A Decade

Just after Darin hit his 4th decade, we celebrated having this guy in our lives for 1 decade. How lucky are we that we get to have him in our family?  I feel bad for people who don't get to hang out with Byron.  I seriously do, I feel bad for people who don't have Darin in their lives too, and the thing is....both of them kind of sit back and let themselves be overlooked so it takes a quality person to notice them.  See what I did there...I complimented myself twice because I married Darin and I helped create Byron.  I am going to go ahead and toot my own horn here because it's the truth. 

( I just realized what a weird saying that is because I wouldn't want to toot anyone else horn...slobber, gross.)

Byron woke up to bagels and chocolate dipped strawberries.  His big gift from us was getting to have a friend party but he had a birthday card from G'ma and G'pa Ray and a gift from Miriam and Soren to open.

M & S bought Byron a chance to swim with sting rays and sharks at Sea Quest.  So thoughtful, and I LOVE that they invested in an experience gift that they could do together. 

It was a tiny bit rainy but every since "ride your bike to school day" last week Byron has wanted to ride to school.  I love it too.  It's fun. It just takes me being "on task" in the mornings...thats rough.

He played with a friend after school, we ate Chicken Tikka Masala (requested) and then hit Menchies for dessert. 

Friend Party the next day, at Dartside.

My boys can't get enough of that place.

Miriam lovingly made Chess themed cupcakes and let me tell you they were DELICIOUS! I am trying to limit my sugar but I just couldn't resist the chocolate ones. So good.  I am going to have to keep Miriam out of the kitchen if I ever want to achieve my goals.

The happy 10 year old!

We love this kid to the moon and back.

Baptism, Blessing, Birthday and Mother's Day

We got to be a part of Wyler's baptism.  He is such a cute, enthusiastic kid. He beamed the entire morning, and giggled right before he was baptized. That kid knows how to enjoy life and he is the toughest little guy I know.

 Then darling Hazel was blessed by her dad. Just hours after blowing chunks all over Erik, they are both happy and content. I hope that is how all her life trials may be....momentary with a quick recovery.

Grandma and Grandpa's newest grandbaby.

My dad took us to Balance Rock Eatery for lunch. Such a cute place in downtown Helper.  

Darin got the Dagwood in honor of Grandpa Rasmussen who use to call him that as well as "Darwin" we shall never know if he was kidding or if he really couldn't remember his grand son-in-law's name.

Then we flew kites at the water basin walk path in gusty strong winds.

Darin flew that thing happily for 3 hours.  2 hours with kids and cousins and 1 hour just he and I together.  We found a shady spot to sit and just watched the kite blow around while we talked and laughed.  It was so relaxing and those are the moments our best conversations happen. I swear every time we fly a kite we wonder why we don't do it more often.

The boys found a mud hole in the middle of the water basin...and of course Soren "fell in"

They were happy as pigs in that little mud hole, but it was a different story while hosing them down.  That mud was more like clay. We almost had to scrape it off of them.

We heard 2 of the most real and sweet mothers day talks ever given by Grandmas in my parents ward the next day. I think the combination of years lived + not needing to impress anyone + actually knowing what it's like to be a mother and grandmother made the talks especially good. 

We ended the weekend with a Birthday/Mother's Day picnic at the DinoMine. Then we drove home to face the weekend laundry, and get ready for the upcoming week.

Right about dusk Soren opened his birthday gift from my parents so he and Byron and decided to go outside and play. They had the time of their lives sling shoting light up arrows in the sky...but of course that meant a trip up to the roof to retrieve a few.

One thing led to another....next thing you know we are all up on the roof for a Birthday/Mother's Day photo shoot.

There are a few more up there right now from yesterday's fun, but a freak rain/snow storm has kept anyone from getting up to get them.  I hope Soren's watermelon seed survives, luckily I hadn't planted my tomatoes yet!

7 for the last time...

Soren wanted a Dartside birthday party instead of a birthday gift.  

So thats what we did Thursday before his actual birthday. Pizza, friends and Nerf guns.  

All the boy were enthusiastic and happy, and really polite about saying thank you. I don't even know a lot of these kids so that was a pleasant surprise!

Miriam made delicious oreo cupcakes.  Darin brought her to the party to watch for a bit but then they had to dash off to yet another ballroom night at someones church.

Byron wasn't there for the group nerf photo, but he was there for all the action.

It snowed the day and night before Soren's birthday! It snowed the night he was born 7 years ago. As much as I dislike Snow in the late Spring I love when a snowfall sneaks in around Soren's birthday as a reminder of that day we met.

