New Spring Babies

Our pasture has been empty since December when we sold our steers and the grass was out of control so we decided it was time to pick up a few more baby lambs.  Uncle Robert knows someone who sells what they call bummer lambs this time of year, lambs that are the 3rd in their litter and probably won't make it on their mommy's milk alone.  We picked up 5 this year and lost one really cute one "puppy dog." but the others are doing well although much less tame than the ones we had a few years ago.

Everyone got to pick out a lamb and it wasn't an easy decision.  Wyatt especially loves these little things and can't get enough time with them.

 This is Cooper and "puppy dog."  He named him that because of his cute floppy ears in case you were wondering :)

We also got a new kitten!!!  Minnie disappeared on us last winter shortly after Wyatt's birthday so when Auntie Katie's mom found baby siamese kittens in her barn Auntie Katie thought of Sadie right away.  So we introduce Daisy and she isn't lacking any love here in her new home.  Every morning the first thing Sadie and Wyatt do are go into the garage to check on Daisy and even Hazel absolutely loves her.  I think Daisy was word number 3 for her.

And we continue to love being outdoors and the mostly schedule free days of summer.

Other April Activities

We love April!  For us it means getting outside more and more and enjoying the beauty that is all around us. 

And being inspired to create more beauty.

The kids continue to love their cars which we bought for them a couple of Christmas' ago and I love that even Hazel is included in their fun now!  Although she is only allowed to ride with Sadie as both of her brothers are a bit reckless.  Cooper just plows through any and every thing in his way until we remove him from the drivers seat, and with Wyatt it's full power all of the time, which leaves Sissy's car as the safest place for Hazel.

 Sometimes I think I might loose my mind because of the messes that these little ones create, but then you ask them what they're doing and they explain to you some made up game the 3 of them are playing and how this is their coral.  So instead you sigh and walk away reminding them that they are going to have to clean up when they are finished, all the while knowing that when that time comes all of these items will suddenly be stuck and to heavy for them to carry back to wherever it is they got them from.

 This one at least looks pretty innocent still ;)

Another big life event for us this month was trading in our very loved Pilot.  I have to admit I was pretty attached to this car.  It was our first big purchase as a married couple back when we were living in our little apartment in Glendora just dreaming of the family that we would one day have.  We brought home all of our kids in it and it has parked in the driveway of all of the places that we have lived together.  TEARS!!!  However, with number 5 on the way and the Pilot at just over 100,000 miles we decided that the time had come to make the jump to a minivan.

Isn't she pretty!!!  Needless to say I got over my sadness pretty quickly and even more so after loading and unloading the kids from it a few times.  Lets just say the automatic doors are definitely a game changer with all these little ones.

Uncle Ryan and Auntie Katie are getting ready to sell their house in town to move a little closer to the dairy and to purchase a piece of land that Ryan has already been farming the past few years.  Wyatt can be a really good helper when he feels like it.  He spent the morning helping Ryan outside while Brandon helped with a few last minute fixes inside and then they all laid some new sod.

 We continue to try to make it to the dairy most Sundays to feed calves with Uncle Ryan.  I'm not sure how I feel about this operation which mainly just involves getting really really dirty by covering themselves in corn, but they have fun and I feel like it's probably one of those things they'll fondly remember when they're older.  So we bring extra clothes and once again leave them to their shenanigans.

Uh Oh!  Cows are loose!

AWANAS 2016

We participated in Awanas again this year and really loved the program.  Although Mommy and Daddy are ready for it to be over, just because getting them fed and out the door in the evening is hard, as is getting them up the next morning, we are so proud of them for all the learning they did.  They both completed their books and memorized a lot of scripture this year!

Wyatt was a Cubby this year!

 Wyatt and Mr. O

 Wyatt and Mrs. Lau

Sadie was in Sparks this year!

The morning after the kids' Awana assembly Brandon and I had a chance to go to San Diego for a couple of days with his company to attend a conference and accept awards for a number of the projects he has been working on the past year or two.

 Proud of all this guys hard work and thankful for the chance to get away together for a couple of days!

April Fools!?!?!

This was perhaps my most memorable April Fools Day.  Now if you're Uncle Robert this is always a fun day but as for me well I'm afraid it's all a little wasted, just not how I'm wired I suppose.  I don't mind laughing at a good joke or even at myself if it's being played on me, but you won't find me planning one because I can't ever fool anyone anyway, except this year :)

This year we had a little surprise and thought we'd share it with everyone on April Fools Day, mostly because it was the one time in my life that I thought I might actually have a chance to fool my brother Robert, who really does have it coming.

We met my Mom and Robert for lunch that day and before Robert got there my Mom was already telling me about how he'd been giving her a hard time that day and I told her that Brandon was actually going to play a trick on him this year by sending him an old ultrasound picture and saying that we were expecting again.  I then quickly texted Brandon and told him not to send it until after I'd seen them because like I said I can never keep a straight face.  So we had lunch and my kids spent the rest of the day trying to trick me since Robert had taught them all about April Fools day.  "Mom there's a snake!"  April Fools! and on and on...

That afternoon Brandon sent a text to Robert and my Mom with a picture of an ultrasound.  Robert called it right away as a joke and mom tried to play it off.

When Brandon got home we told the kids our news before heading to dinner with the family.  They were pretty excited except Wyatt who at some point put two and two together that it was April Fools and thought maybe we were fooling him.  I think he was actually unsure about it for about 3 days afterwords.

Anyway, so when we got to Moms house the kids told her our news and she laughed thinking it was a joke, but then I told her it wasn't and she believed us and was surprised.  Robert on the other hand refused to believe us.  He said he wouldn't believe us until we told him again on a different day and actually made me swear it before he'd even act like he kind of believed our news.

But it was true...  We are expecting #5 to join our family this coming November!!!