My five loves...well six, if you include the beach.  We have had a wonderful start to school. Kids have great teachers. Swinging by the beach every few days for a dip in the ocean.  As I was watching the kids learning to surf with their dad and watched Livi Rue chasing the seagulls and dipping her head in the water, I realize that I need to hit the beach more. :-) Real life can sometimes be hard. It can be tiring. It can be exhausting...but then we go and play...and gratitude overwhelms me. I am so blessed. And I know it. It's just easier to remember at the beach. :-) We returned home from Boise. Long drive. So worth it. We spent a couple days celebrating my dad's retirement. Then off to Boise for a life changing moment. Sitting in the temple as Sam's dad was the sealer for his parent's sealing was a beautiful moment. It reminded me of my blessings again. I guess I just need to go to the temple and the beach more. :-)

It has been a really long time...

I got on our old laptop for the first time in a while and saw the home page...this blog came up and I saw a picture of Garrett's birthday...and I realized, wow...it's been too long.  I cannot recap a year...especially with what a year it has been.  But I really should document the miracle of moving.  Usually I use the words horror of moving...but this move has a LOT of small and big miracles that happened.  We had been praying to know what the best thing was for our family...and started to move in the direction we felt was right...and THEN the miracles poured out.  We were able to sell our house quickly and miraculously for an actual profit. And then able to find a wonderful spot here in CA for our family.  This was due to the hand of God...and the hand of a very capable sister who did EVERYTHING to make it possible.  There are people who are good at their job...and then there's my sister.  Our new neighborhood is incredible, with kids out in the cul de sac non stop.  Our ward has been welcoming and is huge.  We of course miss the people that we became close to in our last neighborhood and ward...but we don't miss the winter and the inversion. :-) It was terribly hard to say goodbye to family, but the more steps we took forward on this path the more we knew it was where we were supposed to be.  We feel extremely blessed.  I am living the dream.  My husband has a great job and sacrifices his own hobbies to be a dad(or figures out how a 4 year old can golf and fish). It is better than we even predicted. My children are all healthy.  Crazy and difficult and impossible sometimes, but healthy.  Pictures from top to bottom: Molly and I on a trip to Utah for General Conference and giving a shout out to Chanell...Hansen eating ice cream after we returned the moving truck(fun for him to sit in the big truck...but I was so stressed I barely remember it), Livi Rue and I at the beach for our family vacation, Garrett on a date with his mama.  Four kids has been hard on me.  In the past few years there have been times, when frankly, things were dark.  I am not a good writer and can't make some deep analysis as to why and how things got better...I just know they are better.  And there were times when I said "How did I get into this?" and I wanted to cry.  Now there are times when I say the same thing. "How did I get into this? I am the luckiest girl ever." Some days...most days :-)

Garrett is the big 6!

I noticed my last post was for Hansen's birthday...so I may be down to 4 times a year for the blog, maybe 5 with Christmas.  Oh how I LOVE and ENJOY this boy! When Garrett has a big day...or something great is happening to him...he naturally just gets generous and tries to make everyone feel as good as he does.  He woke up early and ran down to see his requested Angry Birds cake.  Because of the amount of time it takes to dip each cake bite this cake was way to intensive...but to have him RUN up to wake me up to tell me that it was the awesomest cake EVER! It turns out it was worth the two and half hours.  He then went on to say sweet things all day.  "Mom, the best things about my birthday so far are my cake and YOU!" or "Mom, I think you deserve to have the king pig, cause he's the biggest and you're the best. (he was out of school for the week, so we went to the Bean museum and he ran around with Hansen and did the "animal hunt" and I tried to keep up with Oivia. Then off to the creamery for lunch-which Hansen kept calling the Whip Cream.)

 He had a great time with cousins and family at his party and made up some games...including a treasure hunt and a game where he set up pig targets(100 points if you hit the middle one and 28 and 62 points for the respective side pigs).  :-)

 This last picture is classic Garrett.  Everyone was singing Happy Birthday to Garrett J again and he just stood there a tiny bit embarrassed but enjoying every single minute.  At the end of the day, I was doing the dishes downstairs and Sam was putting the boys to bed...Garrett ran down and says, "Thanks for EVERYTHING mom." and ran back up.  This little guy was just born with it.  The gift of gratitude. Love him.

