Getaway for Gran's 90th Birthday

My Grandma turned 90 in April and my Mom planned a party to celebrate. Several months ago my sister Linda (who lives in Canada) and I decided we both wanted to be in Utah for the celebration. I brought McKell with me, since that was easier than finding someone to watch her the days I was gone. Plus she's really cute and I really like her and didn't mind having her along for the trip.

The flight we took to Utah left from Austin, which is about 1.75 hours from Bryan, at 6:30 AM. So at 3:00 AM I woke McKell up, strapped her in the car, and took off for the airport. Everything went smoothly, but we were VERY tired that afternoon.

My parents knew I was coming to Utah for the party, but the plan was to surprise my Grandma when I arrived. But when I showed up on her doorstep she wasn't as surprised as I thought she would be. My sister had spectacularly surprised her when she arrived a few days previous to me, so I was expecting something similar. Apparently I gave myself away though. My Gran said she had begun to wonder if I was flying up for the party because I hadn't called to wish her a Happy Birthday yet, and I always remember to call her on her birthday. Oops! Guess I should have made a call during my layover that morning. :( She was still happy to see us, of course. 

Selfie with the Birthday Girl! My sister Linda, Gran, my Mom, and me.

A lot of other people were able to come for the celebration too. My aunt and uncle came from California, my other uncle and his entire family drove up from Las Vegas, my cousin made the trip from Phoenix, and many, many other friends and family members came from all over Utah and a few other states as well. My Gran got to see neighbors from when she was raising her family, friends from her Arizona snowbird years, and family members who are rarely able to visit. I know she felt loved and honored that day.

Gran with her girls - my Mom and Aunt Shirlene.

In addition to celebrating Gran's birthday, it was really nice to spend some time with my sister and her husband. We rarely see them since we live way down in Texas and they live way up in Canada. 

My brother Nate compiled a video with birthday wishes sent in from friends and family.

 Saturday morning, before the birthday party, we had time for a quick Krispy Kreme donut run. Yum!

Cute little girl with her Grandpa.

My sister is pregnant with her first baby, so we spent one morning shopping for maternity clothes. McKell was a trooper and found ways to entertain herself while Linda was trying on clothes.

I'm so glad McKell and I were able to spend a few days in Utah with my family, and especially to celebrate a milestone birthday with my wonderful Gran.

Easter

I love celebrating holidays, and Easter is no exception.

This year Easter came at the end of a pretty hectic couple of weeks filled with surgery, visitors, birthdays, and car repairs. We still managed to pull everything together though and enjoy a wonderful weekend.

On the evening of Good Friday we had a special lesson together about Jesus and the resurrection. Mid-lesson we went to the kitchen to make some "Resurrection Rolls" (a recipe we've never tried before, but which I'm pretty sure will be family tradition from now on). While the rolls baked we finished the lesson and watched a short video. Right when the video ended the kitchen timer went off! Good timing, huh? 

The rolls are really cool because when you cut them open they are hollow and resemble an empty tomb. The girls were pretty amazed by the magic. :)  

The following morning the girls enjoyed finding treats and small gifts in their baskets and hunting for their eggs. We've always done Easter baskets and egg hunts Saturday morning so we can try to focus more on Jesus on Easter Sunday. 

In spite of my protests, Mr. Easter Bunny insisted on including marshmallow peeps in the baskets this year. I don't think any of the girls ended up eating theirs. 

Kaylee and Ashlyn always have to look pretty hard to find their eggs (each girls has eggs of a different color so they know to only grab their own eggs).

 

McKell has often surprised us with her knack for organization. When she found all her eggs she emptied them and sorted the candy by type.

Sunday morning picture of the girls in their new Easter dresses.

Everyone actually smiled!

Sunday afternoon we enjoyed watching a Mormon Tabernacle Choir performance of one of Russ's favorite works - Handel's "Messiah". Then we had a lovely Easter dinner with some friends from church.

And this was a fun Easter craft I did with the girls. 

Surgery, Spring Break, and Burnetts

Russ had a hernia surgery scheduled for Thursday, March 17th. He picked that date specifically so he could be home recovering during the NCAA Basketball Tournament. That week happened to also be Spring Break for the girls. So, without telling the girls, we planned for Russ's Dad to come out for a visit so he could watch the girls while I took Russ in for the surgery, help care for them and for Russ during his early recovery days, and also enjoy some father/son bonding time over basketball games. A week before the surgery Russ's younger brother Doug found out he'd be in Austin for a conference and asked if he could drop in and visit for a few days. The same days Russ's Dad would be here! Again, we kept this fun news a secret from the girls.

