The Tony-Carrie John Fam

When we got back from Vegas we had a few days and then the John family arrived! I was so excited when Carrie texted me a few months back about possibly coming to Utah. It was the perfect thing to cheer us up after the tough tournament loss.

The Johns jam-packed their trip with doing fun things and seeing loved ones. I was so impressed. Their kids had some rough sleep nights and some sickness and they were still on the go all day every day.
They arrived just after dinner Friday night. We let the kids stay up late and play with their cousins. I loved it. They picked back up where they left off last summer in Wisconsin. Sadie and Will especially played well together. Lauren and Elise have a more tumultuous relationship. Strong-willed 4 year old women.

As is always the case when Anthony is around, there was lots of wrestling. Will and Sadie also wrested several times, which was funny to watch because that doesn't happen very much.

Will also showed Sadie "his" kindle and his favorite games. I think maybe Angry Birds?

The Johns hung out with Carrie's sisters the rest of the day. 

Sunday morning the kids enjoyed breakfast together again. We made them squish the 4 of them together on 3 bar stools. I just remembered we do have a 4th stool in our storage room. Oh well. It was fun making them squeeze in.

Carrie took this picture when we were walking into church. The cousins frequently held hands. I don't know if Will and Lauren typically do that, but my girls love to hold hands.

After church the kids got lots more quality play time. They played beanboozled- which is a favorite. They also played outside in short sleeves in 48 degree weather. They are crazy.

Since it was Daniel's birthday I made one of his favorite meals- honey lime chicken enchiladas. I forgot to double the amount of milk I mixed into the enchilada sauce so they had more of a kick to them than usual. Elise kept screaming about her mouth being on fire. 

That night the Johns headed up to Fletcher family gathering and graciously allowed me and Matt to tag along in their van. We didn't bring our kids since it didn't start until past their bedtimes and they had school the next day. Sadie initiated group hugs until we told her she had to go back inside. 

Everyone slept on the drive to SLC except me and Carrie.

 It was great to see Fletcher relatives that I haven't talked to in months, and some, years. I stole this picture from Carrie. A lot of these pics are stolen from her.

On Monday the Johns spent the day visiting Bobpa and Grandma John and I made my girls go to school. Later that afternoon was the NCAA women's tournament selection show. We gave the Johns a quick tour of the Marriott Center and then went to the broadcast building to watch the show.

We knew BYU would get in, but it was nerve-wracking having to sit through nearly the entire show before BYU was announced as a 7 seed to play Missouri in Austin. We thought it was a decent seeding considering how BYU had choked away the WCC tournament. 

Following the announcement we went to the nearby Bean Museum, while Daniel headed to the Marriott Center to prep for their tournament game. 

 

 As usual, the play space with the slide and cave were probably the biggest hit. I love the picture where Carrie told the kids to roar like a lion. We had to tell the kids they could either play longer there and then go to bed, or play more at home. They opted to play at home.

And we only got 1 picture during the whole visit with all 6 kids together. Too bad the lighting isn't better.

On Tuesday I checked Sadie out from school after a couple hours so we could go to the Museum of Natural Curiosity with less crowds. Anthony stayed home with Elliott so we all fit in our van.

We spent some time in the rotating exhibit room learning about perception and how our eyes/brain can easily be deceived and distracted.

 
4 floating cousins

 

We spent a while in the climbing area. I was up at the top taking pictures of Sadie and Millie in the airplane when I looked down and noticed Elise had somehow gotten out an employee-only door and was talking to someone at the front desk (I assume about finding me). I yelled down to her and finally got her attention.

Here she is sadly making her way to me after that. Taking Millie in this climbing area was pretty much a mistake. I had to carry her through most of it and I ended up sweaty.

 We ended up staying at the museum for about 3 hours, with no fights. The kids got really into a game of pretend in the market, but agreed to leave when I reminded them we hadn't gone to the water area yet.

  The kids worked together to get the water moving and Millie tried out the water table. Some other kids splashed a lot, which Millie did not appreciate. Watching them in the wind tunnel was adorable.

 The kids rounded out the night with more wrestling and books/family prayers with their cousins. Sleeping 2 floors apart worked really well. At bedtime they parted ways and at least weren't distracting each other from sleep. Poor Lojo had some rough night terrors and a persistent night cough that kept the Johns awake in the basement.

 Elliott was being particularly cute on Tuesday night. He is such a smiley kid! He was battling what we think was an allergic reaction to Amoxicillin and kept right on smiling through the rash and digestive issues.

