I just wanted to write a little about how I have been feeling since Spring Break. I learned first hand how hard Jenny really works. She had five kids in our home (tending the 3 girls) and still managed to get so many things done (preschool projects, cleaning the house, making food, etc.). She is always looking for ways that she can improve as a mother. She often commends me for being patient with Ashlyn. I think that she is the more patient one though because I only have to be patient for an hour or two a day; she has to be patient all day long. I am fairly certain that if I were the stay-at-home mom I would be nowhere even close as productive and loving as she is. I am thankful for her and the great support she shows to me in times of need.

SPRING BREAK!!!

It was a much needed break! School has been tough with lots of tests and practicals lately.  It has also been busy for Jenny.  The two girls that she has been babysitting this school year, had a baby sister born over Christmas break so now when she watches the girls twice a week, it is now three girls plus the two that are permanently ours; that is five girls! And she still manages to take them all to the Children's Museum and do fun things with them. Needless to say, we all had a break together and had a lot of fun.

Ashlyn loves helping with meals! Especially breakfast!

We spent part of our Saturday at Scheel's.  We were especially excited when we found out there was a ferris wheel that you could ride for $1.  Ashlyn got to ride it twice, once with mom, and once with dad.

 Ashlyn enjoys drawing faces on gloves that I bring home from the clinic.

 The picture's a little blurry but we finally caught Brinley doing funny things like a fish face with her lips.  She cracks us up.

 Family Movie Night! Every once in a while we pull out the mattress and watch a movie together!

We decided to get away for a couple days in Kansas City, MO/KS. We had a really great time. Our first stop was Liberty, MO where Joseph Smith endured a difficult trial in the Liberty Jail.

 It was humbling to learn about the circumstances in the jail. I can't imagine how cold it must have been.  There were windows with bars on each side that would have let light in, but also kept the temperature inside, fairly close to the temperature outside. If I remember right, they were here for over three months, right after the extermination order was given by Governor Boggs.  I really enjoy stories or parts of history that show people or groups of people being discriminated against for one reason or another, and seeing them keep persistent and eventually thrive. I often forget that I am in one of those groups as a Mormon.  Its very interesting that if our family would have been members of the Church living in this area in the 1800's our lives would be very different, even endangered because of it.

Next stop: Oklahoma Joe's. Yeah, doesn't look like much; it's a restaurant in a gas station. We were told by several people that we just had to go here. We went at 2pm on a Wednesday and the place was still packed. Jenny and I shared a pulled pork sandwich with fries and really enjoyed it.

Then we headed off to the Great Wolf Lodge! We had been telling Ashlyn for days that we were going to go swimming in a waterpark.  She was so excited and could barely stand waiting that long!

 We arrived and didn't waste any time getting to the water park.

Ashlyn loved having a lifejacket. She never hesitated to just go jump in the pool by herself!

 There were a couple of kid slides that Ashlyn loved going down. 

 For the first couple hours we were in the park, Brinley was not happy to be there. The water was too cold for her and she sure let us know with the distraught look on her face and crying. She eventually warmed up to the idea and began to really enjoy the water.

They had a big bucket of water (1,000 gallons) that would fill up and dump out every five minutes.

 We all really enjoyed going down the big slides on the tubes.

Ashlyn got pretty good at going across these log sections. She went across several times and I never once had to actually help her.

Hot pockets for dinner! Ashlyn found the Gideon's Bible and was so excited about it!

 Listening to a bedtime story with Wiley Bear!

Left: our cute little prognath





 Below: Sometimes Brinley enjoys Ashlyn's shoes more than Ashlyn does.

 Family pic with Wiley Bear!

 Popcorn for breakfast!

High flying Ashlyn!

We went back to the water park and played the rest of the day before leaving for home around 4pm. Needless to say, the girls were pretty worn out from such a fun trip.

My (Derek) birthday is actually today (March 9) but Jenny threw me a family glow in the dark party last night! We had a lot of fun and played different games and enjoyed some friendly competition.

 Party decorations and all!

(Most of these pictures were actually taken in the dark. The camera just increased the exposure but it made for some cool images.)

Ring Toss:

Bean Bag Toss:

 Bowling:

She starts young...

This morning while eating breakfast, Brinley was making fish faces, which was so adorable.  I grab my phone to take pictures, but could never catch it in action.  After about 10 attempts, I decided to record it.  While recording, reality hit, this cute little girl has a will of her own.

Guys night!

It has been a long couple weeks of midterms and practicals. Jenny was nice enough to let me have a guys night out getting wings and going bowling. Had a great time and forgot that I have a social life personality!

Lunch with Daddy!

Derek forgot his lunch today and so I called him to see if we could bring it to him. He had a great idea that we should go out for lunch, which is very rare to have Derek want to go out to eat for lunch, so I could not deny the offer. So we picked up Daddy at school and went to lunch at California Taco. It was delicious and it was the highlight of our day today!

Our two cute girls

The joy of sisters playing nicely together :-). Ashlyn loves playing under the blanket with Brinley. They are constantly giggling together.

Mud Pies

We went to mud pies yesterday at a local privately owned forest. They have a little program for little kids where we can do many fun activities. The girls had lots of fun!