The Utah Winter Life

As I mentioned in an earlier post, life has been more tricky this winter with not being able to go outside as often as we did in AZ. Arizona winters included countless trips to the park, long afternoon walks/runs, trips to the zoo, and a lot of playing in the backyard. Dreamy, right? 

Well now we are stuck indoors all. the. time. and it's making me a little cookoo.  So instead, this winter we are building forts with large boxes, playing toys, blocks, baking and doing workouts indoor (which I don't love very much). But we are surviving and just trying to wait patiently to find out what warm place we get to move to in less than 5 months!

Brenna loves unloading all the toys out of those bins.

K & G doing wall sits with me as part of and
indoor workout.

We built a lego ship. They were pretty in to it.

Kimbri's facial expression! Ha!

Brenna loves sitting in things.

Also, being in this yucky winter weather has
brought sickness... booo!!!

So I have a story about this picture of Kimbri with those two jackets. We were in Walmart and we walked past the rack of jackets in the background of the pic and Kimbri just about died wanting one of these jackets. I seriously felt like she had immediately transformed into a teenager right then. \

Kimbri: "Mom, this jacket it SO fluffy! It is SO soft! Can we get it, PLEASE?!" 

Me: "No, we just got you a coat not too long ago."

Kimbri: "Well we can get it for me for next year. Please?!"

Me: "No Kimbri. We can't get that jacket. Please come on, we need to finish getting the rest of our groceries."

Kimbri: "But mom, it was look so cute on me! Please can we just get it?" 

By this point I felt two things. One, I really wanted to get her a jacket because she was seriously so in love with them. But two, we really did just buy her a way nicer coat that was on clearance at Sam's Club, one size bigger, so she could have a good coat for next year. We also stocked up on winter clothes for next year recently cause Walmart has been putting all the winter clothes (pants and long shirts) on sale for $2-3. So that's where she got the whole, "let's get it for next year" idea. Haha!

I finally said, "How about I take a picture with you and the jackets so that you can look at them and remember them when we get home."

She seemed to be fine with that. Ha!

A Sunday morning of baking
cinnamon chip muffins and crepes.

Celebrating my dad's 53rd birthday!
(Bridger, Oaklee, Kimbri, Luke, Garrett,
Grandma, Brenna, Ava, Grandpa & Hadley)

Warm bread, made by RICK, is the perfect thing for winter
months when you just want something warm and yummy :)

So much snow!!

The bus didn't come because of too much snow so we
carefully drove Kimbri to school! Also, that was my hat when
I was little :)

A little snow?? We have gotten dumped on lately!

Trying out her easy back oven she got for Christmas.
She made mint brownies.

Rick's Ear Surgery

Rick had ear surgery last Friday. A bone in his ear had calcified so much that it wouldn't vibrate like it is supposed to which created some major hearing loss. So they replaced the bone! My dad came over super early to sit with the kids so I could drive Rick up to the surgery center. I was so grateful to not have to wake up them up! Although Kimbri woke up on her own right as we were about to leave and wanted to come with us. She thought it was so awesome that she was out before the sun came up, haha. I think it made her feel special to get to go somewhere with just mommy and daddy.

We dropped Rick off and got instructions to come back around 8:45am. Kimbri and I drove home and  when Garret and Brenna woke up at 8:20, we packed some breakfast for them real quick and headed out the door. We got back up to the surgery center, in Provo, at about 9am and they said he was still in surgery. So we waited.... and then waited.... and then waited some more. I definitely was not prepared to wait that long with 3 young kids in a waiting room. Luckily, the fish tank kept them really entertained for quite some time. They kept yelling  out things like, "There's Dory!" "And there's Nemo!" And Garrett would say, "Look! There's a tiger fish!" and then run around to the other side to see it when it would swim away and he'd repeat that over and over. It was pretty funny. Also, Brenna just sat in her stroller for the longest time watch the fish. Then after a while they ate their breakfast we had packed- string cheese, yogurt, appleasauce and a little bag of cereal. Brenna also got a sippy cup of milk. Then after that they looked at books for a while.