On Wednesday the Johns spent most of the day with friends/family in Provo and then SLC. We got to hang out with them for a bit between their trips. I spent most of the day getting ready to leave for Austin on Thursday with Daniel and Millie., which included getting packed for Sadie and Elise to stay at a friend's and doing lots of laundry.

On Thursday afternoon we left and the Johns generously agreed to take care of Sadie and Elise until Friday morning, when my friend would pick them up. The kids fit in a little more adorable cousin time while Anthony and Carrie prepared to drive back home Friday morning.

I know I say it constantly, but I wish we lived closer to family! I wish my kids got to see their cousins more than once a year. I wish I got to see my siblings and their spouses more than once a year. Waah. Waah. Life is unfair. 

We wish what happened in Vegas stayed there

At the beginning of March the girls and I made our annual girls-only drive to Las Vegas for the WCC tournament. It is what they look forward to all season. All year, really. The one change this year is we went down the day before their first game. Sadie went to school for a few hours and then we picked her up with the van all packed. We ate lunch in the car; stopping in St. George for 15 minutes to get gas and use the potty. We arrived by 3 PM, mainly for the swimming. Daniel wasn't even at the hotel.

 After unloading the car into the hotel room we made a beeline for the pool....only to find out that it did not open "for the season" until the following day! I am still not sure what that means when the hotel is in Vegas, but whatever. The hot tubs are open year round so we took over there and thoroughly annoyed the 3 other guests trying to relax. 

 On this first swimming excursion Millie did a terrible job with her puddle jumper floatie, fighting against it and swallowing tons of water while eventually ending up screaming on her back. It was funny to watch, but annoying that I had to keep jumping in to help her. 

That night we spent 3 hours eating dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with the team. Dinners with the team are fun, but long, and can be hard with the girls. 

 Another big change this year: the Millster. She is at a terrible age to be kept confined to a hotel room. She is big enough that she can get into everything, but too young to truly understand consequences ahead of time. She would open all the doors/drawers/cupboards, turn on the bathtub (while she was standing in it--clothed!), spread our room snacks all over, etc. She spent a lot of time whining to me. 

 The next day I didn't take any pictures (besides the one of Millie whining). That morning we fit in a short swim in the pool before the game. BYU won and we headed back to the hotel to jump in the hot tub again before heading to the Rio buffet for dinner. The girls were pretty horribly behaved there. 

Saturday morning we explored the hotel grounds while we waited for breakfast to be ready. I wanted to get a cute picture of the girls in their matching pj's made by Mimi, but I got this series instead. 

 Following breakfast we went to a local park because it was only 55 degrees. The sun showed up after a bit so we rushed back to the hotel to swim. The Stewarts were already there and then the Faucettes showed up. We ordered lunch poolside and were having a merry old time when suddenly the lifeguards announced the pool was closed due to a child barfing a small amount. 

 And so we took our large party over to the hot tub. If you click on that photo of Millie in the goggles you will see ketchup all over her face. That girl's main source of nutrition on the trip was ketchup. She can't get enough.

 That night after the kids were asleep Kaylie and I headed out to celebrate her birthday. We didn't take any pictures, but I tried the salted caramel cheesecake at Cheesecake factory and fell in love. Yum.

Sunday was filled with a trip to church and a lunch with Daniel's Uncle Ron. We all laughed because we live 10 minutes apart in Utah, but it took being in Vegas to go out together. That night we had a nice dinner with the team. 

Monday morning we hit up the hot tub since it was a little too cold for the pool. We arrived at Daniel's game with a few minutes left in the first quarter. The Stewart twins came and sat by us, which was fun and chaotic. They bought slurpees for all the girls to share, which got spilled a couple of times. Millie kept trying to run away. Some strangers got upset with the girls for walking in front of them too much. By the end of the game I was so fed up that I took away their swimming privileges for that afternoon. Which, in all reality is a punishment for me too since I have to sit in the hotel room with 3 kids.

 When we got back to the hotel Millie napped while the other 2 had quiet time. It did us all some good and the girls earned a trip to the hot tub as it got dark. Then we headed to a nearby McDonald's for some happy meals and a fun play place. 

 I got to eat take out Cheesecake Factory and Millie begged for "bi-bites" like she always does. She sent this picture to Daniel to say goodnight. If it isn't already clear- we don't get to see Daniel that much on our trip. He sleeps in the room with us, but during the day he is working. 

Tuesday morning we went swimming in the hot tub again due to the 55 degree temperature. By this trip Camille had figured out the puddle jumper and mostly worked with it to kick herself around. Millie kept whining to the other girls to play but then she would cry when they didn't do exactly what she wanted (top picture below). I tried to keep her happy playing on the steps.

