April Adventures 2009

April was filled with lots to do this year. We have lots of birthday celebrations in the month of April and there was lots of things going on this year for us and our family. So thought I would share some pictures of all that went on for us this month.


We started the month out with a B-Day celebration for my dad and the first born Grandchild Tess who was born on the same day as my dad. Always a special treat for him I think. Michelle my sweet sister-n-law then has a b-day a few days after that. With how big of a family we have now we try to get together once in the month to celebrate all the birthdays for that month. If we didn't we would be having birthday parties probably once a week. Ok we aren't that big (yet).

Tess so excited to turn 4!

Sadie just excited to finally eat her cupcake!

The day we celebrated birthdays was a week before Easter and my parents were going out of town to visit my brother and his family in Texas over Easter Sunday for my new niece Millies blessing so we also did an Easter egg hunt that night.

With only three grand kids at the time that could really walk around they definitely filled up their Easter buckets pretty quickly.

Tess, Sadie, and Sydney with their Easter finds.

And even though the little ones couldn't walk they still seemed to be pretty happy and enjoying the party.



We even got to hear the talented Cohen play some drums. He is six months in this picture and actually hit them pretty well. I was impressed. It looks like someone may need a pair of real drums when he is a little older. Won't his parents just love that.


My Brother Matt graduated from BYU in April and we gathered again to have a little celebration. He wanted to have a ping pong tournament and once again all the boys learned that my father never lets anyone win at anything. My mother joked the other day that even when we were very little playing Candy Land he still wouldn't let us win. In his defense he said he was helping us build character. I wonder if that is why I never like to fail.




Well enough about my family lets move onto Matt. The coming of spring means that Matt is never home on Saturday because he is doing the thing he loves which is being in the mountains shooting people with little plastic pellets. Matts new hobby (or as I say obsession) has been Airsofting. For those of you who don't know what it is it is like bb guns but much more advanced then the little ones we got when we were kids. The office at our house is filled with these guns and he actually has them being sold on the internet as a little side business. he goes up with my younger brothers Joe and Tay a bunch but they have also created their own kind of team and joined the Utah club. Sometimes they get up to 60 people at a weekly game. He plays all the way up to when the snow falls. They have even gone in the rain before. Here are just some fun pictures of him doing what he loves.

That is him on the bottom in the grass.

The game got called back in but no one had heard so a bunch of them standing around got shot at.

Can you find him?

I am not sure if that is Matt or big foot.

Again he is trying to blend very well into his surroundings.

We also got to enjoy a Lacrosse game at UVU for Matts brother Ryan. It was the last game of the season and sadly the only game we had made out to but it was raining a ton and they were playing Westminister College. The game started out not looking so good for UVU but they pulled through and actually won. I don't remember the score but they won so that is all that matters. I had never seen a Lacrosse game so I was confused most of the time but all I cared about really was seeing that ball go in to the goal. Pretty much the same thing for most sports if you ask me.

There is Ryan standing on the side line #19!

With it being Easter that meant I could start decorating my table. For Easter Sunday we had Matts brother and sister over and so for the table I put together a little Easter bag for everyone.
I filled the bottom of the bag with candy and then put the crinkled grass as the topping where the little peep chicks sat on top. And then for the girls it got tied with a pink Easter bunny ribbon and the boys a little blue ducky ribbon. I thought they turned out cute and didn't cost hardly anything.



April was also the time right before Amber left on her mission. The day she gave her mission farewell speech at good old PV5 we went back to our house and the fam had a little photo shoot.



I don't know if you can tell but our kitchen table has ended up here in the TV room. This was a typical Sunday night for us. After dinner the table got cleared out and brought into the family room so that we could enjoy some boardgames while watching some wonderful Arrested Development. It is perfect that the picture includes Arrested Development because our family motto has always been Family First. If you haven't seen that show you really need to. It is awesome!

Starting here they start to get a little silly. And I have no explanations for what is going on.

NO Comment!

Well that is April. I know it is October now but I had started this post some time ago and then apparently never finished it. So instead of making a brand new one I decided to finish what I had started and share some pictures with everyone.