Hansen is "fweeeee" (three)

Hansen got an ear infection on his birthday...so we postponed a day. In that day he went from wanting a "bowling cake"(really easy to make) to a "dragon cake"(bit more intensive). Big mistake...should've just made him suffer on the actual day and done an easier cake. Just kidding. I promise. This boy has had some two year old moments that make me want to pull my hair out, but has learned quickly to say, "Oops, it was an axkident"(even if it was VERY much on purpose)- it makes me smile and he's off the hook, usually. He has started to turn into quite the older brother to Olivia. He gets stuff for her whenever she is crying and when I tell him thank you. He walks off and quietly and proudly says back, "Thank you mama, thank you."(your welcome, in his mind). He follows Garrett around and does whatever he does. He says the same jokes and thinks I will laugh again just because I laughed at Garrett. He has a shy sly way about him...but he is as rambunctious as they come. He is STILL jumping constantly. He'll either have a great vertical when he is older, or major cartilage damage. This pic is a bit blurry...all my pics of him are blurry, cause he is ALWAYS moving. He states the obvious all the time, and blurts out his feelings so sincerely. example: he gets hurt, he looks up at me with his obvious statement of "i hurt myself, i went "wap" right on my head!" I comfort him and kiss it which usually does the trick, but then he walks off saying, "i don't want to be happy, I want to be sad."(in a super pouty voice). He sees Molly as his mother, Garrett as his buddy or antagonizer and he's still not sure about Olivia. I hope I can always remember him at this age. I'm starting to realize how hard that is. All I remember about Garrett at this age is that I was grateful for each day that I was able to keep him alive. Little different with Hansen...hasn't taken nearly as many years off my life. I'll thank him later for that...after he gets through the teen years probably.

Livi LaRue is 1

Olivia is one and I am not going to say this year went too fast...cause for the months on end that we were sick it moved at a VERY slow pace...but since health has been our friend it really has flown by. Olivia seems to be cut out of the same cloth as her older brother Garrett and it is apparent when you see her pure joy. Pure true joy. Just to feel a glimpse of it is nice as a mom. Livi had a rough start to life...but has tackled the rest head on. She seems like she will be a jump in head first type of a girl(but then she will check first to see if the water is warm...then jump in...you never know...she's not reckless...but loves fun) She has brought a lot of love to our family. Even Hansen when he's not trying to experiment with her and see what will make her cry...he can be so sweet and loving with her. I usually get to snuggle a bit with her at night, and in those quiet moments I say many a prayer of thanks for this sweet girl. The following is a pic of her cupcakes...cuz she is our little night owl...still wakes to eat after about 7 hours...and her daddy is nice enough to feed her. :-)

Christmas and Skiing

Christmas was fantastic this year. The anticipation was thick. The stress was low(we had bought and wrapped everything earlier in the week) and we had zero travel to worry about...we could just focus all our energy on enjoying. It was really fun. The kids are at perfect ages right now for this. Seriously, the excitement was palpable. They were even pumped about their new chruch socks and snow boots and clothes. So fun. A week before we had a Baxter family gift exchange and celebration. We acted out the nativity. Highlight was the next day when Hansen was remembering and said, "I was Joseph, Garrett was a shepherd, Molly was a star and Abby was a butterfly(angel wings looked an awful lot like butterfly wings). A couple days before Rich and Gwen came down so we had a big get together as a family and ate up at Grandma and Grandpa O's house. Played with cousins. Talent show! It was great. So tons of family. Tons of good food. Tons of fun. We caroled the widows in our ward, and delivered caramels. Then went to Sam's work and caroled some of the long term patients. I don't know that it was the highlight for the kids, but it was one of my highlights. Nothing like getting a smile when three little kids are singing Mele Kalikimaka with the Uke. It was pretty cute. Kids slept great on Christmas eve but the excitement was too much for Olivia and she was up for hours with teeth problems. But it worked out bc our crawler slept through the present opening...and the kids didn't have to worry about protecting their new stuff from our curious little one. Perfect. Crepes on New Year's Day finished off the holiday season and skiing filled our Christmas break. Great memories...and we made it through pretty much unscathed from viruses. So it was a healthy fun time which is kind of a miracle at our stage right now. :-)

