Keith's work

Keith works a swing shift, which means he is gone every evening.  This is a tough schedule to have, but we are used to it.  There are some nice things about it, so I try to focus on those instead of the negative things. Now that Caitlyn is in school all day, it is really tough because she doesn't get to see Keith much.  Keith takes every opportunity to spend time with her.  He volunteers in her class once a week and is taking her on her field trip next week.  We just do the best we can to make it work. This summer will be nice because she will have a lot of time with him. We also try to meet him for dinner as often as we can.  Now that the weather is warmer we like to go eat dinner by the lake at his work.

The kids love feeding the big catfish and ducks in the lake. 

It is a little more stressful now with Wyatt.  We have to really keep our eye on him.  He makes me so nervous when he is by the water.  He loved the ducks.  He kept yelling, "ma ma, quack quack" while pointing at the ducks. 

Let's be honest Jonah makes me nervous too!  Caitlyn has a healthy fear of falling in the water. 

Wyatt had fun feeding the ducks.  A piece of bread could last a year for him with the tiny pieces that he ripped off.

I love this picture of Wyatt and Keith.  Wyatt adores Keith.  For a few months he would scream when Keith left and he was left with me.  Now he seems to want me too, but I think he would still chose Keith over me.  Keith is such a good dad.  With his crazy work schedule and busy school schedule we don't get as much time with him as we would all like, but Keith is so unselfish with his time.  He spends quality time with the kids every chance he gets.  I'm so grateful because I don't think this crazy schedule would work otherwise.

I love this picture of Jonah.  He is such a handsome little guy.  We had my nephew all set to babysit for us Saturday night so Keith and I could go out with some friends so of course Caitlyn got sick. We have had some weird flu that is taking almost two weeks to move through the family.  One of these days we will get out, but this weekend we enjoyed some fun family time.

Temple Square

We had Stake Conference yesterday, which meant we were out of church by noon.  We decided that Temple Square would be a great place to spend Easter Sunday.  After Wyatt's nap we headed downtown.

The kids all looked so cute in their church clothes. 

Wyatt would look at Caitlyn and Jonah and see that they were smiling so he would smile too. It was great.  I love when he will cooperate for the camera.

I love this picture.  Caitlyn and Jonah love it when Wyatt will hold their hands.  We sure are grateful to have three such wonderful children.

Caitlyn is looking so grown up.  She looked adorable in her new dress.  She is such a beautiful girl.  She also loves to pose and have her picture taken!

I have such a hard time not getting Jonah's fake smile.  He is such a good looking kid. 

Wyatt is such a cutie.  He loved the freedom to roam around.

It was a great way to spend Easter as a family.  I'm so grateful for my Savior and for the knowledge that He lives.  I'm so grateful for the knowledge that our family can be together forever. 

Jonah was making a wish in the reflecting pond when he fell right in.  Luckily we were getting ready to leave and I had extra clothes for him in the car.  You could hear gasps from people all around when he fell in.  He jumped up and yelled, "I'm okay."  He is always the tough kid. We all had a good laugh about it. 

Easter

We love holidays around here.  We had fun coloring Easter Eggs on Saturday.  I decided to put my sanity first and let Caitlyn and Jonah do it while Wyatt napped. 

We have been staying up too late and sleeping in while Caitlyn has been on spring break (this morning was not fun), but the kids were up bright and early on Sunday morning.  I love seeing kids be excited about things, even if it is a little too early for my taste!

The kids love to search for their Easter baskets. 

Wyatt wasn't so sure about the whole thing.  He is a cranky pants in the morning so you never know what is going to upset him.  He didn't want Keith to put him down, but he did enjoy looking through his Easter basket.

Caitlyn and Jonah love finding Easter eggs.  They were running all over the house looking for them.

Wyatt found one and realized there was candy in it and he was done.  He played with the starburst for the rest of the morning. 

That night we went to my parents house for dinner and another Easter egg hunt. 

Wyatt and Rockwell had their own Easter egg hunt.  Wyatt watched Rockwell and seemed to get the hang of it this time.  He had fun gathering eggs and didn't want to stop when it was the other kids turn.

Caitlyn and Jonah were running all over the place gathering eggs.  They were really excited with the ones that had money in them.  My mom always has fun activities for the grand kids.  After they all had a great time playing with their cousins while the adults visited. It was a wonderful Easter.

Arizona

We decided we better squeeze in a vacation before the baby comes or else it wouldn't happen this year.  Caitlyn had spring break so we decided to head to Arizona to visit Matt and Lori.  Unfortunately, Keith didn't have spring break at the same time so our trip was shorter than we wanted.  We were glad we could make it work though and had a great time.  I love this picture of Wyatt and Caitlyn. 

