General Conference

I LOVE Conference weekend!

We didn't get by completely unscathed without a complaint or two about how boooooooooring Conference is, but we tried to keep the kids engaged and hopefully they gained an insight or two.  The goal was for ALL of us to gain an insight or two.  Conference with kids isn't exactly uninterrupted, so I can't say I heard every single talk from beginning to end.  All things considered we did a pretty good job.

Here the crew is working on Conference packets.  The kids actually really look forward to having their own little packets to work on and ask for them every Conference.  Of course I was super duper prepared and had them printed out and waiting at least a week before.  Mmm hmm.  Yep.  Well, maybe a few days before.  Fine, I hurried and printed them out right before Conference started.   

Here's our wall to keep track of the speakers and help the kids recognize the apostles.  The kids did pretty good at keeping it updated with the speakers. 

I still remember when I was young and having the exact same sentiments about Conference as my kids.  A lot of times (most of the time) it was boring and way over my head.  We'll just keep on persevering and hopefully someday they will come to appreciate all that Conference has to offer.  At least Jacob and I have come around, so there's got to be hope.  (wink)

Spring Break, Continued

The second day in St. George was cool and a bit rainy, so we had to keep it indoors this day.  We couldn't complain too loud though, seeing as though back home they were digging through 4-6 inches of snow. 

Jacob spent some time in the St. George office in the morning, so the kids and I headed over to the Children's Museum.  We went down once before when we lived down in Cedar so they were excited to get back there.  It's a great place to play and explore, and the kids spent a couple hours exploring and playing.

Nothing quite like bubbles:

Ty loved the dress-ups:

This particular room had the basketball hoops as well as the wheel-chairs to discover what it would be like to be in a wheelchair.  Ty LOVED this place and spent the majority of his time shooting hoops.  Allie loved taking turns hopping on the wheelchairs.  You can spot Ty in the back.

After the Children's Museum, we met up with Jacob for the afternoon.  Seeing as though the kids didn't have a whole lot of time swimming the day before, I thought they would love going to the indoor aquatic center.  Jacob and I took them for a drive and surprised them at the aquatic center.  It was fun, but the water was still a bit cool.  After a while, they decided to just head back to hit the hot tub at the hotel.  They were just as happy with that as they were the aquatic center!  Should've just skipped the aquatic center altogether...... Oh well!

Oh shoot- I completely forgot to add when we went to see Brigham Young's winter home.  That must've been on Monday.....well, we went!  It was so fascinating to see all the artifacts and learn a few things.

Our last item of business down in St. George was to hit the Visitor's Center at the temple.  I LOVE it there.  They have some great exhibits.  One of them is a room that shows a few video clips that highlight a variety of missionaries.  The clip follows them from before, during, and after their missions.  They were so awesome.  All thing considered, the kids did pretty darn good.  If anything, they got a good dose of the Spirit.  We of course had to end the night with a few pictures.

 I LOVE LOVE LOVE the St. George temple!

The next morning was the day it all had to come to and end and we started to work our way back home.  Jacob had to meet up with some clients in Beaver for work, so the kids and I hung out at the McDonald's play place for a while.  At least they got some wiggles out before the rest of the long ride home.

All in all it was a great trip!  Now it's in the history books. 

Spring Break 2016

We haven't done much of a family trip since we've moved, so Jacob and I decided we would head down south for Spring Break.  While we were down there we wanted to stop in and say hello to our old ward, so we decided to stay with our old neighbor and dear friend Kathy Riggs in Enoch Saturday night and go to church there the next day.  It was SO fun to see so many of our friends down there!  We were so warmly greeted, it was so so nice.  We had some great years down in Enoch and it was fun to reminisce.  After church Kathy made sure we had a wonderful lunch.  She was so gracious to take such good care of us while we were there.  I meant to get a picture of us with Kathy and completely forgot, I was so bummed.

 After lunch we toured around and made a few stops.  Our final stop out of town was to take a peek at the Cedar City temple which is being built.  It will be so incredible!  I still remember sitting in my living room down in Enoch when President Monson made the big announcement of a temple to be built in Cedar City.  It had been rumored, and was somewhat anticipated, but when Pres. Monson made it sure in Conference it was the most incredible feeling!  I think all of us down south were jumping up and down in excitement.  Now when I hear those wonderful gasps of excitement in Conference when new temples are announced, I have a whole new understanding of just what that feeling is and I can't help but smile.

After this we headed on down to St. George.  We got checked in to the hotel then headed to the park to top off our Easter with some high quality homemade PB & J sandwiches.  What?  Peanut butter and grape jelly aren't part of a traditional Easter meal?  Crazy! 

Okay fine.  I won't lie.  Part of me really could have gone for a nice slice of ham just about then.    

