April showers bring May flowers

So many happenings! First off April was Autism awareness month so on April 2nd (wear blue day) we put on our blue to support our adorable nephew Tex.  Tex is so awesome and has worked so hard. Ellie just adores him and secretly they have a cute little cousin crush (don't worry we told them that's not aloud.) But I'm very glad they are friends.

 Ellie is such an amazing helper with the kids. I couldn't have asked for a better child. She is constantly mothering them and helping them. I love our relationship together and she is just one of my best friends.

With such a warm spring we had to get out! Grandma Lifferth took the kids to the candy store and let them get a snake.  The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever. I am so grateful for Grandma's who love.

 Can we say TROUBLE!?  This cute Pyper is into EVERYTHING right now. She is crawling everywhere and just about to walk. Admittedly, she is a little bit of a cranky baby so she spends most of her time in my arms.  On her good days she is full of love and snuggles.  She got tubes put in her ears last week and has been a little bit happier.  Her speech has absolutely exploded this week since getting those tubes in.  I didn't realize just how much she was not hearing. Toilet paper and all she is a cutie. I love her so much.

 April is the month of coloring eggs!  Ellie is my crafting girl so she was just elated with this one. Next year i'll have to remember the trick to empty out the yokes so we can keep them on the counter all day!

 More cuteness.

 I took Robb and Carlie's kids to the zoo because Carlie just had her little baby Miles.  People were giving me some pretty crazy looks thinking that they were all mine.

 I thought these three monkeys were adorable how they were on their perch holding tails.

 Happy Easter Scary Bunny!  We went to Smith's for their easter candy hunt. We always come home with oodles and oodles of candy.  The kids really enjoy it  I for one go crazy when I have candy all over the house but I remember loving getting candy.  I do what I can to not stomp out their happiness on account of my OCD tendencies.:)

Oh, Max.  This kid is hilariously naughty right now.  I can't help but laugh. I try to be stern but just start laughing at his adorable face.  He has been potty training this week which has been semi-successful. Tonight he peed his pants just before bed. I stripped him down to take a bath and just as he was coming toward the tub he stepped up on the scale, looked down and said, "yep, it say's i'm a twublemaka!"  Seriously he is a heart melter.  These kids are my absolute happiness and I love being a mom!

Here is the love of my life. Mitchell. He is honestly awesome.  Here he is dancing with the kids.  His dance moves are really quite awkward and hilarious but he is so much fun.  We are constantly laughing at each other, secretly pinching each others bums as we pass by, and always enjoying each others company.  Every night I warm my feet up on him in bed and we fall asleep most nights holding hands until we turn over and fall asleep.  Never when I married him would I have imagined as much happiness as he has given me. XOXOXO To my man. 

Max turned 2!

We sure do love this cute little guy. He is full of personality and is constantly making us laugh. Happy birthday Max.

Here he is in a timeout. He's obviously a little upset which makes me laugh because he rarely gets upset.

Mr. Cool often sleeps like this. Especially when we are driving in the car.

I would say his chocolate cake was a success!

Disneyland!!

Family Wrap Up!

I regretted that I didn't write an actual Christmas card this year to send out so I thought I would just write a bit about everyone here so we won't forget what we did for the past year.

Mitch is working at Fusion-io which just got bought out by Sandisk. He likes it there for the most part and just got moved to be an outside sales rep which is great. He's picked up mountain biking this year and has enjoyed getting out. He is easily the parental favorite this can be seen anytime he comes home from work and has all the kids running to give him hugs.  He loves taking the kids for 4 wheeler rides and teaching them new skills.

Stacie spent most of her summer training for Pyper's marathon. She tries to do one after each baby to help her get back in shape. She did it with two of her favorite past USU teammates and loved training with them. Motherhood is suiting her well. She loves being with the kids and teaching them. They are continually surprising her with how much they learn and how easily they pick up new skills.

Ellie is 5 and is a beautiful, kind little girl (which is a far cry from her terrible twos when she was scratching and biting other kids faces.) She spends every warm day outside riding her bike up and down the neighborhood. She has a pink princess bike with a non matching seat and a wobbly back tire from a mishap when she left it behind dads car. :(  She loves her younger siblings and is fiercely loyal to them.  She never bats an eye when Max wants to tag-a-long and actually prefers it as it reduces her occasional anxiety. She played t-ball, and soccer this year and i 'm happy to report that she is quite competitive.

