Kassie Visits Indy

Scott's sister Kassie flew out from Boise to come visit us for 4 days and we jammed packed those days full of fun.  Even though the kids were sick with pnemonia, broncchitis, and ear infections, that didn't slow us down.  Scott took her fishing, to the dental school and Guanajuatos. We went to Cole's Trike-a-Thon, shopping, out to breakfast and frozen yogurt with birthday friends, Fogo de Chao with dental friends, Creation's Cafe and to stake conference together.  On Saturday, we all went to the Children's museum where they have this new exibit of an underwater cannon from 1697 off of Captain Kidd's pirate ship.  The kids got to dress up in scuba gear below.

There was a Lego exibit where the coolest and intricate things were made out of leggos, but the coolest thing was this lifesize sports car that was built entirely out of these small itty bitty leggos. The kids had to take a picture in it, naturally.

Kassie was gracious enough to take them on the carousel since the spinning around makes me nauscious.  They love this ride, and could probably ride it over and over again.

 After the Children's Museum we took Kassie downtown to ride the train to the canal and got some appetizers (fried pickle chips) and gelato, yummy!  We had so much fun, thanks Kassie for coming to visit us!

Trike-A-Thon

On Friday while Kassie was visiting, Cole's preschool did a Trike-A-Thon where all donations went toward St. Jude's Hospital.  Cole thought it was the coolest thing ever and he was so proud of himself for completing 30 laps!

Watch the VIDEO below of him riding, way to go Cole!

Little Bro's Graduation

I took all three kids to Utah for my little brother's Graduation at BYU (since Scott would be out of town anyways for 3 days for his clinical boards). All of my siblings were able to make it, so it was great to see everyone.  We were also able to see extended family there: Stuart & Lisa  and all their family, and Claudia & Alden.  Scot had a huge graduation party at his clubhouse where we were able to visit with all our family and friends.

He graduated with his bachelors from the college of business, Congrats Scot, way to go!

We went to Magelby's after both days of graduation to celebrate, couldn't get enough!

Easter Weekend

The Saturday before Easter we took the kids to the annual Easter Egg Hunt, which Ella was amazing and found tons of eggs.  Cole, was sad that Ella was participating in the older kids group this year and didn't want to find eggs, so only picked up two (see his face in upper left pic).  Cole loved the Easter Bunny, but Ella was deathly scared to even stand next to him this year.... these kiddos....

Brock was happy in the stroller the whole time!

Then we went home after the Y egg hunt to color some eggs of our own.  I got the idea from my friend's blog here, and loved it because it was less messy and easier clean up!

Then of course, you gotta go hide those eggs we colored... so we hid then about 6-7 times, and the kids loved having their turn to hide it for each other.

Sunday morning, the Easter Bunny did the same thing as last year... left his marshmallow droppings from the kids' doors all the way downstairs where their baskets were hiding.  The kids love this stuff and makes it more exciting to find.

Happy Easter!  Sad, Brock slept right through the mornin's excitement of easter basket finding, but looked so darn in his matching sweater vests with Cole. For Sunday dinner we celebrated dinner with awesome friends and the best eats ever!

Turning 30

I always dreded the thought of turning 30, because it sounds SO OLD! But I have some really close and AMAZING friends that spoiled me with balloons, flowers and gifts. They actually kidnapped me, all I knew beforehand was 5:00 and be hungry. Camille and Rachael showed up and took me to Cheesecake Factory where I was surprised by 12 other friends. I was very touched they took the time to come celebrate with me. The food and cheesecake was delicious as always and they even put "happy birthday" on my cake plate in chocolate syrup.

After Cheesecake Factory, four of us close friends went to see "The Vow" which was only playing up north in Carmel.  It was well worth the drive, such a great movie, and some really great friends of mine to watch it with.

The next night was Friday and Scotty took me to Beef & Boards Dinner Theater in north Indy to celebrate.  It was something I wanted to do before we left here.  "Legally Blonde" was playing, and was way better than I thought it was going to be.  They have some real talent there and really entertaining.  It was our first time leaving Brock and he did great since he FINALLY takes a bottle.

 Turning 30 was the best ever!

Spring Break: Washington, D.C.

For our last Spring Break here in Indy, we decided to go somewhere we had on our bucket list to do before we left.  It worked out great since my mom is living in Morgantown, WV temporarily with her husband's job, so we stayed with her a night there before taking her with us to D.C.

