Man Bun?

Keen's hair has become unruly.  It is so long and crazy these days.  Josh said he wants to grow it out long enough to do a man bun.  This is the best I could do and I'm not waiting any longer.  It's time for a hair cut!

St. Patrick's Day

Rhen is learning how to write and is doing so well!  I love how she writes things just the way they sound.  This is a cute little picture and story she wrote in class for St. Patrick's Day.  Love these Leprechauns!

Ready for Church

Here's Mr. Handsome all ready for church!

Field Trip with Rease

I got to go with Rease on her field trip to the natural curiosity museum.  We rode the bus together and then were there for about 2 hours.  I was in charge of 4 other girls and we had such a fun time together!  The museum is super fun and has a lot of things to do.  Then after the museum we stopped at a park and had a sack lunch.  It was such a fun day and I love spending time with my Rease!

Rhen's sixth birthday!

Our Rhenner girl is 6!  Her birthday falls pretty closely to Dr. Seuss's birthday so she decided she wanted a Dr. Seuss theme for her party this year.  She was really excited because it was her year for a "friend" birthday party.  So we got invitations out to her friends from school and the neighborhood and we gathered 25 kids into our house for her party!  It was a houseful but we had a blast!

Decorations and party food...

 Rhen's topsy turvy cake...

 And Cat-in-the-Hat cupcakes.

 We decided the best way to keep 25 kids occupied was to play a bunch of games.  One of the games we did was Dr. Seuss bingo.  They all had a ton of fun with this and there were cute little prizes for everyone when they got bingo.

 We also did a candy scavenger hunt and the kids had to follow clues to find their treasures.  It was a great game for them and they had fun running around our house and the yard.

 Present time is always the best and Rhen got so excited with her fun presents.

 Cake and Ice Cream time!

 This sweet girl is the best!

A few of my favorite things about Rhen at age 6:

1) Rhen is one of a kind.  She has long skinny legs and is such a cutie pie - and at the same time is as clumsy as anyone I know!  She always has a handful of bruises on one or both of her legs from who knows what.  She is constantly falling or tripping but it doesn't really seem to bother her.  She usually just jumps right up and continues on playing.  Her long arms and legs seem to have a mind of their own sometimes.  Josh has lovingly started calling them her "noodles" especially when she starts flailing them around.  When she gets mad or isn't happy with something I've asked her to do, she starts flipping her noodles around all over the place.  It's such a Rhen move that I can't even compare it to anything else.  It's just Rhen.

2) Rhen has a very tender heart.  She thinks of others and finds little ways to serve people whenever she has a chance.  Often times I'll find a note or picture she has drawn and left for me and it is the best thing!  She loves to take care of people, especially her dad who she loves so much!  She has been a great big sister to her brothers when she's home during the day with them.  Most days I can count on Rhen to help me out and play with the boys when I have other things to do.  She is such a loving person.

3) Rhen is a great student.  Her teacher Mrs. Richardson says she is doing awesome in school.  She has loved starting to learn to read and LOVES to color and draw.  She always wants to do her homework and keep learning.  I'm so proud of her!

We love our Rhen!

6 year old stats from Dr. Erickson:

Height: 49.41 inches - 97%

Weight: 49.6 lbs - 73%

BMI: 14.3 - 23%

Happy birthday girl!  We love you!

Cruise 2015

So we were lucky enough as an office to hit our goal last year and earned another cruise together!  We have been planning it for months and we can't wait!  We packed up and left our husbands and kids at home and this is our crew at the airport waiting to go to the Caribbean.

 We took the red eye flight to Ft. Lauderdale and got there the morning our ship was leaving.  We had most the day to just hang out so we checked onto the cruise ship as early as possible so we could start our vacation.  We ordered shirts as an office to wear and this was our motto for the year - "Work like a captain, play like a pirate."

 Our ship was the Liberty of the Seas and it was awesome.  Seriously so many fun things to do!

 We had a few hours before the ship left port so we explored the ship, enjoyed the view from our balcony in our rooms and waited to wave goodbye to land for a week.

 We had so much to do on our "at-sea" days but the thing we liked most was laying by the pool and taking in the sun.  

The ship also had a flo-rider on it and most of us tried it.  It is definitely harder than it looks.  We tried the boogie boarding style and also the surfing style.  Some caught on quicker than others, but it was for sure a workout.  But super fun!

 One of our stops got cancelled because of weather, but we did get to stop in Haiti for one of our days.  We were all so excited to be on land and be off the ship for a day.  And the island was beautiful!

 A group of us signed up to ride the zipline while we were there.  It was quite a sight to look at from the ground up but looked so so fun!  We got our gear on and were ready to go.

 We did a couple of short lines first to get the hang of it, then they shipped us up to the top of the mountain to zip all the way down across the ocean.  It was quite a sight!

 And it was a rush!!!!  The view from the top was amazing and even better on the way down!

 Our group that made it through!

