Our Spring Break

 Spring Break this year was so fun! Last year's was kind of a bummer- we had just started quarantine and restrictions made it impossible to even go to a park! We stayed home the whole time. This year we got out and explored a lot of fun things we usually don't have time to do, plus the kids got in lots of playtime with friends.

We spent one glorious, sunny morning at Gailey Park with Baccioccos. It's so fun to do activities with them. All our kids line up perfectly in age and they all get along so well. Everyone is so entertained and they get along seamlessly. Marilee and I get to chat and the kids just play and play. 

I pulled a little April Fool's fun on the kids- ice cream for breakfast! My mom used to do that for us growing up. Davis actually had cereal because it was just too weird for him. Chase and Huds thought it was awesome though.

Davis spent almost all of the break in his Spider-Man costume. He's finally embraced the new costume and stopped wearing the threadbare one.

Ben started his new job! The kids were excited to see him off for his first day! (He went into the office for the first day, but it's mostly a work from home position).

We went to the Hill Aerospace Museum one morning with Baccioccos. They had a fun Easter Egg hunt throughout the museum (stickers to find with code words on them) and then they all got candy at the end for completing it. And they all loved seeing the airplanes. This place is really so cool, and we hadn't been in two years! 

These cute cousins made us laugh all weekend. My parents were watching Will and Kate's girls, so we spent some extra time up there helping entertain them. Huds would disappear with Nora, and usually Anna and Davis. He was running his rock climbing school out on the rocks- a favorite pastime of his. Rosie was missing her parents and really just wanted Nana and Papa to cuddle her (mostly Papa). Lila was suddenly pretty competitive/jealous, she wanted that same grandparent to hold her too! Which is funny because Lila never really wants Papa to hold her! But when he held Rosie, she wanted him too. 

Rosie fed Lila most of her lunch as well. I hope these two are best friends! They seem like they are off to a great start!

We spent a morning out at the Ogden Nature center. We took a good nature walk, played on the playground and saw the birds of prey. Davis knew exactly what an owl was, but kept calling the eagle a chicken.

The last few days of Spring Break had gloriously pleasant weather. We spent a lot of time outside. There is nothing quite like sunshine after a long winter!

On Friday we went to Tracy Aviary with my cousin Kelly and her daughter Abby. It was so fun to see them again. Because of the pandemic, I haven't seen Kelly in over a year! Abby had grown so much since I'd last seen her and she'd never even met Lila. The aviary was just the right amount of adventure and fun things to see and do. And it was sunny and just so nice to be outside and doing something pretty normal- we did have to wear masks the whole time (and just took them off for a second for the picture).

This picture makes me so happy- it's like it's Kelly and Courtney 2.0.

The second weekend of our break was Easter weekend and General Conference.  Here are the boys all set up with their conference treats (each bowl has a word on it, they get to take a treat when they hear the word) and some little worksheets to do. I have to say, this might have been our most successful conference yet, in terms of kids listening and being fairly quiet and their parents getting something out of conference. I mean, it was by no means perfect and silent, but it went pretty well! Take the little wins when they come!

Saturday evening we went to Ray and Diane's for some Easter fun! They had all kinds of games and activities planned for the kids, including an egg hunt and a pinata! Chase busted open the pinata (we should have had him go last...there were still a few older kids waiting for a turn). The boys are developing a great relationship with Jeremiah, Jaylah and Jordyn and had fun being with them. 

When we got home Saturday night I remembered we hadn't dyed eggs yet! I hurried and Lila to bed and then hard boiled some eggs. They turned out so beautiful, but I totally goofed and left them out all night. So in the interest of not getting food poisoning, we decided not to eat them.

Easter morning was sweet and simple! The kids all found their Easter baskets that had been filled by the Easter bunny. They each got a new swim suit and a few other little things. And then Ben made us strawberry shortcake biscuits for breakfast. Then we turned on Conference and listened to beautiful messages about Christ, the Atonement and Resurrection for the rest of the morning.

I did make a bunny cake, just like I have every Easter for years and just like my mom made for us growing up.

We finished off the holiday up at my parents house. Will, Kate and girls came and we had a delicious Easter dinner and the kids had another Easter egg hunt. It was a really lovely holiday, full of family time and sweet messages of our Savior.

