Living Planet Aquarium

We had to make yet another quick trip to Utah. My brother received a phone call from his wife that her mother was passing away. So we crammed his three boys and my three youngest kids into the car and drove through the night. When we got to Utah Tuesday morning we stopped in to see Mary so the kids could say goodbye to their grandmother. It was such a sweet moment and I'm having a hard time holding back tears as I type this. After they said their goodbyes my mom and I took all the kids down to stay at Hillary's. After a while we decided the kids needed to get out so we went to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. It was really fun and it was just what the kids needed.

Bethany, Me, Josh, Ian, Davis, Joe, Brevin, Valerie, Timmy, Grandma Lay, and Sam.

Bevin, Brent's oldest, was so much help. I love that he is so good with the younger kids!

The first part of the aquarium was Discovering Utah. Hillary said we had to do this part first because it was boring!!
She was right....there was a lot of trout and salamanders. It wasn't too bad though, I got to tell my kids about growing up with the salamanders in my window well. The older kids thought that was pretty cool.

The second part was the ocean explorer. This was pretty neat.
I especially loved this octopus hanging upside down.

Towards the end of the ocean explorer there was an open tank where the kids could pet sting rays. At first I thought no way those are dangerous. I'm pretty sure that's what killed the crocodile hunter....anyway there they were and the kids had a great time petting them.

Sam just really liked the water. I'm not so sure Brevin really liked getting wet though!

The tiger shark in the shark tank.

The last part was the journey to South America. This was my favorite.
I had to get this picture of Brevin with the piranhas because my oldest who is the same age as Brevin is fascinated by them so I had to prove to him that I had actually seen a real live piranha.

They also had really cool looking frogs and snakes. Of course the boys were in heaven!!

The penguins were a lot of fun to watch dive in and out of the water.

Even though it was another sad trip it was fun to be with family again. Hopefully next time we go it will just be to have fun and nothing more!

Timmy's 5!

5 Things we love about Timmy!
1. He is a snuggle bug.
2. He has a contagious smile and laugh.
3. Timmy's ability to make anything fun.
4. His silly sense of humor.
5. The light in his eyes when he is telling one of his stories!
I promised all of my boys that they could start having friend parties every other year once they turned five. Timmy has a very good memory and didn't waste anytime reminding me that we needed to have a party. We were supposed to have the party at the park but due to bad weather we ended up quickly throwing together his friend party at the house. We played a few games and then opened presents. Even though we were stuck inside for most of the party the kids had a blast.
We had motorcycle cake and ice cream that Timmy and his dad made together. Didn't they do a good job? I think it turned out really cute especially with the candles as the posts.

All of the friends at the party! After cake they all went outside to play. I think that was the best part for me and the kids....when the sun came out!!

We love having Timmy in our family!

Happy Birthday!!

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home!!

After a long day sometimes we are both glad when daddy comes home!

Outside!

Sam loves to be outside. He gets dressed in the morning and then runs to get his shoes. He brings them to me and then plops down on the floor in front of me and says,"tank you!" meaning thank you of course. How can I resist that sweetness. So I put on his shoes and he stands at the back sliding door and says,"outside, outside." until I eventually give in and let him go out to play. He loves balls and look at how happy he is!! What a sweet boy!Once when we were outside I had to go back inside for a minute and asked Timmy to push Sam in the swing. The next thing I know Timmy has found a bungee cord and hooked their swings together so they could both enjoy the moment. I had to laugh...it was pretty creative. It even took me a minute to figure out how he got it to work.

They both had such a good time. What a great big brother Timmy is!

Four Generations

After my Grandpa passed away this winter my mom was able to talk my Grandma into coming up to the northwest for a couple of weeks. We loved having her here and it was great for my kids to get to know their great-grandma better. I'm sure my grandma would die if she knew I posted a picture of half of her hair in curlers but it was the only picture I had with her and my kids.

I was able to get a picture of four generations of girls! That is a great accomplishment with so many boys in our family.

When we go to Utah my kids always ask if we are going to visit Grandma Atkin. They love to play at her house. What a blessing that my kids could know their great-grandma so well. Not many kids get that opportunity. We love you Grandma Atkin!!

Fishin' Kids

Every year the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife host a fishing event called Fishin' Kids. They stock the pond and put up nets so the fish stay close to the shore. Then for five dollars you can fish for 45 minutes or until you catch two fish per person. They give all the kids their own fishing pole and T-shirt.

The boys waiting for the whistle to blow signaling their start time.It wasn't long before we had a fish!
Matthew didn't want to touch the fish so this nice volunteer held it for him.

All three boys caught their two fish within ten minutes of the whistle blow.

After you catch the fish they will even gut it for you.
Scott
Matthew
Timmy
Can anyone guess what we ate for dinner? We had such a good time I'm sure we will be there next year.

Easter

I was glad that Easter was over our spring break and conference weekend this year. Since it rained so much during spring break we were able to keep it fun doing lots of easter time acitivities. First we dyed eggs. Then we had our egg hunt. Since it was raining we did it inside and we let Sam go first to get a few eggs.

Then it was Timmy, Ian, and Bethany's turn. It's a good thing we split up the egg hunt into younger and older groups.

Because this is what it looked like when Scott, Brevin, Matthew, and Davis got their turn. I am happy to report that no one was injured.

Sam loves chocolate!

Then Easter morning the kids went to work finding their baskets.

Sam went right for the candy.

Timmy spread it all out so he could see everything he got.

Matthew loved the legos.

Bethany liked her kitty and purse.

Scott was thrilled when he found the five dollars.

The kids enjoyed putting together their lego sets while we all listened to conference. Then inbetween sessions we gave the kids a hockey stick and went outside for some fun family time.

Scott really is a nice big brother!

Sam apparently likes basketball more.

Bethany didn't want to go outside so she stayed inside and made herself beautiful with the new stuff in her purse.