Spring Break

El Paso is a 9 hour drive away and I have been talking about driving there to visit Katie and her family for awhile now, but it just hasn't happened. Well this year for spring break it finally came together and Sarah and Lincoln joined us as well. We all piled in the van and the trip went amazingly well. The kids did a really good job of entertaining themselves and the only mishap was when I made my entire family pee on the side of the road only to find a rest stop literally around the corner. Now that I know where the rest stops are that shouldn't be an issue again. I am glad Sarah was there to help, because I have no idea how I would have wrangled all the kids at the rest stops by myself. Especially when Conrad was screaming to nurse at the same time as someone else was screaming to go to the bathroom. 

Noah seemed happy to have guests and he was especially excited to meet Conrad. They are going to be buddies for sure. 

We went to the park by Katie's house and it hit me just how big our family has gotten. We now take up all the swings and rule the playground. 

We also took the kids to the zoo, which of course is always a hit. 

King kept insisting on pushing Lincoln around. It was so cute and amazingly no one was injured. 

Katie also has a Wii, which will win EZ over every time. EZ got hooked on Mario Kart. It makes John so proud. 

We had a big surprise when my dad showed up for a day. Actually, Brad and I were the only 2 who knew that he was coming, but I had forgotten and I was honestly shocked when he showed up. I love the his work let's him travel and visit us even if it is only for a day. 

Katie has an awesome backyard with turf instead of grass. I would kill for that at our house. The kids actually liked being outside in bare feet!

We also played some soccer. It makes me so happy just watching all the family together having fun. We need more family close to us so we can do this more often.  

Our fire pit got ruined, but luckily Katie has one so we were able to make smores. We really need to get a new one. 

Right before we left we were able to snap this pic of the 3 boys together. Once again we are just missing Timmy. I really want to get them all together before Conrad turns 1, but I am not going to get my hopes up./

The drive home went pretty smoothly and involved no peeing on the side of the road. It was great to get to visit Katie and maybe this will become our regular spring break trip. 

Beginning of March

Yeah not the most creative title to a post, but I am just trying to catch up on the blog as fast as I can. Beginning of March means Texas Day at preschool. It was a dream day for Netta with pony rides and getting to dress up like a cowgirl.

 



 

Netta and all her little girl friends love when I bring Conrad to school. I don't care what people say about forcing kids into gender roles. The fact of the matter is little girls love babies!

 

Conrad is cute as ever and loving taking baths. I think he is going to be a swimmer.

 

We got to celebrate Lincoln's first birthday. Being able to be together for events like this is one of the best parts of having family here.

Sarah made this awesome giraffe cake and used tootsie rolls for the spots. My head tells me tootsie rolls are gross, but my taste buds tell me otherwise!

 

 I love to dance and I used to dance every chance I got at BYU, but after marriage and moving away I haven't been able to dance anywhere near as much as I would like. I have a friend at Church who hosts dance parties at her house and after missing the first few for various reasons, I was finally able to go to one! To make it even better it was 80s themed and I have finally lost enough weight that I actually like most of the pictures people take of me. So here I am almost back to normal weight and dolled up in my best 80s attire.

 

 

 

Grandpa and Grandma in the House

We love when my mom and dad can come visit, which isn't nearly often enough. They came this year at the end of February. My dad's birthday is the beginning of March so Sarah and I decided to surprise him with some indoor skydiving. I have to give Sarah credit for the great idea. We were all able to watch and it looked awesome. I think I know what I want for my birthday next year! 

 

We also all got to go to one of EZ's basketball games. It was a bit of a rough season. We were really unimpressed with EZ's coaches and he struggled a lot in the beginning with the higher basket and the bigger kids. Despite that he says he loves it and he requested he go to basketball camp over the summer, so hopefully he can get the attention he needs there to help him improve more. My brother-in-law Casey got some sweet action shots of EZ. I love these first pics and his expression when he trips.

 

King did not want left out of the picture action and kept insisting Casey take his picture as well.

 

We tried to get a cousin group shot. Fail.

 

We also took a trip to Zilker park to ride the train and let the kids run around. EZ really wanted John to take pictures of him practicing his ninja moves. He kills me.

 

 

And once again King could now be left out of the picture action.

 

 

Casey got this adorable Shot of EZ and King on the train. King really does look up to EZ and wants to do everything he does.

 

I have really been wanting some portraits of Conrad and Casey was nice enough to take some for me at the park. It kills me what a cutie he is.

 

Finally, some shots of my parents with the kids. Of course I have none of them with Conrad. I just can't get my act together. My dad is always talking about changes going on at his work and how some day he could be closer and I am just praying it happens soon!

 

 

 

 

 

Febuary Was All About Netta

Not sure how this happened, but despite the fact that my birthday and John's birthday are both in February, the pictures from this month are all about Netta. John and Netta went to the now traditional Daddy Daughter Dance. Netta absolutely loves this. And I love the pictures we get of her and John.

 

It was hard to top last year's professional picture, but I think they managed it this year.

 

Netta is in a playgroup with 2 other little girls and they were really on a roll one day and they shoved tons of stuffed animals up their shirts so that they could be pregnant. She just kept yelling "Look at my babies!" I think they have may shifted a bit too high and turned into another "b" word.

 

We got Netta's preschool picture and her class picture absolutely cracked me up. Netta is the most social child on the face of the planet and somehow the photographer made her look completely ostracized.

 

Netta's preschool class also got to go on a bowling trip. She was so excited to finally get to go on a field trip like EZ does. I love the way the hand drier was blowing her hair in these pictures.

 

Of course King and Conrad got to tag a long on the field trip. It is looking like Conrad is keeping his blue eyes.

 

Finally, there actually are 2 updates that weren't Netta focused. Conrad is still the runt of the family by a good 5 pounds, but at his 6 month check up the doctor said she is no longer worried about his weight gain. In the back of my head it still weirds me out a bit, but I will trust her judgment. I thought since he his smaller, he might do things like sitting up and crawling sooner than the other kids, but so far he is proving to be just as lazy as they were.

 

 

Also, EZ has been losing his top teeth and looking like a crazy person with one tooth gone and the other one hanging down all wonky. As goofy looking as it is, I love seeing him enter all these new phases.