ticket please.

one of the kids' favorite things to do before bedtime lately is cory gives them some sort of piggyback ride. after they brush their teeth they go and stand on the end of our bed and wait for cory to come and pick them up.  cory asks for their ticket and, its so precious, they each pull their imaginary tickets out of the imaginary pockets in their jammies.  even elsie gets in on the fun.  each night the kind of ride changes.  sometimes it's an animal like an elephant or sometimes its a car like mater from cars.  that one has been a favorite because, as everyone knows, mater is the "worlds best backwards driver!" we've had airplanes too.  each night is different and cracks me up.  

a mesquite birthday.

connor celebrated his 6th birthday this weekend in mesquite.  we had a great time being with family, flying helicopters, watching cousin ben play soccer {go forza gold!}, driving go karts, playing mini-golf and arcades, and having a tower of homemade oreos "bigger than spencer's!"

a week earlier connor and his best bud briggs had a combined friend birthday party at the local trampoline place.  it was way too much fun!!

connor even got birthday balloons and streamers in mesquite. 

that's how they hold up 6 fingers in taiwan.

the mighty helicopter {one of his favorite and most hoped for gifts}.

celebrating in between soccer games at fiesta fun.

the whole crew, minus papa dave, who's got the camera.

the oreo tower. 

driving the trucks while hunting golf balls. 

poor else got a bad cold halfway through the trip.  she was pretty miserable bless her heart.

we love you birthday boy, conna-man!

eagle day.

eagle day was a little bit of a let down.  usually there are lots of eagles to see, but sadly this year, there was only 3.  it was fun to be out on the unusually warm day though.

see those 2 black dots in the middle of the pic on the ice.  yep, those are 2 of them.  kinda disappointing, but we were excited to have blue skies for a change!

will you be my valentine?

the kids enjoyed the day of love with gumballs, chocolate-covered strawberries and lots and lots of treats from school parties.

connor and mabel's valentines they took to their classes.  mabel surprised me when i started writing her name on the first valentine and she said she wanted to do it.  she continued to do them until all 14 were done!  connor on the other hand needed a {lot} bit of convincing and patience to get his 25 done.  those two are reaffirming to me how different boys and girls are!

cory and i decided to celebrate with flip flop sandals for the kids.  i think it's going to be an annual thing.  the kids get so excited and love them every year!

catching up.

There have been many moments over the last few months that i've wanted to write about to help my not-so-good memory but haven't had the time.  So this is my attempt to remember the moments of normalcy amidst the mess.

these are in no particular order, just how they loaded up.

chinese new year celebrations 2012

...the year of the dragon...

 annual fireworks off frosty

 elsie was mesmerized by the fireworks this year.

after the fireworks show we set off a few floating lanterns. 

frosty and the remains.

@ j wongs in salt lake.  we ate yummy food and watched a dragon dance.  a new chinese new year tradition i think.

elsie's first haircut.

 she did awesome and sat very still while gma cut her hair.  

play time.

the kids have found plenty of time to run around, be silly and play.  even though we didn't change much upstairs, except the floors, it seems like we have more open space for the kids to run and play.

pre-haircut fun.

 poor elsie, pre-haircut, getting a toy drill stuck in those beautiful curls.

skiing lessons continue.