Our cute, not-so-little-anymore Diana turned four today.
The kids love the Ice Age movies these days. So, Sam made an Ice Age-themed birthday cake for Diana.
Diana opened presents first. I was able to participate in the festivities via FaceTime from my hotel room.
Say "Cheese!"
Now make funny faces!
Diana loves her new bike. She didn't mind a bit that it was snowing outside.
Penny also received a bike for her birthday, which isn't until June. We gave her birthday present to her early so the girls could ride together. They love being out on their bikes.
Douglas participated in the Weber State University Piano Festival today. It was a long day for everyone. Sam had to get the kids up earlier than normal to make it to the festival location on time, and the event did not end until the middle of the afternoon. But Douglas performed well and he was so happy with the outcome.
This (above) is the person who judged Douglas's performance.
And this is the judge's scoring sheet.
Douglas with the rest of the performers.
Douglas with the first-place winner of his division.
He loves his trophy! We are proud of him. I love that he willingly practices the piano throughout the day.
Here are three additional photos just for fun:
Douglas loves to build. It is a rare moment when his fingers aren't busily building something.
He also likes to sleep with his shirt off. 😁
Penny and Diana wanted braids in their hair the other day.
Sam and the kids have been making blankets for refugees.
We celebrated Dan Urbina's birthday today. His birthday is 18 March, but I have to leave for a work trip in a couple of days. So, we celebrated early. Stacie and Andrew and their children, Lydian and Tristan, also came over to spend some time with us before they move to Washington State for Andrew's next military assignment.
Dan talking to Diana before we sang to him.
Andrew and Stacie (in the background), Penny, Lydian, Dan, me, Tristan, Diana, Douglas
Last Thursday we drove 12 hours south to visit family in Arizona. We first stopped in Glendale to visit Kate, Clayton, and cute little Ivy, and then we drove another hour to east Mesa where we settled in for lots of fun with Seth, McCall, and their children. We spent many hours at parks playing "Infection" (running around tagging people) and soaking up more sunshine than our pale, wintery bodies were used to. We played "princess" and many other games at their home. The children had a wonderful time together. Douglas shed some tears the night before we were to return home. He didn't want to leave his cousins.
McCall pushing Charly, Penny, Reed, and Diana on the swing.
The evening after we arrived, we had the pleasure of watching Krew and Jarren play in their respective flag football games. Here is Diana at the field as the sun is setting.
I brought my Dr. Robotnik (Eggman) goggles to use during our Nerf gun wars. Charly and Reed wanted to try them on.
One afternoon, Penny decided to lead everyone in what they would call "The Penguin Dance."
Krew showed us his fire-starting skills in the backyard.
Ivy jumping on the trampoline. Reed in the background.
Diana going down the ride.
Seth led us in a spiritual thought/discussion one evening and we ended with this song.
Reed, Jarren, Krew, Douglas, Sam (on the couch), Diana, Penny, and Charly watching a little video Seth used for his spiritual thought.
Sam, Douglas, Diana, and Penny recited Doctrine and Covenants section 10, verse 5, with actions.
It took Reed a day to warm up to me, but later on he would refer to me multiple times as "best friend," and boy did we play a lot of what seems to be his current favorite game - "animal game," as he calls it. He's a cute little man.
It was fun to watch these boys play the piano. They are progressing quickly.
Playing games
Douglas, Jarren, and Krew cast a lot of spells during our time in Arizona. There was a lot of talk about Harry Potter.
Princess Diana loved all of Charly's princess dresses.
Here I am giving a train ride to Charly and Diana:
On Sunday afternoon we enjoyed a visit to the home of Richard (Sam's uncle) and Kelly. Andrew (Kelly's son) and his wife, Natalie (yellow shirt on the right), came for dinner, as did Jen (Richard's daughter) and her husband, Mike, and their three children, Hudson, Harper, and Beaux.
Left-to-right (back row): Kelly, Richard, Mike (holding Beaux), me, Andrew
Middle: Jen and Sam
Other children: Hudson, Harper, Diana, Penny, Douglas
Diana, Charly, Sam, and Penny playing the princess game.
McCall talking to Diana
Diana suffered from diarrhea all day Monday. So, she stayed home with Sam while McCall and I took the rest of the kids to another park.
One of my proudest "maybe-I'm-not-old-yet" moments came after a couple of hours chasing our children (and 5-10 other children we met) while playing "infection" at a park (not the one in the photos above). We were about to start another round of infection when Krew who, like Penny, never runs out of energy, came up to me and said, "Can we play hide-and-go-seek or another game where we don't have to run so much?" At multiple times, Douglas gave up and told me to catch him because he was too tired to run away. That way he could help me "infect" the other children. It feels good when children run out of energy before I do. 💪💪 And for some reason my back felt great throughout our trip. I attribute it to my prayers each evening asking the Lord to boost my stamina in order to do whatever the kids wanted me to do with them.
The kids put various objects on the trampoline and then played a game where they were supposed to avoid touching the objects while they jumped. Somehow Jarren's half-eaten apple became one of said objects.
Jarren is a numbers and dates boy. He has an uncanny ability to memorize dates. In this photo, he noticed the expiration date on the gallon of milk and declared, "Mom, the milk will be soggy after March 8th." As you can see by the expression on his face, he wasn't pleased with my subsequent attempt to document the moment with a photo.
"No photos!"
Thank you, Kate, for a delicious meal and a much-needed break as we arrived into Arizona. Thank you, Seth and McCall and family for being amazing hosts. We had a great time with you.
We must have run our kids a bit too hard, because they were all worn out and/or sick by the time we left. In my opinion, that means the trip was an absolute success. 😁 Diana threw up in her car seat 30 seconds before we arrived at our home in Utah yesterday afternoon. Today is a day of recovery.
