February Family Visits

We were treated this past month to visits from my sister Erin's family, my parents, and Eric's parents. We only had one weekend in the month where we didn't have visitors! It made for a fun month! Here are some highlights:

We took cousins Kyle, Noah, and Megan on a train ride in Boulder City.

Saying good-bye to Megan

 While Nana and Papa were in town, we decided to go check out the Mojave Desert Preserve. Our friends the Davidsons who love to get out and explore decided to join us.

Jasper and Reagan

We took a hike called Rock Spring Loop near this Rock House that was most recently used by artisit Carl Faber. Along the route we discovered a spring of water for which the trail is named. This is where the Army Camp Rock Spring stood between 1866 to 1868.






 After Rock Spring Loop, we headed to Hole-in-the-Rock area for a picnic and hike on the Rings Trail. This was a hike we will not soon forget. Its short but so exciting as you use rings to descend down a narrow slot canyon. Wish I had brought my smaller camera to get shots of my kids and my mom during this adventure but a picture off the internet will have to do.




Our last stop was at the Kelso Depot where trains used to stop but just fly by now.

This old train stop was recently restored including its old lunch counter where you can still sit up to and have a meal.

It was fun to go inside and check out the museum and learn more about the history of the area.

We enjoyed our day spent with Nana and Papa.

We were also happy to welcome Grandma and Grandpa to our house the following weekend. Eric and I were able to enjoy a night out with Eric's parents at the buffet at the Aria! Yum! Love an excuse to check out the local food joints around here.

What Can I Say?

I'm so proud of Taylor and all the things she has learned at school this year. Its fun to preserve some of the writings she brings home as they can be enlightening to me as her parent and what goes on in that smart brain of hers. Here is some answers she wrote (she's having fun with her new cursive skills) to the question "What do you want to do as an adult someday?"

1 - Aspiring to be a teacher is a great thing and I suspect its because she has had such wonderful teachers to look up to that she has this desire.
2 - Taylor has always showed gratitude and appreciation for the opportunities she has had to travel. I love this about her!
3 - It gives me great joy to know she has a testimony and knows the importance of continuing on as an adult in going to church each Sunday to worship and learn more of our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ.

Taylor also participated with all the other 3rd, 4th and 5th graders in the Structure Fair. She had to research  and tell about a structure of her choosing and construct it. She received a "100% Creative" award for her structure which is of the largest climbing tower in the world.

I'm So Pretty

Lee Lee is my current nickname for this little girl of mine. She is into EVERYTHING! She is constantly taking off her diapers too and yet she's not serious about wanting to potty train at this point (she's not quite 2 1/2 years yet). I love her but she keeps me cleaning constantly. She is very smart and is talking in full sentences on a constant basis. Somehow she knows all her colors even though I've never sat down to teach her. She's just picked them up in her interactions with her siblings probably. The only color she gets stumped on is orange. When I point to something orange and say "what color is this?" she will think for a second before responding with "Apple!". She's so smart that she remembers it is a fruit name but calls it apple instead of orange. Hilarious! She's either going to speed up my aging process or keep me young and in shape. I hope its the latter!

Getting Their Ears Pierced

While my sister Erin was in town at the beginning of this month, we took Taylor to get her ear's pierced. Reagan really wanted to get her ears pierced as well even after we explained that it would hurt. I wanted her to go into it with her eyes wide open.

Both girls were very brave! I actually was feeling very nervous and I could tell Taylor was too. Reagan however sat in the chair with a big smile on her face and said "I'm going to scream!" She seemed to care less that it was going to hurt. When the lady pierced her ears (one at a time), she cringed but didn't cry and even gave us a model pose when we clapped at the end. Thanks to my sister for taking pictures with her cell phone so that we could remember this day!

The Good With the Bad

Last week we were having lousy mornings leaving me beyond frustrated with my kids. It seemed they were ignoring me completely as I gave them simple instructions such as "get dressed" or "brush your teeth". Its not as though they don't know the morning routine! What should be a 5 minute task was taking my 8 year old a half hour to do! Friday I dropped my kids off at school and wondered if they were feeling a sense of relief to be getting away from the crazy lady that is me. I'm pretty sure if my neighbors were home, they were hearing me yell at my kids because if I wasn't yelling the kids didn't seem to hear me. I hate having to yell and I feel like in an effort to avoid it I give us plenty of time to get up and get ready for the day but it just hasn't been enough. My kids were grounded after school and I made a point of telling them exactly what I expected when we began our week on Monday. So far things have been better and it started with Sunday morning.

We have 9am church so we get up just like on school mornings at 7am and get ready for our day. I had rolled out of bed figuring I would have to wake up the kids as I hadn't heard a peep from them yet. When I proceeded to leave my room, I ran into Will who was standing in front of me dressed and ready to go to church from head to toe. He had gotten himself dressed before even leaving his room that morning. I gave him a big hug and told him how proud and happy I was of him. Will hasn't always loved going to church so this act seemed especially significant. I'm just amazed how this happy mommy moment has continued to stick with me through the week. Thanks Will for making my week!