Another Turtle in the family...

Surprise kids!  Most people who spend any amount of time with Brad know how much he loves his turtles so now people are offering to give them to him!  This one came from a friend of somebody who works with Brad. Obviously, Bentley and Eden were very excited.

We kept her in the kitchen for a few days and they loved hanging out with her while they ate.

We are looking forward to the spring when the rest come out of hibernation so that Princess Leia can join the group outside.  Good times!

Datelivery!

Because we don't have to chance to get out on a ton of date nights, we decided to get a little more creative with in-home dates and subscribed to a service called Datelivery.  Each month we get a date box, complete with supplies, instructions and everything we need for a good in home date.  It always has some games, activities and stuff for dessert at the end.

This particular date was a travel themed one.  We were artists in Paris (the amazing berets came in the box of course) and we each had a canvas to paint something for the other person.  After painting we played a really funny bingo game (which for some lucky reason, Brad always got the punishment cards) and then we made crepes for dessert.  It was tons of fun.

I'm grateful for this man I married and for all the fun we have together.

Eden's 1st day of Kindergarten!

Eden was supposed to start kindergarten last August, but because of her upcoming reconstructive surgery and the unknown travel frequency to Denver, we decided to keep her in the preschool and hold off on kindergarten.

Since the surgery and everything with her health has gone so smoothly, we haven't had to travel to Denver nearly as much as we thought we would.  Around November, Eden really started to complain a lot about being bored, and wanting to be at school with her friends. We ended up having a meeting with the principal and decided that we would start her in kindergarten on the first day back from winter break.  She is starting half way through the school year, and we won't know where exactly she will be academically by the end of the school year, so we decided we would reevaluate then and maybe she will do the full year of kinder, or maybe she will move on to first grade in the fall. Either way, we were excited for the progress for her.

As the day was coming near for her to start, she was getting so excited!  She remembered going to the school that day last fall when we visited the classroom and she was super excited. I walked her to her class that morning and she waved goodbye and ran in. I literally had to hold back tears as I walked back to my car.  I doubted the decision we had made, worried that she just wasn't ready, and was having such a hard time letting her go.

When I picked her up that afternoon she was so happy and excited.  As we had a treat together, she talked all about her day and the fun things she did and she said she was so happy to be in school.

I like Bentley's cute effort at making a thumb's up.

I am just really struggling with the fact that she is now away from me more than she is with me!!  It's so sad.  With that being said though, I'm excited that we are at a place where she is even healthy enough to go to school.  I'm excited for the good school in our area that was willing to work with us.  I'm majorly excited about the fact that there are 13 kids in our ward who are all in kindergarten with her so she has two kids from church in her class and she knows tons of kids at recess. It's such a blessing and I'm excited for her.

School Update (January 30th)

Eden has now been in school for a few weeks.  On about day 3, that excitement and giddiness kind of wore off and she started having a really hard time when I dropped her off.  She would cry and hold on to me and beg me to stay with her.  Her teacher would have to help get her into the classroom, but she assured me that once Eden was inside, she calmed down right away, participated, and was really happy.  Each day when I would pick her up she was so happy and would say she was glad she went and liked it there.  It was heartbreaking though when I would leave her.  In talking with her teacher though, and even talking to Eden about it, she really was happy there and liked going to school, she was just getting herself all worked up and anxious whenever I would drop her off.  The good news though is that she is learning to overcome it (after time, and several good talks with her).  

Every day this week she has said goodbye to me and happily skips off to the playground and finds her friends. No more tears... no more sadness for her or me.  It's so hard to push her sometimes, but it's the only way she can make progress and step outside her comfort zone.  I'm so grateful that she is having such a good experience now.  There for a few weeks I was REALLY doubting our decision to put her in, but I think this same thing would have probably happened six months from now too.  Starting something new is hard for her, and we have learned that we have to push her a little, but it always pays off in the end.  I'm very proud of her and I love picking her up each day and hearing about all her fun adventures.  

Bentley and Claire Pickett

Bentley was just sitting, reading a book and minding his own business and Claire walked up and said, "Bentley, hold me" and sat herself right onto his lap before he even knew what was happening.  He wasn't really sure what to think, but he let her sit there for quite a while.

She brought him a book and said, "read it" so he proceeded to ramble off some cute story to her.

It's official - they should be married someday.  :)

"Bad"

Eden and Bentley were having a particularly rough time at getting along one afternoon, and they were in the craft room arguing about something before Bentley called it quits and left the room.  A few minutes later I noticed Eden sneaking towards him so I decided to watch and see how this played out.  She very stealthily taped this big paper to his back that says, "bad."  He didn't even notice, but I found it quite hilarious.

Well played Eden... parenting really is so entertaining sometimes.

Bentley - the Superhero!

 He will say "Mom, take a picture of me" and then proceed to make all sorts of poses like these.

I love this boy, he brings such a fun and different dynamic to our family... thank goodness he is mine! :)

Christmas and New Year's in Colorado!

Christmas and New Year's were so fun this year!  We drove out to Parker, CO on the 23rd and stayed at Greg and Stephanie's house.  Grandma and Grandpa Justice also came out from Tennessee and we had a nice long visit there together. 

Even Ruby got to go and she was very content riding on Brad's lap the whole way if he would have let her.

The kids loved checking out all the presents, over and over again!

Eden and Maddie enjoyed helping grandma with her needlework.  It was very cute to watch them work together.

There were A LOT of games played over the course of our stay.  We all got some new ones for Christmas so it was a lot of fun trying out some new games.

