Happy Mother's Day 2020!!

I had the most beautiful Mother's Day! Besides caring for Isla, I hardly lifted a finger the entire day! Josh and the kids made breakfast that morning after they all gave me their presents. Let's just say I was spoiled rotten with pampering spa supplies to have my own spa night! The kids gave me the sweetest homemade cards that they had been working on and my heart was so full with their sweet words and pictures. I spent the day relaxing and called my mothers and grandmothers to wish them a Happy Mother's Day as well. Then later that afternoon we had a BBQ with steaks and salad. It was delish! Then we had our weekly video conference with Josh's family to wish Janis a happy day and then broke out the chocolate cake! After putting Isla to bed, my wonderful day was finalized with an amazing bath and I spoiled myself with all my new spa supplies :).

I am so blessed to be the mother to these three angels. They are my life and my world. I don't know where I would be without them. There is no greater calling than motherhood :).

Our Much Needed Getaway

We were supposed to spend an entire week in California over Spring Break, but the Coronavirus ruined all of our plans and quarantined the entire world. For months we have had to stay inside our house and work from home, homeschool the kids, etc. Nothing is normal anymore and we are all starting to feel it. I needed to get away. Away from this house and away from life during a pandemic. So I packed up the kids and we headed out to Logandale to spend a week with my Mom. We took a risk leaving our house, but it was one that we were all willing to take just to have some sense of normalcy for a while! And oh, what a wonderful week it was!! Briana came out with Thomas and Gracelynn and we had sooooo much fun! I home-schooled Austin every morning out on the front porch before the sun got too hot and the kids did chores for Grandma. Then we spent the rest of every day outside playing in the water! We were either in the kiddie pool or on our makeshift slip 'n slide on the trampoline! It felt like heaven to be so free and to not worry for a while. Briana had all sorts of fun crafts and games planned for each day and I navigated my way around having 2 kids and a baby to care for. Briana also threw a little late birthday party for Evie since nobody could come out to her actual birthday party and it was so fun! Evie was in heaven and was so excited to go on a special date with Grandma to McDonalds ;). This was Isla's first time leaving the house for longer than an hour and she was intrigued by it all. Being born the year of a global pandemic definitely changes life for you and you are far more sheltered than the other kids. She got her first experience with swimming, dogs, and sleeping at someone else's house all during this trip! I lost 2 pounds over this trip because I was solo parenting for most of it while also homeschooling and trying to keep the kids entertained etc, but it was totally worth it! The stress was nothing compared to the joy I felt being free again! Josh came out and joined us after work on Friday night and the kids were so happy to see him and to show him all the fun stuff we had been doing! We played the rest of the weekend with Daddy before we had to go back home to life again. But before we left we were already planning another trip out here to the countryside because it was too good! Oh and I have to mention that Sadie had her baby during that time too! Sweet baby Joey was born and I woke up at the crack of dawn to be the first one to see him on FaceTime since nobody is allowed to travel right now. It's a crappy time to have a baby and I feel terrible that Sadie has nobody out in North Carolina to care for her. But she and Joe make a good team so I'm not too worried. And oh is that baby sweet!!

Isla's first experience with swimming was a success! She loved it!

Waking up each morning happy and calm, away from the chaos of the world.

Austin trying to get some sleep despite having two sisters who love to wake up at the crack of dawn ;)

Enjoying my morning green drink on the front porch before homeschooling begins.

Just look at that little poolside diva!

The kids all living their best life :)

I don't know what I would do without my sisters. Their babies feel like my own and their happiness makes me so happy. Life is good with them around :).

Aunt Nana loves her Isla :)

Homeschool perfection!

Gracie loves her baby cousin so much! She was obsessed with her!

Water balloon war with Uncle Thomas!

Evie's very un-birthday! Better late than never! :)

Austin was obsessed with Grandma's new Bow and Arrows!

Dad was pretty excited to join in on the fun! What is it about boys and weapons?

My tuckered out little babe :)

Crafting time!

Isla was obsessed with Grandma and always wanted to be held by her. Whenever Grandma wasn't holding her, Isla was looking around for her! :)

Welcome to the family little Joey! We love you so much already!

Happy 5th Birthday Evie-Girl!!!!

Happy 5th Birthday Evie!!!

