Rease's Grades

Rease got her end of year testing results.  She is a smart little cookie!  I'm proud of this girl and all her hard work!

Vampire fangs

Josh and I both think that Keen has the most hilarious teeth.  His centrals haven't come in yet but the laterals are fully poking through.  We just think he looks like a little vampire.

End of the Year Kindergarten Program

Rease performed at her end of year program today at the school.  They had prepared a few songs for the parents, complete with actions and loud voices!  Rease was super excited to finally sing the songs they have been practicing for the past few months.  She has done such a great job in Kindergarten this year and is in the top reading group in her class.  Her teacher told us she is a great leader in the classroom (which means she's likely a little bossy too) and is friendly to everyone.  She also told me about one little guy in her class, Gavin, who is very shy and timid.  She said Rease has taken him under her wing all on her own this year and makes sure to include him in all she does.  She said that if anyone ever asks Rease to be her partner, Rease says, "no thank you, I'm Gavin's partner."  What a sweet girl!  I loved hearing that story.  

After the program Rease took us to her classroom and showed us her art project hanging on the wall.  She is going to be sad to have this year over because she has learned so much and had such a great time making new friends.  But SUMMER is coming!  And so much to look forward to with the great weather!  

The kindergartners all had graduation pictures taken - so cute!

They had a cute little kindergarten graduation and everything.  Rease felt very grown up.

 Rease and Mrs. Dunn.

 We all love you so much Rease!  Great job at school this year!

Dressing up the dog

Grammie bought a new dog recently and the girls LOVE playing with her.  She has become Rease's new doll and gets dressed up almost every time we go visit.  For now she seems to be ok with it - that may change someday soon.  

Boston

The girls and I took a trip to Boston to see Chad, Britt and the boys.  Chad was graduating from Harvard Business School and we wanted to be there for the special occasion.  And of course the girls were thrilled to be able to see their cousins!

We took the red-eye flight from Salt Lake to Boston.  We all wore our jammies and had blankets and pillows so we could sleep on the plane.

 We didn't get too much sleep, but it didn't matter.  Rease and Rhen were with their cousins!

We had a lot on the agenda for the week but first up was a trip to Fenway Park.  Caleb was so excited to be able to see this park and I think it was one of the highlights of the week.  It is an amazingly old and cool field to see and be able to hear the history of it.

 We stole a quick bite at Tasty Burger after our tour.  Delicious.

 In Boston they have this great system for bikes called Hubway.  There are different hubs throughout the city and all the campuses around.  So you rent a bike at one hub then drop it off at another hub wherever you end up.  So we did that for our Fenway tour.  Rented bikes at the Harvard Business School campus where Chad and Britt live and then dropped them off right by Fenway.  It was awesome and cheap and we had a beautiful ride!

 Grammie and Papa saved the day and took the kids to the zoo while we were at the baseball field.  They bought each of the kids a stuffed animal and, believe me, they were carried around everywhere the rest of the week!

 We also went to a beautiful cemetary close to their house and spent a couple hours walking around and enjoying some peace and quiet in the middle of the city.  

 We visited Lexington and Concord...

 Walden Pond...

 And even went to a Red Sox game at Fenway.  Super fun!

 There is so much history in Boston and surrounding areas.  We spent one day seeing all the history sights and walking around downtown.  Britt was a champ and kept up with us all week - 8 months pregnant and no complaining!

 The kids spent some good time at the parks on campus.  

 But the main reason for the trip came at the end of the week.  Harvard Graduation.  Chad graduated in the top 5% of his class and received the Baker Scholar award.  They were able to attend a special reception for all the recipients and mom and dad went with them.  They said it was really special to see.  Britt and I, mom and dad were able to attend the main graduation at Harvard Square and that was really cool.  Such traditions at Harvard and that was really fun to see.  Then we all saw Chad walk and receive his diploma in the Business School ceremony.  Their 3 boys walked across the stage with him.  We are so proud of him and his hard work!  

