What we've been up to...

Wow, so it's been since the beginning of February since I last updated the blog. We've been up to a lot. At the beginning of February it warmed up to the 30's-40's here and there during the day so we took a late afternoon hike into the mountains above Chris and Kareena's home in Springville, with Chris and Kareena and Emilie and Ben and all the kiddos. 

 It was beautiful.

 Morgan wrote me a note in the snow.:-)

 More beautiful views. The mountain in the distance is the one that we see outside our front window in Spanish Fork.

Holding hands with my sweet hubby.

 Chris tried to sled down the rocky and bumpy hill near where we parked. He didn't last long;-) 

 After the hike we all gathered at Chris and Kareena's and ate pizza!

Sam has been big into puzzles lately. He can put them together all by himself. He's amazing! 

 Noel came home early from school one day complaining of a stomach ache and she had a fever of over 101. I was so scared that it was the stomach flu but she was also complaining that her throat hurt really bad. After research online we found that it could very well be strep throat. We took her into the doctors 3 days after she started showing symptoms and did a strep test and confirmed that it was strep throat. Poor thing. She was throwing up for 3 days and her stomach was constantly hurting and she slept a lot.

 I knew she was feeling better when she started playing with puzzles with Sam.

 Sam had a fun Valentine's Day party at preschool and came home with these adorable antennas. 

 We thought we'd try a scooter run thinking it was probably warm enough but man, was it cold. They got these scooters for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa Watkins and this was their first time trying them out. They love them! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Watkins!

 Noel also had a Valentines Day Party and wore antennas so adorably as well.

  Noel lost her second tooth!

 Noel had something called a "Show and Teach" in her Kindergarten class. She was to give a small presentation on how to do something that she likes to do. She showed her class how to make Tissue Paper Art. She had a special microphone around her neck and she did so well. It was so fun to see her up there. It was really cute, when she showed her class the final product everyone gasped and there was a lot of "Woah!"s and "Cool!"s. 

 I love her cute lil' smile. This is just as she was finishing.

Here's the finished product. She sure loves crafts.

 Sam's Presidents Day hat he made at preschool.

Another thing that we've been up to is growing a baby! I was 16 weeks along at the time of this picture and had just had an ultrasound to determine the gender of the baby. We found out IT'S A GIRL! We are so excited.

Here she is! I will have my 20 week ultrasound this week and we are looking forward to seeing her again and making sure everything is looking good.

 The weather is warming up and the kids love to be outside. On this particular day they played with chalk. Samuel wrote his name all by himself! He is really doing well in preschool.

 They also love playing on their scooters.

 We went to the Provo City Center Temple Tour. It is such a beautiful temple and it's so fun to have the opportunity to take the kids into the temple before it's dedicated. I love the peace that you can feel there.

 There's a little boy who has a crush on Noel. He is in her class at school and at church. Last fall he came by and dropped off a cheese stick for Noel (and from then on Morgan and I, just between us, call him "Cheese Stick Boy") and a few weeks ago he dropped off some fruit snacks with a post it note with his name on it with a heart. (He has now become "Fruit Snack Boy":))

 Noel had Western Day at school. What a cute cowgirl.

 Noel drew me a picture of me laying in the hospital bed with two doctors, a boy and a girl, standing next to the bed as well as Noel and Sam and Morgan AND the new baby. At the top she wrote "Congratulations Mom".

 Sam learned about the letter "S" at preschool and came home with this Super Awesome Cape.

 His Special super power is "Throwing ice" and he's super good at "Smiling". I love that little guy:)

 The kids enjoying some painting time.

Noel painted this cute picture of our family with the new baby, but forgot about poor Sam.Oops.

 At the park nearby.

 Last Sunday we went on a walk and Scavenger Hunt. The kids had to check off of a list what they found as we went on the walk.

 This last Tuesday night we purchased a van! Our family will increase by one this year which means a sedan won't do anymore. We need something bigger. We spent all day last Saturday testing vehicles. There were a couple that we thought seriously about but the price wasn't right or the miles were too high. So we felt we needed to wait and keep looking. We looked online at what local dealers had and went into Lehi (the Northern Part of Utah County) to look at a couple of Toyota Sienna's, an 06' or an 07', but they both had crazy sounds and didn't feel smooth or safe. We then felt we needed to take a look at an 09' Toyota Sienna that had just under 80K miles on it that was barely in our price range. It didn't have all the bells and whistles like a navigation system or a rear entertainment system or a back up camera like the older models we looked at had, but when we tested this car, it felt new, it had no crazy sounds, it was quiet and smooth, and most of all felt safe. The bells and whistles aren't something we need. It's just a luxury. We were the first to come see the vehicle because they just barely got it in as a trade-in, and it just had barely come out of safety and inspections, so it was just barely ready for people to test it. We felt blessed with this van. It was obvious this was the one for our family, especially in comparison with the other vehicles we tried out.

We traded in Morgan's 93' Infiniti. It was about time that we got rid of that thing. He now drives the Honda Accord to commute to and from work. Goodbye Infiniti, you really did treat us well.:(

 I'm not going to lie... I look forward to driving this thing. I mean, who wouldn't, look at it. It's so sexy!

I took the kids on a bike ride.

 Our lil' leprechauns on St. Patrick's Day.

 "If I found a pot of gold I would..... hide it in a tornado." - Sam

 We went to go to see baby chicks at a local store. The kids want some so bad. Hopefully next year we will be ready for them:)

 Sam petting a baby duck.

 We met up with my sister Emilie and her kiddos at a Rock and Gem Show. There was a walking dinosaur skeleton that would "eat" lil' children. Sam was so scared of this thing! Noel though, she kept saying "I wanna go get eaten!"

 So she did.

Mmmmm. Yum.

 Here is my nephew Charlie getting "eaten". 

 This walking dinosaur was not as intimidating because it's mouth was closed so Sam was more than happy to pet this guy. 

 Noel and Sam with cousins, Charlie and Henry.

 The kids got a bag of random rocks and could choose one to get polished. Here they are getting their rock polished. 

 Morning snuggles.

 Noel has what is called the "Kindy 500" coming up where she is to build a box car and she and the Kindergarteners will drive around their gym and learn about our nation. Noel wants to make a truck! THAT'S MY GIRL! She also wants it to be pink. It's still in process right now, this is just the beginning. But she sure had fun building it yesterday with her Daddy.

 So last night, my brother Chris and his kids came over for dinner. Chris provided the meat. IT WAS DELICIOUS. He had to sear the meat first on a VERY HOT cast iron pan and warned us that it would get smokey. We opened a couple windows to prepare for that but quickly learned after the entire house got smokey and all the smoke alarms were going off, that we needed to open ALL of the windows and doors throughout the house. It was so comical! Meanwhile Chris just kept doing his thing in the kitchen laughing and with a smile on his face. Thanks Chris! The tri-tip steaks were so tender and delicious! You sure know what you're doing!