This spring break was just what we needed- lots of time together, lots of time outdoors, some time with extended family and dear friends. We had lots of fun, had a little time to relax, some adventure. We got a few projects done around the house and plenty of piano practicing. Our time was full, and so was my heart!

March

March is full of fun, kind of made up, holidays. Some years we do a lot for them, some years we do a little. This year I thought it would be fun to send a holiday package to a friend from out of town. The Caldwells had been on my mind, so Chase helped me shop for little St. Patrick's Day themed gifts for each member of their family (stuff like green socks, green nail polish, green playdough, March themed bows for the baby Vivi, a rainbow candle, Mike and Mike's for Mike). We wrapped it up all rainbow themed and sent it off as a fun surprise for them!

Chase's basketball season has been a real highlight this winter! He has practiced so much this last year and improved a lot. Games were a little emotionally charged for him, with a couple games being really hard, and he learned a lot about positive attitude, cheering on his teammates, being a team player and working hard to the last second. I was so proud of him and how far he came this year!

Also, his team was full of his friends! Luca, Jaxson, Austin and Levi were all on his team! They were a talented little team and went into the tournament undefeated! They won their first game pretty easily. On the 2nd night they played again and were tied with almost no time left on the clock- the other team got the ball and a poor kid got confused and scored in Chase's teams basket! So Chase's team ended up winning under weird circumstances. We all felt so bad for that little boy! Chase was elated though because that meant they got to come back for the championship game later that night!

All season they only allowed one parent to watch each game, but for the championship game they let two come! We hurried and had my mom come down to babysit so we could both go and I'm so glad we did! Chase's little team played so hard- and the other team was so good! They were trailing by two baskets right up until the very end! They took the lead and held it for the last 30 seconds until the buzzer went off and won! I loved seeing them all jump and cheer when they realized they'd won the game! I may have teared up a little I was so happy for them!

One great thing about this little team is that there were so many good players and they truly learned to play as a team. Many of the other teams we played had 1 or 2 all-star players that scored all their points. On this team I feel like everyone carried their weight and although some were a little more advanced players, they didn't have one all-star who did all the work. It was so fun to watch them play. This year Chase realized what an asset he could be to the team in rebounds, and frequently scored a basket or two in games.

He was so proud of his trophy he carried it from room to room with him the next day. It sat on the piano while he practiced, it sat on the desk while he did his distance learning, at the table while he ate. He basked in the glory of the moment for a good while.

Oh Davis- I snapped this picture after we'd finished doing the sacrament at home one Sunday. We had pulled out our scriptures to do reading and he went and filled a plate with more bread, blessed it (almost word for word the actual sacrament prayer) and then proceeded to pretend to pass it to all of us, except he ate it all. Then he went and got water cups and repeated the whole thing with the water (but did demand we all drink from the cups). This is right where Ben sets up the sacrament when we do it at home. Our house didn't get struck by lightning and it was super adorable, if not a little irreverent.

Lila got a doll for her birthday from Papa Ray and Grandma and this baby stroller from Will and Kate, and they have been very loved! It's kind of funny to see these pink, girly toys around the house now after years and years of trucks and tractors and lightsabers.

Also, Lila is just the cutest in the tub. She flashes me the best smiles while she's playing away in there. I usually bathe her right after dinner, but sometimes when she's really grumpy we do a bath in the afternoon too.

Daddy and Lila dancing in the kitchen- she loved this! Every time he stopped she'd start waving her hands at him until he kept going. She's got him wrapped around her little finger.

St. Patrick's Day ended up being quite an eventful day. In my efforts to be a fun mom I made green muffins the night before and set the table with our green tablecloth. Lucky the leprechaun even stopped by a left a few notes for the boys.

It really did turn out to be our LUCKY day! Ben got a new job! 

A little background- Ben has been at RedList for 3.5 years and hasn't been super happy there. I mean, it's been okay, but not great. The hours are extreme. The pay isn't great. The expectations are unrealistic. The commute is long (1 hour with no traffic each way). It paid the bills and gave him good experience for sure, but he just wasn't loving it. A year ago he was seriously looking at other jobs and a few seemed really promising, and then Covid hit and pretty much everyone started a hiring freeze. He decided to just sit tight for awhile.

