Our life lately

Life has been as crazy as ever lately, but here are some pictures of what's been going on. Not really in order:

 Watching Alyssa dance

 Back from Christmas break- cute cousins Lyla and Kaitlyn had fun together!

 The other day at the store we promised to get our kids a treat because they had been troopers as we spent 2 days driving 14 hrs and moving into our apartment. Trevor saw a package a donuts- which we have never purchased before- and he just had to have them. We decided to cave and even opened them so we could get thru the rest of the shopping, and he was the happiest little guy ever. Such a cute, mischievous little guy.

 Lyla loved dance this year and can't wait to start again. She had fun in her year end recital.

 We were very blessed to sell our house after 14 days on the market, which led to a whirlwind month spend packing, cleaning and figuring out where to live. This was our last morning in our house- the kids were eating breakfast halfway on the porch cuz it was raining but I didn't want them to get the house dirty. It was really hard for me to drive away from the house that we have lived in for 3 years and spent so much time in. We've worked so hard in the yard and I love all of our plants. Paul slaved over the fence which has been nice to let the kids play in the back alone. I love the layout and all of the conveniences like granite and my big kitchen. The basement was so nice for all of the kids' toys, especially in the summer when it was nice and cool down there. Who knows when we will own a house again, and it was sad to drive away and try to explain to Lyla what was going on.

This was Lyla attempting to hug the wall when I said we had to leave.

In april we went down for Jared and Allison's graduation. We are so proud of them and it was fun to see them walk together. The kids did fairly well- I didn't have to leave the ceremony until the last 2 minutes when Trevor was completely distracting everyone around us.

Every once in awhile when they aren't pushing or scratching each other, Trevor will run up to Lyla and beg for a hug. Melts my heart:

When we were taking a million pictures, the kids entertained themselves by smelling the beautiful flowers on campus. Trevor had to go up to each one, carefully hold it, and smell it. Then he would say "mell!" and run to the next one.

This face perfectly describes my sweet little rebel. When we asked the kids not to pick the flowers, Lyla deliberately grabbed one and made sure I was watching as she picked each petal off. Oh I hope I survive her teenage years.

Trevor and Papa are buddies. Trevor LOVES him and is always begging to talk to him on the phone, and then he'll just say "papa" over and over.

Crazy sibs. Miss ya Jean!!

During that visit, my mom and I escaped for a few minutes to go to Women's conference. the classes we were able to make it to were so wonderful, it was a nice break. We also left the kiddos with my dad in the evening and went to the concert- such a fun day!

We stayed in Utah til my birthday because Paul was at convention for work. Everyone went with us to the zoo to celebrate how old I'm getting, and the kids loved it! It was a hot day and I barely survived walking up and down the hills in the heat. How am I going to survive Arizona again? :)

My handsome little guy

Trevor especially loves my parent's hammock. He could just lay there for hours if we'd let him!

29 years old! Hopefully next May never comes...can't believe I'm almost 30!

Trevor trying to put the candles out with his diaper rash cream tube

Lyla working on her splits

Playing in our bathtub before church- one of those rares days when we were actually all ready with a few minutes to spare. And i think we even did it without Paul's help cuz he was at his meetings!

The young men recently did their annual fundraiser of power raking and aerating. To try to get thru the long evening when the guys were gone, we went to the museum with our good friends. There was an exhibit on carousels and the kids loved it! Unfortunately Trevor was too young to ride, but Lyla loved riding with her best friend Allie. I think leaving Allie will be the hardest part of this move for Lyla- they are very similar so they fight sometimes, but they love each other and can't get enough play time together!

Easter

We had a great Easter weekend in Utah. The kids loved the Easter egg hunt and looking for Easter eggs. 

 Trevor was so excited to find Mickey Mouse in his basket. He lost all interest in his candy and all he wanted to do was to hug and hug Mickey. Then he dragged him around all day to continue his hunting for eggs.

 Baby Ruth didn't care much about the hunt, but she was as sweet and cute as ever.

 It was the perfect, sunny day and was so nice to thaw out a big after our long winter.

 Lyla had fun cooking with Nana and dying Easter eggs. Nana had the perfect apron and hat for Eastertime.

