Violet Turns 5!

Despite the difficult few days we've had with her broken arm, Violet was all smiles for her fifth birthday! She got a new summer dress to wear to church.

And picked funfetti cake with pink and purple frosting. Oh, and neapolitan ice cream in ice cream cones. Very important.

Opening presents proved no challenge- she quickly improvised. The only sad part is that her presents were already bought before the accident, and most of them require the use of her arm (t-ball stand, baseballs, basket for her bike...).

But she sure does love books.

 

And she got her nails painted with new fingernail paint by daddy before going to bed. I just wish I had gotten a picture of it. She probably hugged and kissed me five times, saying "thank you for my birthday!" before going to bed.

For her daddy-birthday-date Travis took her to the Butterfly Biosphere at Thanksgiving Point. She originally wanted to go ice skating, but again, we had to improvise.

Such a sweetie. We love our Violet. Happy birthday!

Ouch!

Our summer seems to have started off with a bang, or more like a "crack!" The kids were just getting used to their new summer schedules and working on their summer goals when it was all interrupted with a trip to the ER.

It was a pretty traumatic experience

Poor Violet was sitting on the edge of the tramp (in the entrance of the safety net...of course) when Ginger unexpectedly pushed her from behind. A mere three foot fall and both bones broken just below the wrist. She and Travis spent the next five hours in the hospital, narrowly avoiding surgery (it was a pretty ugly break).

So unfortunately, Violet's summer will now look a bit different than originally planned. Now is the time to be creative!

School's Out!

Can't believe summer vacation is already here. Violet finished a fantastic year at preschool (really, this preschool was just perfect for her) and Jaxon finished first grade.

Violet was pretty devastated when she found out none of the kids in her class would be going to the same kindergarten as her. But it seemed like an ice cream party the last day of school was all that was needed to lift her spirits. ;)

Violet also finished this year's creative dance program and they had a spring dance concert at BYU. She did so well! It's been so much fun for her to have the class with Laykin.

Jaxon finished the school year with a two short class plays (one in English, one in Chinese), and a beautiful "Chinese Fan Dance" for the school's dance festival. He was much more excited for this dance than last year's hoe-down fiasco. The kids did a great job.

Back row, center

(You can't really see him in the dance until they spread out.)

To celebrate the last day of school, we went to Brick Oven. Always a favorite.

It will be nice to get the kids on a steady summer schedule and for them to work on some personal goals.

Spring Catch Up

Seems I always get behind when pregnant. We've long since recovered from our late winter maladies and have settled into spring very well.

Making Sunday brownies...

Weekly play dates with cousins...

Ginger's about at the age where she can play fairly well with Violet. They love being with each other all day (and night!).

Stake Conference doughnuts (we love this tradition).

During spring break we took a little trip up to Garden City to check out the campsite where we'll be having our future family reunion this summer. It was kind of cool (and a little eerie...) to be the only ones there... But know it will be very crowded in just a couple months!

We had a nice, relaxing general conference...

Though GC can be a little difficult for those with ADHD..

Violet lost her first tooth!

And we found out we'll be adding another girl to the family. :) We got pizza to celebrate and had a gender reveal cake for the kids. These two big sisters are especially excited! Violet was hoping for a sister. Jaxon is taking it well. He said he didn't care what it was as long as the it played with him and didn't annoy him (oh brother...).

Our Sad, Sick Valentine's Day

We sadly had to put our Valentine's Day on hold because we have been sick! A couple weeks ago, Jaxon suddenly felt very tired at the dinner table and wouldn't eat. He was slightly warm so I sent him to bed. Little did we know he would not leave his bed for another week and a half! It looked like cold symptoms, maybe the flu, but I felt like we could handle it. But it got worse as he soon refused to eat, barely drink, and developed a rash all over his body. So off to the doctor we went where he tested negative for flu, but positive for strep! It was so bad the doctor sent us to get lab tests done at the hospital. Luckily the results were fine.

Meanwhile, while Jaxon is still going through the worst of it, Ginger got fever and cold symptoms that would not go away. It was the worst, and so heartbreaking. All she wanted to do was cry, cuddle, and sleep. I thought it was the flu. Thank heavens for doctors. I had no idea it was an ear infection (her first) because she never complained about her ears.

This was our Valentine's Day

Throughout this, Violet is showing cold symptoms, but seems to be in pretty good spirits and is the only child actually eating. Sunday morning she wakes up early crying from a pain in her ear. I called the on-call pediatrician (who luckily was the same one who usually sees us) and he tells us to put her on Ginger's medication, different dosage, until we can get to a pharmacy in a couple days.

Travis was so sweet to bring home a bouquet of roses on Valentine's Day, and lots of chocolate. I just started bawling because I was so exhausted and it was just what I needed to cheer me up.

I have about 5 different beverages besides milk/water in my fridge, because I was desperate for my kids to drink anything. Three kids on medications. I'm so tired of the kids' programs- oh.my.word. We had our first family dinner today in- I don't even know, two weeks? It's been rough.

So lesson here is just take your kid to the doctor, even if you think you can handle it. Because it's not always "just the flu". And even if it is the flu, don't be a hero. Just take them in.

New Years Goals and Sledding

We didn't have to stay up till midnight to have a fun New Years. ;) For FHE the night before we talked about the importance of setting goals and had each of the kids come up with a goal that they thought they needed. I was so pleased to hear Jaxon and Violet both decided on saying "Bueno mama, lo hare" more often. Music to my ears. :) It's only been a week but they've really tried to stick to it. And if they don't then I remind them to. ;) That night we even had a New Years Eve toast, and cinnamon rolls the next morning.

Then the Ascua's invited us to go sledding with them at Rock Canyon park. We had lots of fun!

Ginger kept taking off her gloves, so when she would slip (which was frequent) she'd end up like this because she refused to touch the snow. It was so funny, but I also felt like a bad parent laughing and taking pictures.

Ginger Turns 2

Somewhere amist all the holiday celebrations, our little Ginger turned 2! This little girl LOVES her protein. The meat is always the first thing off her plate. I felt weird making a pot roast on a Saturday, so we remembered the couple of times she's had bacon and how much she loved it-so we cooked her up a special order while the rest of us had spaghetti.

Don't worry, she only ate one of the pieces before she was full. But she was so happy!

Earlier that day she had her daddy-birthday date and they went to the local IFA to visit chicks and rabbits before stopping at McDonalds to eat and play.

That evening we celebrated cake and ice cream with grandparents. She was unusually quiet and even a little upset towards the end- I think she was a little confused as to why she was getting all the attention, and maybe she had just had too much birthday. :)

Jaxon made a little candy tray for everyone which I thought was very sweet of him.

We just love our little Ginger snap.