I had taken the two older kids to ski a couple of times and Hansen was getting pretty devastated he didn't get to go. So...we took him up. He was super happy to ski. I use the term "ski" very loosely with him. It was more of a mom catch me every ten feet kind of a thing but he loved it. And kept telling me to go backwards so he could go down the steep hill. He didn't quite grasp the gravity of the situation, and the pain that would be involved. Molly and Garrett are bored with the bunny hill. Garrett built a jump. :-) So we will have to start paying money for it now. :-) It is great to get up in the mountains and breath the fresh air and watch the kids master a skill. They are proud of themselves and it is fun to see them get more and more confident. Gavin and Logan came along and Gavin learned too! So fun to see him go from terrified and gripping on to his mom, to skiing independent. Greatest comment ever was when I overheard Garrett a couple days later trying to convince one of my friends from Arizona to come and learn to ski. He said, "You can learn no problem, my mom is an awesome teacher." Livi Rue was pretty cute just chillin in the backpack and watching what was happening. She is so cool. Love her. I think a trip to Alta is soon to come!

Molly's Baptism Weekend

What a great weekend. Family all came into town and we were all together...for a brief moment. Molly was very focused during the meeting. Listening intently to her grandmas speak about baptism(joining a team, and you gotta show up) and the Holy Ghost(that it can comfort you when you don't feel happy). People were sick with gastroenteritis, Kids were screaming in the back, when we got there it was double booked and the high councilman suggested we just come in during the other family's baptism and just "borrow" the font, cause it is "just" the baptism. I got very motherly and explained with all the restraint I could that he needed to think of a better plan.(not just for our sake...for the other family). We left and went into our meeting. His wife helped him and she came in and told us to move rooms and they would move them as well. It all worked out great...and Molly didn't even notice all the chaos. She just enjoyed it. She sang a solo(bc that is what she wanted to do) and sang the first verse of "I'm trying to be like Jesus" in french and then the second verse in english. We didn't have a mic cause we were in some random room(bc of the double booked font) and she didn't even notice. My mom played the piano SUPER quiet and she sang beautifully. Just beautifully. It was precious and I will never forget it. Her confirmation and baptism reminded me very simply that if we just fulfill saving ordinances and try our very best. We will live with Him again. Simple really. Quite simple. She really is trying hard to grow and learn and be her best. She tests me...oh how she tests me...but I love her great desire to be good and do good. We ate afterward and were able to spend time with family and friends. We are so blessed, and I know it.

ps...this pic cracks me up. Garrett is hilarious...Hansen is just crazy...and you can tell I had to wake up Livi Rue Who to get her there...she was poopy and mad by the end. But made it through. As always....so grateful for Sam...so grateful.

Just an update

It seems to be getting longer in between my posts. So my goal of keeping a journal for my children is not going so well. Oh well...they will have pictures...and now that they have GPS attached to them they can just figure it out for themselves. Too bad hackers are ruining all this great technology for me. Oh well. We had a good finish to the summer. We were healthy for so long that I almost started to take it for granted. But then I remembered Olivia's first four months of life and I was very grateful again. She is growing...and wow she is a tub of love. Her new nickname is Bubba. She has rolls and rolls and more rolls. I still think it is hilarious that people console me on this, "Don't worry, she will thin out...or that will go away so fast once she starts walking." I guess they don't know that one, I don't care, and two, three of my babies have been this way. And I have yet to grow an obese child. I love her rolls. She is super squeezable and she needs the extra girth to withstand all the "love" that she gets from Hansen. I also think she may never walk or crawl(not because of her great size, but because she is always in some sort of device; aka jumper, high chair, bumbo, to protect her from Hansen).
Molly is growing up. And this picture reminds me of that. She will be 8 years old in a month. Wow. She doesn't wear such absurd things to school anymore, and is very aware of the whole social aspect of school. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not. Garrett is learning to read and doing well...but he ONLY cares about the recess/lunch/social part of school too. He could care less how he is doing in school. Hansen is a boy of extremes right now. He either melts your heart with his cuteness, or he pierces your ears with is scream/tantrum. We attended Sam's brother's wedding in September. It was a beautiful perfect autumn day. The sealing was such a highlight for me. I felt kind of stressed on my own day, so it was very nice to just enjoy this one. It was fun for Sam and I to reflect on the last ten years. We have been very busy. Very very busy. Love the suits on the little boys...at church yesterday and Englishman said, "Now don't they look smart." I really want to go live in England. :-)

It's been a while!

