Spring Break Family Fun

We had a super fun spring break with my family this year. My parents and brother came to visit from California, and the week was packed full of fun things. 

They got here Saturday night, and the next day we went to church together and then had Kenzie's family birthday party. It was donut themed because Kenzie loves donuts so much. 

The next day we had what we call "donut day" and went to our favorite donut place. Seriously, if you're ever in Salt Lake, check out "Fresh Donut and Deli." SO GOOD! Then Marley went to school and my mom went to volunteer in her class. 

Later in the day my whole family went to see the Jordan River Temple open house. It was such a beautiful experience, and I'm glad my whole family got to be there. The best part was when all the kids thought the baptismal font was a swimming pool. HAHA!

Some other activities from that week included:

LOTS of trips to DI. This is basically our families version of hitting yard sales on a Saturday morning. We always find awesome treasures!

We took all the kids bowling at BYU. Marley got a strike, and her whole life was made. 

We went to Nickel Mania with all the kids, and they had a great time. 

Saturday we did the family egg hunt at my sisters house, and it was a beautiful day! The kids each found like a hundred eggs. Later we also dyed some eggs for ladies night and the kids thought it was so cool. 

Easter Sunday we got together to have a a yummy lunch and watch the last session of general conference. Once conference was over my family started their drive home.

We normally only get to see my parents a few times a year, so we always love it when they come see us. The girls are very disappointed that they have been left with boring old mom.   

Kenzie Turns 3

March was a very busy month, so I'm a bit late at posting this but I needed to write about our sweet Kenzie's birthday. 

Its hard to believe that she's already three! We had such a fun day celebrating our sweet girl.

We had a fun day spending the afternoon playing with friends at a  McDonald's play place, and Kenzie enjoyed her favorite food for dinner: Spaghetti! 

After dinner we opened presents, and then enjoyed some donut-shaped cake because Kenzie loves donuts! She loved being sung to, and had lots of fun playing with all her new toys. 

Its hard to put into words how special this girl is. Kenzie is our tender, snuggly, quiet, silly girl. Plain and simple, she is just the sweetest kid! I squeeze her all the time and just can't get over how cute she is. 

Kenzie is a thinker. I can constantly see the wheels turning in her head while she's playing, and maybe she will be an engineer like her daddy someday. She is content to do her own thing is most cases, but she loves a chance to play with her sister or cousins.

Most people haven't heard Kenzie talk a whole lot, but she sure has a lot to say when she's around her family. We are always laughing about the silly, cute things she says. This age is so much fun! 

We love our sweet Kenzie girl!  

Birthday Party for Marley

This year for Marley's birthday we ventured into foreign territory...hosting a kid party! We have had parties at our house, but this was the first time going somewhere and renting a place out. 

Marley kept saying she wanted to have a "ninja birthday party." What does that even mean?! We decided that a trampoline park was a good fit, where she could jump around and do "ninja moves" as she calls them. 

The Saturday after Marley's birthday, we hosted a party at a trampoline park near our house and it was such a blast! So many of our family and friends were able to come and Marley was so happy. There was something for everyone to do, no matter their age. It made my heart happy to see the kids having so much fun. 

We had a room to ourselves for pizza, and to do cake and presents and we didn't have to do any set up or clean up, which was my favorite part.  

We won't do big parties like this every year, but it was such a great experience for everyone, I'm glad we did it.  

  

Marley Turns 5

Its hard to believe that my little baby girl is now five! Marley was so very excited for her birthday, she was literally counting down the days. 

I grew up in a family where birthdays were pretty special, so I'm doing the same with our girls. On the morning of Marley's birthday I decided to leave a little early for school and stop by our favorite donut place. 

Marley went to school, told anyone who would listen that it was her birthday, and brought cookies to share with her class. We picked her up afterwards and headed to Chick fila to have lunch and let the girls play. Jason took the day off so that he could spend time with us, and Marley was very excited to have him there when school got out. 

After lunch, Marley opened presents and loved getting new toys to play with. Jason took Marley to the dollar store to spend some birthday money that his Grandpa sent, and it was funny to see the things she chose with her $5. She picked a giant birthday hat, red baton, box of starbursts, an orange ball, and a heart balloon. 

To keep the party going, we then headed to Grandma's house! Both our girls LOVE when we go there, especially since they have two dogs. We had lots of fun visiting with family, Marley had her favorite dinner (Mac n Cheese), and then we had cake. 

I loved getting to celebrate our sweet girl on her birthday, she is truly one of a kind and I love that about her. Marley is spunky, silly, tenderhearted, and SO smart. 

She loves to sing, play with friends (especially cousins), make new friends, be outside, ask questions, draw detailed pictures, and make her sister laugh.   

We are so happy to have her be part of our family and I can't believe how grown up she is now. Every day I am surprised by something she does or says, and I think to myself "How did you get so big?!" 

She will do great things, and I can't wait to see her take the world by storm. 

2017 in Review

We had a busy, crazy, fun year! I love looking back at pictures, so here are a few of my favorites from each month of 2017. They tell the story of birthdays, holidays, trips, milestones, shenanigans, real life, new beginnings, and just a whole lot of love. 

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

The biggest blessing brought by this year was Jason's new job. It allowed us to stay where we are, close to family and great friends. 2017 was the fist year in our entire marriage that neither of us were college students, that was a HUGE change.

Our biggest goal for 2018 is to pay off debts and save for a house. In the coming year we will see where life takes us, and hopefully enjoy the ride. 

Happy New Year!

Read last years update HERE