Feeding the Ducks

On a beautiful day in April, we decided we should take a much needed outting to go feed the ducks. This is one of our favorite family activities and hadn't happened in quite awhile. Once we were there, I remembered why we only do it occasionally. Taking a 2 year old to any place with water and no limits is quite an adventure :)

Jaycee loved the ducks and wanted to get closer and closer to the water to feed them. Once she was within throwing distance (not too far for a toddler) she would throw in the whole peice of bread.

Here are Zack and Kenzie chasing the muskrat we saw.

I love this one :)

All my beautiful children!

Bowling

The kids had been driving us CRAZY, begging us to take them bowling. We found a day Cameron was off and I decided to take half a day and go play with the kids. Most families have the luxury of having weekends off together, we don't and never have. Sad, I know, but dont feel too bad, we just have to make time to play and we definately make sure we make the most of it.

This particular rainy April day, we decided we would give in to the constant begging and pleading and head over to the local bowling alley. Kayson and Zack were SO excited, we could barely contain them to get the bowling shoes on, Kenz helped get everyone's names on the board and I was in awe that they made bowling shoes small enough for Jaycee, so CUTE! The kids went and picked out their balls, the girls, of course had to find the pink ones. We had a blast and everyone had a great time making fun of my unique, yet effective bowling technique.

After bowling, we headed over to the Bean Museum at BYU to spend sometime with Papa. He was very patient with a very persuasive 2 year old that kept insisting on seeing the elephants over and over. The boys were obsessed with the insects and the large fish on the wall. It was such a great afternoon and made me wish that I could spend everyday together.

I think the best part was the end of our outting. We went to the BYU Creamery for ice cream. The kids had never been there, I know, shame on us! Especially since their Papa works at BYU. The ice cream was so yummy and we all loved it!

Coloring Easter Eggs

On Saturday, we went over to my sis in law's to color Easter eggs. I will admit, I was a little nervous because Cameron had to work and I would be trying to help the kids and be the photographer at the same time. I forget what great kids I have! They had so much fun and didnt make one mess :) YAY!!!

Disney on Ice

On March 13th we all went to go see Disney on Ice for the first time. It was so much fun! The weather wasn't very good, so we decided to take Trax up to Salt Lake. That was a great adventure all by itself! Jaycee loves buses and Kayson is obsessed with trains, so they LOVED it. Once we got to Disney on Ice, we got settled for the show. Cam, being the fun daddy he is, insisted the kids get some fun souveniers and spent a small fortune on a gift for each of the kids. Plus, he was hungry. So not a good thing at a place like that! :)

Then it was time for the show! First came Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. Then came Kayson's favorite-CARS! He was so excited to see Lightning and Mater. Little Mermaid was next and the colors were so fun. Lion King came after that and the animals were so creative and fun. After the intermission, was Tinkerbell and we loved it! Jaycee was clapping her little heart out the whole time and I think Kenzie just loved watching how much her little sister was enjoying it. Zack really had fun and when I asked Kayson how he liked it when it was over, he said, "It was good, except the girlie parts." He is so funny!

Here are all the kiddos right before the show, they were so excited!

Snow Day

Jaycee

Zack

Kenzie

Kayson

Winter in UTAH!!

We had a rare occasion one snowy day in December, Cam and I both had a day off TOGETHER!! We had also had a great snow storm. SNOW DAY!!

We bundled all the kids up and headed out in the snow. All the kids LOVED it and had so much fun. This was Jaycee's first experience playing in the snow and she was so funny. She would fall into the snow, face first, and just lie there licking the snow. It was hilarious!

We played and played, built a pretty decent snowman, shoveled all the snow off the driveway and sidewalks, made a fort and Kenzie made a throne. What a great day!

What was next? Heading inside for hot chocolate with marshmallows. Yummy!

Santa!!

We are very lucky!! Papa, Cameron's dad, is one of Santa's helpers during Christmas and so instead of having to wait in line at the mall, we are able to see a helper at Nana and Papa's on Christmas Eve and the kids all know that Papa will tell Santa just how good they have been and get their gift requests to him.

It is so great to have pictures with Santa and Papa all in one shot! Jaycee was a little nervous to sit on Santa's lap with all the gear, but once Santa took off his beard, she was ok.

He is the best Santa! We can hear him coming up the steps on Christmas Eve, ringing his bells and saying "ho, ho, ho." He sits each child on his knee and gives them a hug and a treat. Then he tells the story of Santa's light and Why Santa is like Christ. It has become a great part of our holiday traditions.

Decorating the tree

Time to Decorate the Tree

Every year I picture this peaceful time together putting up all our Christmas decorations.

You know, with 4 young kids, it never happens! :)

This year I was a little more prepared for the chaos. We got out the ornaments, the tree, broke out the Christmas music and got to work. It was fun, but crazy. Especially with a 2 year old, who wants to touch and play with EVERY ornament. I think we only suffered 2 broken ornaments and I will admit one was my fault.

We have a tradition at our house that we started with MacKenzie. Each year the kids pick out an ornament that describes them or one of their favorite things that year. It is so great to look at the ornaments from past years and see what everyone picked. This year, the kids all picked Disney ornaments. Kenzie picked a pretty tinkerbell, Zack had a crazy Stitch dressed as Elvis, Kayson picked a flashy Lightning McQueen and Jaycee picked and adorable Winnie the Pooh with Lumpy. We wrote their names on them and the date and added them to the growing collection on the tree.