Around 9:00 PM Tuesday night there was a knock on our front door. For some reason, we asked Kaylee to answer it. ;) She opened the door cautiously, then exclaimed, "Doug!" It was pretty fun. 

Doug brought the girls lots of free goodies he picked up at his conference. 

March is one of the most beautiful months in this part of Texas because all the wildflowers are in bloom. Our favorites are the Blue Bonnets, which can only be found in parts of central and southern Texas. Anyway, Doug has a really nice camera and enjoys photography, so Wednesday morning we decided to head out for a little mini photo session with the girls and the flowers.

It worked out that our photo session was ending right about the time we needed to head to the College Station airport to pick up Papa (Russ's Dad). I told the girls I needed to pick something up on our way home. They were pretty clueless, even when we parked in front of the airport. I kept telling them things like, "Someone will bring it out to me" and "It had to be sent on a plane". When Papa came into view there was much rejoicing!

Russ and I went to the hospital early Thursday morning. Everything went well, and we were on our way home around lunchtime.

Russ's legs were wrapped in some compression . . . things? for a while and he found it very relaxing.

It turned out to be a very fortunate thing that Doug happened to visit during those days, because the babysitter we hired (Papa) was sick. Very sick. As in he spent lots and lots of time in his bed. I texted Doug at like 11:30 when I was with Russ in the recovery room and asked him how his Dad was. He said he didn't know because his Dad hadn't woken up yet. Yikes! Without Doug the girls could have had a pretty interesting morning without any adult supervision.

Friday morning Doug and the girls made us some yummy and in some cases unique french toast roll-ups.

Russ got something from Doug's bag of swag too: a superhero sleep mask!

We were so thankful to have Doug and Papa here, and thankful that Russ's surgery and recovery went well. 

February 2016

 1. Sickness - After Russ came home sick from his business trip in Canada, EVERYONE else (except Mom) got sick as well. Pretty awesome.

Sunday: Russ & Kaylee stayed home from Church. When the other girls and I returned from Church the three of them all claimed not to be feeling well and took themselves off to their beds.

Monday: Everyone home from work and school.

Tuesday: Everyone home from work and school.

Wednesday: Brenna and Ashlyn returned to school.

Thursday: Everyone returned to work and school, but then the school nurse called because Ashlyn was running a fever, so she came home.

Friday: Ashlyn home, again.

So, these were the foods and drinks of choice in our house for about a week:

2. Movie Party - For Christmas my brother Nate's family gave us all the supplies needed for a Movie Party (including the movie!) We finally got around to having our party after all our sick days were over!

The movie was "The Muppets" and our packages had decorations, snacks, a joke book, a puzzle, a cool circuit set, and even a pinata! It was such a fun gift.

 3. Mini Kaylee - Apparently some of Kaylee's friends at school call Brenna "mini Kaylee". One Sunday I snapped this picture of Russ and Brenna napping together. I posted it online somewhere Russ's family would see it. We happened to have a group call with the Burnetts that evening, and Russ and I were pretty shocked to learn how many of his family members had mistaken Brenna for Kaylee in the picture! I guess they look more alike than we thought. What do you think?

4. School Stuff - McKell and I got to go to Ashlyn's class Valentine's party; McKell was particularly excited about the slice of pizza the size of her own head.

Kaylee made it through the 4th round of the regional spelling bee.

The 3rd graders did a musical performance called "Where the Wild Things Are".

Kaylee made a model of the solar system with candy planets and a grapefruit sun.

McKell sorted M&Ms during preschool on the day we learned all about Letter M.

5. Stake Activity Day Girls - The girls and I got to attend a church event themed around "Sweet is the Work". Whomever was in charge spent A LOT of time on decorations. They were amazing. And the girls had a great time at the activity - decorating cupcakes, playing games, singing songs, learning about scriptures, and doing service.

6. Miscellaneous - I made a little book nook in the corner of our piano/computer room. It's pretty adorable when McKell finds her way over there.

One of Brenna's birthday gifts was a date with Dad to a U-Paint-It studio. She chose a princess figurine and they had a great time painting it together.