February

 

In February, Hayley’s school had a Father Daughter Dance. She was so excited to go with her dad! I couldn’t get a picture of just them due to 2 brothers wanting their daddy too,  so this was the best we could do. They had a fun night!

We also took our first trip to Rawhide. We met up with Jeff’s brother and his family. The kids had a great time riding burros, petting animals, going on the train over and over (mainly Jace), panning for gold, and riding a stagecoach. My kids were a little scared of the pretend shootouts in the street, so we had to skip the gun show. Next time maybe we get crazy and ride the mechanical bull!

Elyse, Kiki, Ben, and Hayley

Real or fake, if there is a horse Kyrsten will be there! 

Our niece Elyse, she is so cute!

Jace hiding in the stroller during the street shootout.

Hayley, such a cute silly cowgirl! She takes after her dad in the funny department…

Now for a showcase of Lincoln. He loves animals, especially being up close. He cracks me up with his faces.

Hayley, Elyse, and Kiki

Jace was not tall enough to ride the burros so he made up for it with lots of train rides, right up front every time!

Till next time partner!

January 2012

 

I am on a mission to put some pictures up from the first few months of 2012! It is hard to find time to ever get to work on the blog. Four kids has kept us busier than we could have ever imagined! So the dishes, laundry, and messy house will have to wait a little longer while I do some updating.  For those wanting to spend time away from there daily tasks also, stay tuned over the next couple days and catch up with the Mitchells!

In January, we finally came through on a promise to the kids, and took them up to Pinetop to play in the snow.  Which was a first for the boys, and the first time the girls will probably remember.  I do recall that this trip was filled with pink eye, vomit, and frequent whining, but I am glad I have pictures to just remind me off the fun time that make up for all the rest! That’s how life with kids seems to be, many hard times all made up in one sweet moment.

All bundled up and ready to go!

Starting out on the front porch. As you will see in the pictures they slowly build their way to real sledding.

Lincoln waiting for his turn to play. He ended up not loving the snow since he does not like to wear gloves or hats.

So excited to get playing, they started with snow angels and sledding  in the driveway.

Progressing to a small hill near the cabin. Good place to practice before the real hills.   

Beautiful Kiki!

As you will be able to tell, Jeff was the photographer of this trip so you get to see more of me and none of him.  Sorry to all the Jeff lovers!

One of the fun parts of this trip for me was to see Hayley’s fearless side come out. It doesn’t happen too often yet, but on the hills she was climbing higher than I was and going backyards, forward, and even hands free! I love seeing the kids have fun.

It took Kyrsten a little while to get comfortable with bigger hills and spinning around, but by the end she was having fun too!

I even got a few rides in with the kiddos.

A survival of a day playing in the snow with kids!

 

Also in January:

Jeff’s Grandma came to visit. The kids enjoyed getting to play with their Great Grandma! I hope I will be able to healthy and strong enough to play with my great grand kids one day! 

I also celebrated my 31st birthday! I have to say, when I turned 30 I was excited. 31…now I feel old. Having a cookie cake drowns out those worries!

Cowgirl Dream Come True

Kyrsten loves horses. She often asks for a horse and says she is going to get one when she is a teenager. She loves watching any horse movie and tv show. Most of all she aspires to be cowgirl when she grows up. She told me the other day she didn’t want to be a mom because she wanted to be a cowgirl. I explained she could be both if she wanted. So, for her Birthday we decided to skip the big party, which creates stress and work for mom, and traded it in for a cowgirl experience! Kyrsten was thrilled. We headed out to The Goodman's, a couple who we know from Church , who have horses, cows, a beautiful home, and lots of land all around!

Meet Willy. First Kyrsten took him on a walk.

Onto riding- what a sweet cowgirl!

And of course she shared her experience with her brothers and sister…

Even Jeff got a turn, at one point he had Kyrsten and Jace on with him. Then the dust started rolling in. Maybe next time I will have to get back in the saddle. It as been quite awhile.

Here is our little crew playing in the cotton seed. We had such a blast. We are ready to head back for another country adventure! Thank you so much Goodman’s!!!

Catching up

Now that 2011 is about half way over, I finally found a few minutes to try to catch up. I will mainly let the pictures do the talking…

January

Four kids!!!

Nap time for the boys! Jace was going through a phase of not wanting to nap, so he would eventually just pass out on the couch. Thank goodness it was only a phase. He happily naps in his crib again!

Lincoln at 2 months

February

Lincoln was blessed on 2/13/11. We had many family members and friends come join us for the afternoon. Sadly, we did not take a picture. I have found we really are lacking on pictures this year. The more kids you have, there is less free hands or free time to take the pictures!

March

For spring break we headed up to Heber, AZ to take a break in the mountains. We had a great few days with Mark and Kami and their kiddos. The cabin had a fun zip line. Wish I had pics of the group. Definitely going to work on that this summer.

Jace turned 2 in March! We took him to an awesome train park in Chandler. He had a blast! The kids rode the train and carousal over and over. Trains are one of Jace's favorite things right now. Or I should say choo choo’s. Most of his words are sounds. Jace loves to communicate with others, we just have to translate for them. Jace is a quite a handful and knows how to use his cuteness to get away with way too much!

Linc and his cousin Riley

April

It was finally time to chop of those lovely blonde locks.

Easter Sunday We sure love these kiddos! While parenting is the most challenging job ever, we love seeing them grow and learn everyday. They keep us busy, busy, busy!

We also went to Rocky Point in April with our good friend the Snells. Jeff competed in his first Olympic Triathlon and did awesome! Guess what, we didn’t take one picture. I will have to borrow some from our friends to post. Those will come later.

May

Kyrsten graduated preschool! Kiki learned so much this year and loved going to preschool with her friends. Now we are waiting to see if she gets into Kindergarten next year.

The end of the school year is always busy and we are looking for the start of summer!