I can't keep up

I had originally planned to make a quick post as to what has been going on in our lives lately, but 3 hours later and after the computer has shut down on me 3 times, here I am finally STARTING to type up a brief summary of the past month or so.  Some may remember the computer problems we have had in the past.  I have planned on getting a new computer for way over a year now, BUT I can't make a decision.  New things keep coming out or I hear people who prefer one computer over another so it changes my almost decisions.  And since our computer still works, most of the time, I haven't replaced it yet.  I have had the no-brainer thought that if I get a new computer the kids can play on this one all (mostly) they want.  The kids keep waiting for us to get a new computer because they are aware of this idea and aware that this computer isn't healthy enough for them to play on it.  Soon...hopefully soon.

As far as life goes...we've had a fun and busy past few weeks/month.  Who hasn't?!  Talmage and Grant both had the same week off for Spring Break (definite perk to being a teacher) so we went to Utah.  Talmage's parents have recently moved back to Layton so it was great getting to see them as well as 3 of his brothers and their wives.  An added bonus was Talmage's brother Kimball coming out for the weekend also.  Kimball lives about an hour and a half away from us and unfortunately we don't see him very often.  Glad we could meet  up 12 hours away from our homes though!  We left after school on Thursday and drove to Reno for the night.  It makes it so much nicer to break the trip up and only have 6 1/2 hours to drive the next day.  My sister Jenn lives in Orem but they were heading out to Oakdale for Spring Break.  We ended up passing each other in Utah close to the Nevada border so we met up at an exit to say hi and take a picture.  We were so GLAD to be almost to our destination and felt bad that they had so far to go.       

 

We had so much fun with everyone.  It was a weekend of birthdays too.  Talmage turned 30 on Saturday!!  I feel bad I didn't have a birthday party for him or even make him a cake...well I kinda made a cake about a week before but that doesn't really count.  Our little nieces, Taylie and Evelyn, both had their 1st birthdays while we were there.  Such cute little girls!  It was also great to be there during Conference and Easter.  The kids had fun coloring eggs.  Talmage and his brothers had fun playing a few games of basketball.  I had fun spending time with the girls.  How lucky to have more girls in this family now. 

Grant had looked so forward to having snow and he got it!  When we got there he had enough snow to build a snowman.  Talmage was good to go help him build 5 snowmen...actually 3 snowmen and 2 snowgirls.  He didn't seem to mind the cold.  Neither did Kenzie or Tyler.  But we were not prepared for so much playing in the snow.  They all had coats but no boots or gloves.  The weather was so nice on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday that we thought the snow would all melt and the snow family would too.  Monday night we got about 12 inches of snow.  Replenished the dwindling amount of snow they had to play with!  It didn't last too long though.  By Wednesday the kids were jumping on the trampoline with hardly any snow left on the ground because it warmed up so quickly.  Warmed up so much that Kenzie decided she didn't need her clothes on anymore.  I looked out the window to check on them and was surprised to see Kenzie wearing only her underwear.  It wasn't THAT warm!  Grant had only taken his shirt off.  Crazy kids! 

Sunday, Talmage and I went to Conference at the Conference Center with Tanner and Jessica.  Always a special experience to be there.  Despite the detours and difficulty getting there because of the MANY accidents on the freeways, we still had great seats and enjoyed incredible talks.  The rest of the family went down to Orem to Grandma and Grandpa Allen's for a delicious Easter dinner.  Grant LOVED Grandma's rolls, who doesn't?!  I was glad there were still some left when we got there!

A fun special day was going to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point.  The kids loved it.  Tyler had fallen asleep so Talmage stayed with him while Dantzelle and I took Grant and Kenzie through the museum.  It was a lot of fun but we ran out of time.  It was more crowded than we had expected...I guess a lot of kids were on Spring Break.  But something the kids loved.  Grant LOVES animals and dinosaurs.  It amazes me how much he knows about animals.  Of course Kenzie likes what Grant likes.  She looks up to him so much and they get along so well together.  Grant's favorite part was excavating dinosaur fossils.  I'm sure he would have stayed in there for at least an hour and we only gave him about 15 minutes.  We wanted to beat the storm (the one in which we got 12 inches) and traffic and get back for Evelyn's birthday party.

