Spring Break at the Cabin

We had a fun week going up to the cabin and having a little time to relax and spend time together as a family. We left on Wednesday afternoon around 4pm because Brett had a very busy day at work so I had to do all the packing and preparation….it takes forever to get everything ready for a trip! The girls are getting better at helping pack their own clothes and things so that really helps. We arrived around 11:30pm so we made pretty good time, we just went through the Wendy’s drive through for dinner. I think it’s easier to travel in the evening with the kids because the sleep for half the trip and it is much more peaceful and Brett and I can talk and enjoy the drive. When we came home on Sunday it felt like the longest drive ever because the kids were awake the whole time.

Thursday we just spent the day hanging out at the cabin, Alana went sledding with Tom and had fun playing in the snow. There was still quite a bit of snow but it was really starting to melt. I met up with a friend from our ward who was up there with her husband and showed them the cabin. Brett had lots of meetings and just worked all day. He is trying to catch up from the week he had to take off when he was sick with Pnemonia. Mom and Dad, Spencer and his boys arrived around 9pm that night.
Friday all the boys went skiing/snowboarding up at Brianhead. Mom and I and the kids spent the day going down to Cedar City for the warmer weather. Mom really hates the snow, and the younger kids don’t like it much either. The drive down to Cedar is always beautiful, we went shopping at a couple stores and had lunch at Costa Vida then let the kids play at the park. It was in the low 70’s and beautiful. The boys got back from skiing and said they had a great time except for Avery who broke his arm! Brett snowboarded for half the day and skied the other half. He decided he liked skiing better. Tom and Brett didn’t wear sunglasses so their eyes got a little sunburned and were red and sore. I wished I could have gone skiing but I’m pretty tied down with a nursing baby right now. The last 5 years I have been nursing or pregnant! Oh well I know that motherhood is wonderful and one of the greatest and most important works I will do in this life.

Our squirrel finding the candy!

Saturday we went to Zion’s National Park. We took a picnic lunch and enjoyed a couple hikes. We did the Riverside walk by the river and saw lots of squirrels. It is an easy path for the kids and very pretty. At the end of the trail someone had left their backpack and a bag of jolly ranchers and goldfish and the squirrels were getting into them. One squirrel ate a big jolly rancher and a starburst. After a lunch break we did the middle and upper Emerald Pool hike. This hike was a little tougher for the kids, Brett carried Allden in the backpack and I had Alydia in the little front pack. Alana hiked on her own and Addy hiked with Papa he gave her a piggy back ride a couple times. No matter how many times we go to Zion I always enjoy the beauty and the great outdoors.

Our family with Grandma and Grandpa Pratt (Lisa's parents)
Brett carried Allden on his back for the entire hike!

Tom and Alana hanging out.

Our 10 yr Anniversary!

We have been married 10 yrs as of Friday March 13th! We had a quick getaway to a cabin up in Heber for one night. Brett had fun driving his Porsche on the winding roads racing around corners! Derek and Emily were so nice to watch the kids Friday night. We started the weekend off by enjoying a nice steak dinner and then drove up to Heber. We took the baby with us but it was nice to get away from the rest of the kids for a night. Saturday morning we enjoyed a yummy breakfast at June's cafe! We explored Heber and enjoyed a little snow. We drove down through the Salt River Canyon on the way home. Brett had so much fun driving his Porsche around the corners, luckily we never met any cops. We had a great time! I think it's essential for a marriage to take time to continue dating and having time away from the normal daily activities. We are happily married and looking forward to the next 10 yrs.

Freestone Park

This week Alana was on Spring Break. We spent Thursday afternoon at Freestone park. The kids enjoyed feeding the ducks, having a picnic lunch with Grandma Pratt, Aunt Vicki and Marla from Utah, Grandma and Grandpa Carson and Derek and Emily. The kids also enjoyed playing on the playground.

Girls and Korean dresses

Alana and Addy sure love their baby sister Alydia. Alydia is 4 1/2 months old now. She is generally a happy little girl when she isn't tired or hungry. She is laughing out loud and rolling over now. Adalynn loves dresses and wanted to wear the dress to bed.

Tom who is our foreign exchange student from Korea gave the girls a special Korean outfit. They looked so cute in them. It has been fun to have Tom live in our home, he has been a big help around the house and the kids adore him!

Blake's Miracle Swimathon

Last Saturday Alana and Adalynn participated in Blake's Miracle Swimathon. Alana swam 16 laps across the pool! Adalynn swam 7 laps! Great job girls!

Adalynn catching her breath after a lap. Good job Adalynn!

Alana is our little fish and loves to swim and is getting better all the time! After swimming laps and getting changed the Phoenix Suns Gorilla presented them with a certificate and congratulated them for their good work! A couple of the Phx. Suns cheerleaders were also there.In the parking lot there was a bouncy house which the girls enjoyed and a rock climbing wall which the girls had fun trying. It was a fun day!

Adalynn's Preschool Apples to Zebras

Adalynn has been attending the City of Chandler's Apples to Zebra preschool program this year. She had a performance with all the classes where they sang a bunch of songs. It was cute! They made shirts in class that they work for the big performance. She has enjoyed the social part of preschool making friends and making crafts but I think I want to put her in a different preschool next year that is more academic based. She has to wait an entire year before she gets to start kindergarten. This is Adalynn's preschool teacher that she has had for a year.

These are some of Addy's biggest fans that came to watch her sing. Go Addy!

Happy Birthday Brett

Better late than never....Brett's B-day was February 28th and I'm just getting around to posting the blog. Anyways I planned a birthday party for him with all the family. We went to dinner at Joe's BBQ in downtown Gilbert. The weather has been so nice so I thought it would be nice for the kids to run around and play outside. I got him a real ice cream cake from coldstone creamery! It was a hit and Brett wished there was more. Then we had a mini golf competition at Golfland it was pretty fun. My Dad won (maybe he cheated =) and Brett and I tied for 2nd place then the runners up were Christen, Tom, and Aaron.
Brett went to the dunes on Saturday for his Birthday it was a guy trip with his brother Kyle and my brother Derek. They rode hard all day in the hot sun and Brett was pretty sick when he got home. The doctor told him it was probably just heat exaustion but he had a terrible pain in his chest and a cough so we took him to the E.R. on Wednesday night. We sat around there getting all kinds of tests done and they found out he had Pneumonia! So they gave him some antibiotics and sent him home. He's been down for a good week with this awful stuff but I think he is finally back to normal again! Thank Goodness!

Phoenix Zoo

I'm a few weeks behind on our blog....but at the end of February Alana's Kindergarten class took a field trip to the Phoenix Zoo. I followed the bus and met her there with the rest of the kids. We walked around with her friend Hadley and her mom. We had a good time!

Sunday Dinner

Look at those 5 beautiful princesses! Every other Sunday we get together for dinner with Brett's family and the girls love to play dress up and dance to music.

Kyle brought over a golf cart with a train attached and kept the kids entertained for awhile!