Looking at the weather we figured Monday would probably be the nicest day to spend outside so we took full advantage of it.  We started off in Snow Canyon.  Even though we lived there for 9 years, we never did make it to Snow Canyon.  Go figure.  So now we'll just drive 6 hours to go visit...

It was a bit overcast and slightly on the cool side, but we still had a lot of fun.  This is the point where Kenna decided to pull her adventurer pose in every picture.  When I went back and looked at all the pics I took during the week, I couldn't help but giggle.  Silly kids!

There was an area with a great big sand dune that the kids loved to run and play in.  Jacob and I  couldn't help but take off our shoes and put our toes in the sand.  We did, however, suddenly have a flashback to being on the beach in Hawaii when a passerby starting singing to Jacob, "Blinded by the light."  Ha!  Hey, I'm proud of those been-covered-all-winter white legs!  However a little toenail polish will go a long way.....

Lunchtime!  Kenna, the adventurer, still manages to strike a pose even while eating.  Talent.

After lunch we tried to go back out to play in the sand, but the wind started to pick up and the sand blowing in our faces was less than desirable.  So like the rest of the people out in the dunes, we packed up and headed out.

We didn't get too far before finding some more red rocks to climb on with less sand to blow in our faces. 

There were plenty of fun little crevices to climb in and out of.

Allie was not about to be outdone by her sister, so she came up with a pose of her own.  Amazing.  For a minute I really thought she might be sleeping.

Love these little darlings.

After a few hours in the wind and sand, the kids decided they were past due for a nice dip in the hotel pool.  A bit too cool if you ask me, but they were adamant the pool was calling for them and they simply couldn't resist.  Fortunately the hot tub made it juuuuuuust right.

To top off our day, we headed out one last time to catch Kung Fu Panda 3 at the cheap seats.  Did someone say cheap?  Now that's talking my language!  Twenty bucks for the whole fam dam to go see a show is a lot easier to swallow than forty or fifty.  It was a fun show, even though Lexi was pooped and slept through the majority of it.

After the show we grabbed a bite to eat and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for day 2.

Easter

Easter came too early this year.  It kinda snuck up on us, hence the Easter bunny wasn't quite in full swing this year.  Not to mention we were planning on being down South for the weekend, so I was more focused on that.

We still got in on some great Easter action nonetheless!  Both sets of Otte cousins had their Spring Break the week before we did and were down visiting G & G Otte.  Kind of a bummer, but finally Friday afternoon we all got together for a bit.

First item of business, dye eggs.  Many thanks to G & G Otte who let us have free run of the house while they made a last minute drive down to Salt Lake to see Mom's pulmonologist.   

Thanks to Aunt Nic, we got in on yet another egg hunt.  Everyone get your game face on!

A successful hunt!  Now on to a crazy sugar-filled frenzy.

The Saturday before Easter is the day we usually do our own Easter bunny stuff, but seeing as though we were getting ready to go down to St. George that morning we really didn't do anything at our house.  Just before we got in the car to head out of town, the Easter bunny made a real quick stop and left their baskets and eggs on the kitchen table.  Thankfully we already had 2 other egg hunts under our belts so it worked out a-ok.  Tell you what, that Easter bunny is one remarkable little creature.  So wise, loving, and I'm sure incredibly good looking as well.  Wink wink.

A Par-tay!

March 18, 2016.  A day that will go down in the record books as having one of the best parties of all time!

We had a surprise birthday party for Auntie Maria!  It was SO fun!  The girls were so so excited for the party and sleepover at Aunt Connie's house.  Maria thought she was going to babysit for Connie and Dustin while they went on an overnighter, but we had much better things in store.

Here the girls are hiding behind the couch waiting for Aunt Maria to arrive:

We all hid and then when she walked in the room we jumped out with "SURPRISE!"  I think she was definitely surprised.  Here she is trying to figure out exactly what is going on.  It was so funny! 

No doubt Aunt Maria is loved!

She had plenty of help opening gifts.

Maria does not take making wishes lightly.  Here she is contemplating the PERFECT wish before she blows out the candles.  Kenna stands by absorbing copious amounts of wisdom.

The next morning Grandma had an Easter egg hunt all ready for the kiddos.  Needless to say it was a big hit and so fun to watch all the girls run around collecting eggs. 

Of course Oakley got in on the egg action too:

A perfect party for sure!  Thanks Maria for giving us a great excuse to have a good time! 

A Recap of March, Part 1

One Sunday afternoon Jacob and I were out delivering some info for Cub Scouts, and at one particular house Ty man found himself a little buddy.  A box elder bug.  He was quite excited about his new little pet.  He so affectionately named him "Box Eldie."  While we were in the car waiting for Jacob, Ty put his little bug on the console between the two front seats.  Lexi decided to get her little fingers in there to play with the bug and Ty cried out, "No Lou!  Don't!  I'm his owner!"  He tried to make a bug habitat when we got home (with one of my plastic containers, of course).  Unfortunately Box Eldie didn't survive more than a day.  Fortunately, Ty wasn't too distraught about the whole thing.   

