It's been a beautiful few days here. The sun is out and teasing me with thoughts of Spring! I'm not sure why, but this winter has really been quite long enough for me this year. March is always such a long month for me anyway, between the yucky weather and the fact that it is the only month of the school year with NO vacation days. So this sunshine is welcome, indeed!

Yesterday the elem. school celebrated Dr. Seuss's b-day by letting the kids dress up as a favorite character from a book. Here is a (quickly thrown together) Star-bellied Sneetch, and Pinkalicious. It was a fun day for them!

I have no explanation for these other pictures. I just found them on my camera...I guess this was a fun day for them, too!

And here is a picture that looks adorable at first glance, but actually strikes fear in my heart--Claire recharging her batteries!

Just for Fun

Here are some fun pictures of Claire that show her personality a little bit. Always happy (well, almost always), always busy (truly, always!) and just a little bit crazy!!

I don't know why I love "cookie dough pictures" so much, but I do!

Here is Paige, caught in the act. She got this art easel from Santa and we now have an art gallery downstairs.

And lastly, here is a picture of me with my Christmas present. Neighbor dogs, be warned! My backyard is no longer your personal bathroom!!

Happy Birthday Spencer! (& more)

Spencer turned 4 last week and we had a great birthday! The girls were home from school so they played and played with Spencer's new train set. (He finally got a turn to play when they went back to school on Tuesday!) We ended the day with a pizza party celebration in our little man's honor!

On another note:

We had a great Christmas break! Christmas morning was so fun and messier than it's ever been. Here are some pictures of the kids with their new "outfits" (in one form or another).

The day after Christmas we went to the Living Planet Aquarium in SLC and had a great time. The kids had fun with all of the sea life and it was just a nice get-a-way with the family. Tom and Anneke directed us to a great burger joint for dinner: 5 Guys Burgers & Fries--awesome!

It's a good thing that we had a fun weekend because on Monday morning we took poor Nicole in for surgery. She had all four wisdom teeth removed as well as surgery on a tooth in the front. It was a rough day but she came through it like a champ! Here is a picture of her poor swollen cheeks on Wednesday. I was afraid they would pop!

Christmas Sing-a-longs

Corinne and Paige had their Christmas sing-a-longs at school this week. This is definitely one of my favorite parts of the season.

And here is Claire...table dancing.

Don't Blink!

Wow! School started and two months of my life seemed to disappear into a black hole of cello lessons, violin lessons, orthodontist appointments, and the never ending mountain of homework that finds it's way to our kitchen table every evening. It's busy...that's for sure...and my kids don't even play soccer!! We have, however, had a few moments here and there to take a deep breath and enjoy one another. Here's a little recap:

Somehow, I forgot to post one of our most important events in August. Our Paigie had her 6th birthday! She chose to have a bowling birthday party at the Fun Park, and it was very fun indeed! We love you, Paige!

Labor Day weekend is a big celebration in our town. We celebrate our Founder's Day (complete with an oh, so politically correct Sham Battle--worth a look-see once in your life!) We enjoyed the parade, the pit-beef dinner in the park and later that evening the Little Buckaroo Rodeo for the kids.

Nicole and Corinne riding a float.Spencer and Paige waiting for candy

It must not have turned out the way they hoped...

But Claire looks happy!

At the rodeo, Paige participated in a critter chase. Here is what she caught, and therefore, got to bring home. "Clucky" joined our family for a few weeks until he was invited to live somewhere else, where he could be very happy with lots of hens.

Here is a picture at the temple the night that Dad was set apart as a sealer. This is Mom and Dad with 14 of their 25 grandkids!

Nicole, Corinne, and Paige all lost teeth on the same weekend! They put them under their pillows on the same night. Talk about a banner day for the tooth fairy!!

On Sunday we went for a little hike in the "hills" above our house to see the fall colors. Gorgeous!!

And this picture, titled "Rabid Claire", shows what was left from her cupcake the other day!

First Day of School

Well, summer flew by and here we are headed back to school. Nicole is in Middle School this year and even though she says she's ready, I'm not sure I am. I'll be very glad to get her home this afternoon and see if she survived! : ) An hour and a half after I took Nicole to school, I made my way with Corinne and Paige to our (thankfully familiar) Elementary school, and they were very excited to go. Paige was especially excited to eat school lunch since this is her first year of full days. Nicole ready to go, bright and early!

Corinne with her teacher

Paige all ready for 1st grade!

Four more kittens!

This is Corinne and I wanted to tell you about

our four new kittens! Nicole, Paige, Spencer,

and I each have our own. Here they are.
Pepper is Spencer's
Snowball is Paige's
Polka (polk-a-dot) is mine
Roo is Nicole's