Anyway, I had exhausted all the things I had brought, which wasn't much, and we were still waiting. We had been there for an hour and a half when the surgeon, Dr. Gibb, came out and said everything went well and we could go back to see Rick soon. As soon as we went back the kids got super nervous when they saw Rick, still asleep from the anesthesia, with an oxygen mask on. Kimbri warmed up real fast but Garrett was super weirded out by it all.

Then the nurse brought juice boxes and cookies for them and they were totally happy and fine with everything. It took a little while for Rick to fully wake up. Then they moved us to a bigger area for the kids to have some space and eventually moved us to an enclosed room since the kids were getting antsy (which is totally expected after waiting for 2 hours!!!!). 

Rick still felt super dizzy and could hardly move his head without feeling dizzy and nauseous. So when I realized it would be a quite a while before he'd be able to be discharged, I decided to leave and take Kimbri back home to get her ready for school. We raced back home in time to get her all ready and finish up her homework, and then Olivia had a half day of school and offered to stay with the other two at the house so Brenna could go down for a nap. I was so grateful!! Then I wouldn't have to take Garrett and Brenna back to the surgery center! I swung by the pharmacy and picked up Rick's prescriptions and went back to the surgery center, for the 3rd time that day, and got Rick.

He has to have the packing in for a week and then hopefully his hearing will be restored!! I'm so grateful that he was able to get this surgery done. Dr. Gibb, was the person who gave Rick his patriarchal blessing and also the Dr he is rotating with this month for his ENT rotation. It has been such a blessing to have this all work out so perfectly! 

Fingernails

A few days ago we whipped out the fingernail polish. It was the set that Kimbri got from Grandma and Grandpa Haycock for Christmas. This kind is the very kid-friendly kind that kind of just peels off within a day or two. So the girls did fingernails one night while Garrett played with toys next to us. It was a little hard to get Brenna to be still but once we were done and I was blowing on her nails, she started blowing too. It was really cute :)

Brenna loved taking all the colors out.

Another Museum Trip

I know... we go to this museum a lot. And I probably take too many pictures. But I can't help it! The kids absolutely love this place. It has some great learning areas. They can explore different ideas, careers, and this time, Garrett loved using the microscopes to look at bugs close up. I think it's a great place for kids to learn and explore. Also, Rick dressed up Brenna like a doctor and it was adorable. :) 

Brenna pointing and saying "eye".

Kimbri loves the kitchen in the playhouse.

I also LOVE these pictures of Brenna on the
mini-piano. She didn't want to leave it! And
her poses totally look like she was playing!
I think we need one of these for our house :)

Trip to Carl's Jr.

This winter in Utah has been rough! I have gotten so used to the beautiful Arizona winters the last few years that it's been a harder winter than I expected. Being cooped up inside due to so much snow has made us all a bit crazy at times. So that's why decided to take a trip to Carl's Jr and get a milkshake and let the kids run around and get some energy out on their big awesome play place that they have there. My amazing mother-in-law, Sundee, met us there with Preston, Nicole, Megan & Cody (and then Wesley joined us a while later) and we had a great time visiting and letting the kiddos play. I might have to go back and let them play again soon because it was a great, cheap, indoor place to let the kids run around and have fun!

Cody, Megan, Garrett, Kimbri

Garrett's 4th Birthday!

January 4, 2017

Kimbri was already snuggling in bed with me while Rick was outside scraping the enormous amounts of snow off his car so he could get to his rotation in Payson on time. I heard Garrett's footsteps upstairs, running above my room, then down the stairs and through the hallway. He hopped up in bed with us and we both sat up and said, "Happy Birthday Garrett!" and we all did a group hug and I said, "I love you Garrett!" and he replied with, "Awwww, I love you too, Mom" in the cutest little voice ever.

I can't believe my baby boy is 4 years old. Was it really 4 years ago that we got to snuggle our 8 and a half pound baby boy in our arms for the first time?

