Losing Lexi

Today I took Lexi and Jackson to Super Walmart to do a little shopping. Jackson was in the cart, and Lexi was just walking beside us. I stopped to look at some storage bins, and Lexi ran off to another aisle. I wasn't worried. She does this all the time when we're shopping, but she usually stays within a short distance and comes right back. I looked through the bins for a minute, and then said "Lexi." There was no answer, so I started walking and calling her name some more. Then I hear a page over the intercom, "Attention Walmart customers, will ...... please come to the jewelry counter. We have .... here." Since I wasn't sure about the names I wandered for a minute more and then made my way to the jewelry counter. Sure enough...there was Lexi! I was just laughing. Little stinker! The best part was a minute later Lexi said, "well mom, I just ran away from you so I could say bad words!" Where does she come up with this stuff???

February

Wow, has it really been a month and a half since my last post? Yikes! Well, I have tons to catch up on, but I'll start with February. It was a great month!



Kathryn and Jenn came to visit for a weekend for Steven Tew's homecoming. It was a quick visit (Saturday to Sunday), but we had fun, especially visiting with everyone at the Tews on Sunday after church.



The night they were here Jeff got frosted cookies for the kids & Jenn. Luckily we had them eat them in the bath, because they were so messy! Jackson pooped blue for three days after! :)



The next weekend I took the kids to Utah. I drove up Friday to miss a snow storm (so glad I did because we got about 6 inches of snow at my parents house Saturday). Sat. afternoon we had Taryn's shower, and it was really fun to see her and everyone who came.



Sunday-Monday a group of my high school friends got together at Julia's parent's place in Fountain Green. It was so great to get together and catch up. All we did was talk and eat, and that's just how I wanted it. We also got to meet Lorianne's fiance for a minute, and we all approve! :)

Relaxing by the fire

I love these girls and think they are amazing!

Tuesday I headed up to Jane's to stay with her for the week while Whitney was out of town. It is crazy having all five kids together and no hubbies around to help, but we managed..and even got out of the house a few times!

One night we went to the Church History Museum. Hello - best kept secret! They have the cutest area for kids to play, and it's free.

They have blocks to build a temple

And the cutest little baby area where you can dress them up and then wiegh them and give them little check ups with doctors kits. The kids loved it!

We also went to Thanksgiving Point to pet the animals and go on pony rides. Wait - did I really not take any pictures of the kids on the ponies? Oops!

That Friday night my mom flew into town, and Isaac & Liz and the kids came up to hang out at Jane's. It was so fun to see everyone. Then saturday I made the trek home.

Haley had a fun birthday party at Peter Piper Pizza.

These girls are so cute! Lexi talks about Haley all the time. Whatever she is playing with at home she'll say, "and this one is for Haley."

And Jackson loves her, too. He says "hi Hayhay!"

Jeff and I went with a group of friends to go Indoor Skydiving. Do we look ridiculous or what? It was a blast. We'd definitely do it again, and it made me want to go real skydiving again.

January Highlights

This has been such a fast, busy month! We have done a lot of fun things, and here are some highlights:
1. Jesus Want Me For a Sunbeam! Lexi is officially a sunbeam at church. I kept telling her about how she wouldn't go to nursery anymore and that she would be a sunbeam. After one time of explaining to her she said, "But mom, I don't want to be a sunbeam, I want to be Lexi!" The first few weeks were pretty rough, since I am in Primary. I was conducting the first week and doing sharing time the next, so it was hard for her to sit with her class while I was there. She's done much better the last few weeks.

2. The little guy is growing up! Jackson turned two!! I can't believe it. He was so excited about blowing out the candle on his cake. Each time he would clap and say "yay!" We did it over and over again! It was really fun to have my dad, Kathryn, and Jenn here to celebrate, which brings us to our next item...

3. Visit from dad, Kathryn, and Jenn! They drove down from Utah for MKL weekend. It was perfect weather while they were here, so Saturday we went for a walk and then played at the park. That night we all (minus the kiddies) met Wayne & Patrice for Thai food and to visit at their house.

Sunday we had church and then went to the park after dinner.

And Monday...we went to the park again! Wayne & Patrice met us there, and it was a perfect day. Then they had to leave. :( We also put my dad to work while he was here. He replaced the cartridge in our guest shower, so now there is hot water in there. It was so much fun to have them visit, and we look forward to seeing them more in February!

4. Chuck e Cheese! We took the kids last weekend to go on the rides and play games.

5. Playgroup. We've gone to the park, played at the church gym, and had a tour of Great Harvest bakery.

6. Swimming! Since the weather has been warm and nice, the kids have been asking to go swimming. We took them to the YMCA indoor pool last night. They loved it!

7. Hiking at Red Rock. We did the Calico Tanks hike today with the Jensons. Here's Jackson and "Hay-Hay"

View from the top!