On Christmas Eve, Brad's cousin Terena and her family came over for dinner and to decorate ginger bread houses with us. The kids had a blast.

Then that evening, Bentley, Eden, and Olivia got to open their new Christmas PJs. 

Bentley got Lightening McQueen from the movie "Cars"

Maddie was a very good helper when it was Olivia's turn.

Eden got "Frozen" jammies - of course!

After getting cozy in their new PJs, the kids wrote some letters to leave for Santa that night.

Olivia had fun crawling around on all the presents.

Bentley took this very seriously.  I wrote what he wanted me to say, and then for several minutes after he "wrote" quite a bit more.  It was precious.

I love this family so much!

Before heading off to bed, uncle Greg read the book "I believe in Santa" and we talked about all the symbols of Christmas and how they relate back to Christ.

It was such a fun and magical Christmas eve night.  I love having kids and creating these memories with them.

Then about 7am the next morning, the crazy began!

Eden's pile from Santa

Bentley's pile from Santa.

Olivia's pile from Santa.

The kids were so excited to get downstairs.  I took several pictures and Bentley has a really funny superhero pose in each one of them.  I love that boy.

Once the Santa piles were sorted through, the kids played while Steph and I made breakfast.  By the time we finished eating and were ready to open presents, Olivia was ready for a nap so she slept through all of the craziness.

For grandma and grandpa's present, Brad and I had my cousin do a watercolor painting of the old motorhome that was the center of countless family vacations when they were growing up. I think they enjoyed it and we look forward to see it hanging in their lake house when we go out this summer!

Brad got some new cufflinks - they look just like the car Monopoly game piece.

Eventually Olivia woke up and got to have her own little Christmas with lots and lots of attention from the other kids.  She didn't really seem too interested in anything actually, the toys or ripping the paper. ha ha

Eden was excited to model her new Elsa shirt, and her new Anna boots.

Then, the highlight of Christmas day, was the video call from Elder Keegan Justice who is serving his mission in Alaska.  It was so fun to see him and hear all his cool stories. This was his second, and last, Christmas on his mission.

Over the course of the ten or so days we were there, we had some pretty amazing meals! We ate out a handful of times, but all of the following delicious meals were made at home: (thank you Stephanie for all your work!  Amazing!)

Christmas day - prime rib

the following Sunday night dinner - Tur-duc-ken (which was a very interesting experience)

New Year's eve - fondue with steak, chicken and shrimp

New Year's day - steak and lobster

I think the consensus was that this was a fun experience for something new, but not worth the price to do it again.

Eden was the little snowbird that trip.  She went out to play as often as she could, but most days it was below freezing and WAY too cold to be enjoyable.

Olivia really enjoyed Griffin's Hot Wheels car collection.

A couple days after Christmas, we finally ventured out of the house to the nearby jumping place.  The kids had colds so the more they jumped, the more they coughed which was a big bummer.  We all still had fun though and it felt good to get out and moving.

Olivia got some good immunity boosting time by making sure she licked every pole.

I'm bummed this picture came out blurry.  Eden adores Mason and he is so sweet to her.

The potato peeling team...

Maddie had her 4th birthday while we were there.  Steph and I treated the girls to a royal spa day.  Maddie wasn't sure about the bubbles in the foot bath at first, but she warmed up to the idea.

Greg and Steph highjacked my phone and took a bunch of selfies, so naturally I had to choose one to post.

The kids slept in a big heap on the floor.  We would tuck them in nice and straight in their sleeping bags and by the time Brad and I came to bed they looked something like this.

On New Year's day we continued on with our tradition of making vision boards and getting our goals out for the new year.  Eden and Bentley made one too which turned out very cute.

We got to watch Uncle Greg feed two mice to the snake, which was very disgusting and creepy.  Neither of my kids seemed to have much to say about that experience.

Eden and Maddie did a lot of dressing up.

Lobster!

On Friday the 2nd, Eden and I headed up to the Children's hospital for her next bronch to see how her airway was doing.

Waiting to go back to the operating room.  She handles all of this like such a champ!

The news was again very good!  Dr. Prager said everything is looking really good. The reconstruction site is staying nice and open and even a tad bit wider.  No intervention was necessary and we have been cleared for another 4 months!  Whoooo hooo!  I still can't even believe that everything has been going so smoothly. I'm trying to bask in the joy of if all!

By the time she was discharged, it was about 3pm and she had been fasting since the day before so she was very hungry.  We went across the street to Panera because she thought a grilled cheese sandwich sounded really good.  She ended up having two sandwiches, two go-gurts and most of my chips!  Poor hungry gal.

Then she finished off her lunch with a large cookie. I'm so proud of this girl.  She is amazing.

Because Eden had gone under general anesthesia, when they discharged us they told me she would probably be really weak and tired for the remainder of the day, but they don't know how quickly this girl bounces back!  We got back to Greg and Steph's and she rested for about 5 minutes before begging to join the others outside in the snow.  They were building a pretty awesome snow igloo and she was dying to be part of that.

Mason, Eden, Griffin and Maddie all fit inside that igloo by the time they were done with it.  I was seriously impressed.

The following day was Griffin's birthday and we were leaving in the morning, so on our last evening there we got to celebrate his birthday with him.  It was a lot of fun.

Overall it was an incredible trip.  Christmas was magical and so much fun.  We had a blast spending time with family and the kids loved being with their cousins.  We feel so blessed to be able to get together like this, to create so many new memories, and strengthen our friendships.  Thank you Greg and Steph for hosting and for everything you did to make our time there so much fun.

Eden's precious drawing of Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus