to be surrounded by family and friends who could make it.

 Last week was our first time in over 12 weeks to attend all 3 meetings together as a family. It was a rough winter of sickness, having a baby and recovering, and more sickness!  I was (still am) overwhelmed with the idea of having all 5 kids at church, with our oldest only 6 years old and wondering how we will manage it. So here marks the first of many Sundays ahead of us as a complete family…I wish my future self GOOD LUCK!

Isaac is almost 3 months now, smiling tons, catching a few laughs here and there, starting to roll over and not sleeping very well at night yet (although we plan to get that resolved soon)!

February is Over!

Grandma and Grandpa Gray are some of the coolest grandparents around! I hope we have spunk like this for our grandkids! They threw a party celebrating the coldest part of the year being over! It was fun to have a party for "no reason" although I think getting through winter is plenty enough of a reason to have a party! We are so looking forward to Spring!

It was a Hawaiian themed party and we all dressed up in our Hawaiian garb and swimsuits. Zoey said it felt like we were really going to Hawaii! The kids are saying "aloha" in the picture!

 Grandma and Grandpa have a hot tub in their garage, so we were able to enjoy a nice warm soak. It was nicely decorated.  The kids are looking forward to pool days and suntans now...

We ate Hawaiian haystacks for dinner with Hawaiian fruit on the side. The kids enjoyed special pineapple cups, and my mom had a Hawaiian beach themed cake for dessert! Eli had 3 servings! He ate nonstop!

 Calvin enjoyed getting out of the house. We've been hunkered down for the winter with the newborn and Calvin hasn't been out much. The older kids get to have a break at school or running errands with dad sometimes, but poor Calvin has been cooped up for way too long! he liked being somewhere new. It was a fun evening!