Girls Getaway and Claire's 9!

 Last year Nathan and I decided it is important for me to take the girls 12 and older on a little trip each year if we can make it happen.  This year we decided to take a couple days to bond at Universal Studios Hollywood (or rather Harry Potter land to make Libbie's dreams come true) and enjoy some sunshine in the dreary winter months.  Mia was so scared to fly this time around so being the caring mom that I am, decided to pretend we were the next cast of the show LOST.  Libbie and I had fun checking out the terminal for the characters that represented "Sun, Gin, Saiid, Sawyers, Kate, Jack...you get the picture?  Or maybe you don't :)/.  Anyway, it passed the time and gave us something to think about.  It was a very late flight so we didn't get to our VRBO until the wee-hours of the morning.

 Libbie's and Mia's bed for the next couple nights.  The refused to get into the covers.  They are so bizarre.

 The inviting gargoyles outside our little place. At night, this giant pathway to the house was lit up by all sorts of motion-sensor christmas lights.  The owner called it "the yellow brick road".  Indeed it was.   The first time it was a little alarming.  Then it became charming.

 After a quick/mediocre donut, we headed for Universal.

 This picture is something else.  My body placement is...interesting.  The Koala seems to think it's funny.  Ha ha.  My girls did too.

 Libbie is so happy to finally be at Hogwarts!  We enjoyed the candy store and butter beer.  What we (specifically me) did not enjoy was the 50-degree weather.  It was just a bit nippy for me to be content.  I should have brought my coat.  Drinking my frozen butter beer while seated outside for lunch was a bummer.  None-the-less, it was delicious and the fish and chips was yummy too.

 We are all looking a little tired and red-nosed before the backlot tour.

 After our day at Universal we had dinner (per Mia's request) at Tortilla Republic.  She fell in love with this place in Hawaii and "needed" to try it again.  After freezing all day we got to sit by the door :). Next we hit up Sprinkles Cupcakes for a late-night snack.  The driving was a bit stressful.

 Our breakfast the next morning was quite delicious. Hugemongous, tasty french toast.

 Next, we hit up the Getty.  It wasn't the girls' favorite activity of the trip, but we are definitely more artistically refined.

 Cookie sandwich at Diddy Riese.

 After some shopping we decided to check out Griffith Observatory.  Apparently this is a popular thing to do on a Saturday night.  We had to hike in the dark a crooked mile.  The girls thought I was pretty much crazy for making them do this.  A couple of times I was also wondering if I was nuts.  We made it though and it was pretty neat.  We'll have to go back at a less busy time, maybe during the day.

 And one more stop at a different Sprinkles Cupcakes.  Sadly, these cupcakes just didn't measure up to the ones we had in New York. We still ate them though :).

 On our final morning we went to church at a ward near the temple then grabbed breakfast at this little place.  We sampled several different pastries and concluded they were all delicious.   Thank you Nathan for holding down the fort while we frolicked and played.  He treated the kids to pizza, a movie (Trolls), hung hooks in our closet, took Tyce to work, and had dinner hot and ready when we arrived home.  The only real casualty was when Kona swallowed a sock.

 Our Claire Bear turned 9!  She's such a delight.  Her day was not the most exciting thing since she had school and swimming lessons in the evening.  Dad took her and her sisters to the movie beforehand in celebration.

Jake, Hannah and the girls joined us for cake and ice cream. 

 That chocolate whipped cream was so yummy :)  We love this girl very much.

Survival Mode

 Well, I'm happy to report we've survived 2 months of tax season thus far.  Here are a "few" of the things that have kept us happy and/or busy.  Science fair is not my favorite.  There are usually tears and much frustration.  Mallory hung in there though and was a good self-starter on her seed experiment.  She worked to see if seeds that are frozen grow faster than seeds that aren't frozen.  Three science fairs down, three more to go.

 Kona is adjusting nicely and we are adjusting nicely to him.  He's still adored immensely even though helpers are a little less eager when it comes to potty breaks and dog-walks.

 We found some of Dad's shoes from his college days.  The kids were quite "impressed" with his fashion sense.  Ha ha.

 Claire used her birthday money from Grandma to get her ears pierced again.

 Up next was Valentine's Day.  Always a favorite.  Mallory created this cute Cookie Monster box.

 Tyce had his first "Heart Day" as he called it.  He downed all of those treats from his class party in about 3.2 seconds.

 This Valentine's chocolate torte was divine.

 These people are also divine...even if we fight all through our lovely pizza dinner and can focus on nothing else besides the romantic candles in the center of the table.

 We built (and knocked down) lots of mega towers.

 Lightsaber fights are always a favorite.

 Tyce makes up games quite frequently.  This is probably one of his best times of invention.

 Documenting adorableness before church.

 Tyce had his first visit to the dentist.  He was a champ!

 The sun has started shining which means we have ventured out from time to time.  Mia is Kona's protector and biggest fan.

 Claire tried out basketball for the first time.  She did fabulously and made a basket nearly every game.  He coach really complimented her ability to defend aggressively.

 I like when they are friends.

 Jaren splurged on these awesome spectacles.

 Tyce tried out itty-bitty ball for the first time.  He LOVED it.

 This kid is a maniac with the basketball. So fun to watch.

 This guy turned 7.  He is a wild, crazy, loving, adventurous, brave, smart boy.  It seems like yesterday he came to our home as a tiny, scrawn-john.  Now he's a tall string bean.

 First gift of the day.

 We had a large group of family join Jaren for his birthday party.  We ate monte cristo sandwiches and fruit for dinner.  Then we made Nerf dart poppers, played some nerf target games in the basement, then the kids had a Nerf War while the parents ducked for cover upstairs.  No one lost an eye, but several people came close.

 Jaren always loves Caleb's globe so we thought this would be a fun gift for him.  He loves spinning it with his eyes closed to see where we'll go next.

 Jaren's cake didn't exactly turn out like the pinterest version.  It's supposed to be a target, but alas it mostly looks like a display of mediocre cupcakes.

 Some of our party-goers.  What a good crew to support Jaren's day.

 St. Patrick's Day breakfast of green pancakes and syrup.  And would you look at the green outfit Tyce picked out?  He was definitely not wanting to be pinched.

 Crystal, her kids, and Grandma and Papa were in town on their spring break.  One day we hopped over to Provo for some ice cream at Rockwell.  Who doesn't like ice cream for lunch?

 Another pinterest fail.  Ha! Sometimes I just have to laugh at myself.

 Nathan turned the BIG 4-0!  He started his day out with a bang...or was it a snap? We were running in the dark on a trail out to Eagle Mountain when suddenly Nathan was on the ground writhing in pain.  He had managed to accidentally roll his ankle on a rock he couldn't see.  Horrible!  I ran home as quick as my legs could carry me (which was apparently not very quick according to Nathan, ha ha) to grab the car so he could make it home.  Not exactly the way you'd like to begin your birthday. He then continued his day at work with a bum foot.

 After work, the kids and I threw him a low-key party with a cowboy theme.  The kids did a nice job decorating and helping Dad feel special on this not-so-awesome day.  We love him even when he's gimpy (and ruins our plans of a half-marathon at the end of April :))

 Mia made this cute collage with pictures from Nathan's life.

 With the help of many friends and family I put together a book of memories/compliments about Nathan with pictures of each person.  It turned out pretty nice and even may have caused someone to get a little teary.

 Chocolate, reeses cake with peanut butter whipped cream.

 Tyce and I got crafty and did some shaving cream paining on paper Easter eggs.

 My little kitchen buddy.  Always ready to jump on in and "help".  Really, it is quite adorable most of the time.

A quick trip to the dino museum.