 Family picture- missed you Grossarths!!

We all loved seeing Alyssa perform in Peter Pan. Lyla especially was so excited for weeks and loved every moment.  

 The night we saw the ballet, she played the role of an indian and did an amazing job. She is such a graceful, beautiful dancer and I love watching her.

Lyla's dance & random updates

Lyla had another dance performance in February and her group performed two songs. She loves getting all dressed up and is always talking about when her next "formance" is. Here are a few shots: 

 Lyla's best friend Allie from across the street is in the same dance class and they have so much fun together!

 Another good friend Brecklee

 Marie is another fun friend from our ward and she's in a different class but they perform together.

 Lyla had this funny, fake smile plastered on her face the whole time- I think she was trying not to touch her lips together because she didn't want to mess up her lip gloss- silly girl!

 Lyla loves doing their "Footloose" dance. She and Trevor practice at home all the time.

 Lyla had a huge fan club- my parents, Josh & Alisha & Ruth, Jared & Allison, Tyson and Cassidy all came to watch her and hang out with us for the weekend. We discovered that our little house can sleep 13 people- everyone was a good sport about not having their own rooms and sleeping on air mattresses. We had a great weekend eating, laughing, chatting.

 Lyla is very proud of the medal she got for participating

 So proud of my sassy, sweet little girl!

All dressed up for church- Nana did her hair so the curls actually stayed in.

 We walked around the temple after church- it was a warm winter day and felt nice to get some fresh air.

 Aunt Cass is the best- so much fun!!

We went thru a Cinderella kick and had to dress up in all of the outfits that she wears in the book. This was the cleaning outfit we came up with and then Lyla kept asking me (the stepmother) what chores she should do. It was great!!

 Any chance he gets, Trevor steals Lyla's toys and gets so excited. He found her giraffe, bear and Rapunzel doll and carried them around, squeezing them so tight.

Lyla begged all winter to make a snowman, so one day when we received new snow, Paul came home early to build one with her. Trevor wasn't too interested in the snow but loved riding the 4-wheeler around. 

Paul and Lyla tried hard, but the snow just wasn't good for packing. They did have a fun snowball fight though!

                                    

Lyla wanted to ride on a sled but we don't have one, so Paul came up with one of his creative ideas and used an extension cord to pull her on one of her bikes. He got some good exercise and she loved it- even when she fell in the snow!

Trevor needed a turn and he enjoyed it too.

One Sunday we had a lesson on Jonah & the whale and then we acted it out in the bathtub with some toys. We then went back to the living rm to finish our lesson and after a minute we heard a splash. Poor Trevor wanted to play with the water some more and had slipped right in. Luckily he was ok, just scared and really wet- poor boy. 

 We've been cleaning our house a lot trying to get it ready to sell and usually the kiddos have wanted to use all of the cleaning supplies I have out. One day I was trying to clean the walls but they wanted everything, so I sat on the couch and did my scripture reading while they did all the cleaning. What good kids!

 Cute new valentine's day pjs- Trevor still loves his Monkeys pjs and gets so excited when he gets to wear them.

Life definitely hasn't gotten any easier as they have gotten older, but they are so fun and I love each day. They do sweet, funny things frequently enough that I forget all of the screaming, whining, disobedient moments. Good thing they are both such cute little troublemakers!! :)

Lyla has an announcement...

I guess it's time to official announce that I'm pregnant!! I'm 19 weeks along and Lyla was thrilled when we found out today that it will be another girl! For months she's been talking about dressing the new baby in cute dresses and bows. We are so excited to add to our family and although most days I feel completely overwhelmed with my two little darlings, they are the world to me and bring me so much happiness and I am excited to get to know another special child of God. I had a few problems in the beginning with bleeding and bad stomach pain so I feel very blessed that everything is going well. This pregnancy has reminded me what a miracle every birth is and I feel so grateful that I have been able to go thru 2, and hopefully soon 3, successful pregnancies. The due date is August 8th which is the very date that Paul will be starting his MBA program at ASU in Tempe, AZ. We have a lot on our minds these days and lots to do in the next five months, but at least we won't be bored!! :)