St. George

Mid March, we all took the weekend off to play down south. The Fords, us, and my parents and Jon, all went to St. George for some hot tubbing, hiking, museum time, and park playing. As always, it was a great trip and fun was had by all…

The pool wasn't heated yet, but that didn't stop my kids from jumping in the ice cold water! We took them to the hot tub, but they would jump from one to the other. We even got the baby pool out for Clara and Adelyn and mixed the pool and hot tub water together for the perfect temperature of water for these babies.

We hiked up in Snow Canyon at perfect temperatures. Aaahhh. We did the Butterfly trail again since the Ford's had never been. I love that my kids are such troopers on all of our hikes. Now they know that it's just part of our St. George routine and they actually get excited.

How cute are these two?

We did it!

The dads and their babes...

Love this awesome hiking crew!

Ski Day at Sundance

Cheri and Cody got each other ski passes for Christmas and when they realized they weren't going to be able to use them all, Cheri asked me to go! I hadn't skied in 15 years, but I wasn't going to turn down a free day of skiing up at Sundance. Jon had a season's pass so he met up with us as well.

I was anxious and excited! I made it down the first run okay, but my legs were a burnin'! I kept at it and by the third run i was feeling better. I ended up getting my groove back by the end of the day and it really was a blast! I loved being up in the mountains, hangin' with my brother and sister, and eating our enormous hamburgers midday. Such a gorgeous day...

Happy Birthday Karoline!

It was Koko's turn next for a fabulous birthday. She isn't into any normal theme such as Disney, princesses, fairies, etc., so we came up with a Rainbow Birthday! Karoline has always been my little crafter that loves to paint so paint we did. We had Isla, London, Sarah, Camille, and Naomi all come to join in on the festivities...

The invitation:

And if the invite isn't cute enough, check out all of these fun decorations...

The house is ready, now let's party! Face paint is a favorite in our house, especially with my girls. I found the most incredible face painter, Kat, and she got started as soon as the girls arrived. 

As she was painting each girl, the rest of the group did their own painting. They each had a canvas to create a rainbow masterpiece. They painted and then glued cotton balls on for the clouds. It was fun to see what these cute girls came up with!

Up next were the rainbow necklaces. With rainbow colored pony beads, the girls came up with their own patterns and colors to construct darling necklaces they could wear home.

Once we were all done crafting, it was cake time! But this wasn't any old birthday cake, it was the most incredible rainbow cake creation anyone has ever seen!!! My amazingly talented neighbor Amber made it and I couldn't believe how well it turned out. We were all blown away with the 5-layer cake that was frosted with perfection. Each layer was a color to create the rainbow on the inside to make things that much cooler! We topped it off with rainbow candles that burned flames in color-crazy!

Presents were last but definitely not least. Karoline was so excited and kept giving hugs to her friends and cousins. 

Seeing how happy she was with her best buddies made it all worth it. Karoline is such a good friend to everyone around her. She loves to explore, create, craft, engineer, and play, play, play. She is always on the hunt for a good box, special paper, normal paper, sticks, or anything else that she might need for her next project. And I love that she calls them projects. Karoline talks like an adult, talks a lot, and talks with some kind of trucker accent. She is very curious and that drives a lot of the talking and questioning. She is one smart cookie and is already reading, I am so proud! Karoline is so very sweet, sensitive, and is always trying to be brave. I love this girl so much and can't believe I am so lucky to be her mom. It's been such a wonderful 5 years and I can't wait to see what lies ahead for this mini-me of mine. 

What else happened in February?

A few things to note this month.

Very exciting day for Capri-she got her ears pierced! And so did I! I had always told Capri that when she turned 8 she could get her ears pierced. Her birthday was right around the corner and we just happened to be at the mall with both grandmas so it just had to be the day! I hadn't worn earrings in years so mine had completely grown in. I went ahead and took the plunge with her. So fun to share something simple but special with this sweet daughter of mine!

Clara learned how to fold her arms and it's just about the cutest thing ever.

Karoline came in and asked if I had any old hats. This girl loves her crafts and projects and I was so curious what she was going to come up with. Not too long after I handed her an old hat of mine, she came back into the bathroom with her newest creation/invention. It was a "Snack Hat!" "See mom, when you go to the zoo and you need some treats, you just grab them from here!" She is my creative genius!

