Amberly is 6!!!

We celebrated Amberly's 6th birthday today! She decided a little while back that she wanted to have a "Hawaii" birthday!! She has been learning about the 50 states in kindergarten and really liked all the fun and beautiful things in Hawaii(who doesn't!!).

The great thing is that the stake put on a luau tonight!! How fun is that!! It couldn't have been planned more perfectly!!

Here are a few pictures of her fun day--

Amberly with her birthday gifts-- she loves them all!

Her Hawaiian beach birthday cake

The family at the stake luau

Gage with the poi balls. He was pretty good at it.

Traditional birthday spanks!! She begged for this on the way home from the luau!! She's a funny girl. I think she just likes all of the attention!

Mmmmm

This afternoon we were enjoying the orange julius and rice krispie treats that Dad made for us. It was a treat for all of the hard work we put into getting the yard and the house in shape. Poor Emmalin sat and watched each bite that we took. We started to feel pretty guilty and decided that she needed a treat too. So we let her have her first cracker!! She devoured it while making little "mmmmmm" sounds!!!

Emmalin is 6 months old now. Crazy, I know!!

More please!!!

Magic Potion

For Primary singing time on Sunday we mixed up "magic potions" to reveal which songs we would be singing. I think it turned out fun for the kids. Anyway, my kids all week have been chanting, "magic potion, magic potion, magic potion". I think we have done this experient at least once a day this week! 4 of the potions turned colors and the other exploded!!

4 of the glasses are water only. 1 glass is 1/2 water, 1/2 vinegar. On the spoons next to water only glasses, put 1 drop of food coloring and cover that with baking soda. The spoon next to vinegar is baking soda only.

Carrigan with the exploding potion

After all potions have been mixed! And then the chanting begins again-- "magic potion, magic potion, magic potion". I'm running out of vinegar!

Easter Fun

Hope you all had a great Easter!! This morning I'm trying to wade through all of the plastic eggs, grass, and candy all over my living room floor! With 3 egg hunts on Saturday we are up to our eyeballs in easter goodies!! NO ONES COMPLAINING!!
We woke up early Saturday morning to find that the Easter Bunny had been to our house
(We ask him to come a day early to help us keep Sunday a little more reverent). We then got ready to head into town for bowling with my family, followed by lunch and an egg hunt at Rob and Heidi's house. Later in the afternoon we met up with Kimball's family for Easter dinner and another egg hunt! We really had a fun day!!

On Sunday we tried to keep the theme around the Savior. We watched videos and talked about his death and resurrection. We also devoured alot of the easter candy we had accumulated the day before!! We love our Savior and are so grateful for the great sacrifice he made for us!!

We worried that the kids would be afraid of the Easter Bunny after having their picture taken with this creepy looking bunny!

The kids in their new Easter clothes

A group shot of the bowlers

Joslynn, Rachel, and Emmalin

Egg hunt in the park next to Rob and Heidi's house

Egg hunt at Mommer and Papa's

Our General Conference Report--We failed miserably... (but oh the fun we had)

Our kids weren't all that enthused about watching General Conference (honestly, what kid is). So Kimball and I wanted to make it a little more exciting and enjoyable for them. We were hoping that in doing so we would be able to sit back, watch, and be uplifted. YA RIGHT!!

We decided to make a REVERENCE FORT. The kids were so excited! We built the fort, filled it with paper, crayons, snacks, pillows, etc.

It worked pretty well for the first hour. Then the unthinkable happended...THE FORT COLLAPSED!! As we rescued the kids from the ruble, it turned into a GIANT PILLOW FIGHT!!!!! Right in the middle of General Conference. WE HAVE SOME REPENTING TO DO!!

The kids eagerly waiting for Conference to start

Help!!!

Lions, Tigers, and Bears--Oh my!