The birthday boy woke up Saturday (his actual birthday) to 7 balloons, a gift from Miriam and Byron and a birthday card from grandparents. Miriam made Creme Brule french toast with berries (We are all so lucky to have a cute early raising baker in family!)  The only chores on the agenda were showers, nail trimming, and cleaning bedrooms.  The no chores was more a function of me not feeling very well this week rather than a birthday gift but part of the big day nonetheless.  

Soren requested sushi and Waffle Love for this birthday dinner

Done

and done!

(Don't judge the Costco Sushi...he is 7 for goodness sake, we will spring for Makato when he turns 12)

Then off for 2 hours of ballroom dance photos.

The kiddos finished the evening by watching Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them while Darin mowed the lawn and I took a nap (this cold is kicking my trash!).

I am not having that "my baby is growing up" feeling yet...in fact I thought Soren was already 7 it feels really natural that he is really 7 now.  Soren at 7 is unique and decisive in his likes and dislikes. He is his own little person with a funny sense of humor and a darling sly smirk. In a lot of ways he seems like a grown up in a little body...but he still cuddles with me and his bear blankie so that keeps him little. Soren continues to loves music, karate, and swimming.  He just started a ballroom dance class that he is totally digging. He has a good sense of rhythm to go along with his easy laugh and witty sense of humor.
We love that guy so much! 

Bunny Hunt

These after Easter clearance flowers are beautiful and so cheap! 

But they stink SO BAD!  Why do Lillies smell so awful?? Everyone in the family at one point or another said "what smells so bad"...Miriam almost took an unnecessary shower thinking it was her, I finally moved them into the piano room since the only thing we do in there is play the piano.

Bad smells aside, we did get to do the Cousin Bunny hunt! 

Here are the hunters this year. A few have dropped out (went to Prom instead...lame) but we have a new addition with baby Parker!

I needed a closer one of the newbie....

 In other news....Miriam has been busy visiting Mutual nights because her ballroom team puts on performances for them in April and May.  Kinda hard to schedule around, kinda fun too though.  Depending on how the rest of my week is going I think its either a great opportunity or a huge burden. Gotta be honest, this week I am feeling burdened but it could have something to do with my Spring sore throat and earache.  Blagh! I love working with those little bugger eaters at the school but I wish they would keep their germs to themselves.

In bigger more exciting news we got to see Hazel officially adopted by Erik and Kelly!!

Easter

First of all....I missed most of the Health and Wellness Week activities, but we did start scooting to school again.  I love that.  The weather is so fickle though! It's a hit or miss thing.

Our Fridays are crazy busy at the moment.  I am running back and forth here and there the whole afternoon so all our Easter Prep stuff had to happen on Saturday.  Lots of eggs, bacon, and fish. Always fish for Easter Sunday. We had our last quart of grape juice, and dates too (the dried fruit not the event, although Darin and I had one of those too)....but veered from authenticity with the broccoli salad. Just because broccoli salad makes me think of Spring.

We made the kids clean, a lot, and then dyed eggs.  Rubber cement style and Cool Whip style.  Honestly, I didn't love the Cool Whip way.  Fun to swirl the paint, but bleck...too messy and then I didn't dare hide the eggs around the house for fear they would stain my furniture. Rubber cement for the win!

They turned out great though!

Byron and Soren had a Minecrafting playdate thanks to Darin, they boys had to wait for a time he would be home to make this happen.  Miriam went to a surprise bowling party for a friend.  Darin and I had a date with delicious smelly cheese, cashew salsa, and I don't even remember what kind of meat that was but it was gooooood.  We went to a friends Racelette machine pop up at Amore Cafe. 

Then we stopped by Trader Joes for a Saturday night kid treat and an Easter Dessert for tomorrow.

Hooray for the outfits we wore to Mark's wedding! We have had our Spring ensemble all ready to go since September. 

Miriam and I sang in church. Hard beautiful songs that make the whole choir nervous to attempt, but our director is a man of great faith.

Small Easter hunt right after church.  

The boys got Sushi Go! and Flip City in their Easter baskets (thank you Mark for introducing us) so Darin took over in the game department while I got dinner ready.  Miriam and Soren came in to decorate after Sushi Go!  They did such a good job, using flowers from our blooming cheery tree.  Miriam is our resident napkin folder, and I loved the side flower Soren came up with. He said he saw it once on a magazine cover.

A walk, some football tossing, basketball shooting, we ended the night with a treat, reading a chapter of a simplified version of Ulysses, and a family mindfulness breathing activity.

Sweet day. We achieved that perfect balance of making things special and fun without me running around anxious and exhausted.

Sweet day.