Hello Billings Montana

Today's the day, long awaited but not so much happily anticipated for some. My little brother Kevin enters the MTC today. I have been so impressed with this young man. He really has become a young man with so much strength, drive, confidence, and maturity. I'm sure today he isn't feeling so confident and strong, but that will change. It's been hard to say goodbye for 2 years.

Since he is the first sibling to go on a mission it tears at the heart strings a little harder. Sure all of us girls went away to college but somehow, even though that was hard, this is just harder. Two years FLIES by but it seems forever away.



It's different now that I think in terms of my kids. Grant will be 7 and Kenzie will be 5 when Kevin comes home. That just seems so hard to believe. Tyler will be 2 but for some reason that's easier to think about having a 2 year old. I've had 2 of them already. I just haven't had a 7 year old and to think of Kenzie being the same age as Grant and going to school...that's just not something I do well to think about.

So good luck Kevin (and good luck Mom and Dad getting through these first few days...or weeks...or months). You're going to be a great missionary. Yay for Montana Billings Mission

Swimming?

Last night for Family Home Evening we went swimming. Yes I know it's still April, but it's been hot this week. I don't know exactly how hot it got yesterday but I know it was in the 90's. Don and Carla invited us out to swim and have FHE with them. Their pool wasn't exactly what I would call warm...but it was refreshing in a comfortable way. Tyler even got to go swimming for the first time and he didn't complain. In fact I think he quite enjoyed it. Grant gave us a little lesson on The Iron Rod. He did such a great job. I'm amazed how many words he knows and how well he can read already. And Carla had brownies and ice cream for us...YUM. It was a very nice evening and a lot of fun.A few weeks ago was the Rodeo Parade. My sister Brittany asked if Grant and Kenzie wanted to ride in the Wells Fargo stagecoach with her. We dressed them in the best "cowboy" clothes we had. I think the kids had a fun time waving to everyone but I think the gentle rocking almost put them to sleep by the end.


We had a very nice Easter. After the Rodeo Parade there was a Ward Easter party at a park. Grant and Talmage did the egg toss and did pretty well. Then Grant did the egg on a spoon race and did very well. Kenzie made sure to stay close to either Grant or Mom but didn't want to participate. I tried to get her picture with the Easter Bunny...not a chance! She wouldn't even stand on the opposite side of the bench. Tyler was very happy and content sitting with Janet Miyabara...sure made things easier for me! The kids also enjoyed the egg hunt. Grant is always such a good brother to make sure Kenzie gets everything. He really looks out for her.

Easter at Grandma and Grandpa's was a little crazy but of course fun with all the little cousins. Kenzie got a PINK swimsuit from the Easter Bunny at my parents house and she INSISTED on wearing it and didn't want to take it off. She was so funny and such a GIRL. She definitely keeps us laughing. So the pink tutu looking outfit Kenzie is wearing is actually a swimsuit.


I think that just about catches me up. Last week was Grant's Spring Break but we didn't end up doing anything out of the ordinary. Talmage had a campout on Friday night so the kids and I had a little Ice Cream Picnic at the park. I asked him to draw pictures of things he wanted to do while he was out of school and he wanted to have a picnic at the park and go to Grandma's. The weather was very windy and pretty cool all week so we did spend some time out at my parents' house but at least we were able to get that picnic.

Wicked

It was a long time in the waiting but it finally came and so quickly went. Back in October I bought our tickets for Wicked. It was a play Talmage and I both thought would be fun to go see. My mom, sisters, cousins, aunts, etc. went last Wednesday but since Talmage wanted to see it and I knew he had Spring Break in April I knew we could go together. It was a fun day to spend just with Talmage. And surprisingly, I didn't worry about the kids...much, at all. I was relieved that Tyler was taking bottles and formula and he eats anything he can so I wasn't worried.

We left around 9:45 and decided to take BART so we wouldn't have to worry about parking or driving in San Francisco. Great idea! It was so relaxing...once we finally got on BART. Just a minor little gliche there. Once we got to the city we had about an hour and a half before heading into the theater. We got some lunch then walked around.
I kept noticing people carrying bags with produce so we went to check out behind the theater. Turns out the Farmers Market was going on. We grabbed some delicious kettle corn then continued around the block.
San Francisco City Hall was just right down the street so we walked up around there for a little bit. I wasn't always very good at getting the camera in the right spot to take a picture. Talmage was wearing a nice crown in this picture...but it sure is cute!