School field trip to the Sweet's Candy Factory. Since Capri was off track, she got to join us!

Remember back when Karoline was in the ER for possibly taking my grandma's pills? Well now it was Clara's turn! We were at my parent's house (again), and Clara had wondered into my parent's room. What she was doing in there, we didn't know. I had brought her home and put her down for a nap when my mom comes in, pills in hand. They had been spread over the carpet in her room and one was wet. It looked like Clara had gotten into my dad's nightstand drawer where he kept a Ziploc baggie of medicine he took on trips. It usually contained Tylenol and that was what the wet pill was. I called Poison Control and sure enough, they asked me to bring her into the ER. I was in tears at this point. How could I have let this happen again! Too, I was almost positive that she hadn't actually eaten any of them. I bet she put it in her mouth, realized it was bitter, and spit it out. Unfortunately, there was no way to be sure so in to the ER we went. My dad felt so awful and so he came with me.

With Karoline being as amazingly tough as she was in getting her shots and blood drawn (didn't ever shed a tear), I didn't think it possible to have another daughter as tough. I was wrong. Clara had an IV put in without crying a single tear! I couldn't believe it and nor could the doctor or nurses. That made me feel a little bit better at least! A few hours later, the results showed that nothing had been ingested. Thank goodness! It was so nice to know we wouldn't have to stick around overnight like we had with Karoline. Clara got her IV removed and we got out of there...

Love this little munchkin of mine and I am so glad she was ok!

Roman and Capri's Birthday Party

If the baptism celebration on their actual birthday wasn't enough, the twins had a birthday party with their friends at Black Diamond Gymnastics here in Daybreak. We had 25 kids there to party! Kind of nuts, but the staff was great in keeping them entertained, busy, and under control. In fact, the only ones that got in trouble were Cheri and I for jumping on the super bouncy tramp...I guess we weren't allowed!
There were obstacle courses set up, the foam pits open, and plenty of jumping and tumbling...

It sure is Great to be Eight!

President's Weekend at the Condo

The weekend couldn't have gone better down in St. George. We took full advantage of the sunshine and temperatures near 70.
First up, one of our favorite hikes at Red Cliffs near Leads. I never tire of this hike because of the gorgeous red rock, plenty of nooks and crannies for the kids to find, and the pools at the end are the perfect destination.

We made it! My kids are so lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa along for the hike!

Love these canyons! You can barely see Tucker on the rope alongside the rock.

Tucker's view from the top of the pools looking down!

My parents are still fun and adventurous!

Their favorite new spot!

Despite his terrible knee pain, my dad comes along, trekking poles in hand. He is such a great sport!

We got home from our hike and the kids were still rearing to go so away we went on a bike ride. The condo is near the perfect biking/running trail and it's so nice to know that we don't have to worry about cars as we pedal around. The twins are getting to be stronger bikers every trip...

We biked along the trail and then stopped at Bloomington Park on the way back. The kids played while we took a selfie...

And to top the day off, we took the kids to Swig for snow cones and cookies!

The next day started with all of us out on the tennis courts. Tucker was trying to teach Karoline how to ride a bike and I was hitting balls with Roman. Capri and Clara were happy to ride scooters and run around.

That afternoon was spent hiking in Pioneer Park. Roman was excited to go through the Crack again so Jon and I joined him...

This girl discovered sand...and got really dirty...

My little hiking buddies...

This one loves to find caves for crawling and climbing!

Heading to Dixie Rock...

We made it! Roman and his twin and favorite uncle Jon.

I am so very happy to have married someone that loves the outdoors as much as I do!

The City of St. George in the background.

With the kids all dirty from hiking, we decided to cool off and clean up a bit at the Main Street Splash Park!

And then we soon realized they weren't going to get any cleaner-just look at Clara's legs!

They all had lots of fun, especially when we met up with Elizabeth's sister's family!

Our last day was spent going to church and then heading over to the Hidden Valley Park. I think Clara was enjoying herself on the swings...

Wow, another great St. George trip for the books!