I came home from school and found a note on the door. I was being invited to begin a scavenger hunt. I was led around the yard and house to different fun places I enjoy doing things with the girls. I was following a clue to my bedroom where I found all of my cute girls hiding under the blankets ready to surprise me with a fun note! They are so sweet! THANK YOU! It's things like these that make me realize nothing else in the world matters as much as my FOUR CUTE GIRLS!
Ashlyn has done this before but has become even better at it. She really enjoys gymnastics class.
Another video of our cute Mommy playing with Claire!
I was upstairs putting the girls down and I heard Claire just laughing! I called down to Jenny, "Sounds like she sure is having fun with you!" but there was no answer. I walked down and Claire was just by herself having a good time with this little mobile action Grandma Martinson has saved in her storage shed for 20+ years. Thanks!
Jenny and I aren't sure where Brinley discovered this face but she has been using it for pictures lately. Don't you just love it!
Here's a cute one! Brinley, Claire, and I went to watch Ashlyn perform with her children's symphony. Ashlyn was having a moment (an hour long one) and we ended up leaving early.
Ashlyn had this idea last night that we could have a party the following day (today). She described having it be a pajama party and tea party with cake. So this morning she woke up and came running into our bedroom screaming about how excited she was now that it was the day of the party. Mom was nice enough to get up with the girls and let me sleep in.
One day I was in the kitchen with Brinley and heard her laughing. I looked over and saw her hanging on like a little monkey.
It seems that with the girls changing sizes all the time, it's difficult to keep up with clothes and finding which ones will be tight enough or loose enough to fit well. These jammies are obviously a little too big. Brinley has also begun a new phase of always having a stuffed animal with her. Teddy bears, minnie mouse, etc. She has also really enjoyed pushing them in the swings in the back yard.
Friday night there was a cake auction at the church as a fundraiser for the Young Women. Ashlyn and I went for a walk outside and what did we see!
Ashlyn and I went to a baptism of a little boy in my primary class yesterday. Whenever we get time alone, I tell her that these are our "dates". I cherish my one-on-one time with the girls.
I get a little choked up when I think about her growing up. I have to remind myself to enjoy every moment. When my parents left us at the end of my spring break last month I had this really sad feeling, especially the next day. I was thinking about not living in Utah close to family. Thinking about my girls growing up too fast. I had this realization that was simple but meaningful, and it was this. We can ONLY live in the present! We can't see the future. We can't go back in time. The best way to live life is to love what is happening right now and cherish each minute. This was a great lesson, but sometimes it's still a little difficult to remember, like when I look at this picture below.
Our cute little Claire! We sure love her! She is smiling and laughing more each day, even though she is another "sober face". With Brinley, she was very sober and we would sing the lines to Lady Gaga's song "Poker face" but replacing it with "Sober face".
Brinley is so good at giving a cheese whenever she recognizes someone is taking a picture.
So I have been wanting to get some camera equipment to use at school for different cases I have. I have been debating whether or not it is worth the money. I finally broke down and decided to use the money from the weight loss contest, and birthday money from my parents, Jenny's parents, and our grandparents. Thanks to all of you. I got the last items in the mail on Friday and have been having a ton of fun with it.
Here are some pictures I've taken with it. Try to guess what things are before you see a the bottom.
Carpet
These flowers are actually about the size of a penny or smaller.
brick on our house
Our screen door
Mold growing on our fence
Crate paper hung for Brinley's birthday.
Jenny's beautiful smile.
Ashlyn's beautiful smile. She actually has an extra upper right lateral incisor. She has three incisors on her right side before the canine. This has caused a slight deviation in her midline. See how her upper and lower midlines aren't the same?
My FOUR cute girls! I love each of them so much! Jenny is such a hard worker! I have a lot of appreciation for what she does. It is so draining, and all of you moms know that. Yet day in and day out not only is she hanging in there, but she is looking for ways to be a better mom, to teach the girls more, and to show more love for them. She is an amazing example to me. She is such a caring person.
On Sunday, Ashlyn was busy in the kitchen arranging a birthday party for Mom. I think this was her fourth one. We have had one every few days since her actual birthday.
Mom went to Kansas City with four other girls this weekend. She left on Friday afternoon at 2 and returned late Saturday night. So we had some quality Daddy-daughter time. And let me tell you, Daddy was worn out by the time Mommy got back.
We started out by finally using a Play-Do gift from Grandma Martinson. I taught Ashlyn how to drill 'n fill. She did great!
The next morning at breakfast I heard Ashlyn say a word I hadn't heard her say before. So I asked her about it.
