Spring Break 2010

Monday:

We made a rainy day craft inside in the morning and then went and saw How to Train Your Dragon with our friends, the Lewis family, in the afternoon. Everyone enjoyed it, except the man in front of McCoy who was the sad recipient of McCoy's sippy cup flying through the air and into his head. Luckily, he had kids with him and didn't seem to mind that much.

Tuesday:

Sledding

We woke up to 8.5 inches of snow on Tuesday and decided to make the best of it and go sledding.

Wednesday:

Goblin Valley State Park

We left early Wednesday morning to head southeast. Our first stop was Goblin Valley - a boys paradise!

Thursday:

Indian Ruins and Natural Bridges National Monument

We hiked to see the cliff dwellings that we at a random stop on the side of the road and then at Natural Bridges we took this hike that literally went down the side of a cliff. The path was steps that were chiseled out of the side of the cliff face. Needless to say, I was quite a bit weary of the whole idea, but it was definitely worth the hike!

Friday:

Canyonlands National Park

Beautiful park with a lot of fun hiking trails. The boys especially enjoyed Whale Rock, which is basically this giant rock that looks like a whale and you get to hike up the back up of it. That night we stayed in Moab and it was warm enough for us all to swim in the hotel's outdoor pool.

On the way to Moab, we turned on a quick byway and were able to see some petroglyphs and dinosaur tracks.

Saturday:

Arches National Park

This place is breathtaking! The boys made it on hikes to quite a few arches, but they enjoyed the Sand Dunes Arch the best where they were able to play in really fine sand. After we were done here, we headed back north.

Easter 2010

We celebrated Easter here at home with Chad's brother, Kelby. His family moved to Missouri and he will be following in a few weeks. We were able to dye eggs, and then the Easter Bunny came and delivered baskets.

The easter bunny brought Kayden and Boston new Bionicles, McCoy a couple fun books like "There's a party in my tummy!" from Yo Gabba Gabba and Azure a new baby carrier.

The easter bunny hid chocolate eggs inside and our dyed eggs outside. It was fun for everyone to find the eggs!

The 3 older boys each got new church clothes and when the time came to take their pictures, they were not the most thrilled to show them off.

Azure's Blessing

We blessed Azure on Sunday, March 7. It was such a nice blessing and a really nice gathering afterward for food and visiting. Azure slept through it all.

Here are the pictures of family that was here for the big day.

Our family - FOUR boys!

All the kids that were here. Snapped this one and then let them run off to play. You can't have a kid picture without screaming ones - love it!

Adults from Beth's side of the family. Jeremy and Christina Jones, Pat Snow, Chad and Beth with Azure, Sandi Candland, Kathy Turpin, Rich Candland, Howard Turpin, Scott Turpin

Adults from Chad's side of the family. Shaun and Cat Hutchings, Chad with Azure and Beth, Kelby Hutchings

Men in the blessing circle. Cameron Lewis, Shaun Hutchings, Kelby Hutchings, Chad with Azure, Rich Candland, Scott Turpin, Howard Turpin

Our kids with their Grandma and Grandpa Candland and Great Grandma Snow

February Fun

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day we had 3 of Chad's siblings and their families and also Chad's parents here to visit. We had a dinner with mostly pink items and played games and visited a lot. The day before, we celebrated a birthday - Shaun, Chad's brother - complete with a train cake and pinata.

A week before the holiday, we all decorated jars for others to put nice thoughts and notes into. Chad's parents were here to help out after Azure's birth, so they had a jar too.

Grandma and Grandpa making Valentine's sugar cookies with the boys. The kids ate about half the dough, so we had to make three batches.

Kite Flying

While my mom was here for Azure's birth, she got each of the boys a kite. Kayden had been monitoring the wind daily in anticipation of being able to fly it, so we finally found the right day.

Kayden flying his dragon kite.

McCoy waiting for his turn with his kite.

Boston was very excited to go kite flying, but once we got there, he nicely asked if it was ok if he just played in the sand/dirt. If you refer to my post about sledding, the same kind of thing happened. He'd rather be digging!

McCoy's 2nd Birthday

This is over a month late, but we did celebrate McCoy's birthday - even though it was only 6 days after his new brother's birth. January will be a busy birthday month for us!

He enjoyed having lots of company for his party and really felt special. He kept singing Happy Birthday to himself or to whoever he was next to.

After he blew out his candles, his daddy was moving the cake away to cut it and he quickly snatched some the frosting with his mouth. True McCoy style!

What an adventure he is. He has such a loving, funny personality and we've loved how much his talking has taken off lately. He still is our most curious child and when the house is quiet, the question always asked is, "Where is McCoy?" He can be found playing with the toilet-including dipping cups in them for a drink, taking apart someone's beloved toy or simply smashing it against the wall, spilling anyone's leftover food or drink that may have been left on the counter, etc. We love him dearly and he knows how to keep us on our toes. As one of our friends commented, "It's a wonder that you still have a working television."

Happy Birthday to our curious and destructive 2 year old - may you always find wonder in the world!