Happy Birthday :-)

Snow picture on Matt's birthday.

Big Girl Bed... well almost

For about a week Kate had started climbing into our bed and under the covers.  Or the guest bedroom bed.  Or Grandma and Grandpa's bed.  A few days ago (15 April 2014) she was having quite a rough morning - she spent more time on the floor wailing than she did anything else.  When it was nap time she knew it was coming and was mad all through her diaper change.  When I put her down and started to change Daniel, Kate climbed into our bed and snuggled in.  That gave me an idea.

I ran upstairs and quickly took the mattress out of the crib and made it into a bed on the floor.  She's never slept with a pillow before so I went and grabbed one.  I told her I had a surprise and talked excitedly as we walked up the stairs and into the room.

As soon as she saw the bed she ran over to it and got under the covers.  She was super excited.  

 I wondered how she would do when I left and if she'd realize that she could "escape".  But she was soon asleep so I went in to check on her.  This is what I found...

 

She stayed there the whole time.  It's been several days now that she's been napping and sleeping all night in her "big girl bed".  Not once has she gotten out of her bed.  I did find her one morning with the pillow on the floor next to her mattress and her laying there reading a book.  

It seems like such a small thin, but it makes me just a little meloncholy to think of her moving into a bed.  I know everyone says that kids grow up fast, but it is different when it's my very own little one that is growing up so fast.

Family Bike Ride

Miracles do happen.  Today's miracle came in the form of a family bike ride.  That's right, every member of our family enjoying a bike ride together... well, on a bike ride together.  Matt spent a few hours in the garage tuning up all the bikes we had and we borrowed a bike trailer for the little ones.  There were a few groans when we finally announced that it was time to go, though we had given fair "warning" that we were going to go for a ride.  

There is a new trail that goes for several miles called the Murdock trail that has recently been completed.  It runs just a few blocks from our house.  Matt loaded up the cars with all our bikes and we headed to one of the trail entrance parking lots and started unloading everything.

 

Kate wasn't so sure about the whole thing, but she didn't fight it much.  Daniel didn't mind at all. 

Amy's bike squealed like crazy whenever she used her brakes.  Turns out you do that quite a bit while riding.   Bless her heart, she was a good sport about it.  We traded bikes half way through.  She and I took off first and we posed for this loverly photo while the others caught up.

Tyler had the bike trailer for most of the way.  He was more excited about this adventure than he appears in the photo.  Once we all got going it really was fun.  Emily was on her beach cruiser that she got for Christmas 2012.  Matt had put it together for her and before this family ride she called some friends and they went for a ride up the canyon.  She looked darling peddling along.

 

Amy and I ended up being riding partners.  This picture was taken after I told her about our motorcycle taxi riding days in China.  Mom and dad weren't very thrilled when we showed them all these pictures we took while riding on the back of motorcycles through the crazy maze of China's traffic.  So of course I had to show Amy that I could still do it.  It was much harder on a bike than on a motorcycle.

Tyler pulled the little people. It wasn't too long into the ride that we noticed that Daniel O. was asleep on Kate's shoulder.  Cute little guy. 

   

    

I loved having us all doing an activity together.  It's only going to get harder and harder to get us all together for such an event as the older kids get busier and busier.  We're hoping biking becomes a more frequent family activity in the future.  When we got home and the next day the older kids all mentioned that they had a good time.  I did, too.

Brothers

I think this will be one of my favorite pictures of these two for a long time.  They were just hangin' out at the counter with their snacks. Daniel was watching Tyler.  I told Ty that he was being watched and he looked over.  What a great big brother Daniel has.  And how lucky Tyler is to have a little brother to be an example to. 

 

 

Rodeo (June 2013)

I don't know how to change the order of the pictures wshen I'm on mgt phone app. So I'll just say abit these pictures that we had a great time at the rodeo with Grandma and Grandpa Cornish, uncle Reid, Amy, Matt, Kate, and me. Emily was there too, on a date.  That's what the first picture is - her walking in with Bryson. We happened to arrive at the same time, which we thought was more fun than she did It had been years and years since any of us had been to a rodeo. This one was for the Pleasant Grove strawberry days. So we're all eating strawberries and cream. I've never had that either, but it was extra delish!

Big Little Boy

I broke out the counter-side chair for Daniel today.  I had put the chair in the storage room a few months ago because I put Daniel in it one day just for fun (he was tiny, I was still holding him) and Kate did NOT like that.  She still held claim on the chair even though I hadn't put her in it much lately.  She always loved to sit there and be a part of things.  Amy and I bought the green pool noodle clear last summer before Daniel was born.  Funny how it makes him look big all of the sudden... well big-ger. 

Matt Ordained

Matt was released as the elder's quorum president and called to be on the high council.  We were both a little surprised but happy.  He'll be replacing a man in our ward, Jim Wilcock, who will now be in the bishopric.  Jim has mentioned several times how much he's loved working on the high council.  He was over stake music and primary.  What a perfect fit.  The timing was great because Matt's dad was in town for conference so he was able to ordain Matt to the office of high priest.  My parents were also there, and we brought Kate and Daniel.  I know they are little, but you're never too young to feel the spirit.  I'm so proud of Matt and the good man that he is and the better man is is constantly trying to become.  I count myself blessed every day that we are in this together for eternity.    

Summer is a comin'!!

I've wanted to get a water table for months, thinking that Kate would love it. I did get one but it was too cold to have it outside with water. So we had it in the kitchen with beans in it for a few weeks. Finally, today, we hit 70 degrees. Kate helped me get all the beans out if it, rinse it out, and fill it with water. She knew good times were on their way when I git out her swimming suit. We filled it up with water and she's been out there ever since.

Conference

We've been able to enjoy attending conference for the past three years since Matt's dad became a general authority.  I love it. Really, truly, love it. This April conference I attended the Saturday afternoon session with Emily, Aja, Lisa Kotter, and Brother & Sister Kotter. One of my must favorite things is the Sunday evening Cornish gathering at our house to chat, share what we thought, questions we have, and our testimonies. What a great weekend.

One of the big kids

Kate loves hanging out with her big brother and sisters.  I'm sure she's convinced that she's one of them.  She usually sits in her booster seat, but today at dinner time she climbed up on the bench and patted it where she wanted Amy and Tyler to sit.  Well... who can resist that?   

 

Tuckered Out

Mom and I have been working on a sorting project for a while. I was holding Daniel on my lap because he'd been laying on the floor squeaking.  As we finished sorting through bags and bags of Amy's old makers, crayons, and colored pencils I noticed his  little snores and sighs. He's totally zonked out. Poor little guy was all tucketed out.

Sharing

This exersaucer had been in the basement for months. As soon as I brought it up stairs for the first time so Daniel to try it out, Kate thought it was hers. She looked confused and maybe a little unhappy when Daniel got put in the middle. I have some funny video, though, of her teaching him how to use the different toys on it.