It wouldn't be a proper daddy-daughter weekend without a tiring trip to the Gardens. Enjoyable as always.
Mommy brought home a surprise gift from IKEA at Kansas city- a brand new glass tea set! Ashlyn was so excited to use it! They accommodated me by doing it in the living room so I didn't have to take my eyes off of the Masters for very long.
I commented on Facebook (which I hardly do any more) about how I don't really follow sports much but I enjoy following golf more than anything else. And the Master's is the most sacred event to me. It always captivates me. It was so enjoyable to follow and watch today. Jordan Spieth (pictured below) is the second youngest person to ever win the Masters (just a few months older than Tiger). I cried as I saw him walk up to the green on the 18th hole. What an amazing experience, with his family and friends watching. Not only did he win, but he broke several records at the Masters.
I just love this movie. I could watch it over and over again but Jenny won't have it.
On a more serious note, Jenny really made this a Holy Week for us. She had little activities each day that helped us learn about the last week of Jesus' life.
But before that, let us recognize Grandma Martinson coming to visit us! The girls were so excited and just couldn't wait for her to come! Very first thing when she got here, she wanted to go to California Tacos.
Ashlyn always has fun with her silly faces, so I thought I'd catch her on video making her different faces.
Jenny's Mom has been here enough times that we don't feel the need to drag her all over the place and see all the stuff we like to do so we did a lot of hanging out. It was pretty cold for the first few days when she got here and was warm for the last couple days. The girls loved having her be a part of the nightly routine.
We had a great time with grandma at the zoo too!
Ashlyn had this great idea to throw me a birthday party while grandma was here. (I think she has thrown about 10 birthday parties for me since my birthday and Brinley continues to tell me Happy Birthday!) So they went to the dollor store and got balloons, party hats, plates, made cupcakes, and we had a party. Ashlyn is such a sweetheart!
While Grandma was here, she spoiled the girls! Ashlyn loves to milk it when she is here. Ha Ha. Grandma took us shopping and the girls got some new spring outfits, dresses, and shoes. I looked at Ashlyn and said, "Ash, grandma is spoiling you." Ashlyn got the biggest smile on her face along with the look of "I know" as she was showing me the new Frozen shoes she was getting. I think one of her major love languages is gifts (which grandma is great at)! Thanks Grandma!!
After we dropped Grandma off at the airport, we went to a boardwalk that is by the airport to wave goodbye to her in the airplane.
The primary had an activity for Easter. Two of the members of the presidency were sick and Jenny did great to pick up the slack and help all the kids have a good time. This woman came from a homeless shelter organization and helped teach the kids about what it is like to be homeless.
The kids packed candy and a saying about Jesus in eggs for kids at the shelter. They all really enjoyed it.
I had the day off for Good Friday. Wow! It sure was good! I could live with 3 day weekends the rest of my life!
I took the girls to the Children's Museum in the morning while Jenny went grocery shopping. I think everyone else in Omaha had the day off too. I only stayed for an hour because I kept losing the girls and was getting too stressed. It made me rethink how much fun Disneyland would actually be...
After naps we went to Scheels so that we could ride the Ferris Wheel! Ashlyn loved it!
Waiting in line:
Spirit World Saturday: Jesus was in the spirit world after his death so we got donuts, went to the temple, put down the seats in our van and had ourselves a breakfast picnic! It was so fun! (The connection to the spirit world being that we do temple work for the dead.)
Usually when we do things its just Ashlyn and Brinley, and Claire is held by someone or lays down. It was kind of a neat experience for me to push all of them at the same time together. I sure love my girls!
Our Family Holy Week
Palm Sunday
Mad Monday
Jesus cleans the temples
Our Holy Week Wall
Sadly we didn't take picture everyday, but here is what we did.
On Tuesday Grandma gave an awesome lesson about the parable of the talents (Ashlyn really liked it because she learned about sharing the chocolates and getting more because she shared).
Spy Wednesday we learned about Jesus was denied by 30 coins.
Passover Thursday we went to the church with 7 other families and had a Passover dinner. We ate delicious lamb, salads, fruits, veggies and of course drank lots of wine (grape juice). It was so much fun to learn about the tradition of it!
Good Friday we watched a Jesus Movie to learn about the sacrifice that Jesus died for us that day. Ashlyn found that perfect stick that looks like the cross that Christ died on.
Spirit World Saturday (pictures above)
Then we have Easter.
How grateful we are to have this great gift of family. We are grateful for our Savior so that we can be sealed as a family forever.