 I did not want to miss the intros for the championship game against San Francisco so we hustled our buns and made it to the arena just in time. 

 The first quarter of the game was great. Then it went downhill. I still fully expected BYU to pull it out. Despite playing poorly, they maintained a 5 point lead until the closing 2 minutes of the game. Then we literally gave the game away. San Francisco did not play well. We handed them the game. I am still so mad and disappointed writing about it. As my dad would say, BYU snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

 Poor Sadie was devastated. She cried for 45 minutes. She told us she wished sports had never been invented so she didn't have to feel this way. 

We packed up the hotel room ASAP and hit the road. I was so mad and sad for the players. I wanted to punch them all in the face and then hug them. It was a scarring game that none of them will ever forget. We ate a quick dinner (where Millie dumped ketchup all over herself) in Cedar City and pulled in our driveway around midnight. 

PS- a random story from the trip. On Friday night the hotel guests in the neighboring room were smoking pot. Our entire room was filled with the smell. We called security and they came and told them if anyone else complained they would need to leave. The next day they were smoking again in the middle of the day. When I called the front desk to complain, instead of kicking those guests out, they made us change rooms. They told me I had to be ready in 20 minutes before the change of shifts or I would need to wait until the next day. I had to pack up all of our stuff (Millie was napping and Sadie and Elise were in the bathtub at the time) and get us out of there. I thought it was nuts! I didn't file a complaint since BYU was paying for our room, but how strange.  

Provo Temple Open House

One February morning we managed to squeeze in a trip to the Provo City Center Temple open house. I loved having stake conference there for the first half of our marriage. I love going to unique LDS meetinghouses, since most of them are very similar. Those tiny winding steps in the turrets were always so creaky and a little bit scary. Daniel tripped every time he walked up them because they were so small. I wrote on instagram about how the first stake conference we attended after Sadie was born she spit up everywhere. When we lifted her car seat that had been on the bench, there was a puddle of spit up. Yuck.

Anyway, the temple is so beautiful. They did a wonderful job keeping the integrity and feel of the original building. Even down to the tiny steps in the turrets! They didn't creak like they used to, and they were covered in beautiful carpet, but walking up them brought back memories. We didn't get a photo outside the temple due to snow and sleet, but I was thrilled we got a chance to take our whole family through it.

Kaylie's Shower

When Kaylie Faucette found out she was having another boy I suggested I do a shower for her. After her older 3 boys most of the clothes were worn out. Plus, it is just fun to celebrate another baby and get new stuff. Kaylie's mom Eugenia helped me with it and we had a great time. I printed the cute invitations from Costco. Costco has some great options and they are super affordable.

Here is me, Kaylie and Eugenia. This is a great shot of what our kitchen used to look like. (We got the cabinets refinished a few days after the shower).

I decided to copy the activity we did at my sister Alicia's shower a couple years ago. We decorated onesies with fabric scraps I converted to iron-on patches. The picture above is the 2 onesies I made before the shower as examples. The one with Faucette on the back represents his standing as boy #4.

 People came up with some adorable ideas. We laid out the finished onesies on the food table. 

By the way, the food was amazing. We ordered bagels and a variety of pastries from Avenue Bakery in American Fork. Then Eugenia made some fruit dip and cut up a bunch of fresh fruit. All I had to do was make some juice. Easiest shower food ever.

After the food and onesie crafting we played a couple of games. I had Kaylie email me a bunch of pictures of her other 3 boys as babies at the same ages. Then I zoomed in and printed certain facial features. At first I was going to just have Kaylie guess who each one was individually, but it was really hard! So I put the groups of each age together. At first glance it seemed really hard, but once you looked closely you could tell which picture was who. I uncovered the zoomed out photos below each set of pictures. Kaylie got them all correct! The frames below were after we played it. 

We also played a price is right game with different baby items. I had everyone try to put the items in order of price. I made it unintentionally really difficult because all 8 items cost between $6 and $25.

 Finally, Kaylie opened her presents and we all got excited for her 4th baby. Can't wait to meet him in 2 months!

SPRING

Let's just pretend that spring is here and we are done with the cold. We've had temps in the 50's for a week and the memories of snow are fading. (Even if there is still snow on the playground)

We have gone to the park and played on our swing set every day. Millie is not intimidated by anything and not affected by falling off of things. She scares me.

Of course my kids requested the purple dinosaur park as soon as we started hitting up the playground scene again. Lots of melting slippery snow lead to lots of falls and wet clothes, but we all had a good time. I am not sick of giving under dogs on the swings yet so everyone stayed happy. 

Please say you are here to stay, spring!