It was warm there, but the pool water was pretty cold so only the kids swam.  It was fun to be there on Caitlyn's birthday.  I asked her if it would be okay if we were down there on her birthday and she was thrilled with the idea.  Later Jonah told me, "I think I will go to California to visit Grandma Betty for my birthday."   A trip for every one's birthday, that is a nice thought!

Lori always has fun ideas and does such fun things with the kids.  She had an Easter egg hunt for them in the pool.  The kids loved it.

They both did well at swimming around and gathering them up. We didn't put Wyatt in the pool.  He was wandering around and luckily we stood right next to him because he tripped and fell into the pool fully dressed.  Keith immediately pulled him out, but oh man was Wyatt mad about being cold and wet!

Jonah has been so excited for this trip.  He has been telling anyone who would listen that he was going to Arizona for weeks now.

The kids were really excited when they found money in their eggs. 

We loved being in shorts and enjoying the warm weather.  The kids spent a lot of time playing outside. Jonah and Wyatt love the jeep.

Caitlyn and Elena had fun with the chalk.

Wyatt loved the chalk and thought laying in it while he drew was a good option.  He was covered from head to toe in chalk.

Lori gave the kids a drink that looked like kool-aid on April fools day.  They couldn't figure out why it wouldn't come out of their straw.  They thought it was so funny that it was actually jello.  Lori worked so hard and prepared such yummy meals for us.  They are always such good hosts!

Wyatt was in love with their cat.  He was constantly walking around with his hands in the air saying, "meow" while looking for the cat.  He would get so excited when he saw him.  Mogley was a good sport and let Wyatt pet him and even let him brush him a few times.  Wyatt really wanted to pick the cat up.  He would look at me and grunt with his hands up (which is what he does when something is stuck or too heavy)  and try to pick him up.  It was so funny to watch him chase him around all day. 

I was amazed at how late my kids stayed up the night we got there.  Cody and Jonah stayed up until almost midnight (keep in mind we left at 5:00 AM) and were up before 6:00 AM the next morning.  Luckily the rest of the trip went better.  It could have something to do with the fact that we separated the boys at night!  Caitlyn and Elena usually went to sleep pretty quick though.  They built a tent in the bunk bed and both slept on the bottom.  They looked so cute sleeping next to each other.  I love how sweet they both look and I love that Caitlyn is hugging her doll and Elena is holding paintbrushes!

Matt took us out in the ranger.  Lori was great and stayed home with Wyatt.  I was excited to go for a ride until we got going and I remembered that I am a complete wimp!  I have always been scared, but it is getting worse in my old age.  At one point I told Matt that we couldn't all die because then Wyatt would be left all alone. 

The kids loved it.  At one point they were all screaming with their arms in the air like they were on a roller coaster.  It really wasn't very dangerous, the hills just looked a lot bigger as you were approaching them. 

The kids spent a lot of time outside playing.  It was a great trip.  I wish it wasn't so short, but I'm grateful it worked out and we were able to go.  The kids did really well on the drive.  Wyatt didn't get car sick and only hit me a few times the first time I had to put him back in the car after we got gas.  Wow that boy has attitude lately!  Keith and I had fun visiting with Matt and Lori and just watching the kids have a great time together.  Thanks for a great trip Matt and Lori!

7 Years Old

Well it is official, Caitlyn is 7 years old.  Time sure does go quickly.  We were in Arizona for Caitlyn's birthday.  She was so excited to celebrate with our family down there.  Lori was great and went all out for Caitlyn.  They spoiled her with cup cakes and ice cream, birthday crown and fun presents.  She was in heaven. 

We gave her a few more outfits for her doll.  She was excited to get this dress that matches her dress for her doll.

We sure love this girl. She has always been so sweet and sensitive.  She is very concerned about other people's feelings.  There was a girl at school that didn't have any friends to play with at recesses so Caitlyn would play with her because she didn't want her to feel sad.  She told me the other day that this girl has some friends now so Cailtyn plays with her friends again at recess, but she tells Lilly she can still play with them if she wants.  She is always looking for ways to compliment others.  She is also very good at looking for the positive.  I hope these are qualities that she will always have.  She is a wonderful older sister.  She is always looking out for her brothers and trying to help them.  She is so smart.  She has amazing reading and comprehension skills.  She usually reads one chapter book (usually a Junie B Jones book) every night in bed and she always does well on her AR tests on them the next day.  She just took an AR test on a book that was over 100 pages and a 3.7 grade level and got 100%.  Caitlyn is also a very spiritual little girl.  She is constantly thinking about things and asking questions.  Her primary teacher told me that she is amazed at what she knows and understands.  Caitlyn also has a great sense of humor.  She loves to make people laugh.  She used to be so shy, but now she will put on quite a show just to get people to laugh.  Caitlyn loves to make up games or draw pictures.  She loves to come home from school and just be able to play.  She loves to play with friends and be outside.  I'm so grateful for Caitlyn.  She really is a wonderful daughter and I'm very proud to be her mom.