Ella is ELEVEN!!!

This weekend Ella turned 11! I can't believe how fast time has flown by. We celebrated last weekend with my family since my brother has the same birthday as Ella.

On her actual birthday we had birthday breakfast donuts and then her aunt Daphne came to surprise her for lunch!

We brought her Culvers and cookies for her class.

After school we had cookie cake and opened her presents. 

She got a tower for her beanie boos, an Ipod, a fidget spinner, a Boogie board, legos, lots of different art supplies, a cd, and several other things. 

Her Grandma Speers, Natalie, Daphne and the kids and I celebrated as Grandpa and Ragnar were both unavailable. 

After cake and presents, we left the younger two kids with a babysitter and went to Olive Garden for dinner. Then, we went to the Toyota Center for the playoff game of the Rockets vs. Spurs. What are the odds that your son and daughter would both have a game scheduled on their birthdays. So, we wanted to be with dad as much as we could! Ella really likes to go to the games as well. She was excited as I let her get icecream.

Dad came and watched the last quarter with us!

She was SUPER excited to be with her aunt Daphne. We were so grateful that she took the time to come to town. Sadly the Rockets did not win :(

Saturday we went out to ride bikes and then came to the pool for the first visit of the season.

When we got back, we had dinner and then Daphne had a great idea to try out the projector and watch a movie outside since the weather was beautiful!

It took a little bit of work getting it going, but we had a fun evening! We love Ella and we are so glad she is our oldest child. She is a great example to her siblings. She is very intelligent and loves to learn. She is very good at school and loves to be the best she can there. She also is still always reading. When she doesn't have a book, she is listening to music. She is very brave and tried out for several parts at school this year and got a couple of them. She will be performing as the wicked witch in her school play, and in her talent show in the next couple weeks. I am proud of her for looking to increase her talents. We love who she is becoming!!

School House Rocks!

Cavin had his 3rd grade musical this week and they performed "School House Rocks". He was excited and a little nervous as well. 

Our cute guy. 

 

Cavin sang a couple songs and was nervous to have to "dab" because it embarrassed him, but he did it and made it through. I'm proud of him. He is a good kid.

Channing is 6!!!

Channing turned six on April 23, 2017. She was really excited about her big day and had been talking about it for weeks. The Friday before her birthday, we celebrated at school with her. I was the mystery reader in her class and then we had lunch together. We brought her classmates donuts and they were pretty excited!

After school I let her take a friend for a little outing. Thankfully she has many friends to choose from, but her best friend Avery from her kindergarten class is who she chose to come with.

They went to get pedicures together! 

They chose matching blue toenail polish!

After pedicures, we went out to Tutti Frutti for icecream!! They literally giggled for like 3 hours straight! I have never met two girls who giggled so much!! They had a fun time together, but literally her stomach hurt afterward from all the laughing!

On her actual birthday, since it was Sunday, we settled for the packaged donuts and a cinnamon roll!

She woke up early and took the liberty of declaring that she could sleep in bed with mom and dad because it was her birthday. Typically we don't have our kids in bed with us, but we made an exception for her special day. 

She started the morning off with breakfast and then glow in the dark balloons!

We went to church and then afterward my brother Chris came over for a BBQ and celebrated with us!

Channing opened presents and was excited about what she got. She got a jewlery box from Aunt Daphne, a Willa American girl doll from Grandma, a jewlery making kit from Oma, Elena dress up things from us, a purse and diary from Uncle Chris and Aunt Chira, and many more things, but what she was super excited about was her necklaces that Avery's mom makes and Avery got for her!

She chose a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Her cousin Charlotte was all ready to help with the action!

I love this picture as I think it portrays her well. She is silly but loved the day being all about her.

All day she would say things like... "it's my birthday so you can't take your first bite of breakfast before me", or "I get to go first because it's my birthday." We love our little birthday diva, but man did she live it up!! She his a very creative, artistic child. She loves to draw and color and paint. She also absolutely LOVES makeup, fashion, and jewelry. I don't know where she got that from, because it certainly wasn't me! She is getting better and better at reading and is still pretty shy at school. At home, she never stops singing and talking. I guess it's good that she feels comfortable here! She does hate to throw anything away! I find stashes of her tags from clothes, or box wrappers, or any paper someone has given her. She hates to throw them away. She is very loving and always wants to cuddle or give hugs. She hates when we don't say goodbye before we leave anywhere. We do love our orange headed Channing and she does keep us on our toes!

Flag Football!

Cavin decided to take the Spring season off of soccer and try flag football. He played with an organization called UPWARD and his team was the Colts. He really enjoyed learning a new sport and did fairly well. He was the quarterback on and off for many games, and has a great arm. He really tries hard and I am grateful for that.

Fun action shot!!

Here was his team this year. They won about half their games. He really looked forward to practice.

End of season huddle. They played hard and I am proud of their hard work!

Easter 2017

I love Easter season. I love the spring, and the colors that come with it. I love the meaning behind Easter and the focus on the Savior. I love the traditions, and I just love this holiday! We celebrated several times for a couple weeks an enjoyed thinking about the reason for the Easter season. 

The weekend before Easter we did the traditional Easter Egg dying!! My kids still really enjoy this!

On Good Friday the kids had no school. That means we got to play with the cousins at Grandma and Grandpa's house! We had an Easter egg hunt, played games, went on an adventure to the park, and then decorated cupcakes!

Channing and Charlotte were getting better at learning to pump themselves on the swing. Then they decided going sideways would be more fun! We had a nice time with the cousins!

On Saturday we went to Cavin's football game which he did awesome at. He scored a touchdown and played hard! Then I went to a baptism, haircut, and then in the evening we went with 5 other families to Deer Park and had dinner, an Easter Egg Hunt, and played Kickball!

Our kickball team won and Cavin, Ragnar, Ella, and I all scored. We had a great time, and I was super impressed with Ella and Cavin's effort!

Easter morning the kids came down to search for their Easter baskets and look for more eggs!

This being the third Easter egg hunt, Deacon was getting the hang of it!

Ella was excited about her basket!

Deacon got his beloved ball that hes been eyeing at the store!

Channing only cared about her lip gloss! Haha such a girlie girl!

And Cavin was content as always.

We spent the morning with my brother, Chris, attending his ward. He was called into the Inverness Ward bishopric and received the High Priesthood, so we were there with my parents for his setting apart. 

Channing's dress was adorable! She loved it!

All the cute cousins together again! They looked dashing in all of their Easter apparel! I am grateful we live close to my brother and we got to spend Easter with him. I do love Easter. I know that my Savior lives and that he rose again. I am so grateful for the sacrifice that he made for me. I am grateful for the knowledge that I will be with Him again and that because of Him I can be with my family forever. Such a wonderful blessing!