Eight

Eight years ago I became a mom for the first time.  A beautiful baby girl with lots of attitude from the very begining.  Her bright (toothless) grin makes me smile and she is very caring and helpful.  Super bright, a great dancer, and has a love for gymnastics just like her mom.

 Eight days ago, I became a mom for the fourth time.  Each one has been different and so amazing in their own way.  This time it was another beautiful baby girl.  Unlike her siblings she is very calm, quiet, and sleeps; a blessing I think the whole family was in need of.  Her siblings adore her and fight over who gets to hold her. I've only included her big sister in this post because it's her birthday, and I'm celebrating 8's.  (8 years and 8 days)

April Happenings at our house.

So this was Big D the middle of march...and this was big D the begining of April.  She lost 6 teeth since the begining of the year.  The last 4 coming out within a month - 3 in one week.  Crazy!!  Hopefully she won't be the toothless wonder for too long.

April started out with some nice weather and a new Wheelbarrow.  I'm not sure who had more fun - daddy or the kids.

 Then W had a fieldtrip to a local farm and little D got to tag along.

 Then it was time for easter festivities.  So glad that W's preschool let me make treats - you just can't buy things like this in the store.  (it's a good thing I have a food handler's permit)

 Dying eggs was next on the list.  Here's a sample of what we did.

 Some quick easter morning pics before church.  I had to be there early for choir practice so I didn't get as good of pics as I wanted, but I think I will have to do a little photo shoot with them later.

 It was such a nice day (and this little guy knows how to open the doors now) and this is what I found when I was calling them for lunch.  He's just too cute - so much for keeping the new outfit clean - haha.

 The egg hunt...

 What do you do with all that candy?  Eat it all at once of course.

 And finally we had an amazing storm yesterday and this is what we got at the end.  So beautiful - pictures don't do it justice.  The colors were so vibrant and it was a double rainbow if you look closely.

It was the first time little D had seen a rainbow and he was fascinated.  He kept opening the door and talking about the rainbow and then when it was gone he kept asking it to come back. 

I couldn't pick my fav video so I posted both.  Please don't mind his messy face :)

Mornings and Muffins

Some mornings at our house are horrible, and some mornings are absolutely priceless.

 I love the amazing smiles on all the kidos faces.  You can just feel their love for each other radiating from their faces.  and yes - little D must be growing because he can't put the muffin down for a minute. 

and yes, it is still cold here.  hence the blankets.  and all the weatherizing we did didn't help one bit, in fact our bill went up.  uggg.  oh well, hopefully the ground hog was right and spring will be here soon.

A few random things

Little D doesn't really get to take bubble baths because we are so busy lately.  But the other day we threw all the kids in the bath and added the bubbles for obvious reasons.  This is what they did...

 looks like they had a lot of fun.
Then we like to make projects for Grandma and Grandpa and little D got to do them this year.  Shaving cream is always a hit, and this year we painted with flour as well.

A little boy - a lot of trouble.

Ok - so this first picture he's not messing around - he's watching his big sister go to school, and so is the dog.  The dog loves to go outside and watch her from the corner of the lot and sometimes she will stay there waiting for a few hours.

 This is the trouble.  I cleared out his closet getting ready for the new baby to arrive, and now he throws the toys on the floor and climb them to get on his shelf - during nap time.

 And this is what I found the other day when I went to get him for something.

All those toys he must just not have enough time to play with all of them.

Christmas 2010

We had a very laid back Christmas this year.  We decorated gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve, had our big dinner that night and of course did the traditional Christmas story by candlelight.  We never did get a picture with all of us by the tree this year.  Makes me sad but well, Christmas eve was the first night we were all together all month long - at least that's what it felt like.

 Big D's poor house got wet and wouldn't stay together, she was very sad about that, but at least she got this far.

 The first look at Christmas morning goodies.  I'm not sure why everyone had to have hats on.

 opening presents

This is so fun to watch.  Their first sword fight.

Merry Christmas 2010

As I have tried to put our Christmas card together, I realized that we don't have a picture of the whole family together since last Christmas, and since time is running out I thought I would just share our year in a nutshell:
Our year in Review
January was uneventful
February:  Christina had surgery, Grandma Hatch came for a visit to help out and we got a dog:

 March:  Dave went to training at the Grand Canyon for two weeks.  Learn our landloards are moving back.
April:  Had a fabulous easter
May:  Girls had their first dance recital. A fun kid free cave excursion. Field trips and lots of end of school activities.  Danica received Character Counts award.  Little D turns into a michevious little guy.   Had a visit from Aunt Stephanie and her fiance.

 June: 'W' learns to hula.  Big D turns 7,  Little D gets first sunburn.  Find out Dave got a job at Golden Spike.

 July:  Dance Fest, and fourth of July.  Trip to Mesa Verde National Park on our way to our new permanent adventure.

 August:  The hotel is our temporary home while we wait to close on our house.  The McD's playland is now our playground and so is the gas station.  We visit the National Park frequently.  Take the kids to the dinousaur park.  little D discovered the dinos!

 Sept:  School starts, we finally close and get to move into our house.  We come to a plentiful harvest in the garden.  Start kids in dance/gymnastics and Christina gets a job coaching.  Take the girls to a salon to get their hair cut - this was their first time having someone other than mom cut their hair - they loved it.

October:  Big D gives 'W' a haircut.  Halloween activities!!

November:  Little D turns 2 and gets a big boy bed.  Celebrate everything we are thankful for with lots of family!

December: 'W' turns 5, and Christmas activites are in full swing.

It has been a wonderful year.  I can't even begin to say how grateful I am to own a house and know that I can have my feet planted for a good few years before moving again. The last three years have been full of wonderful new adventures, but also alot of stress and I have enjoyed everywhere we have been, and all the wonderful people we have met, but I am so grateful to be done with that phase.

The kids have grown so much this year and we are excited to see what the future holds.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

ps - we are expecting another little joy to enter our family next Spring/summer.