We spent a fun day at the Zoo with the Clark family. These are a few pics of our time spent there. Gage had more energy than I have seen from him in a while. He was definitely in his element. We kept track of him by walkie talkie. He loves his walkie talkies. It was a successful trip by Clark standards. No one got lost (for too long anyways) and no one fell in the water. It was a great way to end Spring Break. Thanks Mommer and Papa!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

It's been a fun morning at our house!! Last night we set the trap to catch our leprechaun and went to bed. This morning when we went to check the trap we found a note saying, "better LUCK next year"!! The kids were a little disappointed until they started looking around the house and found all of the little michievious things the leprechaun had done. He turned our milk and water green, colored on our faces with green marker, and spilled gold chocolate coins all over the place!! We used the green milk to make pancakes which turned our pancakes green. Gage declared St. Patrick's Day his most favorite holiday-- even better than Christmas!!
Setting out the leprechaun trap.

That darn leprechaun got away!! But not before spilling gold chocolate coins everywhere!

Not even the baby was spared. The leprechaun colored her nose green too!!

Amberly devouring her green pancakes

Carrigan taking a big gulp of green milk

I can hear!!!

I took Gage to get his hair cut today. Not just a trim, but all chopped off! Most of you know that Kimball lives vicariously through Gage's thick, long, full bodied hair. Needless to say Kimball is not too happy with me. Gage couldn't be happier!! He has been wanting his hair cut short for some time now. All that hair was high maintenance. Getting ready for school in the mornings will be much easier and I think he looks great. As we were getting in the car to come home Gage excitedly says to me, "Mom, I can hear!!" Poor kid-- all that hair was blocking his hearing!!

Before...

After...

I LOVE Fridays!!!!!

Friday has got to be my favorite day of the week. It is the day I can breath a little easier and just enjoy my family. The kids don't have homework, there are no strict bedtime routines, no extra curricular activities or practices, and Kimball is usually around in the evening. We have dubbed Friday as "family fun night". The kids (and me) can't wait til dad comes home and the festivities can begin. It's nothing major-- just simple stuff like games, movies, pillow fights and of course treats!! It has to be simple or I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much, ya know! Anyway these are pictures from our last "friday fun night". We are looking forward to another in just 2 days!!

Making pizza for dinner. The tricky part was getting the pepperoni's onto the pizza instead of straight into the mouth!

Kimball and I realized that we don't have many pictures of the two of us so we let Carrigan take our picture. She did pretty good minus the missing top of our heads.

Playing games and eating a little (okay alot) too much candy. Our kids LOVE to play games. Tonight was Disney Yatzee.

Pillow fight!!! We are hoping that Kimball's shoulder is still on the path to recovery after this but it sure was fun!

It's not a good pillow fight unless someone gets hurt. At least that's what my Dad always said. So this must have been a good fight because everyone was crying in the end. Ahhh fun times!!!

Look out David Beckham...

So we have entered a new phase in our lives. That of organized athletics. We are trading in our relaxed, quiet Saturday mornings to cheer for "the Crew". Gage has been wanting to play soccer for quite some time now and we are finally in a situation where we can commit to being to practices and games. I can't tell you how excited Gage (and his Dad) are about all of this. He is the youngest and the littlest on his team but doesn't care. Actually, I don't think Gage realizes that he is on the shorter side (okay shortest side!!). We hope this turns out to be a great experience for him. We are hopeful that it will help to build positive character traits such as good sportsmanship, teamwork, and a committment to something. These are pictures from his first practice a few nights ago. He can hardly wait til the next practice!!!

Anyone want to take a guess???

You know the quiz where they show you a picture and you have to guess what it is...well that's what I'm doing here. Any quesses???

I know...I'm being silly. That's what happens when you are stuck at home all week with sick children. We have pink-eye and the stomach flu at our house. Fun times!!!
Any guesses!!

Hit enter several times for the answer---






When Gage was born the R.S. presidencey knitted this blanket for him. It is so soft and warm. Emmalin has taken a real liking to it. We get a kick watching her wrapped up in it. Those fingers and toes are always sticking out. She waves her hands and feet around and giggles at the sight of it. Did you get it right????

