Easter

We have had a WONDERFUL Easter season!

Wednesday we had a Primary activity at the church and that night we dyed our Easter eggs!  It was a bit of a crazy night so we did it while eating dinner.  It worked and we made some snazzy eggs!  Sarah loved looking at the eggs every day!

Thursday after Jacob got done with preschool we headed down to Draper to spend a couple days with my family.  Megan had invited us down to go to her company Easter egg hunt and decided to go down.

Friday our day was jam packed!  We went and visited my Grandma Moldenhauer which was wonderful.  We then went and had lunch at Freddy's - the kids were in heaven!

We then headed down to American Fork for the Easter egg hunt!  But not before stopping at the Puppy Barn.  I had never been there before but it is basically magical.  There are puppies everywhere and you just get to pick them up and snuggle.  Jacob and Sarah loved every moment.

Next was the Easter egg hunt! 

Saturday morning we woke up to the Easter bunny - and some very happy kiddos!

We then headed up to North Ogden to visit Grandpa and Grandma Berning and meet up with Mark!  Keith and some of his girls were down to visit and we had a great time visiting with them, Brian, and Grant and Kristen and their family.  We went to the park, played with balloons, had an amazing Easter egg hunt, and yummy dinner.  

After dinner, I headed home with Benjamin and Sarah and Mark and Jacob stayed behind to play some night games.  

Sunday we had a wonderful day.  We ate lots of yummy food, went to church, and spent some great quality time together as a family.  

This Easter was especially special because of some things we did together as a family.  Two weeks ago for family home evening we talked about Easter and the love that our Savior has for each one of us.  The church had a beautiful Prince of Peace initiative and we loved it.  Every night we watched a video and talked about a different principle of peace.  It brought happy tears to my eyes more than once listening to the responses of Jacob especially while doing this.  It was beautifully rewarding and definitely brought an amazing spirit to this season.  

HAPPY EASTER!

Baby Animal Days

Ever since I moved up to Logan to go to Utah State I have dreamed of taking my kids someday to baby animal days!  I don't know why I wanted to so much - but this was my chance!  I was so excited to take our family down to Logan to see some babies.  Because, let's face it...ANYTHING in baby form is about the cutest thing EVER!

Holding the baby ducks!

Train Ride

First time on a pony - he was so brave!
During his ride he said, "Wow, this is fun!"

Baby bunnies, goats, bears, turtles and more!

4 Months

This has been a HUGE month for our little Benjamin!  I can't believe how much he has changed and grown up!

He is still 24 inches in length (19%), 13 pounds 13 ounces in weight (30%), and has a head circumference of 41.1 centimeters (22%).  He's moved up six month size clothes.  He drinks a 4 to 5 ounce bottle, five or six times a day.  He still gets up once at night usually but has slept through the night a couple of times.  He usually takes three naps a day (two bigger and one smaller one in the late afternoon).  

The biggest change in our Benjamin has been his HAPPINESS!  Oh my goodness, this little one has become so happy this last month.  He is so quick to give you a smile and loves all of the attention he is getting.  He has become so much more content and is quick to calm down if given some attention.  We are so glad that he has worked through whatever was making him so sad - we are loving our happy boy!

Along with this, Benjamin has become so much more aware.  He loves to watch what Jacob and Sarah are doing!  He loves interacting with everyone!  We've learned he is much happier facing outwards so he can see things when we are holding him.  

Benjamin also is making the cutest little sounds.  We love listening to him "talk".  

We love you, little man.  

The Power of the Book of Mormon

"The importance of having a firm and sure testimony of the Book of Mormon cannot be overstated.

I maintain that a strong testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and of His gospel will help see us through to safety.  If you are not reading the Book of Mormon each day, please do so.  If you will read it prayerfully and with a sincere desire to know the truth, the Holy Ghost will manifest its truth to you.

It is essential for you to have your own testimony in these difficult times...once obtained, a testimony needs to be kept vital and alive through continued obedience to the commandments of God and through daily prayer and scripture study.  

I implore each of us to prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day.  As we do so, we will be in a position to hear the voice of the Spirit, to resist temptation, to overcome doubt and fear, and to receive heaven's help in our lives."

President Thomas S. Monson

The Power of the Book of Mormon

Worth It

Saturday morning we woke up DETERMINED to have an easier travel day!  We were going to get to the airport extra early.  Luckily, our flight was a little later (but still early) so that helped too.  Mark and I got up at 5 and got everything ready.  We got the kiddos up around 5:30 and got them dressed and ready to go.  

As we were all about to leave, Mark happened to check his phone and he had a message saying that our flight had been delayed.  Boo.  We checked and it was just delayed until 9:00 and so we were just going to let the kiddos watch some cartoons and wait to go to the airport.  About an hour later we received another call that our flight had now been delayed until 1:00!  WHAT?!

No fun.  

We got some breakfast and then decided to go and find a park to play for a bit - and kill some time.  We found this awesome park close to the airport and the kiddos ran and played.  We also decided to do our drawing for our next family trip!  I am always so excited to find out where we are going to explore next!

TEXAS!

We are excited and can't wait to plan our next trip!

We arrived at the airport at 11:00 and returned our car and got some lunch.  The Baton Rouge airport is actually pretty small.  There are only nine gates, one "restaurant" and one store.  We went through security and sat down to have some lunch.  Benjamin was definitely better when I was up and moving so while Mark and the other kiddos ate I walked back and forth between the gates.  While doing this I notice one of the departure lists that now has our flight leaving at 3:00!

