Wilkommen!

I'll explain this guy later.

But over the last few months...

We got a new puppy named Chloe!   Lacey's litter sister from another litter.  Drove to Utah and back to get her from the same breeder.  Losing Lacey in such a tragic way was a most devastating and horrific experience, but we've been blessed with another great dog that even came potty trained.

Ava turned 6.  I seem to be the expert at hand crafting birthday cakes from store bought treats (AKA too lazy to make one). At least this time I didn't stick matches in a Push Up like I did here...

Oh great, I found this picture of Chad while I was looking for the Push Up picture.  I guess I do it more than I remember!

In Utah, I couldn't believe how high Alyssa could fly off the high dive! That's her doing a toe touch 15 feet up.

 Cousins

Sarah's favorite tree at temple square.

Sarah ran for Student Council and won (phew).  Lots of work preparing speeches and making posters and handouts.  The most memorable part may be when we bought 150 mini play-dohs (food not allowed), wrote "Vote Sarah" on each, and when she handed them out kids started throwing them at each other like it was a food fight.  They got confiscated, she cried out of frustration, and I affectionately call the fiasco Play-doh-gate.  It's all my fault really!  The play-doh was cheaper than the leis so I went with what was cheaper!  The few leis she handed out went VERY well on the other hand.

Talent show season is in full swing.  All four kids do it at the different schools and it stresses me out because it requires lots of extra practices, choreography adjustments, music editing, prop creations, etc.  But I should be glad my kids are fearless and eager.

Chad flashing a peace sign to the crowd after his acoustic version of a Coldplay song.

And last...my favorite part of the last few months...

 Leavenworth, Washington!

 We took the kids to this gorgeous Bavarian or German town surrounded by raging rivers and alplike mountains.  It was perfect.  I love leaving town and getting away from all of our stresses and the daily grind!!! So much.  I crave it.  It started off a little rocky when Alyssa got so tangled up in her seatbelt that we thought we were going to have to find a car dealership in the next city or cut her out of it.  But from past experience (yes, Chad broke a seat belt once) I knew that would cost 300 dollars, so I was determined to get her out!  Russ was ticked, I was laughing.  Russ couldn't get her out and was calling for scissors, I got out of the driver's seat and gave it a try.  I figured she just had to do a back flip while Russ pulled with his Hulk strength and wah lah!
Alyssa playing drums on the railings. Bbbbbbbbbbbbbt!

 The flowers...oh the flowers!  Evvvvvverywhere!

 Overpriced german sausages at Munchen Haus...we all left hungry and had more reason to  inhale some ice cream.

 Coolest 24 hour petting zoo we had all to ourselves.  We paid on the honor system and you just let yourself in!

The kids flip out every time we stay in a hotel of any kind. "OH...MY...GOSH!!! LOOOOK at the little soap!!!!" "AAAAAAH! They have a cabinet that opens and shuts!!!!! Oh...my...goodness! squeeeeel!"  They make tons and tons of herbal tea.  Every little thing is SO exciting to them, so this was quite spectacular. Indoor pool was lovely until I had to run out looking for super glue and butterfly bandages at 10pm due to a cut open cheekbone. Sarah and Alyssa are just too competitive diving for pennies.

Outdoor pool by day.

 What is Chad doing???

 We golfed holes in this order...16, 7, 8, 15, 13.  And I think that's about all Ava and Alyssa could stand!  Golf included with hotel.

Icicle Gorge Canyon hike.  AH-mazing.

 

Do I dare tell them I'm looking to do an 8-10 mile hike in Glacier this summer when Ava needed carried during mile 4???  She made it.  But she and Chad both we done at mile 3.

Alyssa, sporting a bandaged cheekbone, must carry 2 hiking sticks at all times.  Until the bark starts making her skin too sore  and one is too heavy and she asks all of us to carry them for her.

 The view during my morning jog.

Russ singing "The Hills are Alive"

Oh yeah, this guy!  He serranades everyone each day at breakfast with his Alphorn on the 4th story ledge of our hotel HE built!!!  He built the Enzian Inn.  Now that is a cool dude.  I have much more respect for leiderhosen now.

On to Glacier this summer!  But first Utah for 2 days, Maui work reward trip, EFY, scout camp, girls camp, Camp Peine, 7 am computer programming class downtown summer school, volleyball camp at Gonzaga, cousins coming.  Can't wait.

Stinky and Sweet

 Sweet: We've made buckets of frosting for Sarah's cake decorating class and this decorator grade is pure Crisco. It's so thick it broke a mixer. We surprised our personal chefs (IE the tattooed eyebrow pierced dudes at Little Caesar's) with cupcakes to thank them for feeding us every week. 

 

  Stinky:  Russ' job.  He's been working 70-80 hours a week for months for half the pay.  Quota unachievable.  Not fun to see him under so much pressure.  But I married Chuck Norris.  He doesn't complain...he's tough.  He works from home so no one at work has any idea the hours he's pulling.  Hoping things change in April with a new sales year.

No longer stinky:  The bubbles overflowed onto the floor and they covered the walls.  Just part of the fun of having 1 o'clock church.

Sweet:  Chad got voted into 2nd place for the high school talent search and as a reward got to open for the Brett Hite concert!  He sang "She Loves You" by the Beetles, felt like a rock star on stage, and afterwards stood on stage smiling with his arms in the air flashing the peace sign soaking in all the screams.

Super sweet:  My two bros!  Curtis...my look-a-like... stopped by for 40 minutes during a lay over.  Loved it!  A couple of days later he was Mitt Romney's flight attendant.

Sweet:  Took 6 kids (I'm a nice neighbor like that) to science night.  Blows me away what the community does for our school.  Our favorites:  seeing Jupiter's moons and a nebula with a high powered telescope on the front lawn and the live one eyed owl.

Sweet and Stinky:   Sweet that Sarah is paying for her own outfits now that she is mildly rich due to babysitting jobs after handing out resumes/business cards.  Stinky that she's growing up so fast!  Sometimes I miss her already.

Minute to Win It 13th Bday Party

You only turn 13 once and Sarah went all out. 

We couldn't wait to make this pretty cake we found online. Sarah made one, I made one, and Sarah's turned out better than mine!  She started cake decorating classes this month.

"On a Roll" challenge.  I've never seen TP fly so fast off the roll!

 Back flip pencil challenge.

 Some Just Dance Kinect

 Sarah invited 14 friends to her party. I was nervous, she apologized she had so many friends, and I told her that was a good problem to have!  Couldn't fit 15 chairs around the table so we just did without them.

"Chocolate Unicorn" challenge!  Stack 5 ding dongs, balace for 3 seconds.

 "Junk in the Trunk".  Shake 7 ping pong balls out of a tissue box around your waist.

 She got SO many presents it was overwhelming.  Everyone was very thoughtful, creative, and knew exactly what she likes.

 "Face the Cookie"...take an Oreo from your forehead and move it to your mouth without using any hands!  The face contortions were awesome.

I'm glad that's over, now I still owe Alyssa a bday party and I'm only 5 months late!