On Monday I also got to see my dear old (she did just turn 30) roommate from BYU.  It was SO great to see her!  I made a lot of WONDERFUL friends at BYU.  Love them all, but Bree was my first friend at BYU and one that will always have a special place in my heart.  (I know that sounds cheesy)  We met online (way before Facebook) after finding out we were both going to BYU.  She lived in Pennsylvania and I, of course, in Oakdale.  We ended up living in the same dorm, in the same ward even.  

We had a lot of fun over our 4 years at BYU.  Worked Scout Camp together one summer.  Worked Sports Camp together another summer.  We were both Recreation Management Majors together.  

We graduated and our lives were already changing.  I got married.  She got a "real" job.  I had 3 kids.  She went on a mission.  But, 8 years later we got to meet up again.  LOVED it.  I had the kids with me and she was at work so we didn't have that much time but I really, really enjoyed it. 

Our trip to Utah was fun.  The drive is long but the time there is fun and memorable.  Of course we look forward to our next trip in July for the family reunions!!

And finally, our trip to Disneyland at the end of April.  Fun, of course.  Talmage wasn't able to get those days off for work but my parents, sister, and brother in law were coming so I figured I could handle it.  We stayed at my parents time share at the Grand Californian Villas which was fabulous!  I will admit, I was disappointed to not get the luxury of a real bed.  I'll explain.  The room was plenty big enough.  It was a two bedroom villa with a master suite as one bedroom and the second room had two queen beds and a bathroom.  The living room area had a pull out sofa bed and a murphy bed.  My parents of course took the master suite.  The kids of course were excited about the pull out bed and the murphy bed.  With my sister and her husband coming I didn't expect to take the other private room away from them (they are newlyweds...).  That left me with the option of the murphy bed or sofa bed.  Regardless of the sleeping arrangements, we all had a great time...and sleeping arrangements turned out to be perfectly fine.  It was so nice having a kitchen.  We had breakfast every morning.  Packed lunches and snacks to take during the day.  My dad took Tyler back each day for naps.  We had a lasagna baked and ready for us when we came back for dinner the first night.  We had ice cream and milkshakes each night...and one day after lunch.  Delicious!

As far as rides go, the kids are NOT adventurous so they didn't like going on hardly any rides.  Pirates? Not a chance.  Peter Pan?  Grant finally went with Cortney and Jacen.  Gadgett's Go Go Coaster?  Grant went two times in a row because after going through the line Kenzie REFUSED to go.  Matterhorn? Splash Mountain?  Mr. Toad's? Alice in Wonderland? Nope. Nope. Nope. And Nope.  We tried to go to the Bug's Life 3D movie thing...had to walk out when Tyler and Kenzie were both crying.  BUT!  They did love Small World,  the Carousel, Casey Junior Train, Dumbo, Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story Mania, the other Carousel in CA Adventure, and Kenzie loved dancing around on the street by the castle.  Grant also had the great experience to participate in the Star Wars Jedi Training.  Kenzie had to be taken out by my mom far, far away from the area when Darth Vader and Darth Maul came out to fight the trainees.  She was TOTALLY and EXTREMELY frightened by them.  I felt so bad.  I really didn't think about her being scared by them.  I guess I should have warned her ahead of time what was going to happen.  She was crying and shaking and begging to go away from there.  She told my mom that they had to run as far away and as fast as they can to get away because they were going to kill them.  I guess she didn't realize that the rest of the crowd was okay with them and didn't fear for their lives.  Poor thing.  Grant loved it.  He did tell me that he was a little nervous when it was his turn to fight Darth Vader, but he did great. 

 Well, that finally takes care of April.  Too bad we're almost half way through May.  How did that happen!?