Sometimes babies can be hard...especially little bitty babies...but sick babies can be really hard. Olivia has had some sort of sickness for pretty much 3/4 of her life. RSV at 3 weeks, gastrointestinal thing, parainfluenza, and an itty bitty cold. She toughed out most of these things pretty well. I like to say nursing helped, but that is just cause I need to say that to feel a sense of accomplishment, because it is hard to get up and nurse a sick baby when you feel SO sick yourself. Reflux was a result of the RSV...and I have never had a reflux baby before...I had wondered why in the world people kept giving me all these burp cloths for gifts. I had never used them. Ever. Molly spit up twice...it was more like projectile vomiting. Garrett...not really...Hansen...not really. Wow...THIS is what people do with babies??? Holy smokes??? Horrible. I feel like my laundry has quadrupled. We got her on some medicine, and I have been grateful for whoever invented it ever since. We feel like we are on the way up now. The low point of all of this was when Sam had to go out of town for work, and Livi Rue woke up every two hours all three nights he was gone...unbelievable stuff. We are hopefully on to a healthier happier life now.

This kids have enjoyed basketball camp this summer(well, they loved the popsicle breaks)...Molly is now in dance camp(and it's a nice review of some french)...and hopefully we get a little soccer camp in. We are eating lettuce and spinach and chard and strawberries out of the garden, and can't wait for more to start coming. There is something really fun for me about picking a bunch of strawberries and washing them in the hose on the lawn and eating them with the kids. It was the same last year with cherry tomatoes. I don't know why I love it so much, but it is easily the hightlight of the summer for me. Swimming at my aunt's pool, and going to the waterpark are the highlight for the kids. Hansen asks the moment Sam walks in the door. "Go Wimming! Wata pawk!" Molly has been loving Sudoku(i'm barely skilled enough for the beginner puzzles) and Garrett has been enjoying lego kits...fun stuff.

Time flies when...

Life is crazy! It seemed so great. I prepared myself for complete horror with 4 kids, and so it seemed pretty feasible. We were plugging along, enjoying life and then Livi Rue couldn't breath...RSV invaded her little body. I was up the whole night just watching her get gradually worse and worse. Those are the breaks if you have older kids my brother(dr russ) told me. He also told me to consult him if we ever decided to have a baby in February. If I was ever crazy enough to get pregnant again I would move FAR FAR away, and get a nanny for my other kids until the bugs were dead. Seriously. She finally got better...and we were plugging along again. Hey, I can do this, I thought to myself....and then Hansen threw up....again and again and again. Sam stayed up with him. Said it was bad. Then three days later, Garrett got it and came up in tears saying, "Now I don't get to go to cousins camp." it just so happened that this hit us while my brothers who we see once a year were in town with their families and they do a cuz camp with devotionals and sports and crafts....and Garrett missed it, but Molly got to go and then three days after that Molly got it. And in between that, Sam and I both got it. I have never had to nurse a baby through nausea etc...and it was one of the harder things I have done. You don't exactly feel like snuggling...but we made it through...and now I am documenting it so I don't forget how hard life has been...so that it seems easier later. :-)

Since my last journal entry(Livi's birth) we celebrated Hansen's birthday. He is such a lovable little dude. He sings full blast "I love to see the Temple" at bedtime and you can barely understand a word...and he is a little off tune. So it's even cuter. He clears his bowl or plate without being asked. He says "sorry" right after someone gets hurt and gives a kiss(Mmmm...awwm). He has ONE annoying two year old thing...which is a very high pitched scream...which he is getting better at...and I haven't had a two year old with that before...but since he is so sweet 99% of the time I won't hold the scream thing against him. He rides his scooter with reckless abandon. He lets "Molly b'Golly" take care off him...but won't let Garrett. He LOVES all things ball and balloon. Hence the balloons for his birthday. The ceiling was covered too. He loved it. Barely had time for his "crocodilo cake" He sang "Hata birfday to you" and we had to blow out candles a couple times...he loved it.

