Crazy Hair Day

After much deliberation, fighting, persuading and arguing, Sami finally allowed me to really do her hair for crazy hair day. Let's just say that she got a lot of compliments!

Happy 80th Granny!

Grandpa Mary Emma Frandsen had her 80th birthday celebration this past week. We took off late Thursday afternoon to travel to Utah to be with her. I love my grandma. I grew up next door to her and love having her presence in my life. I love the way that she loves to be involved in her family's life. She is always calling to check on us and make sure that we are doing ok. I have a mindful of memories of my grandma. Some of my favorites are: 

Coming home late at night and seeing her standing in her kitchen eating her late night snack of cereal. 

(Usually Suger Smacks!)

Family vacations

Christmas parties with her twice baked potatoes and cheesecake

Eater egg hunts with peanuts and Brachs marshmallow eggs

Saturday lunches at the Tiffin Room

Playing dress up in her old clothes and jewelry

Memorial Days in Fairfield

I have always had a special place in my heart for my grandparents. They have been a major part of my life. I am grateful that my kids have developed their own memories with them. Hopefully they both will be around for a while longer!

 Aunt Nyla was not happy that Austin is now taller than her!

 We all love when George comes to visit and tortures Grandma with his funky piano renditions!

 Lots of dirty feet from playing outside

Keeping up Grandma's tradition of late night cereal!

The Bright Side

Ava had her end of the year dance recital this week. Unfortunately we were going to be in Utah for my Grandma Mary's 80th birthday. Luckily we were able to attend the dress rehearsal and "pretend" that it was the real thing. Ava has a real knack for dance. She has graceful arms and really remembers her steps. Her dance teacher mentioned that some of the other girls will be lost at the recital without Ava to follow. I love watching her grow and develop her talents.

Spring Break

Spring Break this year was supposed to be a split vacation. The boys were going scout camping and the girls and I had a week of fun activities planned together. Nate and Will flew in to go camping with Matt and the boys.  They left on Thursday morning afternoon and were supposed to be gone until Saturday. Well, they ended up coming home later Friday afternoon. The Nevada weather did not cooperate and they ended up with cold, wet, and snowy conditions! The girls and I went to see "Mirror, Mirror" and out to dinner on Thursday night. Friday we had plans to go to the new Childrens Museum in Reno. We woke up to a snow storm blowing in. We decided to go anyway and just take it easy. We made it to the museum and had a great time. Ava did get a little turned around in the big tree house climbing area, but after we guided her down she was fine! We spent a great day together, had an early dinner at Mimi's and headed for home. Not long after we got home, the boys showed up! We were a little surprised to see them! Saturday morning we decided to take all of the kids bowling and to lunch. After all was said and done we had a great week together and were glad that Nate and Will could be with us!

Happy #5

 Little Miss Ava turned 5 years old on April 10th. Ava has been planning her birthday for two months! All she wanted to do was go swimming at "The Minden" which is the pool located in Minden, and eat at the Chinese place with the "spinning wheel" in the middle. That was easy enough for me! 

Ava is such a sweet addition to our family. She is one of the most loving, naturally sweet natured kids I know. Ava has accomplished a lot in this past year. A few are:

Learning to snap (which she does ALL the time now)

Conquering the monkey bars at pre-school

Learning to read 

Realizing that pre-school is a good thing and not a torture device

Made new friends (which required her to actually talk to people! Big step!)

We Love you Ava!

Easter

This year we carried on the Grandma Mary tradition and had a BBQ and an egg hunt in our backyard. We had the ever present hot dogs and loads of candy.  Quite a few families were able to join us and it turned into a great party. We luckily had pretty decent weather. A little windy, but it is always windy in Carson City!

 Easter Sunday

Austin was doing fast offerings during picture time, so we had to do a solo picture.