may around here

This month has been crazy! Baseball, soccer, end of the year madness and all the regular stuff in our schedule has added up to a month that felt a little out of control.

We went on a field trip with Anne's preschool class to the BYU paleontology museum. I can totally remember going there when I was in preschool.

We also got to go to the new children's museum at Thanksgiving Point call the Museum of Natural Curiosity. The kids loved it and have been asking to go back ever since.

Nathan had to have custom orthotics made for his feet to the tune of $380. He is able to walk and run so much better with them in his shoes. Hopefully they will make a big difference for him long term.

BYU held a Fan Fest at our city park. We were already there for Sawyer's soccer game that morning so it was an easy trek over to the festivities. The kids went on the bounce houses and slides and got their faces painted. Sadly, Anne was too scared to do stunts with the cheerleaders. We got autographs from players like basketball star Tyler Haws, two BYU women's soccer players and some football players. At the football area, Emma was responding to a text. Bronco Mendenhall asked her if it was a boy or girl. When she responded it was a boy, he proceeded to ask her a bunch of questions about how he treated her. It was so great. I wish I had it on video. At the end, Anne got hit in the face with a soccer ball, so they gave her one to take home. Our soccer-playing kids were quite jealous.

I had to take another glucose test at 28 weeks. Gestational diabetes round two has arrived sadly. My numbers are really not good this time around. They already have put me on a low dose of glyburide which still isn't quite controlling my morning numbers. Because of the diabetes, this baby will be making his arrival at least one week early.

Dana was in town for some training. She and Keri were kind enough to come meet me up at Emma's soccer game in Layton. I took a few headshots of Dana in a beautiful field of weeds. We went out for a delicious dinner after Emma's disappointing loss.

We were lucky enough to be invited over to Grandma and Grandpa Daniel's house for dinner a couple of times. Anne threw us a delightful "grown up tea party" one evening.

Nathan was awarded his Wolf in Cub Scouts. I got to Pack Meeting 5 minutes too late to see him get the award because of Sawyer's baseball game. We recreated the moment though.

Emma went with her best friend Annie to St. George for the Memorial Day weekend. She's been gone a lot and will be gone most of the month of June with soccer and choir stuff. I hope she is having lots of fun. We do love seeing her when she is home although she is usually somewhere checking her Instagram feed or texting her friends. She finished up her 8th grade year with a 4.0 and seems to be doing really well, despite the usual teenage angst that shows up here and there.

april around here

Nathan and Sawyer had a great time playing in a spring hail storm. Crazy kids.

Dave and I went out to dinner and then to see Captain America at the theater with our neighbors. We feel very blessed by the great people we get to live by.

Ben is now wearing underwear and continuing to delight us with his sense of style.

We enjoyed General Conference. Megan and Tim came over on Sunday morning and made crepes for us. Delicious. I managed to stay awake through 3 of the sessions but finally succumbed in the last. I am really glad they publish the talks so I study them again and again.

Spring Break was the second week of April. We stayed home and had a rather boring week. Oh well. Sometimes that is just the way it has to be. We did go to the aquarium at Emma's request. Unfortunately it was so crowded it was hardly enjoyable. We get to go back sometime this summer. Hopefully that will be a better experience.

We woke the boys up to see the lunar eclipse. They were too tired to be very impressed. At least we tried.

Dave served as a delegate at the county convention.

We went to lots of baseball and soccer games. Lots.

Our ward had an getting to know you activity for the adults. They requested pictures of us in our 20s for a slideshow. No one could believe it was Dave in this first picture. In truth, he hardly ever looked like that but it is such an awesome picture. Oh, we were so young and skinny once!

Dave ran another Thanksgiving Point half marathon. This year it was in the pouring rain. I don't think this will ever be my idea of fun but I think it is so great that he does.

I was able to get together with a few folk dance friends since one of them came into town. I am so blessed by the amazing friendships I still enjoy so many years later. It doesn't matter that we live miles apart or that we rarely see each other. We just pick right back up. We ate dessert at The Chocolate in South Jordan and talked, cried and laughed until it closed.

Keri, Michael and Josh came over for dinner the last Sunday. We had a delicious Asian buffet because Josh and Emma requested Orange Chicken. After dinner, Anne was brushing everyone's hair. Even Michael's which is in a buzz cut. She still got mad at him when he "messed it up." We thought she made Keri look particularly lovely. :)

march around here

I've waited a really long time to see a picture like this:

He still listens to books all the time but has never liked the act of physical reading. He saw someone reading this at play practice and asked if we could get it. I've never been so happy to buy a book.

At 17 weeks, I had to take an early glucose test because I had gestational diabetes with Ben. I really hate drinking that drink. Disgusting. I passed. Barely. My number was 133 and the limit is 140. Methinks it is a high possibility that I will fail the next one I have to take at 28 weeks.

We took Nathan in to the podiatrist. He really has trouble walking and running as a 9 year old should. The doctor told him he looked like an old man. The doctor thought it had to do with rapid growth and gave him orthotics. He also had a wart removed. Hopefully, we will see improvement soon. He is a really active kid and it would be great if he could move more easily.

The American Heritage Youth Chorus that Emma sings with had a joint concert with the American Heritage Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a really amazing performance. Obviously very well rehearsed. I love seeing youth using their talents like that. I wish I had been able to get a better/longer recording.

Baseball season has started. I was rather silly this year and signed up both Sawyer and Nathan. I thought that soccer and baseball seasons would not overlap that much. Wrong. Because soccer started late this year, they are completely concurrent. This means 4 baseball games and at least 3 soccer games each week. ACK! Sawyer played t-ball last year and is doing machine pitch this year. As with most athletic things, he is a natural. Nathan has never played baseball before but he seems to like it despite his low skill level. Dave has been catching and hitting with the boys a lot at lunch and in the evening. I think they especially love that.

Slade has passed Emma in height. Emma knew it was coming but she isn't very happy about it.

february around here

Dave and I went with Keri and Michael to see BYU Folk Dancers at the Conference Center. We met up with Aaron and Becky Love for dinner at Crown Burger beforehand.

Anne lost her first tooth. She's only four!

She also made all of the Valentines for her preschool class by hand. It took her a long time but was just what she wanted to do. She loves to draw!

Speaking of teeth, Sawyer's teeth (or the lack thereof) are looking a bit like a jack-o-lantern. How does he even eat?

Ben's favorite shoes to wear are Anne's. Usually an unmatched pair. He also loves to dress up. Reminds me of Sawyer at that age.

We had an Olympics party for the Opening Ceremonies on the 7th. When I mentioned the Olympics were going to start soon, Nathan exclaimed that we had better have donuts just like last time. This party was sort of lame because I was still feeling sick with baby #7. The kids were still happy though. We spent the next two weeks watching lots and lots of hours of Olympic coverage which I thoroughly enjoyed.

We spent lots of time in rehearsals all month. I'm directing a stake Broadway revue that Dave, Emma, Nathan and Sawyer are performing in. Slade and Nathan are also in rehearsals for the school play, Robin Hood, and I help with the choreography. These rehearsals fill our Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturday mornings.

I took Emma down to Mesquite, NV, for the President's Cup soccer tournament. More on that in another post.

Dave received an award from work. He and I got to go eat delicious food at Thanksgiving Point for the recognition dinner. Then, I got to sit back and listen to how totally awesome my husband is at work. He really is just awesome all around.

While not as much as in January, I still spent a lot of time in bed feeling sick. Of course, this means that there are constant messes all around my house. The counter is usually filled with bread, cheese and milk left out from someone's snack making.