Just had to add in this little pic of Livi Rue. This dress(which I made for Molly from material that my mom used for dresses for us when we were little) was what she wore in the big family pic when my brothers were here. We had to drag our whole family down there, while Garrett held a barf bucket...and I am pretty sure he didn't smile in the picture. He was miserable. But probably not more miserable than my nephew who had a swollen face from an allergic reaction to a wasp sting. Memorable family pic..that is for sure...

Olivia LaRue Baxter 2-9-11

Olivia arrived in the middle of the night and we are sure grateful she is here. My water broke and it was a feeling of elation as I knew that I was done being pregnant. That the long wait for her was over. I was shaking from start to finish. Not sure if that is because I knew what was coming or because my body was just done. My mom hurried over and we left for the hospital. We had to get two doses of penicillin in before she came so they tried to slow me down the best they could. An early epidural only got half my body...so the labor just kept coming. Plenty fast. We barely got the second dose in after the request to just squeeze it in as fast as they could. My arm burned away, but the moment she could be born we got her here quick. She was blue as can be with the cord around her neck twice. They pinked her up after way too long and she is doing great now. 7 lbs 5 oz 19 inches long. Perfect.
Could Molly look any more excited? She is so excited. She totally gets it and is a great older sister. She thinks the umbilical cord thingy is gross. She's told me that a couple of times.
Garrett has been especially sweet with his little sister. He is the one that told us it was a girl. He is the one that knew we were pregnant before we told him. He has held her for over an hour...having me switch her from arm to arm. He told me it was no problem for him to hold her, "It's easy."
We are a family of 6. Wow. That sure seems like a lot to me. Hansen is doing much better today and has had the roughest adjustment so far. He's not sure what everyone is so excited about. And gets mad cause he wants to hold her and walk around with her. He helped today change a diaper and was very proud of himself. So hopefully that continues. I figure 4 will be a piece of cake as long as Sam never goes back to work and my Mom comes and cooks dinner for us every night and helps read books and put kids to bed. No problem.
The peace the newborn brings is unique and to be fully enjoyed. The joy that comes with not being pregnant anymore is too hard for me to describe. We are so grateful for out little family. Olivia is an amazing addition and is such a good little thing. She acts just like she did inside of me...roller...groover...not a kicker and crazy thing...just sweet...and patient...she will have to be to make it as number 4 in this family. :-)

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday!

We celebrated Sam's birthday before Christmas b/c we would be in Seattle for the actual day. And being the easy perfect husband that he is...he just wanted a nice thick milkshake...which I provided him. My Mom was nice enough to feed everyone and it was a great "celebration." He really is an amazing man, and I am grateful for him every day.Christmas Eve at my mom's was delicious...after some amazing steelhead, we had crepes and the shoemaker story. We got home and opened PJ's and the kids were off to bed. They slept well...which was nice since we were traveling Christmas afternoon.
This is the only pic I took Christmas morning. Hansen all of the sudden saw the ball we got him and made a run for it. Molly was in the midst of talking...as usual and Garrett obliged with a smile. Classic.
We made it to Seattle and had a great flight. Very uneventful, and very smooth. Love the "let families through with small kids" in the security line. LOVE. IT. Molly made me a cookie...M for Mom!
Waiting to go down to see if Santa had come...very late...:-)
Visiting the gum wall. This is some famous place down by Pike place. Pretty gross. :-) The kids chewed some gum and stuck it on. They were not to pumped b/c they had been walking in the rain. We told them that it was all part of the experience. :-) They didn't buy that...but endured so they could go swimming back at the hotel.
This was an attempt at family pictures. It cracks me up every time. All the adults are trying to make the kids smile...and their reactions are just...them. What a great Christmas(minus our delayed flight home and VERY late arrival to find the bathroom flooded a bit)...but everything before that was perfect. :-)

Getting ready...

