May Happenings

We've had some good weather days and not so good weather days this month.  During an especially warm week, Paul and the kids set up the tent in the backyard and had a "campout"!  Brock and I joined them for the bbq and making s'mores, but we enjoyed our warm, soft beds in the house!  I love that my children have a father that will take the time and work to set up a tent in the backyard and play charades with his kids for 2 hours until it got dark.  I'm not sure who enjoyed the night more - Paul or the kids!  Here are some photos of the evening waiting for it to get dark!

Eli's cousin gave him a bunch of "wife-beater" tank tops.  Not sure why, but he wants to wear one every day!

I sure love this kid of mine!  He's almost 7 but still likes to snuggle with me!!!

The past few months, we've been trying to teach Brock how to pray - or at least sit quietly while we're praying.  Is there anything cuter than little chubby toddler arms, folded in prayer?  He likes the routine of kneeling around the coffee table at night.  He usually ends up on Gracie's lap, but keeps his arms folded the whole time.  One night when Sydnee was at our house during prayer time, her leg was hurting her and she didn't want to kneel on our hardwood floors.  Brock wasn't going to let her get away with that, so he grabbed her pants and patted the spot on the floor where he wanted her to kneel.  He wouldn't go back to his spot until Sydnee was kneeling.  As soon as she knelt down, he let out a big sigh and walked back to his spot, knelt down and folded his arms.  It was hard keeping a straight face throughout that prayer - we were all laughing pretty hard!

Eli and Brock saying their prayers before bed ...

I think it's the spring weather, but I've been on a DIY decorating kick in my house.  We've been talking to loan officers about buying a home, but it looks like it will be best for us to wait another year.  So, now that I know we're going to be in this house for a bit longer, I want to have some fun with it.  My first project is the entryway.  I've always decorated by what visitors see first.  So of course, my master bedroom rarely gets anything done in it!  I've been blog stalking lately and saw the cutest entry table and photo collage over at tatortots and jello and knew that is what I wanted to do.  I found this shelf for $30.  It was the right width and depth but a little too short to be considered a table.  So Emma and I got creative and put legs on it.  We've been busy painting the last few days.  This is the before photo of our entry way.  Not the best photo because Eli would not get out of the way--he can sometimes be such a little punk!  I'll post the after photo when I'm done.  I'm loving how it's turning out!

2 more weeks of school for the kids and 3 more weeks until our trip to Disneyland!  We're looking forward to the summer!

Our Easter

For Easter weekend, we decided to go up to Idaho.  Our sister-in-law, Stephanie, graduated with her RN from BYU-I that same weekend, so we wanted to be there for her graduation party.  We are so proud of Steph.  It is amazing that she was able to get her degree with 3 children at home.  She stayed so committed throughout the years and I believe she graduated with all As!  Good job, Steph!  You are an amazing example to all that know you!

Grandma Hanson had an Easter Egg hunt for all the grandkids while we were there.  The little kids LOVED it.  The big kids - well, they think they're too big!  But of course they ate all their candy!

Easter morning, we went to church with Paul's brother's family.  We listened to some amazing talks on the Atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We are so incredibly thankful for our Savior and the sacrifice that he went through so that we can live as an eternal family.

Here are some photos of our family from Easter morning ...

Eli did not want his photo taken! 

I'm really not sure what happened to my hair that morning, but it is what it is ... And Paul looks hot in this photo so I'll survive with crazy hair!

Brocky-Boo is 2!

I can't believe that my baby is already 2.  It's unreal!  He is the center of attention in our family and we all love him to pieces.  I'm not sure when we will stop babying him, but it won't be anytime soon!  He loves all of us in the family, but I'm not sure he knows who is his mom and who is his sister!  He goes to Gracie for everything.  He calls her "Cece" which is ADORABLE!  He loves wrestling with Eli or throwing a ball around.  He knows Emma will baby him so he goes to her if Gracie is being mean!  He definitely has us all wrapped around his little chubby fingers!

My mom had a birthday party for Brock and my niece, Kylie.  Brock does NOT like it when we sing Happy Birthday!  We have a tradition in our family to sing it Opera Style to make it more fun, but Brock just gets this blank look on his face - probably thinking, "this is not my family, this is not my family!"

Brock's turn to blow out his 2 candles!

He needed Sydnee to help him!

Brock loves the attention his cousin, Josh, gives him.  Josh was letting him feed him cake!

Paul's parents were in town on Brock's birthday, so we had him open some presents and we went out to dinner.

Yes, Brock - it's almost that time!!!

We love you Brocky-Boo!  (He calls himself DooDoo.  Not sure why but "Brock" must be too hard to say!)  As soon as it warms up a little bit more, I'll take his photos.  Hopefully that will be soon!

I guess this is what my kids do during Conference

I'm not sure if I should say, "Thank goodness for our iPhones and iPad" or should I say, "They are too distracting!"  But really - they're keeping the kids quiet while we are listening :)

Random photos from March

Before Church one morning, I had to get the camera out and take some photos of my cute boys!  This was Brock's first time wearing a tie.  He thought he was hot stuff!  He had to keep showing it to every one.

 Of course I couldn't get both boys to look at the camera at the same time (mostly because Brock was too obsessed with the dinosaurs on his tie), so I didn't get the "perfect" photo that I wanted.  So instead, I tried to kiss Eli!  He wasn't too happy.  Even though this is the kid that at bedtime has to give me 6 kisses before he'll fall asleep!

This photo makes me laugh!  Gracie gave Brock these arm bands that she got in a kids meal.  He wanted to wear them ALL the time!  For about a week, he kept them on, even while he was sleeping.  I had to force him to take them off while he took his baths!

A couple weeks ago, my brother invited us to a jump house place.  The kids all had a lot of fun playing with their cousins.  As soon as Sydnee got there, Brock took her by the hand and made her follow him every where.  He's so lucky to have his second Mom!

Of course, it was way too exciting of a place to just walk from bouncy house to bouncy house.  As soon as he was done with one, he would grab Sydnee and make her RUN with him to the next!

 Andy and Eli taking a break from jumping.

Vaughn took Brock down the huge bouncy slide!  I'm not sure who enjoyed more ...

Spring has come to Utah and the kids are really enjoying the trampoline (and I'm enjoying them being outside more!)

We are SO ready for Summer!!!  Bring on the sunshine!

From Gracie's Camera ...

I love looking through my kids' cameras to see what photos they've taken. It's always a great insight to what they think is important and interesting. Here are some photos that I found on Gracie's camera. Love them! And I love her!