 We also enjoyed some beach time on the island.  It was SO HOT!  Over 105 degrees the whole afternoon.  So we spent a lot of time cooling off in the water.  And in the shade!

We loved our time in Haiti!

 One of my favorite things about the cruise is the yummy food.  The dining room is so pretty and nice and I feel so special getting served every night.  And the food doesn't disappoint.  My favorite...Lobster  night.  We also loved the smoothies that we ordered whenever we could.  It was our treat for the week!

 Formal night is always fun too and everyone looked so great.  I love this pic of all the staff together!

 Dad and I are training for the Ogden Marathon so we got up early every morning and ran.  They had an outdoor track that ran all the way around the top of the ship so that was our place every morning.  It was so nice and refreshing to get out early and have the place to ourselves.

We also climbed the rock wall and it was really fun.  So many fun adventurous things to do on the ship!

 Always the best part is just hanging out together and goofing off just because we can!  I love all these gals!

 Thanks to dad and Dr. V for a great staff retreat and getaway!  We have such a great staff and as always  had a blast together!

On the Slopes

Josh and Andy took both girls skiing with them this week.  Rhen did a half day with Josh and Rease and Andy stuck together.  These girls have loved being able to ski with the boys.  And Josh says they are both doing a great job!  

 Rease drew this picture of their ski day together.  (Don't you love how the girls have dresses on?)

The Boys

 I took a picture of Beck in this cute warm-up suit and sent it to Josh.  I remember Keen wearing this and can't believe Beck is in it now.  He is growing up so much I can even stand it!

As I was getting this picture of Beck, the other boys didn't want to be left out!  They each posed and smiled for a picture of their own.

Can you believe we have three boys?  I can't even imagine how life will be with 3 crazy boys in the house 10 years from now.  Good thing they're all cute!

Feeding Beck

Keen loves his little brother and especially loves to help feed him.  Whenever I am getting bottles ready, he jumps up on the couch and asks if he can feed Beck.  Such a fun little bond these two boys have!

Craft Day at Aunt Hayley's!

Cute Aunt Hayley planned a craft day for all the cousins.  She got everything together and luckily it was such a nice day that we could be outside!  She planned a clay heart project for each of the kids to do.  They were able to roll out the clay and then cut out a heart.  Then each heart had their thumbprints in it.  So cute!  They went in to the oven to bake then the kids each painted their own heart.  It was so so fun for the kids and they LOVED that they got to do each part on their own!  

 While the hearts were baking we all frosted sugar cookies - then ate them!

This was such a fun day for the kids and so nice of Aunt Hayley to plan it all for everyone!

Beck

Keen decided to help Beck get ready today.  After I got him dressed, he added the hat and the backpack.  I love how he just sits there not quite sure what to do!  This is the best boy!

Goose Egg

Liev got a pretty good bonk on his head today.  He was standing on a chair and it tipped over backwards while he was on it.  On the way down he hit his head on a table the was right next to him.  He cried pretty good for a minute but then was really tough.  He looks so cute just trying to be a big boy and not cry!

Liev turns 4!

Mr. Liev is 4!  What a fun year we've had with this oldest boy of ours!  He decided on a train birthday so that's what we did!  I had such a fun time making this cake of his.  He wanted all the colors so it turned out cute and bright!

 We had the regular group over of family and close friends.  We love celebrating birthdays around here! And the best part of all is opening presents!

My favorite things about Liev at age 4:

1) Liev has always been such a sweet boy.  He willingly gives hugs and kisses whenever I ask and is always concerned about how I'm doing.  If he can see that I'm sad or having a hard day, he takes a minute to make sure he gives me a hug.  Long ago Josh taught the kids to say "We love you mom!" whenever I get into the car with them.  Liev has become the ring leader behind this and I always get a very warm welcome when we are all in the car together.

2) Liev is all boy.  He loves to jump, climb, throw things, wrestle, hit and fight.  I didn't realize how different boys and girls can be even at a really young age, but he has shown me the other side of things after having the girls first.  We love the change of pace around our house!

3) Liev looks so much like Josh to me and I love seeing those 2 and their similarities.  I imagine that Liev is much like his dad was when he was a kid.  Sweet, kind and loving and tall, skinny and cute.  All those things are present in both Liev and Josh and I am so glad Liev has such a good role model to look after.  

Happy Birthday my sweet Liev!  We love you so much!

3 year old stats from Dr. Erickson:

Weight: 37.7 lbs - 65%

Height: 42/2 inches - 87%

BMI: 14.9 - 24%

Shopping cart

Now that Beck is a champ at sitting up, he loves to ride in these cute car carts at the grocery store.  Just like one of the big kids!

Lincoln Logs

We have started collecting sets of Lincoln Logs for the kids to play with.  We have a huge bin full of all sorts of pieces.  The kids have loved them and like to build all the time.  Today they decided to make a Lincoln Log village.  They worked hard on all the different buildings and even labeled them for all to see!  I love their creativity!