We should have gotten a better picture with the Wicked sign in the background, but this is all we got.
We had great seats and the play was absolutely wonderful. I would definitely go see it again. For those not familiar with it, it's the story about the Witches from The Wizard of Oz. It was fun to learn their story.
Of course after the play it was convenient to just hop on BART and talk about the play without having to watch for street signs or worry about traffic.
When we got back to our car, then came the impossible task (for me) to decide where to eat dinner. I had first suggested Applebees but we couldn't find it right away and saw many other restaurants. We walked into about 5 restaurants and looked at the menus before finally deciding on what else...APPLEBEES. I don't think either one of us minded the 45 minute decision making process. It was nice to just be out together and not having to worry about the kids.

And to finish off dinner...the delicious Chocolate Lava Cake. YUMMM!
We got to my parents' house to pick up the kids around 9:15. Kenzie and Tyler had fallen asleep but Grant hadn't given in yet. Katie had the kids earlier in the day but Brittany picked them up when she got off work. My mom had to work at the Disney Store...her one day a month job just happened to be the day we were going to see Wicked. As far as I heard, the kids were okay. Tyler did well taking bottles. I guess that means we can do it again sometime! What a fun day!

A little behind

Last Saturday Kenzie and I got to be princesses. Kenzie went to a Princess Party for her little friend and I went to a Princess Party for another little friend. Kenzie had so much fun. Elsa's mom was INCREDIBLE. First of all the invitations were cute little homemade PINK satin pillows with a PINK paper crown. How could Kenzie NOT be excited about that!? Then Elsa's mom was all dressed up and she had a cute castle all set up in the house. Later I found out from Kenzie that the little boys at the party dressed up like Knights and fought the Dragon (Elsa's dad) while all the little princesses ran into the Castle. (This is according to Kenzie so I'm not exactly sure how it all played out. She did say she was afraid of the dragon though.)


And I got to be Snow White for another little Princess party. It was so much fun! I always thought it would be fun to be Snow White at Disneyland. When I was in college I would talk like Snow White when my boss's granddaughters came to visit. It was fun then and it was fun on Saturday. I always loved dressing up when I was a little girl but I didn't know it would be as much fun as an adult too. I don't want to boast...but I think I was a pretty good Snow White. Thanks Angela for asking me! What I realized about these two parties...it's probably time I finally have a birthday party for my kids. Grant has never had a "friend" party and he'll be 6 in July. We had talked about having a party for Kenzie for her last birthday but that was right during the time we got the keys to our house and started painting and moving. We never did have a party. Sorry kids!

Yesterday we watched Jack and Audrey while Katie and Eric (and almost everyone else in the family) went to see Wicked in San Francisco. (Talmage and I are going next week since he has Spring Break). We had a fun day with the kids. I admit my ears started to get a little tired because everyone came to me for everything. All of the kids were very good. At one point when I was trying to make dinner before Tyler woke up from his nap, the kids kept coming to ask for a snack or ask where a toy was or let me know someone wasn't doing something... I finally came up with a brilliant game. It actually wasn't a game, nor was it brilliant. It was the first thing that came to my head. I told the kids to all sit down, close their eyes, and plug their ears. I thought they would laugh and tell me no. But they ALL did it. I was the one laughing. It was so funny that they were so quick to follow those instructions. I felt bad I didn't have an actual fun game for them to play. I'm sure if my head hadn't been so cloudy from the noise of the day or my cough I could have come up with something.
Talmage got home not too much later and took the kids out to the park. I am so lucky to have a patient and wonderful husband. He took the kids out and ran with them and played until dinner was ready. Then he helped the kids get the toy room all clean and give the kids a bath. We put Grant, Kenzie, and Tyler to bed then Talmage read Jack and Audrey books for almost an hour. Audrey soon fell asleep but Jack wanted to stay awake until his parents got there. Talmage and I were talking to him about his new baby brother or sister. He had some pretty good names picked out. For a boy, he wanted the name to be "HeyJude" and for a girl, "Andi". Pretty creative! He finally gave in and fell asleep.


The other day the kids were playing in the toy room. I noticed it seemed a little quieter than usual so I looked out to find they had taken their toys out for some air. It was a beautiful day. These kids are so funny and creative with their toys. I'm glad they're such good friends.
And for a little Tyler update... He'll be 9 months on Saturday. Still not crawling but he'll scoot on his back and every once in a while roll over to get something. Progress. He's also slept all night about 4 nights in a row. He had been sick so I didn't blame him for waking up in the night then. He just didn't feel good. Now we need to work on getting him to take a bottle again since next Wednesday we'll be in San Francisco all day.