MightyJohnsons

Seth had a scout campout tonight so the girls and I decided to have a pajama party with a couple of their close friends. We played outside games for a while and then had pizza. After dinner we gave each other crazy hair, painted nails, drew pictures on our cheeks (flowers, hearts and worms — their choice), dance and sang to the “Enchanted” soundtrack and then made a batch of caramel popcorn. The girls then finished the night off with popcorn and a movie in their PJ’s. It was such a simple activity and yet they were so excited. I kept hearing “this was the best night of my life!” I love little girls!

The girls showing off their pretty fingernails and hairstyles.

Acting silly!

Claire wanted to be part of the fun so when I wasn’t looking she painted her toes too…super cute, eh!?

The night wouldn’t be complete w/out caramel popcorn!

Seth had an Oracle Convention in Denver during spring break so we took that opportunity to visit our great friends that live just outside of Denver in Arvada. We spent the whole week with them and their kids. There were 11 kids and 4 adults in one house and believe it or not, it wasn’t too crazy (most the time anyway). We love Bill and Samantha and their family. Their son Landon is Jacob’s best friend. They were inseparable when they lived in our neighborhood. They had a great time playing pickle, basketball, football, guitar hero and rock band together. They are were able to celebrate Landon’s 8th birthday as well. My girls followed their oldest daughter Madi around all week. They couldn’t get enough of her and she was a great babysitter for us as well.

Samantha treated me well. She cooked up delicious meals, took me shopping, we got pedicures, went to lunch a few times, and even hit a late night movie with her friend Kay. We also took the kids to the Denver Zoo, the park, a fun carnival, and a few other places as well. Overall, it was a super fun trip and we so appreciate the amazing hospitality from the Thunell’s. We love ’em and are looking forward to another trip out there in the future.

Thunell Family (minus Justin)

Best buds forever — Landon & Jacob

Carnival fun!! (KK, Meg, & Jacob)

Havin’ fun at the Denver zoo.

The girls LOVE Madi!

Every year the 2nd graders at our elementary school prepare for weeks for a big dance festival. Jacob seemed nervous as the days to the performance drew nearer, but he did great! We shot some video so we could share the moment with our friends and family. Young man has skills! Continue reading “Dance Festival”

It is hard living so far away from family, particularly family in Alaska because the travel to Utah is long and not one easily driven. This is even harder when that person is a grandma (or Oma Ria as we call her). She still hasn’t had the chance to see little Drew so she has requested I make a post with some pictures of him. Luckily we will be able to see her in May and everyone is super excited!

Drew is still an “angel baby”. He sleeps through the night (usually from 10 pm to 9 am). He is smiley, cuddly, and sweet. He doesn’t complain much unless he needs to eat, sleep or be changed. He is starting to fill-out now and his clothes are finally fitting him. He is a finger sucker, not a thumb sucker, which I think contributes to him being such a good baby. He has a rather unique way of sucking his fingers. It is quite funny (see pics below). We sure love this little guy and are so grateful that he is part of our family!

Okay, so I am a sucker. My kids absolutely LOVE Hannah Montana so I decided I would do my darndest to get tickets to the Stadium of Fire featuring Miley Cyrus and the Blue Man Group. I was told the tickets were impossible to get and that I would need to get in a line to get a wristband in order to get tickets. I didn’t have the patience or time to do that so I figured I would get my computers (notice the “s”) setup and I would try to get tickets. I sat in an online waiting room from 4:15 to 5:00 on both computers when the tickets went on sale. A few quick clicks later I had 5 fairly decent seats to the concert. I heard they were sold out within 10 minutes so I am surprised I got lucky enough to get them. I also heard tickets were going on Ebay for over $1000 each. If my kids weren’t super excited to go I would have to consider selling them. 🙂

Yep, that’s right. We are having a hard time believing it too. Little Drew will have a little brother or sister November 18th (or nearby — you know how due dates are).

We’re a little concerned that we won’t be able to fit in our house, go anywhere as a family in our minivan, or even feed and clothe our children any more. We are planning to send Jacob out to get a part-time job to supplement the family income. We are also teaching Megan and Katelyn to sew their own dresses. Once they become proficient we’ll see if we can’t make extras and sell them or trade them for diapers. We’re also hoping for a bumper crop of raspberries, peaches, and apricots so we don’t starve.

Hopefully by now you’ve realized the date that this was posted and made the obvious connection. Otherwise, please feel free to call us or comment below on how crazy we are to be having kid number six.

Due to the misplacement of our camera we were delayed in getting our Easter photos posted. We had a great Easter and enjoyed the short stint of spring weather (it has snowed the last two nights). Continue reading “Easter”

FHE stands for Family Home Evening. It’s a night set aside for our family to hang out and spend quality time together. It was all going smoothly until Manina decided to sneak out to do some shopping, taking baby Drew with her.

“I’ve got a great idea for an activity to keep them busy” explained Manina as she was heading out the door.

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-5745767291545477920&hl=en

Fast forward to three hours later. Alien globs of shaving cream can still be found on the kitchen ceiling. The stuff keeps cropping up in the strangest of places. I’ve done a load of laundry and assembly-lined four kids through the shower. The floor, table, chairs, and bench are still sticky, even after I spent an hour wiping up. I bring in a cooler full of water, several towels, and some industrial-grade kitchen spray to finish up the job. It’s not pretty.

Whatever you do, don’t ever let yourself become convinced that anything like the shaving cream activity is even close to a good idea.

No, I am not talking about myself, although I wish I were. Little Drew went in for his two month checkup and weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs. 3 oz. For those of you that don’t know, he weighed 8 lbs 0 oz. when he was born. That is a weight gain of 3 oz. in two months. That ranked him in the zero percentile for his weight. I had two different nurses ask me if Drew was in for his two week checkup. It started to worry me. I thought something could be wrong. However, thinking back on my other babies they weren’t much for than 9 lbs. at their two month checkups either. My babies generally stay small until they get to be six months.

The doctor wasn’t as concerned as the nurses appeared to be. He said his head/brain were growing and he was getting longer so there didn’t seem to be a reason to worry. He did want me to make sure and give him an increased calorie version of formula (or an extra 1/2 scoop of regular formula) per bottle. He also wanted me to add one extra feeding per day. He anticipates by his four month checkup he will be right on track.

In the few short days that have passed since his checkup it already seems like he has plumped up. He never fusses and he sleeps through the night. He is the happiest baby so it seems odd that he would be under weight. Below are a couple pictures of those little chicken legs.