Everything it seems is happening earlier in this pregnancy. All the bad stuff...back not even functioning anymore...contractions...heartburn...etc...but the one good thing is the whole "nesting" thing has already hit me...and we are three months away. But that is a good thing, because for how bad I hurt(I blame basketball and that weight room and always will) it may take me that long to get organized. As I was sorting out all the boy clothes to give away, and sorting the girl clothes that will and won't work, Hansen was helping me down in the storage. He found this tub and took it around with him throughout the house following me. He kept sitting in it and sucking those two fingers of his. And then I realized....he will have to grow up too fast. He still calls himself "baby" when he looks in the mirror. I remember bathing his skinny(so skinny) body in that tub for the first time. If he wasn't so dang cute, it wouldn't be hard to have him grow up...but man his smile just melts me. It's hard to be able to remember all these moments...but I sure hope in twenty years I remember how I felt when I looked down and saw that cute face smiling up at me sitting in his tub.

Fall

I love fall. Other than the impending doom of winter...it is easily my favorite time of year. I love the food, I love the weather, I love the harvest, I love General Conference, I love the changing leaves, and the cool nights. I loved the excitement of the start of school when I was little...but I didn't always love fall. In college I dreaded it. It meant conditioning...and lots of it. But after those four years, I purged the fear of fall back out of me, and I have found my love for it again. This year, it has been especially fantastic because my morning(all day) sickness is going away. I still have bad moments...but the hope this brings is indescribable. So we celebrated by golfing as a family. It was a complete riot. We need to do it more. The kids thought it was so fun to find balls in the weeds(plus this cool lady came up after and gave them a bright pink ball and a yellow sponge bob ball...random niceness is awesome). After Sam and I teed of we would let the little ones chip on to the green(except for the time Sam drove the green and wanted to putt it in himself) and then putt it in. Their favorite part was riding in the cart...which can be very roller coasterish on the back nine at Cascade, and their second favorite part was rolling down the hills. And I am sure Carrie would be wincing b/c of all the pesticides that golf courses use, but I figure cascade must be too cheap for that, so we are probably safe. We picked our pumpkins and rolled them to the front yard on a dolly...pregnant lady can't carry that load. They were really heavy. I love fall...I just love it.

Molly's First Day...

Wow...was this girl pumped for school or what?! I was actually pretty excited for her. She is in French Immersion in the afternoons and a really cool science class on Mondays, and has a very experienced first grade teacher. What more could I ask for? It is a little hard on me because I don't get to have my very helpful girl around while I try to get moving in the morning without throwing up...but I need to stop being selfish and just be excited. :-) Daddy stayed home and we all walked her to school. She was so excited she could barely talk to me when I walked her to her class. :-) Her eyes were SUPER wide and she was just taking it all in. It was very fun.
When I picked her up we stopped at the fruit stand on our way home. They have a peach orchard in their back yard, so we will just say the peaches are pretty fresh.(considering they walk them up to their stand in a wheelbarrow) Hansen was a sticky drippy mess by the end, but ate it all the way down to the pit. She came out of school as happy as when she went in. So I couldn't ask for more. The funniest comment was when she told everyone to sit down and she would teach us some French. After saying "je m'appelle..." and a few colors, she then started saying "Blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah..." Hilarious.(to make it even funnier, Hansen started walking around saying, "blah blah..." That is pretty much how I remember my "French Immersion" experience too Molly Bear. :-)

Adding one more...

One more little Baxter is coming our way in February. It will be interesting to see how it changes the family. So far, Garrett is convinced it is a girl and Molly is hoping desperately for a girl. So I am pretty sure a boy would be a disappointment. We won't find that out for 7 more weeks...but I had my one "moment" today hearing the heart beat. I am pretty sure this is always an emotional time for me because I am already hanging by a little strand of a thread from being sick for so long(and the prospect of being sick for so much longer is daunting). But this is my one moment. I have a hard time getting excited for the upcoming birth until I am feeling better, but I love this moment. Hearing that tiny heart beating so fast is beautiful. It is just beautiful. So I will plug along, and pray I can make it to Halloween(when the nausea goes away). Sam has pulled me through three of these already...so I logically know we will make it, it is just hard to see the light at the end of the very dark tunnel. I know it is a blessing to be a mother, and it is a responsibility I don't take lightly. But when Elder Ballard described motherhood as "moments" it put it all into perspective for me. Some moments are so good. Some moments are just plain terrible. Then there is lots of in between time. Today was one of my good moments. And I will hold on to that for as a long as I can. Or at least until someone starts screaming for something that they need. :-)

