Spring Time 2012

 It wasn't quite spring time yet at home, but in Arizona, it felt amazing!! Grandma took Abby and I on a girl's trip at the end of February to Arizona to see the play "Wicked" and more importantly see the Finnertys.  We were so excited to see their new house (and pool) and spend some time in the warmer weather.  We had so much fun at the play.  Abby had never seen it before and she thought it was the greatest thing ever.  Her and I spent the night watching youtube videos of the songs all night in my bed.  We spent most of our time shopping and going to lunch and movies (as girls do).  We also had fun watching Kaitlyn cheer and seeing her kick butt at her softball game.  Abby had fun in the pool, the water was still too chilly for me, but she didn't seem to mind one bit.

 The beginning of March means its time for Cooper's birthday.  He had the best day ever!  He had our attention the whole day.  We went to Chuck E. Cheese and played games and ate pizza and junk food all night.  He also had a birthday party with the extended family.  I can't believe how fast he is growing up.  When I think about my kids I always think about Abby and Carson being the bigger ones and Copper and Bo being the babies, but all Cooper wants is to be with the bigger kids.  Now that he is four, I guess I need to move him passed the baby stage, but I don't think I'm ready for that.

 Of course, Grandma bought cute matching shirts for St. Patrick's Day.  The glasses were a big hit!

Ok, I'm not going to lie.... sometimes when Bo and I are alone, I pull his hair back on the top of his head, just to see if I'm right.  And YES! Boden does look like Abby did when she was his age.  Proof is in the picture!

We had a really fun Easter this year.  Amy and Justin came to visit with Kamryn and yummy chubby Jeter.  We had at least 3 Easter Egg hunts, including one at Brandi's house for the whole extended family, of course, she spoiled all of the kids as usual.  The Easter bunny left eggs to find inside our house on Easter morning, and then we also had one at Grandma and Grandpa's house where Carson found the coveted "golden egg", and I just don't think you can possibly smile any bigger than he did at that moment.  Bo was hilarious to watch during all of the hunts.  He loved finding the eggs, but he loved opening them up even more.  He would also just walk around to everybody's basket and steal an egg or two from each one.We also colored eggs, made cake pops and spent a lot of time together as a family. 

 We decided to have a "stay-cation" this year.  We have been so busy with baseball and softball and Young Women's and work, and everything else in our life, that we decided since the kids were off-track, we should go on vacation, but we really didn't have the time or money to do something big, so I decided to get us a room at the downtown Hyatt, by the Gateway Mall and see if we can make the best of it.  The kids absolutely loved it!  We went to the Clark Planetarium, which I guess I didn't realize they would love so much, but they went crazy!  They wanted to go back the next day.  We also went to a movie and dinner and spent the next day swimming in the pool and playing games in the room.  It turned out to be the perfect "get away".

 In other news... Abby participated in the Grundy's first ever school Science Fair.  She did it on Fingerprints and went with her dad to his work.  She did a great job and ended up moving on to District, where she took third place.

I guess I'm officially 34 now.  Sometimes I feel like that is exactly right and other times I feel like something is wrong because I couldn't possibly be this old. When I think about all of the things that have happened in my life and all of the memories I have, I am not sure how I have jammed it in just 34 short years.  Even though I have had some tough times that I wish could have been different, I wouldn't change anything about the life that I have at this moment.  My kids are the most precious thing in the world to me and I feel so blessed that I get to wake up each day and take care of them.  I am married to the someone who I know for sure was hand picked just for me.  I know I only blog and take pictures of things that are perfect, and yes, things are hard and crazy a lot of the time, but at the end of the day, this is the way I see my life and I am thankful for every minute of it, and I wouldn't change a thing!

 Back to business,  Cooper started T-Ball this year.  So, speaking of crazy.... Chad wanted to coach both Cooper's team and Carson's baseball team, at the same time I am coaching Abby's softball team! @#%*#
How do we survive?  Well, sometimes we don't, but with a little help from Grandma, we usually know where Bo is at any given moment, but not always.

 Of course, Cooper still has his tongue thing going on.....

Carson really started loving baseball this year.  He told me, "Mom, I'm REALLY into baseball now!"  He is so funny.  When he decided he likes something, he goes at it 100%.  He talks about it all of the time.  His favorite movie is "Sandlot" which might be what started his fascination, because he now wants to know all about Babe Ruth and why he is the "king of crash".  He even decided to do his Great Brain Project on it for school and he was so excited to tell the class what he had learned.

 Kind of out of the blue, we decided to make a trip to Las Vegas with Grandma and Grandpa.  We stayed with Amy and Justin and went to see the Hoover Dam.  We spent a lot of time in the water and playing with the cute kiddos. Boden was a maniac in the water.  He would splash and go crazy any chance he could, then he would just laugh and laugh.  Man, I love that kid!