Behold Box Eldie:

We must give honorable mention to Aggie, our little bottle fed goat.  She was a triplet and her mama didn't quite have enough milk for all of them.  The kids (as in our little Israelsen humans) loved to let her out in the backyard and she would run around and play right beside them.  It was so fun to watch.  When we left for out little Spring Break trip down to St. George she was weaned down to one bottle a day and went back to the farm with all the other goats. 

I finally got back in to the dentist for a cleaning.  It's been waaaaaaaaay too long.  (Hey, at least I'm right on the dot at 6 month check ups for my kids.)  I went in to the same dentist I saw when I was growing up.  Here is Lexi in the dentist office playing on the exact same toys I played with as a child!

Jacob and I have our first Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet under our belts.  It was a lot of work, but it turned out great and we had a lot of fun with it.  Many thanks to Pinterest I found some fun ideas.  Our theme was "Cub Scouts are One in a Minion."  Let me just say I am not a big Pinterest guru.  I hadn't ever really actually got on Pinterest before Scouts.  However, feeling like a blind old bat when it comes to Cub Scouts, I was desperate for some ideas and it was a big help.  I am soooooo not naturally creative.  Thanks to modern technology and information sharing, I don't have to be!

The soda was a little thank you to all of our leaders.  I found these darling printables.  One of them uses the A&W logo to say thanks for being an A&Wesome leader and the other is Fanta to say thanks for being a Fantastic leader.  Pretty darn creative!  (Thank you creative people in the world willing to share your creativity and giving me the option to simply click and print!)  

The table centerpieces.  

We had a Father/Son cake bake.  Each of the boys brought a cake.  We all voted on the cakes and then ate them for dessert.  It was so fun!  We had some great cakes and I think everyone really enjoyed it.

Here is Lexi standing out by the garage at my parents house.  She didn't want to leave and was not happy to get in the car.  Lexi is one determined little lady and when she has a Lexi-style tantrum, she really throws on the brakes.  Instead of a gargantuan sized battle to get her strapped in her carseat, I had her stay by the side of the garage and wimper until she was ready to get buckled without initiating World War 3.  Each child definitely comes with their own personalities, and learning to navigate these little personalities can be quite the challenge.  I often feel like the children coming down to earth right now were given a lot of spunk to help them combat the world they will live in.  Figuring out how to effectively channel all of this spunk is quite the undertaking.  I quite often feel like in all of this parenting I will end up being the undertaken.  Sheesh.  One day at a time.

Thankfully there are moments that help make the road a bit more smooth.  For example, here is another shot of Lexi sporting her AMAZING glasses she got in her Happy Meal from girls' night out during the Priesthood session of Conference.  Now tell me that doesn't make you smile.  If not the glasses then her peace sign she just had to add......

 

Stuff

Looks like Spring might actually be trying to make its way back into the world.  Not a word of complaint about it, either!  Having these warmer temps and sunshine is such a welcome relief.  This winter was a rough one.  The gloomy days, the cold temps and lots of snow made it a game of endurance.

Even the wee ones think we're in a heat wave and (try) to dress accordingly:

 Sorry Ty, swimsuit season is still a ways down the road.


Allie wanted to make some cupcakes last weekend.  Of course they must be frosted in blue frosting.  Out of the goodness of her dear 8 year-old heart, she allowed her older sister to help in the frosting of said cupcakes.  And when there is extra frosting, decorations on paper towels are the way to go.  Or just forget the paper towel altogether and frost your face:

We've decided to take the plunge and work on getting our basement finished.  YAY!  I will like this sheet rock a lot better when it is on the walls, not the floor.  This particular room won't be completely finished for a while, but it will at least have up the sheet rock.  The goal is to get the 2 bedrooms and the bath all finished up right now.  One step at a time, I suppose:

The other day I was down trying to clean up in the basement, and my faithful little companion (aka Lexi) was studiously following in my footsteps.  As she toddled around behind me, Lexi informed me that I was not to refer to her as "Lexi," rather she was "the mom."  I finally took the time to take a close look at "the mom,"  and realized she had taken her new role very seriously.  Here she is sporting her anatomically correct (albeit a bit uneven) mom goods:

It really was pretty innocent of her.  I had to smile.  Thanks for always keeping us on our toes little lady.  Even if that means you are the most determined little monkey out of the bunch.  She may be the youngest but she certainly likes to make her place known.  Juggling 4 little personalities can be quite the challenge as a parent, that's for sure.  Just like finishing a basement, raising little ones is very much one step at a time!