Abby's 9th Birthday

Abby with her Frozen Birthday cake.

The kids had fun making Olaf, Marshmallow, and snowgies.

After lots of Frozen games, they ended with a Frozen treasure hunt throughout the house.

Blowing out the candles

Abby wearing a new outfit from Grandma.  She was excited to get exactly what she wanted--a new American girl doll (Kit) and book set.


ABBY AT NINE:
Favorite Color: pink
Hobbies: reading, crafts, sewing
Favorite Books: American Girl books, Nancy Drew, A Little Princess
Favorite Food: German oven pancakes with strawberries and whip cream
When I grow up I want to be: a mom
Favorite Toys:  Dolls and Legos
Sports: gymnastics, swimming, bike riding

Abby reads almost constantly and I have a hard time keeping her in books.  I've enjoyed reading some of my favorite books with her.  On her birthday we finished reading Little Women and then watched the movie together.   Abigail has grown up a lot in the last year.  She has become very responsible and helpful.  If I'm tired in the morning from being up with Audrey all night, Abby will get breakfast for Maddy and Nathan, or if I'm busy homeschooling she will go make sandwiches for lunch.  She is also very helpful with Audrey and is always willing to change her diaper, hold her, bring her to me, or play with her.   Abby is a delight and we feel very blessed to have her in our family.

March 2015

TRIP TO ARIZONA

My brother needed someone to help take care of his kids in Yuma while he worked and his wife was at Phoenix Children's with their daughter who was injured in a bike accident.  Since I homeschool, it was pretty easy for us to drop everything and go.  It was a great experience for our family.

The kids were super excited about riding on a plane.

I was nervous about traveling by myself with 4 kids, but the kids were really well behaved and there were a lot of helpful passengers that tried to make things easier for me.  Unfortunately Texas got some freezing rain so our flight was delayed and I missed our connection and got stuck in Dallas. They told me that they had no flights available for 2 more days.  Luckily I found another ticket agent who was able to send us to San Francisco where we spent the night before flying to Phoenix the next day.  The kids were real troopers throughout the whole ordeal.

I bought Audrey this cute kitten toy attached to a pacifier. She loves it and it kept her entertained as we traveled.

The kids all seemed to do fine with me except Dane who had a hard time seeing me replace Grandma. On my first day he went in the master bedroom and locked me out.  After several failed attempts at picking the lock I started to get worried, especially after he got really quiet.  Finally Joseph told me where the metal pick was and I was able to get in.  I found him asleep like this on the floor.

He finally warmed up to me, and the kids had fun playing together in the warm Arizona sun.

They were excited when they caught a lizard while playing with a neighbor girl (in orange).

Since I was busy taking care of kids and cleaning, I had less time to hold Audrey. This ended up being a good thing because with all the extra tummy time she finally learned to roll over.

The girls had a lot of fun playing together, and on Friday night we had a pajama pizza party.

After Elle's recital the kids had fun eating at Firehouse Subs.

None of the boys would smile or pose for a picture, except for Dane who lifted up his shirt and said, "Cheese."

My sister Ruth came down to help and visit for the weekend.  Audrey sure loved her Aunt.

It was a wonderful trip, and I was happy that my kids had time to really bond with their Donaldson cousins for the first time.  I got to see Chloe briefly before we flew out of Phoenix, and it was wonderful to see how much she has improved from her initial diagnosis.

AUDREY

Audrey trying solid food for the first time.  She wasn't too impressed.

NEW TRAMPOLINE

We promised the kids that we would get them a trampoline once we got out of debt.  Jared got them a super safe leaf spring trampoline and our family had a big "We're debt free!" jump.

EASTER FUN

Our ward had a fun Easter egg activity.

Waiting to hunt for eggs

A three legged race

February 2015

OUR SWEET AUDREY BEAR

Audrey in a cute bow and dress from her Aunt Ruth

Little Ballerina

She is very flexible and loves sucking on her toes.

I love watching her sleep.

A day in the sun.

Our sweet bundle of love.  Audrey is very good natured and easy going.  She is by far my easiest baby.  

VALENTINE'S DAY

When I asked Jared what he wanted for Valentine's he said he'd love to see me with red hair so I got red highlights for Valentine's day. Now when people see me with Abby and Audrey, they say, "Oh, they got the red hair from you."

Here is the box Abby made for Valentine's day.  The kids were sweet about writing nice cards to mom and dad and each other.  We're trying to stay away from sweets on holidays, so the kids each got a small gift in the mail boxes instead of chocolate.  I learned how to make jewelry at a Relief Society activity so I made the girls each a necklace.  Abby chose one with a piano pendant.

Nathan decided to make his box out of Duplos this year.

Maddy with her box.

Audrey in her new Valentine's outfit.

She is a pretty sweet little Valentine.

We had a nice Valentine's morning together, but were deeply saddened later that day to learn that our dear niece Chloe was seriously injured in a bike accident.   We ended the day in tears but with faith and prayers for her.  I'm happy to report that although she was near death at the time, she is now doing much better.


CRANNEY CLAN

My parents and the Cranneys were planning on visiting at the end of the month, but because of the accident my parents went to Arizona to be with Chloe instead.  We missed having my parents visit, but were happy that Rachel and Stephen's family was still able to come.  The cousins had fun playing together in the backyard.

We had a nice day at the zoo together.

They also had fun at the Mayborn Museum.  They especially liked the pioneer room.

SAN ANTONIO

My dad had reserved a WorldMark condo near San Antonio for us to stay in for 5 days. We spent the first day visiting the Alamo.

I wasn't too fascinated by the gun collection inside the main building, but I loved the beautiful grounds inside the compound.  This tree (The Heritage Tree) was especially beautiful.  It's a live oak that is 140 years old!  http://www.therivardreport.com/heritage-tree-live-oak-at-the-alamo/

Our whole family in front of the Alamo.  We were used to the cooler weather in Waco so we were dressed a little warm for the 85 degree weather in San Antonio.

We were able to cool off by taking a nice river boat tour along San Antonio's historic river walk district.

We ended the day with some delicious gelato and some true Italian pizza.

We ran into some bad weather so we spent a day with the kids at an indoor jumping place.

We also spent a cold weather day at the Natural Bridge caverns.  

It was a toasty 80 degrees inside the caves.

There were all sorts of amazing formations.  By far the most interesting cave I've ever visited.

The kids liked how it was warmer and more interesting than the lava tubes we visited in Washington.

We also visited the historic district of New Braunfels.  Here the kids are on stage at the oldest continuously run dance hall in the country.

To get to the dance hall we passed this historic saloon, which made me feel like I was on set for an old Western movie.

Luckily the weather warmed up for our last day.  Here we are at the San Jose mission.

We also stopped by the historic Mission Conception.

We enjoyed visiting the San Antonio botanical gardens as well.

The girls loved the little fairy garden castle.

My dad would have loved the room full of orchids and other tropical plants.

Nathan liked the pond with the lily pads.

Maddy liked the purple blossoms.

The kids had fun feeding the ducks.

Audrey was an angel the whole trip and enjoyed the views from her stroller.

Our last stop were the beautiful Japanese tea gardens.  They were under construction at the time, but I'm excited to go back and enjoy them once the renovation is complete.  So beautiful!