Happy Easter 2014!

Pretty sad that this is the best picture I could get of all four kids together in their Easter clothes!  I may just have one or two uncooperative kids in the bunch.... ha ha

 Easter was pretty low key this year!  The kids got a giant Kinder egg and one other gift!  Then they had an easter egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpas and a big dinner with the whole fam!

 

 

 And of course it wouldn't be complete without decorating Easter eggs!  I had planned to do it without Scarlett around because, come on, it's never a good idea to put her and any kind of permanent dye together!! But she left her movie in the basement and came upstairs part way through, of course wanting to join us!  I carefully helped her and she was THRILLED.  She loved putting sparkles on the eggs and didn't want to stop!  Cute, but stressful!! ha ha

Spring Break in Fairmont

 We spent the whole of Spring Break week in Fairmont this year and had a ton of fun!  It was so nice to get away from all the snow here in Calgary, and go to a place not too far that was a good 10 degrees warmer, and didn't have snow (except up on the ski hills!).
The kids got so excited about the idea of going on this trip and staying in our own little condo.  They absolutely loved it.  There were deer walking all around our place, and they didn't seem too phased by us walking right up to them!  Scarlett thought that was especially neat!  The boys' favorite thing to do seemed to be to whittle pieces of wood with knives and make pencils or roasting sticks with them.  Griffin was pretty proud of himself and got a little too comfortable with the knives... I had to take them away when I saw him throwing them and threatening to stab Scarlett if she didn't go away...
We did lots of hiking and exploring right around the resort, and played lots of family games.  And of course we did a TON of swimming!  Usually a couple times a day.  Mostly we swam at the Rec Center, but we did one evening at the big Hot Springs pool - Although the diving boards were shut down, to all our disappointment.  Scarlett became absolutely obsessed with swimming though this trip.  She would not stop asking to "sim", over and over!!  She got pretty confident jumping in the water, even when we let her head go under.  And we tried hard to teach her to float in her life jacket by herself, but she always seemed to eventually roll onto her back and get stuck there and kind of freak out a bit. She loved roaming around the pools, switching back and forth like she owned the place though.  And the kids loved tackling Lee in the water and having him literally throw them high in the air into the water.
 Lee and the kids went skiing one day at Fairmont Ski resort, and they absolutely had a blast.  None of the kids had ever been so they all took a beginners lesson and then spent the rest of the day skiing with Lee.  They all did really well for their first time!  Lee even took them on the chairlift for the last run of the day, and although they all fell down getting off, they loved it and wanted to try it again! I stayed back with Scarlett that day and swam and hung out at the condo.  We are hoping maybe next year we can bring her and all of us can ski as a family!
  As a family though, we did go snow tubing one day at Panorama ski hill, and that was pretty cool!  Scarlett never got sick of it, and just kept saying, "again"!  We were lucky enough that they let her ride on our laps on the tubes instead of having to do it herself like the front desk said!!  We took a magic carpet ride up the hill, and then slid down one of 3 different slopes.  It was a good time.
  We also met up with the Selks and the Davidsons a couple times, who were staying 20 min away in Invermere.  We swam with them at the hot springs and had dinner and games at their condo one night as well.  We had a lot of fun and couldn't stop laughing the whole night!
  We are thinking that next year we would like to come back to Fairmont again, but maybe get some friends or family to join us as well!

 

 Right after this picture with Dakota's feet in the hot springs, she slid and fell in!  Ha ha, it was funny.
       

 

 

 

 This is at Panorama ski hill where we tubed.

 

 

 

 Love her face!  Little monkey!

Teeth!

Some exciting side news... Griffin lost his first tooth (in February) and Mason just got braces!! Exciting big steps!  And Dakota got a beard. Ha ha, just kidding, I just felt like I hadn't written much about her lately and didn't want her to feel left out!!

All of a sudden, Mason is 10!

I have a child in double digits!  How did that happen?!!  I am getting old!  Mason was sure thrilled about his birthday party this year.  For his actual birthday, we went out to lunch at Fatburger with Grandma and Grandpa, and then it was his party that evening.  He invited a bunch of friends to LaserQuest, which has got to be my favorite place to host a party!  It was so nice and easy and the kids had a blast!  They got to play 2 games of lasertag and then they were excitedly talking about it and comparing their score sheets for the rest of the time!  We had half an hour to eat cake and treats and open presents, and it was perfect.  And I didn't even have to clean up!  Those boys had such a blast, and Mason had a huge smile on his face the whole time - except I guess I didn't capture it in the group picture :) He was very grateful for everything, and kept saying it was the best day ever!  I'm so glad he enjoyed it.
Mason has grown up a lot in the past year, and is slowly getting better at getting along with his siblings and peers.  He is such a hard worker, and has a very inquisitive, sharp mind.  He's great at doing dishes, figuring out instructions, loves all sports, and loves to help out his Dad.  He has so much potential to do well at school and everything he does.  He also has a strong little testimony, and has been impressing us all by bearing his testimony at church 3 months in a row now, without us even suggesting it. We love this boy a lot and are so excited to see him growing up!

Griffin turns 6

Our sweet little Griffin turned 6 this year!  We made him his favorite breakfast, Egg McMuffins and Pina Coladas on his birthday.  And he had a birthday party with a few friends over to watch the Lego Batman movie.  I made them each a basket with their own popcorn, pop and candy, and they were thrilled and had a great time!  A very low key, easy birthday party!  Even the cupcakes I just put Lego figures on them that each boy got to keep.  Easy but cute!  They had a great time, and ended the day with light sabre fights.  Griffin gets a little too into it sometimes... he`s definitely a boy through and through!  He can be naughty sometimes, but he still sure knows how to melt my heart!  Although he`s rough and tough, he also has such a sweet side, and is my most cuddly, and the best at paying compliments.  He loves to wrestle and run, but yet he will also play Barbies and Family with girls.  He`s so enthusiastic, loves life, is always smiling, and he`s a born leader.  We sure love this boy!