Hansen

This boy melts me. I mean melts me. His finger suckin, cheek tappin, cuteness just melts me. Sam took them to the mall for an errand he had to run...and put this hat on Hansen. Melted me...so I texted him and begged him to buy it. The funny thing is...is that he takes hats off all the time. I usually have to sneak it back on him when he is focused on something else. But not this hat. He saw Garrett playing with it at home...and as soon as Garrett put it down he walked over and attempted to put it on. I am pretty sure he knows it melts me. I have never had a sweeter toddler. Even when he says "no" he says it as if he's asking a question. I think because he is hoping that I understand him. But then after a couple of "conversations" I tell him that we need to change his diaper, and he will hold my hand and walk up to his room. I mean...melts me.

June

Molly got to go to BYU basketball camp this year...and is going to attend the second on this weekend as well. She had a great time. She is brave. She was young. I can't say she is the most skilled, or even understands the game at all...but she loved it. The best question she asked after the camp was over that cracked me up was, "You mean you can just hold the ball?" This after she explained to me that every time she dribbled these boys would steal it from her. :-) I told her she didn't have to dribble if someone was right by her...she looked at me very surprised. I will say that it warmed my heart a bit when she told me the direction drill(a defensive drill) was her favorite...well and of course Barnacles. :-) Her gym coach was Hailey Hall...great player...great girl. I was grateful Molly got to be with her.

We went up to a picnic with Sam's siblings up in Little Cottonwood canyon. We saw where they chiseled out stone for the temple and read how it took 4 sets of oxen and about 4 days to take 1 stone to the temple building site. Wow. It was a pretty place. The creek was running HIGH...and we stayed far away. Perfect little place for the little people. Afterwards we got slushies and hung out at Pete and Jen's....which pleased Garrett to no end. He always wants to go there so he can dress up in his leopard suit. He doesn't really care that it is skin tight and is for a girl. He jumps around like a leopard and growls away. :-) While typing this, I just heard Hansen wake up. I then heard his curtains fall to the ground and a little "Uh Oh" In his oh so cute voice. :-) Gotta go get him. Love that guy.

May...wow...

May is a busy month...and we only have one kid who is in school...I have a very strong feeling May will be CRAZY in a few years. It started of course with Garrett's birthday and luckily the Great Grandparents were here. We visited Thanksgiving point with them...and this pic is priceless to me. Them with 4 of their 7 great grandkids.
The kids were thinking of ways to make money. So they decided to have a water balloon sale. Other than the money they made from me...it didn't go too well, but they didn't care. Then they proceeded to pop them all.
Molly had a great program with her Kindergarten...and HAD to get a pic with her teacher. She was so excited to wear a dress. She had a great teacher this year, and a great experience. She loves school and is very happy there. It is all we can ask for. We will pray French Immersion goes as smoothly.
Finally we had her dance performance. This dance thing was a little more intense than I initially imagined. They are 6 years old! Come on! But after receiving 6 emails from her teacher on hair and make-up we had Emily help us. :-) We all have our strengths...and this is not one of mine. But I am a great problem solver...aka...finder of other people to help. :-) Thank goodness for Aunt Emily! Molly performed great and just LOVED it. She is not exactly shy. She ate up every bit of it. No one could come that night to her BIG night...and right before we were about to leave, Garrett fell off the barstool on his face and had a possible broken nose, or broken face. Blood everywhere. So as I was trying to prepare her for the fact that her Dad may not be able to come(he ended up making it and Garrett proceeded to whack his face again and got a bloody lip...Sam left a little early), she told me, "It's okay Mom, I understand...but at least Andi will be there." And Andi did show up! With a beautiful bouquet of flowers! And it meant the world to my little girl. Thank goodness for Aunt Andi! She told me on the way home that she would like to do it again. :-) But she is ready to do something else too. I have enjoyed watching her try new things. She is very brave.