Trip to Nauvoo

Whilst we had Mike's parents in town, we planned a trip to Nauvoo-somewhere we've been wanting to visit for 8 years since we moved here but never did. We stopped in Independence on the way and saw the visitor's center and Liberty Jail. In Nauvoo, Mike's mom had rented a house that the kids loved! All four little beds up in the attic room made them very happy indeed. My sister Lauryn and her kids joined us in Nauvoo and she was able to babysit for us so we could attend the temple with Mike's parents. What a beautiful temple! (I fell in love with the red, white and blue stars and the woodwork is amazing!) It rained on us while touring old Nauvoo, but it didn't dampen our spirits-the kids had a blast dressing as pioneers, playing pioneer games and visiting all the shops. On the way back home, we visited Carthage Jail and Adam-ondi-ahman. It was a wonderful and spiritual vacation.

Michael's baptism

What a day it was-first Mike's graduation and then Michael's baptism. He was so happy to have so many friends and family there. He looked so handsome with his new scriptures (thanks Grandpa and Grandma Chavez), a new suit, and a new journal from Bishop Kitchen. It was definately the highlight of the day-as it should have been. We are so pleased with Michael and the choices he makes every day.

Mike's graduation

He's finished! A master's degree from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. His parents and sister as well as my dad and Linda came from Utah. Friends from church and work also came to support him on his big day. Thank you to all who inspired and supported us.

Bekah's Kindergarten Bear Program

Bekah had a one line part in her program this year: "The polar bear's white coat keeps it hidden." She did a great job remembering and she spoke clearly and loudly. Sarah enjoyed herself singing and dancing in the aisle.

MIchael's birthday

 

Michael is eight! His birthday requests this year were: Star Wars legos, a third Wii remote, and a lock for his bedroom door(Sarah and Rachel go in his room while he's at school and break his lego creations). His "party" wasn't till Friday, which was also the night of the pinewood derby. His car is the silver rocket car-which came in second in most of it's races. He was very happy to be there! His friend Joseph came over after and had cake and ice cream with us and they had a sleepover-Michael's first ever.

Easter Morning

 

In front of the church on our way in to the Sunday morning session of General Conference.

Easter Egg hunt

 
All the fun happened this year in between the sessions of Saturday's General Conference. The kids helped us put the candy in the plastic eggs-I really liked that part, especially since our neighbor gave us a big garbage sack of plastic eggs that they don't use any more. Then we ate lunch while Daddy hid them in the back yard, and the kids went out and found them all in about 5 minutes. I think some of the kids are getting too old, or we've got to hide the eggs better.

Bekah's all day birthday

 

Bekah's birthday fell over spring break this year and we had fun all day long. First the Anderson's took us bowling and brought ding dong cupcakes(Bekah is pretending to blow out the candles on her Birthday girl headband). Then Sister Harvey took us out to Golden Corral where the staff sang a birthday song to a very embarrased Bekah. Last she had the Anderson's come over for birthday cake and ice cream and got to open her presents from her family. This is a mermaid barbie the kids got her.

Short hair

 

 

Bekah has been crying too often and too loudly lately when we brush her hair, so we cut it off! She loves the way it looks and how easy it is to brush.

How Rachel eats an orange

Rachel scooted the chair over and got herself an orange and a butter knife. She "asked" me to peel it for her, but I was busy reading to Bekah and told her she had to wait. Instead, she did it herself.

About the kids

Hannah has had a few friends over to play and a sleepover or two when I've seen a glimpse of a pre-teen, but thankfully those occasions are still few and far between. For the most part, she is still very young at heart; sweet and innocent. Her and Michael have been spending a little too much time on the Wii (Christmas present from Nana and Uncle Bill), but she still loves to read and to be read to more. She joined the book club at school so she gets to spend even more time reading.

Michael, as stated above, loves to play the Wii (especially Super Mario Bros). I often get impatient with the time spent on the Wii, but I can't complain about how it motivates him to get his chores done-usually without being asked. His love of this pass time has spread into his love of drawing and he makes very realistic drawings of different worlds and characters in Marioland. This last Sunday he went to a Baptism Fireside at church and has become very anxious not only for his baptism, but also to join cub scouts.

Rebekah is practically perfect in every way. We just did Parent-Teacher conferences and her teacher couldn't say enough about her good behavior and her educational progress. One precious story Mrs. Cribbs told me was about what Bekah said on the 100th day of school. Everyone was supposed to tell the class something they wished they had 100 of (100 jelly beans, 100 toy cars, etc). Bekah's answer was 100 Sarah's. She just loves Sarah and talks about her in class all the time.

Sarah has a great imagination! She is always playing with different objects as though they were people (2 forks become 2 friends playing in an obstacle course, mini bottles of lotion and hand sanitizer are a girl being chased by a tiger). She loves "Littlest Pet Shop" animals and has a little backpack full of them that she carries around all day. This weekend, Bekah slammed Sarah's finger in the bedroom door and she got hurt pretty bad. She screamed for at least a half an hour it hurt so bad, but once the Tylenol took effect and she had calmed down it was nice to have that story about what Bekah said at school to tell her and show her that Bekah does love her and didn't mean to hurt her. It was so sweet, she cried when I told her (not the screaming kind of cry).