A few weeks ago, several recruiters started reaching out to him on LinkedIn. If the job seemed interesting he took the interview and just started casually interviewing- not really doing any prospecting or looking on his own. After a successful interview with a company called Eccovia, he noticed that he had a mutual friend, Anthony Booyse, with the hiring manager. On March 16 he did an interview with her and her boss, which he said went extremely well. He let her know at the end that he's good friend's with Anthony and would like to add him to his reference list. Anthony called Ben an hour later and told him he was pretty confident he'd get the job. We were kind of hopeful, but not banking on it. Stuff like this has happened before and something else has come up (hiring freeze, funding didn't come through, internal candidate surfaced, etc.).

The next morning (the 17th) they called at 9:00 am and offered Ben the job! All the details were just perfect- it was like all the stars aligned. It's totally work from home right now, with the possibility of 1-2 days a week in the office in the future. But even then, the commute is cut in half! The pay is significantly better. The company is much more established. They have a 401k program. Great insurance benefits. We couldn't ask for more... (except we did, Ben asked them to add a little bit to the already generous salary and they did!). We couldn't believe it! It was definitely an exciting day!

Baseball season is just around the corner, which has found our boys out practicing with their mitts and balls more often. Both of the big boys are really good sports at playing with Davis, even though he kept referring to it as his "soccer mitt". I can't wait for baseball season! Spending spring evenings at the ballpark watching my boys play is my favorite.

 These pictures were just before church one Sunday because they all looked so dang cute. Capturing a cute picture of the four of them together is no easy task. It was significantly easier without the baby :) Also, every time I go to take a picture of them, all three boys fight over who gets to hold Lila. She's one loved little sister.

Davis Turns 4

After two months of trying so, so hard to have a birthday, it was finally his turn! On March 4th Davis turned 4! He's the last birthday in "birthday season" at our house, and at this age it was a little agonizing to him. His big day came along and it did not disappoint!

The day before he got his special birthday date with Papa Ray and Grandma. This is such a fun tradition and the first time he's gotten to do this- he was ecstatic. I was in the middle of zoom parent teacher conferences when they came to get him, which was no problem. He bolted right out the door as soon as they pulled into the driveway. They took him to Target to pick out his own presents- which is possibly one of the best things that's ever happened to him. (And now I'm slightly nervous to take him back to Target...)

His birthday morning I had strung up some red crepe paper and wrapped all his presents in red. Also, not coincidentally, all his presents were actually red themselves. He got a new Spider-Man costume, which he mostly liked, and then went back to wearing his super worn out one. He spent the whole day playing with his new toys. Nana, Papa and Heidi came later that night to give him presents and it was basically the best day he could ever have imagined.

The night of his birthday was actually Chase's basketball tournament, but Davis didn't really care that we waited until the next night to do his cake. Lindsay really outdid herself on this one- I asked her if she could make it look like Bei Bei and it turned out so cute! As soon as Davis saw it he yelled "It's Bei Bei! Win-see! Did you make that for me?" He kept admiring it, talking about how it was Bei Bei and saying over and over "Win-see made that for Davis!" He talked about this cake for days and told everyone we saw about it. Hickman's stayed to sing and eat cake with us (it was delicious- it was a cookie dough cake with boiled milk frosting) and Davis loved running around with his brothers and buddy Will.

 At 4 years old:

• 41 inches (70th percentile) 35 pounds (50th percentile) 
• Knows his shapes, letters, colors and can count up to 20...then skips to 100
• He's super into avengers stuff and was so happy to get some new costumes for his birthday. Spider-man is his favorite.
• He picks three books that are his favorite for a few weeks at a time...they slowly rotate and morph into different books but we read the same books over and over again. He's got the current ones completely memorized.
• He loves to play with other kids. Every morning we go outside and he sees if Will or Ollie can play (most of the time we are watching Ollie, which has been so fun). He also loves to play with Mark and James Bacciocco. He's super social.
• He has the funniest, deep little voice. It's kind of raspy and so endearing.
• He's a champ at wearing masks- not that he wears it totally appropriately all the time, but he doesn't complain about it and puts it right on like it's no big deal.
• He asks for pizza for dinner every night. And sometimes yells/sobs that WE ARE HAVING PIZZA, even though we are not. He just really loves pizza.
• Totes Bei Bei around a lot. Sleeps with him every single night and nap. Refers to him as a member of the family. Bei Bei is looking pretty worn out at this point, but Davis doesn't mind one bit. We love that panda!

