Happy 6th Birthday Atreyu!

Atreyu turned 6 last week! 6!! He now has to use both hands to show how old he is. On every one of his birthdays I think back to when he was born and remember how lucky and blessed we are to have him in our lives. He had such a rough start and we didn't even know if he would make it. How far he has come since then! He rarely gets sick and he is so smart. He is easily distracted from things he is not very interested in but if he likes something, it's hard to break his attention from it.

Atreyu is doing really well reading and he likes math and science. His favorite thing at school is art. He's a good little artist. He still loves superheroes and Legos and he has recently gotten into Star Wars. He and Cambria love to play "Hulk" with Jesse. Atreyu is so good at making me feel special. He likes to tell me he loves me and he constantly tells me that I'm pretty ("even when you don't get ready," in his words). He and Cambria fight like any siblings but he is also good to her. He tries to make sure she is taken care of and he likes to compliment her as well.

Atreyu requested a Star Wars birthday this year. I had to use black food coloring in fudge frosting to get the look of the sky which made things rather messy but it cleaned up well. Atreyu loved his cake!

Atreyu had some friends come over and they all had a blast having a light saber battle with these light sabers I made.

Happy Birthday Atreyu! I love you so much buddy!

Cute Cambria

Cambria looked so cute the other day and I just had to get a picture. She doesn't like to hold still for pictures so I'm lucky when I get a good one. Here are a couple that definitely show her personality.

I sure do love this girl and her silly personality. She makes me laugh almost everyday.

The Oregon/California Trail Center

While we had Wyatt's Flat Stanley here, we took him to the Oregon/California Trail Center. We looked around the inside a little. The kids liked the bear, elk, and covered wagon that were outside. We would have stayed and played longer but it was cold and snowy that day. A typical spring day in Bear Lake.

Brower's New Home

This last weekend we went to visit the Brower's in their brand new home. It is such a beautiful house and it made me want to build on to our house more than ever. I'm glad they were so willing to let us come over even though they had just moved in. We had fun as usual and it was a wonderful weekend. I'm grateful that we are able to see Jesse every weekend. It's not long enough but I feel that we have more quality time. So thankful for him.

The kids are laying on the porch getting warm.

Flat Stanley

My nephew, Wyatt, read "Flat Stanley" in his class at school. It's about a boy who is flattened by a bulletin board and then he is able to visit his friends by being mailed in an envelope. Wyatt asked if he could mail his Flat Stanley to us and take him on adventures. So far we have gone to the store, the library, Annie and Cody Brower's, the park in Malad, and we played "Don't Eat Pete" for family home evening. These are just some pictures of the kids with Flat Stanley. Once we have written a bunch of posts in Flat Stanley's journal, we'll mail him back to Wyatt.

Visiting Daddy

This past week was Atreyu's spring break. The first couple of days we went to visit the Browers in Malad and had a wonderful time as per usual. We then went down to visit Jesse at Janell's house. Her family left early the next morning on a trip so we stayed there together until Jesse was done with work on Friday and then we all came back home. Jesse had told Atreyu about a Lego store and Atreyu kept wanting to go so we stopped by one day and he didn't even throw a fit when we told him we weren't buying anything that day. I loved the chance we had to spend some time with Jesse. I sure do love him!

Easter With the Family

As is tradition, Jesse's sisters and their families came up for Easter. We were worried it would be too cold and snowy for an egg hunt but it turned out to be a beautiful day. The kids had a great time searching for eggs and afterward we had our annual silly string fight. Eddie, Seth, and Cam each had an extra can so when Jesse ran out they all attacked him. It was pretty funny but he's planning on getting even with them next year. I love how the kids all get along so well and enjoy each other so much. What a blessing family is!

A Date With My Kiddos

My kids are constantly begging me to take them to Arctic Circle so on St. Patrick's Day we all went on a date there. I love seeing how excited they get to play there. We have been taking them there since they were babies. I have been there holding their hands as I helped them climb up and now they are climbing all over the playset all on their own. Why do they grow up so fast?!

Missing Jesse

Jesse started his new job a few weeks ago and it has already been tough. I know it's going to be a difficult year but it will all be worth it in the end. He seems to like the job but he dislikes the traffic in Salt Lake as well as being away from our family. I'm glad that Janell and Cam have been so gracious in letting him stay there. I know they, as well as their kids, are taking good care of him. I have noticed in this time that we have been apart that when we are together we give each other more quality time than we used to and I'm thankful for that.

I know Heavenly Father is blessing us during this difficult time. I am so glad Cam and Janell live so close to the temple. The kids and I went to visit them one weekend and Jesse and I were able to go to the temple and he plans on going more often now. I love to see Jesse's more spiritual side.

Oh Cambria!

I love our little Cambria girl. She is such a little spitfire with such a sweet little side. It's been fun and frustrating watching her become her own little person. Apparently I got a child just like me and it can be very taxing at times. She has so much energy and constantly wants to see her Grandpa. She has had fun playing on her Kindle lately. The other day I found her wearing a swimsuit watching a show on the Kindle. I think she's ready for summer.

I was getting ready for church a few weeks ago and she decided to join me and put make-up on too. She found my blush brush and rubbed it all over her cheeks and I put some lip gloss on her lips. I love that she can be such a girly-girl as well as a tom-boy.

I decided I would do something fun with Cambria's hair for St. Patrick's Day. It turned out so cute but took way longer than it should have.

We are applying to get Cambria into the headstart preschool this fall and as part of the application she had to get her blood drawn for some lab work. We told her it was going to hurt but she did really well. She cried for a little bit but Atreyu was there holding her hand and telling her it would be okay. It was such a sweet moment. She picked out a pink bear at the lab afterward and it has become her favorite stuffed animal.

My New Dishwasher

For the past few years our dishwasher has been cleaning alright but it has gotten louder and louder. I actually started researching dishwashers a couple years ago thinking I would need a new one any moment but it just kept trucking along. I was getting sick of the noise so Jesse got me a new Bosch dishwasher with our tax return. I am loving how quiet it is and I gave the old one to a guy who fixes appliances and gives them to people in need. That's a win-win in my book.

Gold Belt and Bike Riding

In the middle of March Atreyu took his test to get his gold belt. He was excited about it but he has decided not to continue with it. He wants to try t-ball, soccer, football, and wrestling. I think he would be awesome at wrestling. He can grapple pretty well for an almost six year old.

In other Atreyu news, he learned to ride a two-wheel bike yesterday. Jesse and I (mostly Jesse) ran next to him holding on to him as he got used to it. He had a bit of a break down moment where he didn't want to do it and he was afraid of the curb and seriously, just a few minutes later, he was riding all on his own. He's been practicing and he's doing awesome. My baby boy is growing up too quickly.

Naturally, Cambria needed pictures and attention too as she rode her new princess bike. I love these kiddos.