Winter 2011

After Boden's birthday, it was "Bring on Christmas!!" at the Grundy house.  Having four kids under the age of  9 makes for a very busy and exciting holiday season.  There was gingerbread houses, Christmas parties, stories every night.  Christmas movies all day long, and let's not forget the long list of countdown methods we use in anticipation for the big day.

 We had our Grundy Christmas get together at our house this year, and we decided to make it a pajama party.  We had a great time!  This is definitely a new tradition.

Christmas Eve was spent at Grandma and Grandpa's house, as usual.  Fondue and stories, and very anxious kids!

 Christmas morning was kind of a blur.  With this many kids, I am not sure who to take pictures of and who is talking to me and where to go really.  This year, we tried to slow down the present opening just so we could absorb the whole thing, but in the end, it was just a big bundle of excitement.

Really, at the end of the morning, it was pure joy on their faces, which is contagious.  We had a great day, and even made it to church on time (pretty much).

 We also made it over to Grandma's, where the fun just continued.  We had an awesome holiday season, and we were sad to see it end.  I love everything about the traditions, the family time, the charity and kindness to others, as we remember the birth of Christ and look within our own lives to what really matters.

 A new year brings 2012!  Wow, that seems too weird to think of.  Kaitlyn and Ethan were here for the week, so we spent the night at Grandma's partying it up (well, as much as we know how).

 This is our first time going skiing!!! Well, it is my first time, and Abby and Carson's first time.  Chad used to go when he was a kid.  One of his friends from work had some free lift tickets, so we all went and had a blast!  The kids were amazing!  They were naturals, and way too daring if you ask me. I had a lot of fun too.  I picked it up pretty quick and I was doing great with the skiing, it's just the stopping part that is hard.  I figured it out, and now the kids want to go back as soon as possible. 

With the new year, we decided that since the kids are getting older, we needed to start having a family "theme" each year.  Chad and I really thought about what we wanted to focus on, and we came up with "Today is Your Day".  It came from a song by Shania Twain, and it says some great things about getting back up when you are down and knowing that nothing will get in your way.  We had a family home evening about it, and had the kids paint wood blocks with the theme to put in each of their rooms. It has been fun to see the kids repeat it back to us when we need a "pick me up".

 On to basketball season.   Carson was excited to start playing basketball this year.  He likes it much more, now that he is growing a little closer to the basket.  He had fun playing with some of his friends, and after about mid -season, you would never see him on the court (or anywhere for that matter) without this arm bands. They were a permanent thing for him, and there was no talking him into pulling them down to his forearms.  He liked them tight on his biceps where they belonged.

 Abby also played basketball.  This was her first year and I think she was a little nervous, but she did awesome.  Her dad was her coach and half of the girls were from the neighborhood and the other half was from her Bullets team, so that made for a fun group for Abby.  She did great and just got more confident each day, even scoring a basket at her last game

 Bo is mobile!  He started walking right  about at his first birthday.  Then, he was off and going.  He is into everything, and has the cutest dang face ever!  So, there is no way I'm getting mad at him.  He seems to be a little more into things then my other boys, and I can't tell if that is because I am so much more distracted or if he is more mischievous .  I guess time will tell.

       Big news for Carson!  he came home from school and handed me a paper that said he didn't pass the school eye exam.  Which struck a cord because he had been telling me that he could see sometimes, but honestly I thought he was just messing with me and being silly because he wanted cool glasses.  I guess I should have listen to him sooner, because I took him into the doctor and he definitely needed glasses. (I felt really bad!) Now he has the same prescription as his dad.  It was all a little overwhelming to me, but he took it like a champ!  We tried to list all of the awesome people we could think of that wear glasses (Dad was at the top of the list) and I think that helped.
    Cooper is so cute.  He just wants to be like his big brother, so he wore his sunglasses all week. So CUTE!! Umm... Notice the arm bands in that picture.  Seriously, they never come off, even for morning cartoons.

On to Carson's birthday!  I can't believe that he is 7.  He has a resent obsession with the University of Utah, so we decorated his presents with Ute stuff.

 Grandma stole the show, giving him a drum set, which turned him into a super cool dude instantly (along with the arm bands of course). Thanks Grandma?

 We took a crazy bunch of his friends to Jump and Bounce for his birthday party.  He had a great time.  No glasses needed on the bounce houses.

 We always have a fun time watching the super bowl, but the older the kids get, them more excited they are to watch it (or have a party for it) Abby really likes to watch it now that she spent a season watching her uncle Brady play quarterback for Bingham.  We explained it all to her and now she is hooked. (She has been wearing her jersey to school at least once a week).

 Two cute boys who just happened to have NY giants shirts.  (and who happened to be playing in the superbowl this year)

 Valentines was fun this year.  We had our family dinner, and Abby, Carson, and Cooper had fun making valentines for the kids in their class, and going to class parties.  Cooper kept saying "Happy I Love You Day!" and Grandma brought them over a cute gift.