We have had a busy weekend! A wedding, a birthday, and Valentines Day. On Friday my youngest sister was married. It was a sweet experience to be in the temple with them as they were sealed for time and eternity. The reception was later that evening and we had tons of fun catching up with family and old friends.

Saturday was not only Valentine's Day, but Arizona's birthday and my mom decided to throw a big party. As if throwing a reception the night before wasn't enough (my Mom is amazing by the way). We barbequed, made ice-cream sundaes, played games, and ate left over wedding cake which was now "birthday cake". Arizona is now 97 years old. The kids (and adults) had a great time. Thanks Mom!!

As I mentioned before, Saturday was Valentine's Day. It has become a fun family holiday for us. We made heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast and sent the kids on a treasure hunt for their valentine's goodies from us. Dinner was a "romantic" candlelight dinner for 6!! And of course I can't let Valentine's day (or any other holiday for that matter) go by without sugar cookies. Growing up my Mom would make us each a giant heart-shaped sugar cookie. I have carried on that tradition with my own family. Whew, what a weekend. And it's only half over. I'm looking forward to a quiet Sunday. Monday is President's Day. Kimball and the kids have the day off from work and school. No special plans yet...I wonder is they make a cookie cutter in the shape of George Washington or Abe Lincoln...hmmmmmmmm

Mike and Kristi West. Welcome to the family Mike!!

At the end of their treasure hunt they found a basket full of craft supplies. They were so excited, they love doing "projects"

Playing football with the uncles at the Arizona birthday party

Our candlelight valentine's dinner

Carrigan enjoying her cookie.

Mommy and Carrigan

Carrigan and I have alot of one on one time together during the day while Gage and Amberly are at school. She is the best little helper with Emmalin. Always willing to grab a new diaper or sit and play for a few minutes with her. I have really enjoyed this time with Carrigan. We have a stronger bond because of it. I love the little person she is turning out to be. She is so funny!!! Always ready with something fun to say or a silly face. She is so imaginative!!! The games and pretend play she can come up with amaze me. I love my sweet girl. These are pictures taken a few days ago. She brought the camera to me and asked for pictures of just the two of us. I realized that we don't have any of just the two of us and so I obliged. She decided on the faces that we made-- kissy, silly, puffy cheeks, etc.

Valentine's Day FHE

Kimball and I always try to do a fun Valentine's Day FHE the Monday before the holiday. This year we told a cute story that was shared by Elder Oaks called, "The Love Drawer" (we found the story on Sugardoodle). The story was about a mother who had a long-term illness. She saved all of the notes and cards that people had given to her during this time in the top drawer of her nightstand. She called it her "love drawer". It helped her to remember that people loved and cared about her. It reminded her that her Heavenly Father loved and cared about her.
We decided that our family would make "love pockets" to hang on our bedroom doors. During the next week we can sneak little notes or drawings or goodies into the pockets for each other. The kids are really excited about this. We are hoping it will fill our home with feelings of love for each other.
We ended with yummy treats. Aunt Janell gave us a recipe for "cinnamon pastries". They were really good! Thanks Janell!!

6 more weeks of winter????????

My kids are disappointed. Last Monday was Groundhogs Day. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and proclaimed 6 more weeks of winter, but our 80 degree weather in February is proving him wrong. So to make it more winter-like we got out the paper and scissors and went to town making snowflake after snowflake and hung them around the house. The kids are proud of their handiwork. Kimball got into too and made some pretty cool ones.

I did hear on the news this morning that we are expecting rain this weekend and cooler temperatures. Maybe Phil wasn't quite so wrong afterall!!!

Three's

In my family things tend to come in three's. A few times now 3 grandbabies have been born within a few months of each other. All three of my girls were part of these groups (another set of 3!!) In fact, Carrigan shares her birthday with one of her cousins. Anyway, this is a picture of the latest set of three. Emmalin, Rachel, and Joslyn. They are a sweet addition to the Wilkins clan.