Oh Evie, how are you already 5??!! This is the moment you have been waiting for all year since you turned 4... the special moment when you would finally be old enough for Kindergarten :). You are already so advanced and know more than most Kindergartners. I wish I could take credit for that, but you basically listen to what I teach Austin and then you teach yourself! Since your birthday was in the middle of a global pandemic and we were housebound, you didn't get the party we had been planning on. But what you got instead turned out even better! By the end of the long day full of celebrating you tiredly said this was the best birthday you had ever had and I honestly had to agree! It all just kinda came together! I had felt so sad for you that you couldn't have friends at your party because we are all quarantined, so our neighbors came over (even though they weren't supposed to according to the government) and you got to play with your sweet friend, Bella, and Austin all day! It was so fun! You played water games all afternoon and when you finally got cold and tired, we ordered Hawaiian BBQ from up the street and had a picnic outside with their family! Then, after that was all over, friends from our ward surprised us all with a parade for you! They all drove by our house honking their horns and flying banners and birthday signs for you, shouting out the windows that they love you and miss you! It brought me to tears and you were completely stunned by the whole thing. We were caught completely by surprise and didn't even take a picture which was such a bummer because that act of kindness was something I always want to remember and hope that you do too. We might all be quarantined, but our sweet friends and neighbors and finding ways to show love to each other that is incredible. Before all of this fun, we did all sorts of fun games inside like pin the horn on the Unicorn, Googly Eyes, and we even got your first pinata! You wanted a Unicorn party so we decorated the house all Unicorn-like and Mom made you a special Unicorn cake that you loved! For presents, you asked for anything that had to do with Unicorns (hehe) so you got a Unicorn costume, Unicorn nightgown, Unicorn swimsuit (that is unfortunately too big because you are such a skinny little thing!), a Unicorn  backpack that had a Unicorn stuffed animal inside, and all sorts of coloring stuff etc. Were you spoiled? Yes. But was it worth it to see your sweet face when you opened it all up. Your excitement for life and surprises can't be contained and it makes my heart so happy :). Oh sweet baby girl, how 5 years has already come and gone is so crazy for me to process and it hurts inside whenever I think about you leaving me for Kindergarten in the fall. I can't imagine life without you, and for that, I celebrated your special birthday with all my heart. You are the most incredible little girl Evie. The best of the best. Your Mama loves you :).

We decorated inside and out!

Daddy even bought you your own boquet of roses :).

Decorating the house for her Unicorn party!

Little Diva opening her presents :)

She was so excited to get the Unicorn costume and wore it the rest of the day :)

My little Unicorn wit her Unicorn cake!

Singing happy birthday!

The trick candles were a big hit!

Playing Pin the Horn on the Unicorn

Playing Googly Eyes! It was a fun new game Evie got for her birthday!

Just look at those Googly Eyes!

How is he still cute with these glasses on?! hehe!

Smacking the pinata! This was their favorite part!

Headed outside for water balloons and water games!

This is the point where the neighbors came over to play in the water with us!

We were so happy to have Bella over for Evie's party! It was such a beautiful day full of food, water, and sunshine. For an entire day life felt normal again! Like the Coronavirus wasn't plaguing our lives and ruining our world. And for that we were all so incredibly grateful.

Happy Easter! (Isla's first)

 
We had a wonderful Easter, despite the global pandemic and being quarantined. In fact, it was really nice to have nowhere to go or people to see. We painted eggs the night before while the kids excitedly talked about the Easter Bunny. Then we woke up early and hunted for eggs and had a big egg breakfast! The Easter Bunny brought all sorts of fun stuff to wake up to in their Easter baskets and was super prepared for our Disneyland trip we were supposed to be taking! Grrrrr..... damn virus..... Oh well, the kids had fun using their new stuff at home instead. The rest of the day was enjoyed from home. We do our Sunday Sacraments at home now because we aren't allowed to go to church until this virus is over. Josh blesses the bread and water and honestly, it has been a beautiful experience for our kids to see. This pandemic is horrible and brings daily frustrations, but it has also been wonderful in other ways. We get so much more time together at home. Josh works from home now. I homeschool the kids. There is so much more time devoted to family. For that I am so grateful. This was also Isla's first Easter and she was too young to really participate, but I think she liked it ;). As always, the kids were zooming too fast to take a clear picture, but that's all part of the fun, right? :).

painting eggs!

We made some good ones!

Waking up Easter morning to find some baskets!

Lot's of goodies!

Searching for those eggs :)

Isla watching from the sidelines with Daddy :)

Happy Easter from my crew!