Lila is 1!!!

Our little sweetheart is ONE! I can't believe Lila has been in our family for a whole year! She's just been pure magic for us. I can honestly say I've really savored every day of her little life and my heart just swells with joy that she's here!

We didn't do anything grand for her special day, but we opened presents with her that morning. She was a little overwhelmed by all the hoopla and her brothers were pretty anxious to get her to open faster (and did most of the opening themselves). Hudson got her sippy cups and they were a huge hit! She also got some little tub toys and some cute outfits.

After naptime Papa Ray and Grandma came over and gave her a present- a baby doll and a cute book. She was very sweet with the baby doll, which is so funny to me after having three boys. We've never had baby dolls around! I think she will love playing with it.

Then we had our pizza and movie night- I made the boys watch Frozen 2. They are normally so against princess movies, but since it was their sister's birthday they gave in. Get ready boys, I think there's more of that coming! Then Nana and Papa and Heidi came over with their presents and to have cake with us. This was the most beautiful cake, made by my friend Lindsay. It tasted amazing! It was a strawberries and cream cake and there are even freeze-dried strawberries in the frosting which made it extra delicious. The birthday girl very daintily enjoyed her piece (unlike her brothers on their first birthdays who practically inhaled their cake). 

Nana and Papa brought this cozy coupe for her and boy was it a hit! We were all laughing so hard because Lila clearly knew it was hers and wanted to play with it, and so did Davis. He kept pulling her out and getting in himself- and would knock her down when she'd try to reclaim her present! A few days later they are still kind of a fighting over it (although Davis is getting a little better about sharing).

A few things about our ONE YEAR OLD:

• She's a great eater! Her favorite food is cuties. She's pretty good about eating what we eat at meals.
• Loves to empty boxes, cupboards, drawers. She's very intent, like it's her job.
• Prefers mommy, loves her daddy, and is pretty reluctant to go to other people. She does have a special liking for Nana, but everyone else is pretty honored if she lets them hold her. She does smile at everyone though!
• Can go down the stair backwards now!
• Stands on her own for a few seconds sometimes, no steps yet!
• Has 9 teeth and has been the best teether- hardly any grumpiness at all and still sleeps all night even while cutting a tooth generally!
• 1 year old means 366 days of bows. I have put a bow on her every single day of her life. I just love the bows! I'm not sure when I'll stop- she does pull them off. I just put them back on 87 times a day.
• At her 1 year appointment she was 19 pounds 7 oz (40th percentile) and 29.5 inches (60th percentile). So proud of her after spending so much time below the 5th percentile!

I put this little headband on her that she wore on her original birthday and immediately it gave me all the feels. It went too fast! I would love to relive that day (and all my baby's births) over and over again. She's been such a gift!

 Happy Birthday to my little sweetheart!

Hudson's Baptism

On February 6, Hudson got baptized! He was really excited for this day and it was a beautiful one! Due to Covid we didn't know how it would all work out, but thankfully we were able to have most of our family there (in masks, of course). Both sets of grandparents came, along with Will, Nate, Halie, and Katie and his cousins Nora, Anna, Rosie, Jeremiah, Jaylah and Jordyn. We were able to Facetime Nathan and Heidi in, which was also so nice! 

I let Hudson choose the whole program. He asked Nana to play the piano and chose "When I am Baptized" and "I love to see the Temple" as his songs. He asked Papa Ray and Davis to say the prayers. He asked me and Papa to give the talks. And he had Chase and Papa Ray be his witnesses. 

He looked so sweet in the font with Ben and the spirit was really strong. Ben also gave him a very sweet blessing when he confirmed him. Poor Davis tried so hard to be baptized too, including trying to climb over the glass partition right into the font, rushing to the door exclaiming "MY TURN!" as soon as Hudson was baptized, and also trying to join the circle of men during the confirmation. He really didn't understand why Hudson got to do all the stuff and he didn't as well.

We just brought donuts and chocolate milk to the church and served it right there afterwards, which made the day so much less stressful. Then Hudson and Ben went out to a special lunch just the two of them. 

I'm so proud of this boy! He really is the best big brother. He has a very tender heart and does try hard to do the right things. He's just the sweetest kid in the world and my heart was so full watching him take this step to follow Christ.