Rachel has been using a few more words and can understand everything and follow directions. It's so exciting to see her becoming her own little girl. She still does her signs for more, please and thankyou. Some of the words she says alot are no, go! (usually to the dog), ink (drink), num nums, and nigh night.

About Brenda

 
I have started my second ever quilt. I meet every week with some great ladies in the ward and we do a block a week. Here's the 3 I've done so far.

About Mike

 
The most exciting thing going on with Mike lately was his 2nd year going to Trappers. We forgot to take a picture of his beard 2 months in the making, but here it is after about a month so you can imagine. We don't understand why he would volunteer to go camping in January, but we just smile and nod, because he seems to enjoy it.

Hannah's school music program

 

Hannah auditioned and got to sing a duet at her school's 3rd & 4th grade music program. She also learned and performed a little square dancing.

Sledding-kind of

 

I've been so bad about taking pictures the past few months-we've had a couple of good snowfalls, this is the first. We found out in Utah that the kids are total wimps when it comes to snow/cold, so we never go far from a warm house when we venture out. By the time I got my camera out this day, Hannah and Rachel had already gone in (Rachel was not happy) and Michael never even went out. Bekah and Sarah, however had a blast.

Another reason we love Wichita

 
We have the best friends/ babysitters in the entire universe. This is the oldest Anderson sister, Brett. She is a working, full time college student with a calling and an active family life and yet she still makes time to adore my kids. And they adore her-can't you tell?

speaking of art

 
Not a great picture, but these are Mike's trees. He loves to draw trees (go figure).

a little culture...

 

Proof that we do strive for a little culture in the Chavez home: a proper tea AND art!

Christmas vacation, part two

 

A long drive up north on Christmas Eve was made even longer when Michael got sick in the back seat and we had to pull over and clean up. Hannah was sick the day before and Bekah got sick on Christmas (she was none too enthusiastic about opening her stocking and always had her throw-up bowl close by). Thankfully noone else got sick the rest of the trip. We were saddened to find Brenda's grandma in the hospital, but we got to visit a few times and she is now home and recovering. A funny story was told and retold by grandpa several times: Sarah came to tattle on Rachel for pushing her so Daddy asked her if she had pushed Rachel first and she immediately replied "no, I just did this..." (recreating her choking Rachel around the neck). He thought that was hilarious. One of the highlights of our trip up to Salt Lake area was seeing the lights at Temple Square. The kids loved the lights; but the cold-not so much. The younger three were bawling for a good 20 minutes after we got in the car to drive back home. Good times. Hannah was in heaven the whole time because she got to spend lots of time with her two best cousins. Their favorite part about the entire trip was the morning we spent at the skating center with their cousins. Roller skates, scooters, laser tag, bounce houses, a cool jungle gym, pizza and video games. What's not to love? We stayed with my mom (Nana), and got to see my grandpa and grandma, my cousins, my Dad and Linda, my brother, my sister and her kids, and even my friend from high school. We had nice traveling weather, spent time with loved ones and made a lot of great memories.

Christmas Vacation, part one

 

I'm going to divide our trip into the southern and northern adventures. After traveling through the night, the first big sight the kids saw when waking up was Hoover Dam. Our visit with "Uncle Dave" was worth the trip. Their adorable twin boys are the sweetest-we all felt a little closer to Heaven after spending time with them. Next stop-St. George. We got to stay with Mike's sister and her kids, spend time with Mike's brother and see his parents. That wasn't all, oh no. We also got together with most of the Chavez relatives: Mike's Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Mike's Grandpa from Kanab even came up. It was so nice to see everyone and catch up on their lives. The kids loved hanging out with their cousins-the weather was so nice they didn't have to wear coats to go to the park or dance out on the trampoline. We had such a blast and we miss them all so much.

Our Christmas before Christmas.

 

We opened gifts before our trip so we wouldn't have to pack them all in our van. The girls were very excited about their American Girl Dolls and Michael loved his Space Police lego set. Rachel was the only unhappy camper. She wanted Sarah's Bitty Baby and Sarah wasn't about to share. They had a few smackdowns and we had to put the baby up. All was calm after that and Biscuit was the last to open his gift-he knew just what to do.

 
JUST

FOR

THE

FUN

OF

IT!

Sarah's 4th birthday

 

Ever since school started this year Sarah's been asking us when she gets to go to school and we always tell her "You have to be four." Well needless to say she was very excited to for this birthday and now we have to come up with a new way to explain the time before she can start school. She wanted a horsie cake, so we let her pick the mix and the frosting and then put a horse on top (she's licking the frosting off so she can play with it). She got this new bike basket and bell so we let her bring her bike in. The kids followed her around and everytime she would enter the room we would all clap and cheer. She had so much fun.

Family Christmas photo

Turkey Trot

 
All three kids wanted to run for Benton Elementary this year at the Turkey Trot. It's a two mile course and they went to practices on Saturday mornings to prepare. Here's a before picture; then Michael, Hannah, and Bekah was a trooper jogging with Daddy and never stopped to rest-but the after picture says it all! They were all thrilled at their accomplishments. And Benton won the trophy for most students participating.