Tuesday, May 20, 2014

What We've Been Up To...

Life for us while Daddy has been gone has been pretty normal. The kids are still in school, so we still have afternoons of homework, piano practicing, baths, scripture reading and bedtime routines. We have missed Eric terribly, and are anxious for this week to go by quickly so we can have him home with us again. 
 On Mother's Day, we went up to Ma and Pa's house for dinner and got to Skype with Elder Uncle Ben. He is doing great in Chile and we had fun talking to him. 
 We have thankfully had beautiful weather lately and we have tried to take advantage of it. I can't chase Gwen down the street anymore, so we spend most of our time in our backyard soaking up some sun. 
(Don't mind the beached whale in this picture)
 The kids went through one box of fudge bars in one afternoon. How can you say no to that face? While Gwen ate her chocolate, Adam and Tessa colored pictures of places their Daddy would be visiting. I didn't get a picture of their art work. I may have to make them do it again. They did a really good job!
 There has been lots of extra blanket chomping with Daddy not around. Her favorite blanket has now started to unravel.
 While the kids play outside, I have tried to catch up on some journaling in their scrapbooks. 
Yay for technology!!! We have been able to Skype with Eric almost everyday that he has been gone. 

 Afternoon reading and snack time outside. A perfect afternoon with my little ones. 
 Gwen was invited to her first play date. My wonderful friend, Kristin invited Gwen over to play with her little girl so I could run some errands in peace. She texted me this picture and said, "I am in love with your daughter!"
My Bestie, Jodi threw me a baby shower on Saturday and it was lovely! A huge thanks to all who came and helped with it. It made me feel extra special!


 Can't wait for this little guy to get here!
 I never thought when I took a job working with Alzheimer patients, that I would get a husband and an amazing best friend out of it! So thankful for Jodi being part of my life for the last 14 years!

 We busted out the sprinklers! Gwen was not impressed that she was getting wet.

 A very sweet friend from my ward showed up on Monday afternoon with dinner and treats for us. She said, "I figured you could use a break." And this is after she left treats on our porch Sunday afternoon. Talk about a pick me up!
 This handsome little man is counting down the days until his big birthday. He's told me several times this week that he is thankful he wasn't born on time cause then his Dad would have missed his birthday. He gets to be the spotlight kid in his class this week and we had fun working on his All About Me poster over the weekend. 
Only a few more days and then Eric will be busy with work and school again, but at least we will get to see him in person a few nights a week!

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Eric's Trip to Europe

Last Friday morning, Eric left on his big trip to Europe. I dropped him off at the airport early Friday morning (the 9th) and he will get home well past the kids bedtime on Saturday the 24th. He will be visiting 5 countries while he is gone. He will be visiting different businesses and site seeing through those 5 countries. Thankfully, we are able to Skype with him in the afternoons before he heads off to bed. There is an 8 hours difference between us right now. We are missing him like crazy, but are glad he is getting to have such an awesome experience. 
(Adam and Tessa showing where Daddy is today)
 I made a map for the kids to keep track of what country he was in on what day. Eric's group will be traveling quickly through these countries, so we wrote out where he would be on what days so we could keep track of him. I think I know his itinerary better than he does. 

Saturday, May 10, 2014

More About Gwen

Gwen has the best bed head ever!! I took these one afternoon after a rare nap. Her hair cracks people up. 





 Gwen had a sick day a couple of weeks ago and was distraught when I washed her "blankie". She freaked when she saw me putting it in the dryer and stood there waiting for it to be done. She got so happy every time she saw it spin around. 


Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Cinco de Mayo!!!

If you know me well, you know I will take any chance I get to have a party. My family loves to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Not gonna lie, it's totally for the food. We had an awesome spread this year. My Mom made a few things and I made a few things and we feasted on lots of deliciousness!!


 Tessa helped me with some of the food preparations. She made our sombrero cookies there on the right and they turned out so cute! I love that she is my baking buddy!!
 Ma, Pa and some of the Aunts and Uncle's came down to play and eat with us. Adam and Tessa had a blast playing out back with everyone until late into the evening.
It was a fun and festive evening!

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Tessa's Day With Ma and Pa

For her birthday last year, Ma and Pa told Tessa she would get a day out with them. So, during Spring Break, Tessa got to go to our brand new Aquarium with Ma and Pa. I will have to blog more about these pictures next time I am with Ma so I get the stories right, but I do know that Tessa had such a fun day and was so happy to come home with her very own shark tooth necklace!