Our trip to Albuquerque

Last weekend Darrick got off work early on Friday so we decided to take a little road trip. Five and a half hours doesn't sound too bad right. The girls would spend any amount of time in the car for the chance to stay the night at a hotel. They were so excited. The trip there wasn't too bad. The girls brought some yarn to crochet and they made little necklaces for each other. It was a lot of fun watching them.

Once we were there, we went swimming. Fun, Fun, Fun! They love hotels for that reason alone I think. They especially loved the hot tub. We went back to the room and sacked out for the night and first thing the next morning we were up and back at the pool. There was a little bridge with fish in the stream right outside of our room. What fun they had watching them and feeding leaves tothe fish.

We looked around the city and hung out that day, we even went to Olive Garden for lunch, the girl's all time favorite! It is one place that we can find food everyone loves, and in our family that is hard to do. After that we went up to look at the temple. It was so beautiful! The girls particularly loved the water fountain out front.

Kota took this picture of us at the temple. How cute! It was the only picture of me from the trip (imagine that) so I decided to add it even if our heads were cut off.

Overall it was a great trip. New Mexico is such a pretty place. The weather was wonderful. It was a fun little weekend.

The girls were beat by the time that we got home. (Their poor necks!)

This is what Oakley thought about the whole trip. For her sake I don't think that we will be taking that long of a ride again for a while. What a trooper!

5 Things I did today.....

I've been tagged.

It's monday, which usually doesn't consist of anything too interesting, but getting back to the norm from the weekend. Here it goes.

I took Kota to dance class. She loves it. Today was pajama day so she chose to wear her new monkey pjs that she got for Christmas. I took a picture with her and a few of her friends in her class. She is quite a bit younger than the other girls, but boy she looks tiny to me. She is actually right down the middle of the charts too.

After running home from that, I fed the kids and was off to take Camden to preschool.

I came home and soon after caught Kota making a mess with soap in the bathroom. (One of their favorite things to do for some reason.) She closed the door so I knew something was up.

Today was a great day in Oakley's life. She finally made the move and decided that walking would be her preferred method of transportation (besides being carried by mom.) She has been taking steps and standing for months now. Oaks is such a cautious kid that I think it took her a while to finally decide to do it. In this little clip it also shows her little walk as well as how much she just wants to hang out with her older sisters. It also shows all of the mischief they get into.

Later we had FHE. After the lesson we played "Sleeping Queens" which the girls are both awesome at may I add. It is a lot of fun to watch them play. We also had yummy peach smoothies. It was a fun night.

I am so thankful for such good kids and such a wonderful husband. They really are the best things in life as well as the best part of everyday!

I tag:

• Heather
• Tori
• Becky
• Shelly
• Alisha

What did you do today?

Fun Times with Grandpa, Grandma & Devin!

Over MLK weekend Grandpa, Grandma and uncle Devin made the treck out to visit. We had a lot of fun with them and wish that it could have lasted longer, but are grateful for the time that we had to spend with them. The girls had a blast teasing uncle Devin and giving him a hard time, scrapbooking with grandma, and bouncing on the bed with grandma. Along with many other fun things. Thanks grandma for all of the fun prizes too. They are a big hit.

Kindergarten and Gymnastics

I can't believe that the time has come to register Camden for Kindergarten. She has been waiting for this day for quite some time. She wanted to skip preschool completely and jump right into it (she probably could have too). It was pretty exciting. She has been calling it her school for some time. Now I just hope that we will be around here when it comes time for her to actually start. I hope that I can handle it when she starts. I don't know what I will do without my little Camden around.
Camden started gymnastics on that same day. She had a ton of fun and did so great. She started in the middle of the semester, yet she jumped right in like she hadn't missed a beat. Her teacher said that her cartwheels are amazing. I am excited for her to finally be in it and to see how well she does. She is such a little monkey, I know that she will do great!

My baby girl turns one!

Where does all of the wonderful time in life go? In the moment when times are rough we often wish for the time to fly by, and it sure does and then we wonder where it went. It seems just like yesterday when we started the routine of no sleep and crying babies, etc all over again. Now a year has passed and our little Oakley is one! What a fun time. I am so grateful for such a little sweetie. The memories of the first smile, the little giggles, discovering new things, the smell of a baby, and all of the fun little memories seem like yesterday. This is just a beginning to all of the new things that she will now discover. Her sisters are continually amazed at how much she changes and how much fun she has become. Camden is constantly telling us "She is getting to be such a big girl now. She's not a baby at all anymore." And this is so true. I am so grateful that we all enjoy her so much now. The days of the Camden and Kota praying "Please help Oakley to stop crying." are definately over. I am grateful for the fun times that shine through and we see that the tough ones are but a small moment. I don't think that we could enjoy Oaks anymore than we do. We love her to pieces!

At one Oakley is:

a tease

serious

into everything

loves the phone (or anything that looks like one!)

babbles constantly and is really starting to pick up a lot of words

loves it when daddy comes home

wants to be in the action of anything her sisters are doing

loves to dress up already (crowns, necklaces, etc)

loves to snuggle with mommy

gets cuter and cuter every single day!

New Years Celebrations!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We stayed at home and had a small little Christmas by ourselves. We did the usual Christmas Eve dinner, acting out the nativity, opening a gift, and then we watched a movie. The Grinch (which has been a hot topic around our house for some reason this year). We woke up the next morning opened presents and spent the day lounging and hanging out as a family. Everyone had a great time. The next week we went up to Granby for a few days for Darrick to work and to spend New Year's. Thanks to our friends, the Burns, for letting us stay there and for letting Darrick work. We had a blast. We went sledding, on a carriage ride, played in the snow, went out to dinner, and so many other fun things. We all had more fun up there as a family spending quality time together, than we did opening all of our gifts and playing with them. It was nice not to have all of the daily hussle and bussle and little crazy worries all about us. I am so grateful for such a wonderful family and I am so grateful for the love they show to each other. Family is all that really matter!

Visiting Santa

The girls were so excited to write letters and talk to Santa this year. It was time for the ward party and Santa was coming. They had practiced what they would say. On the way to the church Camden said to Kota, "Kota, you can't be shy. You have to just sit on his lap and tell him." They all did great! I think that this was the first year that we didn't have a cryer. Yeah!

Camden's Recital

Camden sure has loved preschool this year. She has made a ton of friends and sure has opened up a lot. I wondered how she would do singing at her recital. She still gets a little hesitant singing in Sacrament Meeting with the primary. She was a little nervous. I painted her fingernails that day and she chewed it all off before the recital was over. Despite all of that, She did awesome!!! I was so proud of her. She knew every single song by heart! Dad wasn't able to be there, he was working in Granby that day, so I had to man the troops, and take video all at the same time. It isn't the best, but it shows her and what a great job she did. What a cute kid.