Oxnard, California Trip

In March Matt and I were so blessed and lucky to be able to take a trip down to Oxnard, California. My sister Lisa has some good friends that own a beach house and they are always so kind and generous to share it with us. Our original plan was to go down and stay with my sister Lisa and her husband Shane but when we got there they said that the place was just ours for a Anniversary gift. It was so sweet of them and that time was so nice for me and Matt. It was the greatest! Thank you so much Lisa and Barbara for letting us use your beach house. We did get to see a lot of my sister and her family which was so great. Her little girl Grace is getting so big and I miss her so much! She was making lots of noises and walking around when we were there. I am sure she is talking more now. We had lots of fun while we were down there. Mainly played on the beach right there in Oxnard. Went out to dinner a few nights with Lisa and Shane. It was very relaxing and a great way to reconnect with each other. I love taking trips with Matt. He is always so laid back and doesn't mind doing anything. He is always open for new things or just to sit and relax. We took a few pictures but somehow it ended up that we didn't take any pictures of us together. Matt and I always carry a camera as you can tell from all the family posts but when it comes to just us we fail to take any. So I am going to try and do better and capture more of our lives on camera.

This is a view of the line of beach houses where we were staying. It was absolutely beautiful there that week. In the low 70's mostly and clear skies.

One day we headed to Venice Beach. It is a very fun place to go. Lots of little shops and tons of people just walking. There is lots of artists that go down there and most of your homeless hang down there as well. There is definitely always something to see and hear on every corner.

This was just a construction wall that had been put up while they have been doing construction if I remember right.

It gets a little busy here. And this was like on a Thursday I think in the middle of the day.

Grace came down to play in the sand one day.

Eat some Rocks

Laugh and Smile

Get her feet a little dirty

Pose for the Camera

And get loved by mom

I love our new camera. And Matt is getting so good at his little picture taking. He has the eye for it I think. And always take a good pic when he sees it. Here our some photos from our trip that he took.

This was a first day there and the sun was putting off the perfect light.

And of course the beach always has the perfect sunsets.

These pictures were just from the balcony from the beach house. It is such a beautiful place. I just love the beach. Wish I could be there everyday.

It's Been a Long Time

Wow ok so there has been lots of stuff that has happened over the past 5 months since I last posted. I guess I will just start back and post some fun pics so everyone can see what we have been up to. February was a very fun month. My brother Matt and his wife blessed their sweet baby girl Lily.

Here is Grandpa holding Lily

Lily loves to smile and is just so darn cute. I thought her blessing dress was so beautiful. It was a cream color and just had pretty flowers around the bottom and top.

We are not sure how Matt got this lighting but thought it turned out pretty cool.

And of course the bonnet. How adorable is that.



For the blessing Grace came to visit from California. I miss my sweet Grace. She is I believe 9 months in this picture. Walking around with no problems. She actually started walking at around 7 months. She is very tall so she just wanted to start using those legs. I love you Grace!



In February we had all the Grandkids here but Millie so my mom wanted to take some photos. I volunteered Matt. Poor Matt, who knew taking pictures with 7 kids 3 and under would be so hard. Oh right everyone. Matt did a wonderful job. They may not all be looking at the camera or smiling and most may be crying but that is ok we got some good memories. Thank you babes, you are amazing.







Poor Cohen is probably thinking seriously what am I suppose to do with all these girls.






And Millie Was Born! I just love her cheeks. She is the sweetest baby. I haven't been able to meet her yet since she lives all the way in Texas. But I sure do love her and can't wait to meet her in July.



Here is Millie and her proud Papa. This is the first child for Chris and Ally and we couldn't be happier for them. They are such amazing people and I am sure such amazing parents. Millie is one lucky girl.

And nothing really going on individually for us this month but Matt taking pictures of himself and adoring it.

And after a long winter season we finally shaved the dog. Here is the before


And After

Lots of pictures but who are we kidding that is the only reason to look at someones blog anyways right.