The girls bought me this book for Christmas 2014. It is the cutest thing and the book is great but I have still never read the book all the way through without crying. This week when I read, I just let it all out. Brinley thought I was joking because it sounded so dramatic. Ashlyn said, "Dad are you crying? For real?" If you look close you can see the line going down my cheek. I LOVE MY GIRLS!
HOLY WEEK CONTINUES! We did little activities each day through out the week to remember Jesus' last week of his life. Friday was Jenny's birthday. We got donuts and went to the temple to remember Jesus going to the spirit world after death.
I ordered flowers for Jenny's birthday. A box will never go unused in our house as long as Ashlyn is around. I just love how creative she is.
We went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner for Jenny's birthday. We had a great time. The Van De Graaff's joined us. Ashlyn is so brave and willing to go up to order things on her own. I really am so impressed with this girl. She is shy at times but is brave to break out of her comfort zone often.
A neighbor brought us chocolate covered strawberries today! Brinley did a great job at getting the chocolate everywhere! This pic was before it got bad...
Kisses for Desiree. This girl initially was not very happy to see a younger sister join the family. But she has warmed up and is so sweet. She is always trying to help her out.
I was using my camera to find chocolate that Jenny informed me was "all over" my face. Ashlyn was quick and snapped a pic.
I looked at the blog post of Easter from last year and thought I would post some pictures from one year ago.
Spring Break was last week. We did have some fun together, also trying to find out where our new home will be. I have been looking for a dental practice to purchase and mainly looking in Texas. I found a practice that I liked and have been investigating and working through the purchase. There are so many steps it feels very overwhelming. This is a very stressful time for me. I'm usually great at managing stress but lately it's been tough. Here's all the things I'm trying to keep up with:
-graduate: make sure I'm finished with clinical requirements, pass all competencies
-take care of patients: I have several patients that have implants or a lot of work to be done and I'm trying to get them scheduled and finished before I graduate
-be prepared for clinical boards: I need to have three different patients with very specific criteria (it doesn't sound crazy but it's super stressful to find and arrange). These boards are on Saturday April 2.
-get licensed in Texas: there are quite a few hoops to jump through in processing an application for licensure
-purchase the practice: working with CPA firm, lawyer, broker, and dentist to try and transition smoothly
-getting a mortgage: we got approved for a mortgage this week and are looking at houses!
The practice is in Lufkin, TX. I feel bad that I didn't really get any pictures while we were there. It was a 12-13 hour drive down from Omaha but there were many stoplights and highways through small towns on the way. It was very frustrating for me to not be able to drive through a fast freeway the whole way down. We drove down on Saturday. We stayed in a hotel with a swimming pool and the girls loved this! Claire warmed up to it over time but Ashlyn and Brinley wanted to swim at every free moment we had.
Ashlyn LOVES the hot tub. It's funny because she seems to be sensitive to water that is too hot in the tub or shower, or food that is too hot, but she just jumps right in the hot tub with no problem. When we talk about moving to Texas, she is excited because we will go swimming a lot. We have tried to explain the situation further to her several times without much avail.
How much fun can you have with 6 people in one room!?
On Sunday we visited the ward and drove around Lufkin. Lufkin is a city of about 40,000. It is 2 hours from Houston and 3 hours from Dallas. The people that we met while we were there were extremely friendly and helpful. There were many churches, and WHOOOOOGE churches (as Ashlyn would pronounce the word). Churches the size of Home Depot. It took me back to my mission in Oklahoma.
Long story short, we are moving to Lufkin, TX! We are excited and nervous, but ready for the adventure ahead of us.
Shopping with my three girls! Ashlyn and Brinley had carts of their own that they could help me out with! It was actually very enjoyable.
The Gardens! I am really going to miss this place. The smells, the wind, the aviary, racing with the girls down the hill.
Ashlyn loves pretending that these doors are the doors of Snow White's hideaway and knocking on them. Then when staff answers the door, it's always a surprise.
This is the swing that we love to sit on as a family. We hope to have some kind of a porch swing in the future. Reminds me of Grandma Robertson's house and also Ross and Jody's house in Teasdale.
Sabina and Mike are moving to South Carolina! They stopped by and stayed the night with us on their way through! It was great to see them. Ashlyn and Brinley got a story read to them by Mike (even after their long day on the road).
Village Green Easter Egg Hunt! Yes, one of the many we will attend this season. It seems every holiday there are events at all the places we love: the Gardens, Fontanelle Forest, Children's Museum, and more. No I'm not bitter about it. I just don't necessarily love trick-or-treating four times in a two week period. Bah-hum-bug. It was a cold morning as well! It snowed on and off several times yesterday. Jenny and I wonder how much we will miss that in Texas.
There was a FAIRY FAIR at the Fontanelle Forest yesterday so right after we finished at the easter egg hunt, we headed to the forest. We gathered different items from fairies, made fairy wands,
found out that these pants are too small for Brinley,
took pictures with the fairies,
and went home to make a fairy house!
Mom and Ashlyn both have great creativity skills when it comes to stuff like this.
Ashlyn put the fairy house in her "secret garden". Ashlyn loves playing on the side of the house and imagining things. She is so creative and loves playing things out.
Ashlyn got her "kindergarten shots" this week. She has known for years (it seems) that this day would be coming. Jenny didn't tell her until the morning of and she was very brave.
Jenny told her that she could choose a place to go after her shots and she chose to get slushees. They went while the other girls were down for a nap (don't worry, a neighbor was on watch, thanks Mindy). We really are so proud of Ashlyn. She's just about the best daughter you could ask for.
Rub-a-dub-dub three girls in a TUB!
Today is the beginning of the HOLY WEEK. Jenny has made it a tradition to talk about things that happen each day of the week during the time before Jesus' death and resurrection. Today was Palm Sunday so we made "palm" leaves and took turns riding the donkey.
When the doctor saw Desiree during the c-section, he said that she has a lot of dark hair. I didn't believe him because none of the other girls had dark hair and very little of it. Well I was shocked! Oh but I sure love her hair!
I enjoyed these cute kiddos when they would visit Desiree, Daddy, and I at the hospital. I am so grateful that Grandma Martinson could babysit our kids while Derek and I were able to bond with baby #4. It really is a special time for Derek and I.
After Claire was born, Derek was talking to a patient and saying that the hospital stay is like a vacation for us. The patient's reply was hilarious, "well you guys need to go on more vacations then." Ha ha!
Brinley loves Desiree. She is always asking to hold her, feed her, and whenever she passes her at home, she has to give her a kiss. It just melts my heart!
Ashlyn also loves her sister. She is also always wanting to hold her. My favorite is when Desiree holds Ashlyn's finger and Ashlyn says that is how they hug.
Claire didn't really want anything to do with her in the hospital, but since we have been home, she is one special helper. She loves to get the wipes, diapers, blankets, and especially the binkie (which sadly Claire doesn't understand she doesn't really enjoy the binkie anymore, but Claire doesn't mind testing it out to figure out why.)
I feel so blessed to have this bundle of joy in our family. I want to enjoy every second with her to soak up this little spirit fresh from heaven.
Derek's 5 cute girls!
Pictures that Derek took. He really does a great job!
Check out these rolls.
Derek used his dental camera to take these little features.
First smile
Family of 6
Thank you so much Mom! You have done so much to make it special for our family! We love spending time with you and are sad whenever you leave.
My daughters are so blessed to have two great grandmas that loves and spoils them so much!