We bought a day pass for the metro, and that is the only way to go since everything in D.C. is in walking distance to each other.  The kids loved riding the train, and Ella kept asking if it was our stop, like the bus stop she's familiar with.  Brock slept through the morning ride into the city.

 We first got some lunch there and headed over to see the Washington Monument.  It was closed for tours, so we were bummed, but what a cool building to see.

There was this huge fountain on the way to the Lincoln Memorial, and it was a great time to stop and nurse Brock and let the kids put their feet in the water. It was our first "hot" day of spring, over 80 degrees when we've been used to 40-50's, and we were hot and sweaty all day. I had to dress Brock down to just his onesie.

 Then we walked over to the Lincoln Memorial.  The kids wanted to sit on his lap, and the railing didn't stop Cole, he starting climbing over it and we had to catch him.  What an amazing sight, I didn't think Lincoln was going to be that big!

 The Korean War Memorial was really cool how they set up all these soldier statues dressed in coats.  I didn't realize it was in the bitter cold winter they were fighting, how miserable they must've felt besides the horror of fighting a war.

 The Vietnam War Memorial was really touching because that's where my mom's husband Fred fought at.  There were 58,195 names on the wall and it was amazing to think of the things Fred must've seen and been through. We felt touched by his service.

 Arlington Cemetary was something we all really wanted to see.  The tombstones of all those who died in wars fighting for our country's freedom.  Here we saw the demonstration of the changing of the guards. It is a ceremony that is dead silent and it was neat to see the guards do their drill commands.  We saw the tomb of the unknown soldiers.  We also saw the eternal flame on JFK's memorial and tombstone.

It was so incredibly beautiful this time of the year in D.C. with all of the cherry blossoms in full bloom. I felt like we were in the gardens and not a cemetary. 

 The 2nd day in Washington, D.C. we took the opportunity to attend the temple, just Scott and I, since the last time we were able to go was a year ago on our anniversary before we had Brock.  (These days we've been going separately since Brock just this week decided to take a bottle).  The D.C. temple is huge and beautiful.  Inside there are water fountains and staircases everywhere, and beauty I can't even speak of.  My mom took the kids in the visitor's center while we were in the temple and they had this room with a tv playing the mormon ads.  There was also the large statue of Christ that I love.

 I'm so glad we were able to spend some time with my mom, and that she was able to go on our trip wtih us.  She's really happy living in Morgantown, WV and we were able to do some fun stuff there a couple days before we had to come back to Indy.  Scott took the kids to the children's museum there and the park while my mom and I had some quality shopping time.  Great trip, I'd do it all over again.... (even the hours and hours of driving in the car with 3 kids!  How did we survive??? Three words: Portable DVD Player)

Brock 4-5 months

I took Brock for a 4 mo. photo shoot, and I'm not super excited about how these pictures turned out, but I guess I can't complain too much since they were free.  Brock is such a sweet boy and learning how to use his hands to play with toys. He smiles and big open mouth smile all of the time when you talk to him and he laughs and gigles now, it's so fun.
His 4 mo check up was a couple weeks ago, here were his stats:
weight: 17 lbs (95th percentile)
height: 27 inches (90th percentile)
size diaper: 3
Clothing size: 6-12 mo
Nicknames: Brocky Rocky, Chunky Monkey
Ella and Cole always call him "baby Brocky"

Watch the VIDEO of his first attempt to roll over.  He rolls over pretty good now if I put him on his tummy with his arms under him.  But he's super happy here, and we love it. 

Brock is also my first thumb sucker.  He only sucks it when he's trying to go to nap during the day. I'm trying to stop the habit by enforcing a binky, but he looks so darn cute!

Can't get enough of this little guy, we LOVE him to peices!

Daddy Campout: Turkey Run National Park

Scott has been dying to take the kids camping since we've had the 8th warmest winter in history... so to start spring break off right, he took the kids camping before our family trip to Washington D.C. 

They made tinfoil dinners and smores

Cole and Ella were looking at the map and each decided they wanted to go in different directions.  Scott took them on a hike in the morning after breakfast of eggs and pancakes.

They all came home saying they had so much fun... probably one of our family traditions for years to follow. Maybe next time Brock and mommy can come!