SHOOT ME NOW!

I was definitely getting a little frustrated!  This was supposed to be an easier travel day!

I went back and told Mark and we were both just confused as to what was going on and why we hadn't received any information about why it kept being delayed.  We now had several more hours to kill in this itty bitty airport.  It actually worked out pretty okay.  They had the dinkiest little "playroom" which was just a room with two arcade games and some bead toys on the wall.  But we had it all to ourselves and it was nice to have a place to kind of keep the kids.  Plus, BONUS, it was right across from our gate so Mark and I could keep tabs on what was going on.  

The kiddos did AWESOME and had a better attitude than a lot of the adults did!  The plane was delayed again and we weren't even given a time.  A lot of people left upset after that but we didn't really know what to do.  We decided to just wait it out.  All of a sudden a little before four they started loading us up!  

We were so excited to finally get going!  All three of the kids seriously did awesome.  I was so proud of them for just rolling with everything and being so patient.  

We finally got to Dallas (where we had an hour layover) grabbed a quick bite to eat and boarded our next plane.  We landed in Salt Lake at 8:30 (which felt like 9:30 to us going from central time).  Once we were coasting tot he gate Sarah was pretty done.  But I couldn't blame her - we were all definitely tired and she had been up since 5:30 with no nap.  

LONG DAY!

Jacob and Sarah both lost it waiting for our luggage.  Jacob was on the floor "tired" and Sarah was crying hysterically in her stroller until she fell asleep.  Benjamin (bless his little head) was as happy as could be.  He had been a champ ALL day! 

We hauled our three car seats (Mark is super human), stroller, two bags, and three kiddos (each carrying a backpack) onto the shuttle and to the car.  Sarah pretty much got into her car seat and immediately was OUT!  Jacob wasn't far behind.  

We finally pulled into Garden City around midnight and crashed!  

One thing that I kept thinking of during this very long day was that it is all completely worth it.  This tradition we have started as our family is probably our very favorite one for Mark and I - and we hope it will be for our kids as well as they get older.  It takes some sacrifice to be able to go on these but it is all worth it.  We are creating life long memories with our family and that is worth it all to me.  

I can't tell you how many times I heard on this trip that "we had our hands full".  And they are definitely FULL.  But I wouldn't have it any other way.  I was filled with such love for my little family on this trip.  I love us.  Even if it is crazy and tiring it is also very sweet and wonderful.  This is us and I know I will never regret our decision to makes these trips a priority.  

Can't wait for next year in Texas!

Baton Rouge Temple

After we left the preserve we headed back up to Baton Rouge.  We stopped and saw the Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple.  It was very small, but beautiful.  It's the only temple in Louisiana and I am sure is such a blessing for those that live here.  

The kids had fun running around (the temple was closed for maintenance) and talking about the beautiful temple and angel.  We love taking the opportunity to come to these sacred places.

We then drove around and saw some of the sights of Baton Rouge.  We drove around the LSU campus (one guess who that was for!) and saw the old capital building.  

Afterwards, we headed to the hotel to crash and get ready for our flight the following day.  We went out to get some pizza and got to bed early!

Barataria Preserve

Friday morning we headed to the Barataria Preserve.  This place was WILD!  One of the best parts of this trip was that it was so different from any other place we've ever been.  We've never been in the South before and it was really fun to experience a different area.  

The landscape was so interesting to look at.  I was a little nervous about going out into the preserve.  While preparing for our trip, I learned that alligators are a common sighting within the preserve.  This was definitely equal parts exciting and a little nerve-racking.  I was never worried about it on our swamp tour but this definitely felt a lot more vulnerable just walking above and next to a bayou.  

I learned that alligators judge their prey by its size, so if you encounter one you are supposed to make yourself big (not crouch down to take a picture or something!).  This is okay, except for I've got three little kiddos that are not that large and definitely not intimidating.  Sarah would probably want to go and pet it!

The preserve was beautiful!  We stopped at the visitor's center and then headed off to the trails!  We decided to do the Bayou Coquille Trail up to the Marsh Overlook.  

The "Monarch of the Swamp" 600-year-old baldcypress tree

About 3/4 of the way through our hike, Jacob and Sarah got super whinny.  They had these little branch offs on the boardwalk where you could go down and usually it spotlighted something on a board.  We were heading into full on tantrum mode - so I took both of their hands and headed down the branch off on the boardwalk.  Mark was a little behind us on the boardwalk because he had been taking some pictures.  I am down at the end of this boardwalk and Mark comes creeping up asking me if I had seen "it".  I asked what "it' was.  Turns out I had paraded both the little kids and myself (carrying Benjamin) right in front of a 3-foot alligator!

I HADN'T EVEN NOTICED IT!

I think that's what freaked me out the most.  How do you miss something like that?!  It was cool and also a little frightening.  I had read that they could move fast for short distances on land and was just waiting for it to GO!  Jacob was not impressed (as he said, "we've already seen alligators!") and Sarah had no fear and just wanted to run around.  

We watched him for a couple of minutes and then ultimately decided to head back without finishing the rest of the hike.  All three of the kids were crying now and the fun was kind of gone.  But we saw our gator and that was good enough for me!

We were all ready to fuel up with some food and had a little picnic at the trail head.  There is never a dull moment with these cuties.