Garrett is really and truly one amazing little boy.  He is definitely a 3 year old (4 year old today I guess) and has those 3 year old tantrums now and then, but in his heart he is pure goodness. I have loved watching him become a big brother to Brenna. I love to see the way he helps her get a book, gives her a hug, or takes her hand and walks her to the door when we are getting ready to leave the house. He's so gentle and kind.

I'm so grateful for Garrett's personality! He is SO expressive and gets extremely excited over things. For example, at Christmas someone gave him a present that was wrapped in a kitchen pan box. He ripped the wrapping paper and way and said, "I can't believe it! I got a kitchen bowl!". It was so funny how he was genuinely excited about a "kitchen bowl". Haha! But really, his thick eyebrows that pop up above wide eyes when he sees something cool or exciting to him just get me every time. He is a gift to our family and I'm so grateful for him.

Anyway, today we celebrated his 4th birthday, his "golden" birthday where he turned 4 on the 4th. We got up and got going first thing, after snuggles in bed of course, and went to Walmart and Sam's Club to finish getting stuff for his birthday dinner and to pick up his Star Wars cake we ordered from Sam's.

After errands, we came home and the kids had donuts that we had picked up from Walmart, because that's what Garrett wanted for his birthday breakfast. Also, when we were at Walmart I let Garrett do a .25 ride on Pumba (from The Lion King movie) and he thought it was the coolest thing! I'll have to post a picture of that later.

We did Kimbri's homework and got her off to school. Meanwhile, Garrett found one of his birthday presents hiding under my bed and I just gave in and let him play with it so I could get a few things prepped for the party later on while Kimbri was at school and Brenna was napping. It was a truck with a dinosaur cage on the back that has an orange dinosaur in it. He loved it and he was so entertained by it.

Garrett really has such an amazing imagination and loves playing with trucks, planes, trains, cars, dinosaurs, the Little People sets we have and any other little thing he can find. He often will stand at the bathroom sink, fill it up with water to make a "pond" for his animals or boats or whatever, and stand their for 30-45 minutes at a time playing and dunking his toys in and out of his pond :)

Another thing about Garrett is that he knows and recognizes his ABC's (the capital letters) and almost all the sounds. He loves reading (really me reading to him), especially his new Ninja Turtle books he got for Christmas. Garrett is very in to Paw Patrol and Blaze, both show from Nick Jr. on tv. He loves macaroni and cheese and fruit and is a pretty picky eater compare to his sisters. Also, he often says that his favorite color is orange. It usually changes day to day but most often it is orange, haha!

Anyway, we had the party this evening and so many people came to support little Garrett! The Stone's came, Levi & Zanna, Tj, Mindy & Logan, Dawson and his kids, the rest of my siblings, except Wyatt, and my parents hosted the party at their house! It was so fun and Garrett had the time of his life, surrounded by people that love him so much.

He requested macaroni and cheese (which I made a crockpot recipe and it was a huge fail!) so my dad ordered pizza and saved the day. I also made a Caesar Salad and my mom made a yummy salad too. Zach brought cheesy sticks, the Stone's brought grapes for a side. We also had Garrett's blue Star Wars cake and ice cream sandwiches upon his request, and I also added ice cream to the mix as well.

It was such a fun day and I'm so happy that we got to celebrate Garrett and him being 4!! I'm so grateful that he is growing up to be such an amazing little boy and I am truly grateful that I get to be his mommy. He teaches me so much and I can't wait to see him keep growing and developing. I love you Garrett!!!!!

Waiting at the bus stop for Kimbri to get home
from school.

Notice how the snow is all the way up to the red mailbox!

At Garrett's 4 year old check up at
Utah Valley Pediatrics in Spanish Fork.

I let him ride the Pumba ride at Walmart since
it was his birthday. He thought it was the coolest!

Dawson totally egged her on, trying to get her to wipe
frosting all over her face!

Getting his free birthday gift, balloon
and birthday crown from Toys R Us!