Nursery

Rhys officially started nursery this month at church. I can hardly believe he is old enough, but he is sure ready for it! Bryce has been taking him the last few months to help with the transition and make church a little easier for everyone. It worked because Rhys loves it and goes all by himself now. When I tell him we are going to church or we are sitting in sacrament meeting, Rhys will start to sign (twisting his fists) and say "PLAY" - it is so cute!

I also love the art projects he brings home and stories about bubbles.

He has the best nursery leaders and they do lots of fun things!

They taught him to folder his arms and close his eyes for prayers. It is adorable!

Bryce's 30th Birthday

It was a big birthday this year for Bryce! We made it a three day celebration to give Bryce a proper welcome to his 30s. It started Thursday with getting Dim Sum for dinner and our friends coming over for some carrot cake. Luckily, the carrot cake was better than the one I made for Easter.

Rhys and I had fun decorating our place! Rhys was especially excited about me using tape, scissors, and string. I tried to have him be more excited about watching me stand on chairs to hang the decorations. In the end, he mostly wanted the tape.

As for his present, he had mentioned to me a few times wanting some computer glasses since he stares at a screen all day. I found it funny and practical to get him the glasses for his birthday. He liked them!

Friday we continued celebrating by getting dinner at Costa Vida using our friend's golden tickets. Love free food! It was also Cinco de Mayo so felt appropriate to have a Mexican-ish meal.

 Saturday we woke up to beautiful weather and enjoyed a trip downtown. We got giant burritos from a food cart and then ate it on the water front.

Rhys loved running around!

And pointing out birds and boats along the way!

 Next we went to Voodoo's. While Bryce waited in line, Rhys and I hung out. Rhys was pretty excited about drinking his water from my Jarritos bottle.

And he loved the donut! But I think he might need his own donut next time because neither of us were excited about sharing.

Happy Birthday Bryce! So glad you were born and that we are in the same decade again!

Happy Easter

Easter this year snuck up on me. We had been in California earlier that week so when I headed to the store on Thursday and bought the ham I thought it was Monday and I was getting it kind of early. So when I realized that Easter Sunday was actually only a few days away, I went shopping on Friday for what I needed and sadly all my favorite Easter candy was already gone. Oh well.

Saturday morning we had the Primary Easter egg hunt. Rhys has been practicing egg hunting so he was a pro for the big day. There were so many eggs and he was excited to be outside! It was also a beautiful day and after so many days of rain and gray, it was perfect. Additionally, Rhys was very happy when he discovered that the eggs were filled with candy. It was all gone before we even left the activity.

Luckily, his excitement about finding eggs was greater than what was inside the eggs so we hid the eggs again when we got home for him. He was so cute!

Saturday evening I continued to prep for Easter dinner, but again I was too late. The store was all out of flowers and rolls. I also forgot to get anything for breakfast. I then spent the rest of the evening making a carrot cake.

Sunday we had a nice relaxing morning and I made crepes for breakfast that were sub-par. We didn't have any whipped cream or fresh berries. I also felt bad not having an Easter basket for Rhys, but we did have multiple egg hunts around the house and he seemed happy about it. We also watched Music and the Spoken Word. Church was nice and my Primary lesson went reasonably well. After church, we invited our friends over and ate a ham dinner. The ham was EXCELLENT. Like the best ham I have ever had. Not anything that I did, but the actual ham was so good. I bought it at Trader Joe's and got it mostly because it was small so I wouldn't have a ton of leftover. I was a little surprised by how expensive the tiny ham was, but it was worth it! This picture doesn't do it justice.

 We also had mashed potatoes, gravy, pineapple, asparagus, salad, and bread. I was quite pleased with the meal!

Unfortunately, dessert went terribly wrong. I used my friend's recipe for carrot cake, which she had made us just a few weeks before and it was the best carrot cake. Her's was moist and fluffy and delicious. Mine was not. I threw it away and I never do that.

Luckily, despite not making Rhys an Easter basket, not getting my favorite Easter candy, not having any flowers, ruining the cake, and everything else that went wrong, Easter was wonderful!

