We love you Mike and Sindy!

My brother Mike and his family are moving to a Caribbean island called Dominica in a couple of weeks for about a year and a half. His wife Sindy is going to medical school there. We are going to miss them so much, and decided to have a get-together before they took off. Grandma and Grandpa and Mike and Sindy and kids came up to Boise since all of our kids are in soccer right now and we had a small family reunion - minus Chris and Eric. I took a ton of pictures, but they were all on my parent's camera. I fully intended on getting the pictures before they left, but it didn't happen. We spent Saturday hanging out and took the kids to a show. We played pinochle that night. On Sunday, we spent the whole day at the park. The weather was amazing and the kids had so much fun. We were all a little red the next day, but it was worth it. Here Danni lured grandpa into reading her a book, her favorite thing ever.

While we went to Nana's soccer game, Mike stayed home so Danni could take a nap. I guess she started crying in her crib and Mike got her out and held her. You have to understand, she NEVER does this! She just fell asleep on him. I was sooooo jealous! At least it made a good picture! I'll add some more pictures later when I get them! Good luck to Mike and Sindy, we'll miss you guys so much! Enjoy your 80 degree year-round weather!

Easter Morning!

Okay, these pictures are completely out of order because I'm totally incapable of blogging more that 3 pictures at a time. Emilee became a non-believer this year. Here is her reasoning...how can one small bunny rabbit go from house to house all over the world hiding eggs? I said, well Santa can do it. Her reply? "Mom, he has a sleigh." Can't argue with that. Here's Braden with a bag full of loot.

The kids kept arguing over whether the Easter Bunny should hide eggs inside or outside...they all won. The Easter Bunny did both! We made the kids start at the top of the stairs and come down together.

Danni's catching a ride from Nana so she wouldn't be left all by herself at the top of the stairs.

Danni kept saying, "and another egg...more eggs!" It was so cute. She loved it.

Brianna has always had good "eyes" to find hidden things.

I didn't get any pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits...Danni wasn't feeling well and so she didn't go to church. I'll make them get all dressed up again this Sunday and snap some pictures then. After church, our friends invited us to their house with their whole family for Easter dinner. It was great food and we even got to play a little nerts!

Night Time Easter Egg Hunt!

Our friends hosted a night time Easter egg hunt at their house the Friday before Easter. We all went earlier in the day and hid our eggs in their fabulous yard (there were plenty of good hiding spots!). When it got dark, we all showed up with our flashlights and hunted for eggs. Danni had so much fun! She had to carry her own basket and got it so full the eggs kept falling out. Somehow, I didn't get any pictures of the other kids, they were off too fast to catch up to. I guess the camera always follows the little ones. Here's dad pointing out an egg with the flashlight.

Braden had a big decision to make. We let him choose whether to help hide the eggs or to find them...after much time deliberating, he finally decided he really wasn't too big to find eggs. He left all of the easy ones alone and concentrated on the hard ones. Thank you to our friends for a great idea and an awesome night! The kids loved it!

Well, we're having a...

BOY! We had our ultrasound yesterday and it turns out everyone was right, it's a boy! It was really strange because I've been so careful not to call it a he or she, but as soon as we saw him on the ultrasound Dan and I both started calling him a "him" and we didn't find out until the very end that it really was a "him". Dan and Danni were there and everything looked great. It was comforting after the scare Danni gave us in her ultrasound. The kids were excited to find out after coming home from school. I made Braden call Dan to find out the news and Dan told him, "well, looks like we have someone to go to the games with!" Braden couldn't quit smiling and was doing the fist pump. The girls were really excited too, although Brianna said she was hoping to keep the girl streak going. Danni was really interested in the ultrasound at first when it actually looked like a baby, then she quickly got bored and found the Jr. Mints in my purse. I think she finally gets the baby in mom's belly thing though, cuz she kept lifting up my shirt trying to find the baby the rest of the day. We have the ultrasound on DVD and she loves to watch it. She's going to be a great big sister. We are just so greatful everything looks fine and he appears to be healthy. We are so blessed and thank our Father in Heaven every single day.

Double Digits!

Well, my second baby is now in double digits. My kids sure know how to make their mom feel old. Brianna is such a good girl and it's a lot of fun to celebrate her birthday because it's on St. Patrick's Day! On her birthday we brought treats to her class and gave everyone a green lei. Dad brought her balloons home after work, but Danni quickly laid claim to those. She got to open presents that night and chose to go eat at Souper Salad (thank goodness it wasn't Golden Corral).

Here is Emilee playing the bonk on the head game, but she gave a little too hard of a bonk and the birthday girl got a headache. Brianna was really excited to get an iHome for her ipod. She used most of her birthday money to go buy clothes (when exactly did she turn into a teenager?).

She got to have a birthday party on Friday and invite her buddies. We ate pizza...

...made geo shapes (thanks Aunt Melissa for the great idea!)...

And they made beaded necklaces. We had more projects to do, but we ran out of time! It was a lot fun and Brianna has some great friends. We are so blessed to have Brianna in our lives and in our home. She is a huge help with her baby sister and great example to her little sister. She always try to do the right thing and the thing she hates the most is getting into trouble. Brianna is the biggest smart alec and likes to tease her dad. We love her so much!

Like Son Like Father

So, Dan has been a Harley Davidson addict for a while now. He remembers growing up with his dad riding a bike all of the time and I guess it's just in his blood. Well, Charlie and Linda came to visit in March and it just happened to be an okay day (that's code for it wasn't snowing that day) and Dan just happened to have an extra Harley at the car lot, so he and his dad decided to go for a ride with some buddies...not one day, but two! Charlie hadn't ever been on a bike like these, so Dan was so excited to introduce his dad to the world of Harleys (sorry Linda, they are addicting and if you end up with one in your garage, don't blame me, it was your son). Here is son helping father with his safety gear.

Charlie rode Dan's bike and Dan rode the other one. We made them pose for some pics. Who said 36 is too old for leather pants?

When Dan first got his bike, I would go to my room and kneel down and pray for his safety every time he went for a ride. It scared me to death. He almost had to force me to go with him the first time (What about our kids? Who will raise them if we both die a horrible death being peeled like a banana on the pavement?). I'm a little less uptight about it now, but I do say a prayer every time he leaves.