Hanging with Family

The weekend before Ben's birthday we went down to

Oremto celebrate with his brothers and sisters. We

had a lot of fun playing at the park, in the backyard and

playing games. Our visit wasn't very long since Ben

went back on call that night,but we all had a great time.

Mailee playing something else since she doesn't like the trampoline

The rest of the cousins having fun on the trampoline

Luke playing on his belly

Zack getting some air

Savannah and Isabella were bouncing Luke

Savannah and Mailee on the swings

Ben having fun on the swings with Mailee

Isabella and Luke going on the playset

Luke

Ben's birthday cake that Jenny made for him

Jenny's fancy cake tasted as good as it looked! Ben really enjoyed it

and had a great time visiting with family!

Swim Lessons

Since the first week of March Savannah, Isabella and Mailee have been taking swim lessons thanks to an early birthday present from

Grandma and Grandpa!They've been practicing their kicking

and putting their faces into the water.
Poor Isabella is the oldest in her class but she takes it with a smile

Mailee is still having trouble letting go and feeling safe

so we'll probably have to do the next lesson session as well.

Mailee and one of her instuctors

Isabella is excelling and will definitely go

to the next level in the next session

Savannah is the tallest and can touch the bottom

and still be about a foot above water, I think she

needs to get in a deeper pool so she can really practice

So I think our rec center is really cool,

they have this little water park for the little 'uns...

and the bigger slides for the bigger 'uns!

The girls are definitely enjoying the swim lessons!

THANK YOU GRANDMA AND GRANDPA!!!!!

Rec Center

This was a couple of weeks ago but I'm going to share anyway. We took the girls to the rec center here in town and it's really cool. They have a climing wall, indoor pool, gym and exercise equipment so I'm going to try and whip my butt back into shape. Here's some pics of the girls on the wall.

This is just a shot so you can see how big the wall is.

Savannah climbing

Mailee got as far as here, but still smiled instead of cried

Isabella's definitely the climber, she made it to the top and rang the bell!

Stay tuned for Swim Lessons

Addictions

We got Ben Guitar Hero for the Wii and instead of him being the one to play it, it seems that I'm the one that's addicted to playing. So far I've beat the songs on easy and working on them on medium. I need to go and join a Guitar Hero Addict Anonymous or start my own group or something. All of you who play that or Rock Band are free to join!!

Grandpa Sexton

Ben's Grandpa Sexton (his mom's dad) passed away this past week on January 27th. He went quietly and peacefully in his sleep which is all anyone can ever ask for. We had the opportunity to go down to Salt Lake for the funeral and spend time with Grandma Sexton and the rest of the family. Grandpa Sexton has been a great person, very kind and very welcoming member of Ben's family. He's always made me feel at home and welcome and I will miss him terribly. My favorite memory of him will always be the day he sealed Ben, Savannah and myself to each other as an eternal family. We have been lucky and blessed through grandpa's callings and will see him again in the end. We love him and will always remember him. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers at this time.

Christmas in New York

So I warned everyone that I wouldn't be good at keeping the blog up but here's some catch ups. We spent about six weeks in New York incorporating Thanksgiving, Christmas, Mailee's birthday and New Year's into one trip. The kids and I had a lot of fun (I wished I could stay longer) but the kids wanted to get back to be with daddy. I had a few blonde moments and forgot to take my camera with me when we went into the city so the Thanksgiving pics are the only city pics I have. Oh well. We had fun spending Christmas with my famiy. We went into Manhattan for Mailee's birthday and took the kids to the M&M store, a huge Toys R Us store (it is 4 floors with a full size ferris wheel inside the store, can you believe that!) and a martian them restaurant called Mars 2112. We went with my aunt, cousin, sister, brother in law and niece and nephew. I think we all had fun but were happy to leave. My brother in law's family throws a huge New Year's Eve party where they rent a hall, have a dj and catering. It was a lot of fun! The girls and I danced the whole night and were exhausted the next day. We left with my grandma in tow back home on the second and ran into a lot of bad weather. (By the way, avoid Nebraska when you can during winter!) We spent a couple of days in Colorado with my aunt and left to come home, of course we hit a blizzard in the mountains seeing as I LOVE snow so much! It has taken me nearly a month to recuperate from the trip and try to catch up on blogging. So, that was our trip to New York. I can't wait to go back but I'm flying next time!!
Here are some pics from Christmas and Mailee's birthday.

Bella decorating the tree

Bella and Mailee dancing while they decorate

Savannah and Mailee adding more

Savannah got the hat for Christmas and has yet to take it off

Movie night my nephew AJ laying on Savannah

My cousin Ariel made this cake for Mailee

Left to right: Mailee, Ariel, Savannah, my aunt Susy, my sister Christina, my sister Danielle, Bella, my grandma, my niece Anjelia

My brother Jon and his girlfriend Melissa and Mailee

My nephew AJ giving Mailee birthday hugs