Dinner with Daddy

Brian is on his surgery rotation and has long hours.  He leaves at 5:30am and is usually home after dinner.  He is working hard and learning lots, but we definitely miss him. He worked both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, so to have some family time so we met him at the hospital for dinner.  We ate outside and the kids were excited that we were able to watch one of the Life Flight helicopters take off.

Kinsey is always delighted when we say "Daddy's here!" and she runs to the stairs saying, "Dadda! Dadda!" Over and over and just wants to be held.  Last night she woke up in the middle of the night and wanted nothing to do with me. She just kept asking for daddy until I took her to bed with us.  As soon as Brian held her hand she would stop crying, as soon as he let go she started up again. Frustrating since we were tired, but cute that she wanted Brian.

More cousins, and Wilderness Survival

 Bracken and Dallin are two peas in a pod.  They have so many similar interests, and their excitement and planning amplifies whenever they are together.  They have been creating a wilderness survival class to teach to their friends, always want to build fires, create cleaning chemicals, or have one of their dads cut their finger so they can examine blood under a microscope. Yesterday they climbed trees, made pine needle tea, and built this shelter with Chandra and Clara.  They are so lucky to be such good friends and live so close to each other!

In their shelter drinking pine needle tea.  Clara, Dallin, Chandra and Bracken

Chandra fell out of a tree, and Dallin, Clara, and Bracken were ready in an instant with their own first aid kit and plenty of sympathy. 

A month or so ago when the twins came to play the girls made delicious waffles for dinner while the boys made a pickax out of brick, aluminum foil, rubber bands and duct tape. 

 They were so proud of their creation.  We let Dallin have the first turn keeping it at his house.  I think his parents were delighted when he came home with a stone club. He usually goes home with something interesting - their own chemical cleaning creation, a brick pickax, or pine needle tea. 

Cousins: Friends and Foes

Kinsey and Zedek are just starting to discover how much fun it is to play together.  In the past they've been more concerned with stealing each others toys and screaming "mine!" every two seconds.  But now we'll hear them playing in our circus tent giggling together, or will watch them running around the center aisle in Melissa's house chasing each other and giggling.  They even band together in nursery, "protecting" their toys from the other kids.

Zedek sneaks downstairs to play every chance he gets. He startled me a couple of times early in the morning when it was still dark and I was the only one up.  (Melissa just put a child lock on their door, so we don't see him unannounced quite as much now :). Kinsey goes upstairs and knocks until someone lets her in, and immediately asks Melissa for food.  Apparently food tastes better upstairs than downstairs.  It's pretty special having family so close!  I love watching these two become friends.

The other day I was reading in the backyard while Zedek, Kinsey and Chandra ran around playing. I realized they had been quiet for a minute and went to investigate.  I found theses babies around the side of the house...praying!  Cutest thing ever. Makes me wonder what they were praying for. :)

Little Cowgirl

Kinsey always carries the stick horse around upside down. The binky, one sock, and no pants are also fairly typical.  Silly baby!

Love these kids!

Bracken's 7th Birthday Week

Happy Birthday Bracken!  You have grown so much this year. Not only are you taller, but you have learned so much.  You've loved learning to play the piano and often figure out how to play new songs by ear. Jurassic Park, Cuckoo, and Star Wars are some of your favorites right now. You get excited about anything to do with wilderness survival, have really taken off with your reading, and are quite the scientist and speller. You watch out for younger kids and take good care of and teach them. Happy 7th Birthday kiddo!  We're so glad you're in our family. 

Brian was working the grave shift of his surgery rotation all week, so we waited to have our whole family celebration on Saturday. That just meant Bracken got a whole week of birthday celebrating! (Wed.- Balloons, Crepe breakfast and candles, playing in the morning, Thanksgiving Point with our friends Josh and Ava in the afternoon, riding bikes, pizza for dinner, and a late bed time with lots of stories. Thurs-Saturday A trip to Richfield. Saturday- birthday celebrating with dad, Melissa and Steve and the Mitchell's.)

 Crepe Breakfast

Opening presents from Grandma Sue...an explorer vest with lots of pockets and a survival book! The pocket knife is mine...it just mysteriously keeps finding its way into Bracken's pockets, bedroom and backpacks. 

Chandra threw a tea party for Bracken and even gave him half of the York Mint she earned from the library.

Bracken wanted to go to Richfield for his birthday, so we did!  We went swimming, he played outside shooting bows and arrows, bb guns, bike riding, lassoing goats, wrestling and lego building with his uncles. He got to ride Nebo (holding the reigns all by himself).

Campfire Cake for our Wilderness Survival boy.  

He put all of his candles out by pinching them or creating an air draft by smacking his hand down close to the candles.  Blowing them out must be for little kids. :)

On Saturday we came home and had a birthday celebration with Dad!  Time for more presents...the most exciting one being flint and steel.  We headed right to the backyard for him to make a fire and roast marshmallows.  He tried cotton balls, laundry lint and paper for kindling, and was very triumphant when it finally ignited...can you tell?

Then we went to the Mitchell's house to share another cake and ice cream.  The kids spent most of the evening in their dirt back yard trying to start another fire with the flint and steel.  Such a fun birthday week.  Happy Birthday Bracken! We love you!

Happy Valentines Day!