8. Amazing weather. We have had the warmest, sunniest weather this month. I think we've been to the park about 15 times this month. It's been so nice for that and to take the kids for walks.

9. Jeff's firm moved into their new building last Friday, so his commute to work is now 3 miles!

10. Jeff ran the St. George half marathon. He loved it and is excited to participate in more of them.

The Holidays

We've had such a busy few weeks. Here's a quick re-cap:

--It snowed about 4-5 inches at our house!

--My mom, aunt, and cousin came into town the week before Christmas. They stayed in a hotel on the strip, but I got to spend a lot of time with them. We had so much fun: saw Mystere, ate at RA, went to Town Square, shopped, saw Four Christmases, sleep over at their hotel (talked until 4:30am), shopping at the outlets, etc. And it was really fun having them come to my house a few times to hang out with the kids. The kids loved Nana's Christmas present, which we let them open when she was here: A Kitchen!

--Primary craziness: new teachers, update binders, deliver binders, burn CDs for kids with 2009 songs, Christmas gifts, teacher appreciation breakfast, three baptisms, countless calls with the bishopric, BofM reading program, new birthday gifts, etc, etc.

--Christmas in California - we had a blast at the Luszecks!

Santa came to visit!

Lexi with uncle Tyler and Santa

Presents!

Santa was pretty smart this year - he brought the kids each their own guitar and four wheeler - he must realize that they're having problems sharing! :)

Christmas Day at grandma's house

And a day at Knott's Berry Farm!

--got home and had a fun few days with the Banners (both sets!) including a fun night out at the VIP movie lounge at Red Rock to see Marley & Me.

--New Year's Eve uncle Tyler & uncle Reid drove up to see us. The kids were hilarious when they saw them - bouncing off the walls with excitement! Jeff and his brothers braved the strip that night, while I hung out with friends in the ward. The kids both stayed up until midnight! Luckily they both slept in, too!

Now we're just getting back to our normal routines, which feels good.

Polar Express

The weekend after Thanksgiving we went to Williams, AZ, with four other families in our ward for the Polar Express. We had so much fun.

Kiddies in their pajamas

Here's our whole group before we got on the train

On the train we sang songs and read the Polar Express story

mamma's boy

daddy and daughter

they served hot chocolate and cookies. Jackson was so exhausted that he fell asleep sitting up and holding his cookie! The kids were really excited to meet Santa. He gave them each a bell.

After the train ride we went swimming

Then we put the kids to bed and the adults congregated in the hallway for cards and treats until after midnight when someone complained about the noise!

Thanksgiving

We had a blast in Utah over Thanksgiving week. I drove up with the kids on Monday morning to have a few extra days to hang out at Jane's new house in SLC. Her house was AMAZING! This was the first time I had seen it all remodeled and furnished. And it just worked well with the kids. My kids were in heaven in the play room. I don't think they've ever seen more toys in their lives!

Monday night we went to the Sky Box at Gateway for dinner and games with a group of families from Jane's ward.

We played games and went on rides

And I had to play a quick game of the original Mario Brothers!

Cute cousins cracking up!


And the blue-eyed boys
Tuesday we went to Hogle Zoo. It was my first time there, and it was pretty cool. We dressed Brookie and Lexi in matching shirts!

My best friend from growing up, Kaira, came to meet us with her daughter, Maya. Isn't she adorable?? We all went on the carousel and train ride and looked at the animals.

Then Kaira came to check out Jane's house. That night Jane and I put the kids down and snuck in a quick trip to Nordstrom Rack and to se Jordan & Taryn's new house. It's so cute!

Wednesday we packed all five kids in Jane's car and ran some errands. The kids did really well together this trip. They just played and had fun. It was the best I think they've ever done together, which made it nice for Jane and I!

Thursday I picked Jeff up from the airport and then everyone met at my parents' house. We had a delicious Thanksgiving meal in the afternoon and sat around and talked. Later we went to see Isaac & Liz's new house (lots of new houses in our family)! Friday was boy's day. My dad took all the boys shooting in the canyon and then to Boondocks to play minature golf, lazer tag, bumper cars, and video games. Jess and I snuck out for a few quick errands while grandma watched the kids (Thanks Kathryn)!

That night everyone met up at temple square to see the lights.

It was really fun. I hadn't been in years. After we all met at Jane's for treats.

Saturday was girl's day. Kathryn took all the girls to lunch at Happy Sumo. Then we went shopping and to see The Secret Life of Bees. We had a great time together, and it was fun to run into the Jacksons from Hawaii. That night we got sitters for the kids and we all went to see The Christmas Carol at Hale Theater. I was really tired and didn't feel like going, but I ended up loving it. It's such a great story, and I definitely came away from it wanting to be better.

Thanks dad and K-mom for such a fun Thanksgiving weekend!