Jacob's 23rd Golden Birthday

My little brother just turned 23. I am always shocked when I hear how old he is getting. He stayed 5 years old to me for so long, that once he grew up it was crazy. But we went and celebrated as a family and it was really fun to celebrate him. We went to the Utah State Capitol Building because they had a display on the transcontinental railroad and the golden spike which is located in Utah. One of my great great grandpas was at the nailing of the golden spike and can be found in the famous picture raising his hat. He was a cook. But we learned a lot about the Chinese and their efforts to build the railroad. It really was pretty cool so read about so many people who put in thousands and thousands of hours to build a railroad. I am always amazed at those who didn't have the tools that we have today, but built amazing things.

At the museum we video chatted with Matthew and Brooklyn so they could be part of the birthday celebration as well. But they gave the best gift! They surprised us and told us that Brooklyn is pregnant! I am so excited for them. Matthew is going to be a wonderful Dad and I can't wait to meet their little baby in August.

After we were finished we headed over to Golden Corral for dinner, since it was Jacob's Golden birthday. Camille and Jason thought it was pretty great. Jason ate so much sausage, and Camille had all the vegetables and fruit she could find. Then when it came time for dessert she ate a ton of sugar. Like, ice cream and cotton candy and chocolate dipped strawberries and marshmallows. Just anything she could get her hands on she ate. It was fun to celebrate with Jacob and my family.

My parents had to leave after eating to get back for their stake conference that evening, but Shantel, Melissa, Jacob and myself headed over to the mall to the kids play place so we could sit and talk while they played. Unfortunatley, there was no kids play place. We found that out once we got there. We randomly met each other at the lego store, and they had some legos and duplos to play with. We let the kids play for a little while and then just headed home. Even though we were not able to chat as much, it was still fun to be with my siblings. We just missed having Matt and Brooklyn there!

Shantel's Visit

So we are most likely moving soon. Probably sooner than later. So Shantel and I have been trying to think of all the reasons to get together before we move. We decided to have a fun little Valentine's Day Sleepover with the cousins at our house. So Shantel came up and it was wonderful. The kids played, did a little sleeping, and played some more. They built an HQ, played spies, jumped off the window seat onto the bed, ran around, and had so much fun together. We ate popcorn and treats, heart shaped pancakes, and heart shaped pizza. We all just had a great time together.

The really impressive thing about this weekend happened while all the other things were going on. Shantel (who is 21 weeks pregnant with a girl!!!) was so kind and helped me go through all of our old baby clothes and throw away the old, super dirty, used, ugly clothes that I was just packing around from house to house. Now we don't have to move it all the way out to Iowa. It took probably 12 full hours to go through everything, but now we have only good cute things to take with us. My theme song during this was "You Just Got Konmari-ed" by the Holderness Family. Look it up on YouTube. It will be worth your time. Thank you Shantel for coming up and doing my dishes even though you are the pregnant one and helping me downsize and go through all of the things I don't need. I love you and am so grateful for you!

Home Depot Heart Boxes

For the first time ever we went and did one of the Home Depot workshops and it was so fun! They made little secret heart boxes and the kids loved it. Kevin was cleaning the church so he wasn't able to come, but we still had fun. Sadie was a trooper and just hung out in the stroller and was as happy as could be while I helped Camille and Jason. It would have been better if Kevin had been there because I kept forgetting to glue the wood before hammering. He would have remembered to do those types of things. Mostly, it is a good thing I am a mom and not a construction worker. I don't think that the houses I built would keep standing. Mostly we just had a lot of fun. We are looking forwards to March's workshop already. I am grateful for companies and communities that put on free events so that we can attend and do some fun things without spending extra money. PS. I have the cutest and sweetest kids. Look how adorable!

Tree House Museum

Diane and her family came down to drop her Mother-in-law off at the airport, and since they were down they decided to go to the Children's Tree House Museum for MaKyla's birthday. They invited us to go with them and it was a blast. We met up with them around 1. Finding a parking spot was really tricky. But I felt very proud of myself when I parallel parked behind the building. I am not the best parallel parking person because it can be difficult, but I did it. Camille and Jason just loved seeing their cousins and going around to each exhibit. We even went into the creating center and made a ground hog that popped up in the grass for Groundhog day. The Tree House Museum is kind of a hard place to go to with someone, because one kid wants to play with the trains, and another in the firetruck. But it was still fun to see them and chat with them a little bit. I love being close to family. That will be changing here in a little bit, and we are trying to take advantage of all family things until then.