Birthday Party and Cottonwood

Our family has had a lot of fun in the last month. Shortly after Travis's Kindergarten Graduation we celebrated his birthday. He invited a few friends from his Kindergarten class. Unfortunately this year was super rainy for his party so we didn't get to go outside like we did last year. We did find things to keep up busy though. Travis had fun with all his friends.

 



We also had the opportunity to take the kids to Cottonwood to visit my grandparents. It has been a very long time since I've been that way. It was time well spent. They were very pleased to see us as well. They told us that we are the first grandkids to make it out to see them. While we were out there we went day camping and went to the Convent and met some nuns. We got to see the high school where my mom grew up. We also made it out to Keuterville and went and got Ben a hat at the bar and grill there. It was really nice to spend time with my grandparents. Ben especially enjoyed snooping through the old photo album looking for blackmail on my mom. Here are some pictures from our trip.

When we were up in Cottonwood my grandparents also took us to Kamiah so we could look at my Great Grandfathers old house. It was the first time I've been there since his funeral. It was really neat. A lot has changed, but some of it is just how I remember it. It is now a bed and breakfast. Ben and I hope to go back some day and stay in it.

Kindergarten Graduation

Near the tail end of April we celebrated Ben's birthday. He had a late birthday because of school and work, but we finally did get to celebrate it. It was not only a good birthday celebration, but a celebration to the end of the madness of this last semester. It was a brutal semester, but everyone survived.

 

 

We also just had another big celebration in the family. Travis graduated Kindergarten. He has come so far this school year. I am really sad to see kindergarten go, especially knowing that next year is the start of when he will be gone all day every weekday. He has been my sidekick for the last six years. It's hard to believe that this time has finally come. I don't think I'm ready to give it up, but I don't have much of a choice. I do look forward to this next big step for him and I'm excited to see him grow and learn.

 

 

It took many attempts for a family photo. While this is not the best, it is probably the most accurate of how our family photos actually go. Gotta love it!



 

The next two pictures are a picture of Travis at the start of the year and a picture of Travis at the end of the year. He has really grown physically as well as mentally.

 

 

And on a side note of all this growing up stuff my kids think they need to be doing, Natty has informed me that I am no longer to call her Sissy. That is now Macie's name. She has informed me that I am to call her Natalie. This last week we have started the potty training process. Day one was filled with lots of messes. Day two even less. Day three and four were dry days. She's had a few accidents here and there, but she's got the hang of it. Though she tries to weasel a diaper out of me on a daily basis. I haven't given in yet and at this point I don't think I can. We have come so far and I don't' want to go backwards. We are very proud of that accomplishment because she has been quite fond of her diapers.

Happy Easter!

The weeks have just seemed to fly by lately. We certainly have kept really busy with our schedules. It's been really busy especially for Ben. This semester has been a killer. We haven't had much time as a family, but on the other side the kids have had tons of cousin time.

 

  Natalie has recently become a girlie girl. Everywhere she goes she must take her purse with her phone, her keys, her dollar, her doll, and whatever else she thinks she needs. She just carries it around with her everywhere. She gets around on her Giraffe which she named "Church". Natalie and Church go all over the house and sometimes even the backyard together.

 

 

 

 

During one of the cousin visits in March we had some beautiful weather and I made sure to take advantage and kick the kids outside to play and even eat lunch. They really enjoyed it. I think this is going to become a typical thing for the nice days. Although, since then they have been far and few in between.

Macie Jo has been such a fun and cute little doll. She is one busy lady. She has been getting around the house quite well. Before she could crawl she would roll from one end of the floor to the other end. She never did quite get the regular crawling down. She went from rolling all over to crawling on her hands and tip toes. The Bear Crawl, as we call it. It is stinking funny to watch. She's busy making messes and preventing mom and dad from cleaning them up.

 

 

March 28th Macie Jo finally learned how to pull herself up to her feet. By the time I got to the camera she wasn't as straight up as she had been earlier, but that's the best I could get. Since then she has bee pulling herself to her feet using furniture of any kind. She has been able to go hands free about twice since then and then other times that I give her some help.

 

 

On the next few photos this was a day where the sun was out, but so was the wind. It was so windy, but the kids still had fun. Travis is getting too big for his push car, but that still doesn't stop him from trying. In fact he tried to convince Natalie that she needed to give him a push and then didn't understand why she wasn't strong enough. Crazy kid!

 

 

 

  This month we have had a pretty good time. Easter kind of snuck up on us this year. We still were able to get our Easter egg painting on. The kids had a Easter Egg Hunt at Grandpa Hall's and another one in the back yard with Grandpa and Grandma Cook. We didn't get one with Grandma Sue because she was in Virginia visiting Kurt. Travis had fun finding all the eggs Easter morning. Natalie found some herself too, but she was mainly concerned about eating the heads off all her peeps. Macie Jo loved her little basket that she got from the Easter Bunny. It was her first Easter this year and I would say it was a success!

 

 

 

 This next picture was taken Monday, the day after Easter. It is a picture of the kids and their cousins eating breakfast obviously, but it is also a picture of a miracle that happened in our family. The previous evening, about 30 minutes after Grandpa and Grandma Cook left we received a phone call from Ashley that she had been in an accident and we needed to meet her at the hospital. When Ben and I arrived we found Ashley, Haiden, and Ethan sitting on the hospital bed getting checked over by the doctor and nurse. Haiden got behind her ear super glued from a cut. Ethan also got a cut on his right hand super glued. Ashley got banged up with some impressive bruises, but other than that she was ok. We found out that it was a roll over accident and that in the roll over Ethan was ejected from his car seat from the left back passenger seat to the front passenger seat. He must have been playing with his seat belt straps or something. When Ashley opened her eyes she looked over and found Ethan laying on the broken window. It was truly a miracle that he survived. All the doctors and nurses were very surprised that he only received scratches. It was truly a miracle for our family!