March and the Grand Canyon

March was a fun busy month.  We got to take a semi big family trip.  At least it was a big trip for us.  We haven’t done a lot of travel and haven’t stayed at a hotel since before Courtney was born (5 years ago), so this was a big deal for our girls.  Over spring break we went to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon for a couple of days.  We hadn’t been back to Flagstaff since 2005 when we moved away from there.  It was neat to see our old stomping grounds and see how much the NAU campus and Flagstaff had changed.

  When Jeremy was in Australia serving a mission he would tell people that he was from Arizona and they would ask him about the Grand Canyon.  Sad to say he would have to tell them he had never been to see it.  Now, if he ever gets to go back he can tell them all about it.  Pictures do not do it justice.  It is such an amazing site.  It was fun to share it with my family.  I had been once before but that was several years ago.  I remembered it just being so vast that you almost thought it didn’t look real.  The kids were a little nervous about getting too close but that didn’t hurt my feelings at all.

What a long fun day! The girls were excited to get back to the hotel a relax for a while.  They loved just being about to get under the covers and watch some TV.  We don’t have cable so it was fun for them. Another highlight of our trip was getting to hang out with CG and Gramps a little bit on the way back.  We got to stop at the ranch where Gramps boards his horses and see his newest edition “Snicker’s Doodle.”

We also got to ride Gramps’ green machine.  The kids had a blast because they even got to take turns driving.  (Don’t worry there was an adult in the vehicle at all times.)

 

 

After that we enjoyed a wonderful picnic lunch provided by Gramps. Then there was a quick pose in the stage coach there on site.  The girls had a blast.  Thanks Gramps! 

On another note in March, guess who turned 11! Kelsi is growing up way too fast.  Actually they all are.  I can’t hardly believe how the years are flying and my little girls are quickly growing in to young women.

I am proud of the wonderful person she is and love seeing her learn and grow in so many ways.  What a blessing all of our daughters truly are.

On a fun side note I thought I would throw this picture of Courtney in for fun.

It has been way too long

It is amazing how fast the last 5 months have gone by.  I should be blogging more often.  One day I will be grateful for this record of our lives, even if it isn’t very frequent.

One of the best ways for me to go back and remember what has happened over the past 5 months is to go back and look at the pictures that we have taken.  So it may be a little picture heavy at times. So here it goes.

When I went back to the blog just now I realized I didn’t even blog about Christmas.  There is a Christmas letter but nothing beyond that.  So I guess we get to go all the way back to Christmas. Here are a few highlights.

This is our finished decorated tree with the girls.  We love to put all kinds of ornaments on the tree.  Some of my favorites are the many handmade ornaments that the kids have made over the years at school.

We got to enjoy, once again, a preschool Christmas program.  I have loved having Courtney in Mrs. Norton’s Busy Bee preschool.  She has done an amazing job with all of our girls over the years.  They now all have a shirt with their handprint made into a reindeer that we will treasure. Courtney also got to dress as an angel for the nativity part of the program. Too cute!

Christmas is such a fun busy time.  I hope that we are making treasured memories for our girls that they will take with them in life.  I also hope that some of the traditions that we are establishing now will stick with them forever and that they can understand the true meaning of Christmas, Christ.

Christmas Eve day was spent in Pomerene with the Barney/Edington Families.  That is always fun.  Mexican food and a Christmas program put on by the kids.  This is a tradition from when I was a child.  We now try to go every other year with our kids.  After that it was home for our own Christmas Eve traditions.  More Mexican food, new pajamas, the Christmas story and following the star to find baby Jesus in a manger in front of the tree.  Following the star has become one of my favorite Christmas traditions we have started with our kids.  I look forward to it every year.  I once thought of replacing our star because it seemed a little big for our tree.  I decided against it specifically because of our following the star tradition.  It just wouldn’t be the same.

January brought a new year and truthfully not one picture taken.  How sad is that. 

Kelsi played basketball this year at school.  They have a league within the school.  Fourth, fifth and sixth graders make up several teams that play against each other.  This was an exciting time for me.  I loved playing basketball in school so it was so much fun to watch her.  She really enjoyed it and even asked for a basketball for her birthday. I look forward to watching her play next year. 

Here are a few highlights from February. Courtney in a box.  She had fun playing in this box.  She wanted me to tell sisters to come see so she could pop out and surprise them.   You may notice the IPod in her hand.  That was one of the gifts the girls each got for Christmas.  They have been thoroughly enjoyed over the past few months and mom actually got to have hers back.

 Shaylee and Kelsi with their IPods.

 

 

   Another fun thing Courtney got to do because of preschool was learning about the letter x by having a treasure hunt at school and one at home.  Her teacher sent her home with a treasure chest, a book wrapped with an x on it, an eye patch and some clues.  We all had a blast helping her find her treasure.

 

March is worthy of a blog entry of it’s own so to break it up a bit that is what I am going to do.