Make-A-Wish...

 The girls and I were able to go to Utah at the end of May and spend a couple of weeks.  We went to celebrate Carter.  He would have turned 6 this past June.  We miss him everyday.  The Make-A-Wish foundation wanted to honor Carter as he wasn't able to receive his "wish", a trip to Disney World, before he went home to Heaven.  They have these beautiful stars hanging from their ceiling, each representing a different child and Carter's is now up there with them.  Each person in his family was able to write a wish or message on the star before it was placed with the others and it was such a touching experience to see the love his family has for him.  We spent the day at the zoo, one of his favorite places, had lunch at a park, attended the Make-A-Wish ceremony and then went to Carter's grave to send off some balloons to him.

 This boy was not an ordinary boy... he was literally an angel on earth.  Love you Carter Man.

Vet School Open House...

 Every year, since Jeff has been at WSU, we have been able to attend the Vet School Open House the clubs put on in April.  The girls love it and this was the first year we actually remembered to bring one of Little Miss's "injured" stuffed animals for her to do surgery on.  Her dad turned out to be a pretty great assistant and I was impressed with her suturing skills...a little doctor in the making:)

 And I had to put these pictures of Miss A in here because 1) she's absolutely adorable and 2) I want to remember the way she held her finger for the entire day she had that Band-Aid on.  I could just kiss that face!

Easter 2013

 We had a wonderful Easter!  The Easter Bunny visited the girls on Saturday and left a bunch of yummy treats, a movie, toothbrushes (to clean up all the yummy treats) and an outfit with new shoes.  We attended our stake's Easter party where we listened to each ward's primary sing, ate breakfast and hunted for eggs.  The girls had so much fun... except for Alyssa being terrified of the bunny of course.  We finished the day with our traditional egg dying at the Hansen's.  Sunday we tried to really focus on our Savior and help the girls understand why Easter is so important.  The death and resurrection of our Savior.  The perfect life He lived and the love He showed for each of us through His sacrifice.  Jesus Christ lives and loves us and that is definitely something to celebrate!!

Funny Girl...

Morning Family Prayer By Caitlin:

"Dear Heavenly Father, please bless daddy with lots of jobs and money so I can go to the store and get more responsible toys..."

When she wants my attention she says in a very loud, low voice...

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and birds!"

Love her.

Caitlin is 4!!

My Little Miss, at 4 years old...

*You love to talk!  You always want me and dad to be talking to you, telling you a story or just laughing with you.  I hope you always love sharing your life with us!

*You love taking care of your little sister, Lyss.  You always want to be the first one in the room when she wakes up and you know your job is to "keep Lyss safe!"

*You love to dance and sing!  You will dance to any beat you hear and the children's hymns are your favorite to sing...most recently you love to sing the 1st and 2nd articles of faith.

*You have a tender heart and you don't like when mom or dad are upset with you.  You are so quick to say sorry and ask how you can "fix it".  You also forgive quicker than anyone I know...I need to follow your example.

*You love to wrestle and play "chase" with your dad.  You also LOVE your Friday nights with your dad...pizza, movie and a sleepover.  Dad loves it as much as you!

*You can work a computer and any other device better than me!  It amazes me how quick you learn new things!

*You want to learn how to read so bad!  We are working on perfecting all the letters first but I know you will be reading before long:)

*Your best friends, according to your birthday interview, are Hank, Charlie and Brooks.

*You love going to primary!  You are so independent and you think you can do everything on your own...I am so proud of you and the little girl you are growing up to be!

*You have endless energy!  You go at a speed I didn't even know was possible, and I am glad you do, it keeps me on my toes:)

*You love to help cook.  I cannot be doing anything in the kitchen without you right next to me, standing on a chair.  You are my official "pourer" :)

*You still sneak into bed with dad and me. Every night.  We never wake up, so you usually get away with it, but I know we will miss it when you quit doing it.

*You love being with mom.  It doesn't matter what I am doing, you want to be doing it with me.  I absolutely love how much you love me:)

*You said you want to be a wife and mom when you grow up...I love that you already realize how important those two jobs are.

We love you so much Little Miss!!  We can't believe how much you have grown and you bring so much joy into our lives!  We love your spunky little personality and the energy you bring into our home!  We love you forever!!

Happy Birthday!!

Love Mom and Dad

Wrap Up...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As much as we didn't want it to end, our vacation came to a close.  My parents took us out to The Corner Bakery for a yummy breakfast and then spoiled the girls rotten by taking them to Chuck-E-Cheese to celebrate Stayler (my older brother) and Caitlin's birthdays.  My mom ordered a "Nothing Bundt Cake"...best.cake.ever.  Our entire family was there and we had so much fun and made a haul in tickets!  Uncle Steve is always a good sport to earn a bunch of tickets and give them to the kids.  John and Marie were there with cute little Kyson and Caitlin always loves being with Mason and Bridger.  It was the perfect way to celebrate.  Chuck-E-Cheese and family, doesn't get any better!  We are SO grateful for this family.  For my wonderful parents and for all we have been through and how much stronger we are for it.  We have been so blessed and we love them all so much.

Loa, Utah...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few days after Christmas, we headed down to one of our favorite places, Loa UT!  We were able to spend lots of time with Grandma and Pa and Houston and his family.  We missed the Ray's being there, but we had a pretty good time.  There is always A LOT of game playing and yummy food eating when we are there and we love every minute of it!  Jeff's parents are so amazing and take such good care of us, they are two of the most selfless people I have ever met.  They serve their family constantly and are always worried about taking care of their children and family above everything else.  The girl's love their Grandma and Pa and I am pretty sure that love is returned about 100 times:)  Miss Lyss's favorite thing was Pa's hat and lap.  She was with him pretty much the entire time.  I would have to say the favorite activity for the rest of us was our sledding day...and this is not ordinary sledding.  It is sledding while sitting on an old car hood, pulled behind a 4-wheeler and it was a blast!  Little Miss didn't want to stop, despite the fact that she couldn't feel her feet anymore.  I even had so much fun, until I flew off the hood and hit my arm on a frozen cow pie...only in Loa:)  I had a pretty ugly bruise for awhile and it is still tender, I think I am a little older than I used to be!  We just love Loa.  We love the amazing family we have there, we love how beautiful and peaceful it is, and we love that it is just a little slower everywhere.  Little Miss loved getting to spend so much time with Kage and we had a lot of fun with Houston and Audrey.  We love our family so much and are so blessed to be a part of them!