Brandon is getting old

or I'm just always young. Kate wanted to put the exact number of candles that Brandon is old on his pie (his favorite so I didn't do a cake). It looks like the whole pie is on fire. We had a family birthday party with his parents and David and Christy the Sunday before and then the kids and I decorated the house and had a "surprise" party for him the day before his birthday (can you believe he was on call the night of his birthday?) Kate has always wanted to have a surprise party. She and Matt were both so excited to jump out and surprise Brandon.

What brings me joy?

At our last Enrichment night we played a game where we had to share something about ourselves and I had to share what brings me joy. Well right now Annie brings me so much joy. She is at the greatest age 6 months and is so easy. As I type this she has just woken up and wants to eat, but I want to finish this real fast so she just sits her making cute noises waiting patiently. Just in the last month she has learned how to pick things up and bring them to her mouth. That is what I shared at Enrichment, I love how she picks up toys now and licks them.She loves me most and she smiles so easily. She is a great sleeper and goes to bed very easy. Still no teeth.

I also just started feeding her baby food. She isn't that interested yet, most of the food just runs out of her mouth.

Kate's softball season is over!

Kate just finished up her softball season and I think she has improved so much. She had a great time playing with her friends. I signed her up for winter ball so she will get some more practice for next year.

Kate with her coach...

Playing the outfield...

On deck to bat...

I love this picture of Kate relaxing with her feet on her helmet while she waits for her turn at bat.

Matt's birthday party had we!

You can imagine how proud Brandon was when Matt claimed he wanted to have a Star Wars themed birthday party. Both Brandon and I had a great time planning this party. Here are the invitations I made... I made Jedi vest out of brown felt and a rope to tie with and Brandon made light sabers out of PVC pipes, pool noodles and gray electrical tape. I gave Brandon the idea, but he perfected it, he was pretty particular about how it had to be done.

I wore my Princess Leia costume (oh sorry, no pictures) and Brandon wore his Han Solo. I did a training session with the kids, although as one kid (a Star Wars fan) pointed out that Princess Leia does not use a light saber or use the force. Like Princess Leia, I had no idea what I was doing, but the kids were all really excited to practice the moves I taught them anyway. Like a chop and a spin (true Star Wars lingo). Then we had a visit from Darth Vader.

Each kid took a turn to fight him.

Then we played "Master May I" (very similar to Mother May I). I was surprised that so many kids could be so good and excited to play. Only Matt's friend Rachel (far right) didn't know it was Brandon and was a little nervous to get closer. Brandon, uhhh I mean Darth Vader would say "All Padawans with blue light sabers take two giant steps, etc..." and they would say "Master May I?" and Vader would say "hhooooooo phoooooooooo yes you may".

We also had lunch, a pinata and Popsicles (no cake for Matt). A lot of the time the kids were just running around the yard fighting with their sabers. 20 kids with light sabers may not have been the best idea, but we only had a few minor incidents. Matt got a ton of fun gifts from his friends and I think fun was had by all. By the time is was over I was so tired (partly because I got up at 6am to run 9 miles, my half marathon is this coming Saturday).

Look who's 5...

I cannot believe that Matt is 5 already. He will start kindergarten in a month. For his birthday we all went around as a family and told him what we love most about him. Here are some of the things we said... We love how much he loves his sisters, so much he can't keep his hands off them. He is so smart. He is so kind and generous, always sharing with others. He has a lot of energy and loves to run, play and laugh. We love having this special boy in our family.

What we've been up to...

I just looked at the pictures in my camera and realized we've been really busy and I have a lot to update...

I started running again a few months ago and I did my first 5k since college a couple weekends ago. I have been training with a couple friends to do another half marathon in June. My 5k time was 27:00 minutes, I was happy with that time since I usually run around 10 minute miles, but Brandon told me his last 5k he "thinks" he did 26:30. I can't believe Brandon can beat me now. I don't like the 5k much, I'd rather run a longer, slower race. At least there is no way Brandon could beat me in the half :).

I also signed the kids up for the 1k kids run. The also did it with some friends and both seemed to like it. 1k is .6 of a mile and I was impressed they ran the whole time. My camera ran out of batteries right before the kids race, so this is all we've got. (by the way, I got a new battery and hopefully I won't have this problem anymore).

Brandon took Kate on a date to the Daddy daughter dance at school. Kate wanted so badly to wear a dress. I took her to the store and let her pick out what dress she wanted. This is what she chose.

And then she found one in Annie's size, oh yea! I wouldn't of picked this dress, but I am a sucker for matching girls, so Annie has one too. Look at her pose, she loved it.Last week we went to visit my mom and grandparents. It was a short trip, but mom kept us busy with lots of fun activities. One afternoon we took the kids to the University farm to see the baby cows. I remember going there when I was young and seeing the baby pigs. When you walked up to the cage the cows stuck their heads out wanting to eat. Matt was brave and was petting them, but as you can see Kate didn't like it.

We also went to the Children's Museum and the beach(which was freezing cold).

Right before we left my grandma invited me to see some of her quilts. I really enjoyed looking at them. Here are my favorites...

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Morro Rock, Morro Bay, CA-I use to go to Morro Bay for Cross Country Camp in High School and just love how this quilt reminds me of those fun time.She made this quilt for a contest in the Ensign magazine with the theme "Worldwide Church". It has the temple in the middle and all different types of house you find around the world, with an umbrella over the whole thing. The quilt was displayed in Salt Lake City with other contest winners and a picture was in the Ensign. The most amazing part of this quilt is the beautiful hand quilting.

Going home....

Annie is the perfect little baby and has been so good on all of our outings this month. Here is a recent picture of her and another I took today.

Vacation

Our very good and generous friends Andrea and Scott invited us to stay with them at their place in Newport Beach for a week. My camera ran out of batteries the first day there, so I don't have many pictures to document the great and fun week we had. The weather was prefect for a beach vacation and was even warm enough to swim in the pool. Scott and Andrea have 3 kids exactly Kate and Matt's age and they had a blast together, with only a few minor incidents (sand to the eyes and fingers in the door, we believe one was retaliation for the other :) ). We went to Legoland one day and Disneyland another. They were both a little crowded from spring break, but the kids enjoyed it anyway. We mostly enjoyed hanging out and relaxing at the beach or pool with our friends. Andrea, I miss you already, let's plan to get together this summer.