Max is 2 and is full of Christlike love.  Max melts everyone's heart that he comes into contact with. He is quick to give hugs and does not like it when others are in pain. However, he still is very boy. This is seen as he rides his Strider bike down the road with a binky in his mouth, cowboy boots on, and a sword coming out the top of the back of his shirt. At the start of the year he barely said 3 words but by the end of the year he has become quite chatty. He suddenly started talking in full sentences in about July and has never gone back. We love hearing his little voice and I melt when he say's, "I love you Momma".

Pyper Grace came to us in March and we could not love her more.  She is a wise spirit that loves looking on. She's not overly smily, or frowny but she always seems to have a peaceful look about her. She loves her Mom and prefers her over anyone (a curse and a blessing). She is starting to eat with us at dinner and loves to babble!

We love our little family and everyday I find myself stepping back in awe in how lucky we are. The world is full of endless opportunities and plenty of good if we only seek them out. How blessed we are.

Elsa's House

Mitch is such a good dad. He loves being with the kids. We got this cute little kitten named Elsa and he dicided to make a cat house with the kids for her. They loved it for 30 minutes or so then got bored and finished it himself. Go figure. Anyway, we are sure lucky to have him as our daddy!

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Can you believe this girl is 5! She has grown and learned so much in the past 5 years. She becomes more and more kind each day and I love that. She's a great helper and is always trying to choose the right.

 Ellie had an Elsa birthday party with our family. I out did myself and made this cake myself. I was surprised that it actually was not that hard! Elsa is all the rage this year and Ellie loves being part of it.

 Darn it, a blurry picture! but for history sake I must throw it in. Here are Grandpa and Grandma Dorius bursting with pride over their 3 new Granddaughters, Pyper, Kate, and Lillian. These three look like their going to be trouble!

 Here is cute Ellie with her birthday stash. Oh, see that snowflake pinata, I made that! I took an old diaper box and pulled out some craft skills I learned in the 2nd grade and whalla!

 I let Ellie take 2 friends to classic skating for her birthday. We went in the day time and we were the only ones there. It was really fun.

 Maddie and Addie are Ellie's best buds. They run the cul-de-sac everyday from house to house. Max always plays along with these three girls. What great buddies.

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Happy Holidays!

I love Thanksgiving. It's such a low stress holiday that's complete with all the yummy pies. My mom and I make pies the day before thankgiving each year. I love that day almost more than thanksgiving itself. This picture is fun because you have Aimee, Mom, and I looking lovely as ever from all of our hard work. Then you have Robb making sure to be awkward in the background. Then you have Kiley who was the master 'snitcher' of pies. We love snitchers at our house so we filled her fingers with whip cream and sent her on her way! Below we have Mom showing off her pie perfection!

 This time of year is absolutely wonderful. I never would have imagined that Christmas with toddlers would be so much fun. Sammy the elf has once again returned and I kid you not Ellie has been on her BEST behavior. That girl is what we call a true believer, and I love it.

 Santa at station park was the real deal. He sat and talked with the kids and told them all about the north pole, reindeer, elves etc... and his beard was beautiful. I could have reached out and stroked it. But I didn't and he probably appreciated that.

 Let's not forget Mrs. Clause. She was adorable too. We visited the Clause's with our cousins Elise and Cooper.

 This is the everyday life with Pyper Grace. She loves her bouncer and can get really get that thing a rockin. She looks more and more like Ellie each day.

 This December has been incredibly warm with temperatures in the 50's to 60 all month (I love it) We were out swinging and I told the kids that it's almost warm enough to pull out the pool! Max went inside for a few minutes then came out looking like this. He obviously was ready to hop in! It's not quite that warm little guy.

 Natually we had to go to temple square. Ellie told me that if I sat quiet enough that I could hear the Lord in my heart. She has a beautiful simple testimony.

This is what Temple Square usually turns out like. A human Totem pole. Grumpy kids by the end and tired parents. It's all for the pics sometimes. :)

 We enjoyed a new tradition this year at This is The Place park with the Dorius cousins. They have a live nativity and it reminded us of the true meaning of Christmas. It was lovely.