 The last day we were there, Britt got out their bounce house and the kids had a blast jumping and playing around.  

 Headed home.  Sad to go but so glad to have been there and made great memories!  Thanks Chad and Britt for keeping us busy!

Midnight snack?

I went to get Liev up from his nap and noticed a little something sticking out from underneath his pillow.  

 Old chicken nugget anyone?  Just saving it for later I guess.  Just in case he was in his room long enough to get hungry again.  

Goings on at the new house

The kids settled in and got to work feeling right at home in the new house.  A couple days after we moved in, Rease promptly started hauling things out of the garage to build a "hut."  

Liev still hasn't quite adjusted to sleeping on a real bed - sleeping on the floor is more his style I guess.

And Keen is quickly becoming acclimated to the long flight of stairs we have.  He hasn't fallen all the way down yet, but I did catch him halfway down the other day.  Crazy kid!

Undie Dancing

We have all been so excited to be in our new house!  We love the space and the kids have fun just being kids.  Today I got the kids out of the shower and they wanted to dance in just their undies.  So I said ok and then snapped a couple cute pics of them!  Love these kids!

Final house stuff

We can't hardly believe how fast the house has been built - and how fun the whole process has been for us.  We have loved going out every day to see the progress that has been made and what the new changes are.  It has been great these past 2 weeks cause it's the really fun stuff that's happening - flooring, cupboards, carpet, countertops and all the finish stuff!  

These pictures are the last ones we took before we closed.  I wish we would have taken one with the landscaping done before we moved in, but didn't.  But the front yard was all finished - sprinklers, grass, rock wall and all before we closed.  

We closed on May 13, 2013.  What a fun day for us!  When we got to the office to sign all our papers, this is the treatment we got - VIP parking!  I thought this was so awesome and fun to have our names right out front for everyone to see!  

We feel truly blessed to be where we are and be moving into a house that we are so excited about!  6 months ago I would have never guessed that we'd still be in Utah and building/buying a new house close to our families.  What a dream come true for us!

9 months

Hey, just wanted to keep you updated on my 9 month stats.  Oh and show you how cute I am taking a bath in the sink!

9 month stats from Dr. Erickson

Weight: 22.22 lbs - 76%

Height: 29.84 inches - 92%

Head: 18.6 inches - 94%

Mother's Day notes

Rease wrote me these cute Mother's Day notes in school.  They are priceless!

The Sleeping Arrangement

So I had to get a few pictures of the sleeping arrangement the kids have had the past few months at Grammie and Papa's house.  They are sleeping in the storage room - amongst storage bins, halloween costumes, clothes, holiday decorations and much much more that has been squeezed into this room.  But...we have made it work.  We put up one of mom's blow-up mattresses for the girls to sleep on and also put a portable crib for Liev to sleep in.  It has been a fun...adventure for the kids!  

Keen occasionally takes a nap in here and I found him squawking one day.  I went in to find that he had slid between two of the slats of the bed (there was a broken one that came out between these two causing a space just large enough for him to wiggle into.)  What a crazy kid.

And what a crazy sleeping arrangement this has been!  But the kids have had fun and we made it through sleeping in the storage room!

Cousins and Popsicles

These cousins have had such a fun time living under the same room for the past few months.  This is one of our last days living with Grammie and Papa before we move into the new house!  And what better thing to do to pass the time than eat popsicles together! 

To the Park

It was a beautiful day so I took the kids to the park after the gym.  They played and played and were so glad to be outside for the day!  We had a couple hours before we had to pick Rease up from school, and we spent those hours just having a good time!

Summer here we come!

Playing Naked

Lately Liev has been going out - without clothes.  Just playing along like everything is normal.  Good thing he has those cute little buns!

Mama's helper

Rease has been so great to help me out especially with Baby Keen.  She lately has been wanting to feed him every time he has a bottle.  So I let her do it and I know she loves being with her baby brother.  He doesn't look too much like a baby now - he's half her size!  What a good sister!