And on Monday, I got flowers!

Beach Trip

In the beginning of March, we went to the coast with Austin's family for a long weekend. It was a great time! We headed out Thursday afternoon with Rhys sleeping the whole drive including a stop at Chick-fil-A. It was a stormy drive, but we arrived in good timing and went first to the beach. Rhys was so excited to run around, but it didn't last long because it started to rain. We ran back to the house for shelter and got unpacked. Austin and Rachael showed up soon after that so we got all settled in, kid-proofed the house, and made dinner.

Our evening was a little more exciting than we expected when Bryce found a broken plug exposed in the outlet in the living room! Luckily none of the kids discovered it first. We were able to get the maintenance people out pretty quickly. The lady shocked herself a good one trying to get it out, but once the breaker was turned off it went smoothly.

After we ate dinner and got the kids to bed, we stayed up talking and enjoying some down time. We then headed to bed, but it was a very stormy night that I had a hard time sleeping. The wind was crazy!!

Friday morning, Bryce and I woke up before Rhys -- I don't know if that has ever happened. We laid around until he woke up. Then we got breakfast and played around. It was still raining so we waited for a break to go down to the beach. We did find that the tide was high, very high so there was actually no sand. We watched the waves for a little bit and then went back to the house. 

We decided to drive up to Seaside so we could play on the sand. We stopped and got some taffy and chocolate at a little shop. Then the kids enjoyed all the sand to play in. After we went to a fun restaurant for lunch. It had great clam chowder! We then came back to the house for nap time. That afternoon the sun came out and we went down and played in the sand.

 Hello beautiful sun!

 Busy, Busy Boys!

That evening at low tide, we went down to Arch Cape to see the tide pools. Rhys was excited about the water until he put his feet in it. COLD!

We then grilled up steaks and roasted some veggies for dinner. It didn't quite go as well as we hoped because we had forgotten the seasonings and the house didn't have much of anything either. But we were all hungry enough to eat it. After the kids went to bed, we then watched Tarzan.

That night, we all slept well. Rhys even slept in until 8AM! Cousin time is serious playing time. Then add on playing on the beach and that is a recipe for a tired boy! So we got up and had breakfast and played. It was pretty rainy so we didn't go outside. At one point, the kids did go out even though it was raining and Rhys got to use his new rain jacket!

After Rhys nap, we decided to go to Hug Point during low tide. We got there and it was a down pour until we reached the caves! Of course.

 The kids were totally unfazed by the rain unlike myself. Luckily, the rain stopped and we got to enjoy the beach a little more.

 As we headed back, Rhys found a huge puddle to walk in and got all soaked. We took him home and gave him a bath to warm up his bones. Then that night we had a yummy salmon dinner. The kids had a harder time going to bed, but eventually it happened. It was our last night so we stayed up late talking. Then it was also Daylight Savings so we were going to be tired no matter what.

Sunday we woke up to sunshine -- kind of a bummer that we were headed home! We went down to the beach and played before we got packed up. Then it was time to head home and Rhys slept the whole drive home. It was a great trip and just wished it could have lasted longer!

So long Arch Cape, until next time!

Day at the Museum

On Thursday, Rhys and I went to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) with some friends. Rhys had a blast! The water and sand areas were Rhys' favorites. I could barely convince him to stop to eat lunch.

 Love his little tippy toes.

He was very serious about scooping and raking the sand. It was fun to see him busy!

Sickness and Teething

The beginning of February started with sickness and it ended with teething. It was so sad. I hate my baby being sick or in pain! Since Rhys wasn't getting much sleep, I wasn't either and I got sick twice this month too. Not cool!

While teething, Rhys didn't get much sleep and just wanted to sit on my lap all day. One afternoon, I turned on some YouTube vidoes and he just laid there and watched them sucking on his fingers.

 He eventually fell asleep.

 It was sweet and I loved the cuddles, but teething is the worst.

And apparently, it was the wettest February EVER on record. I think we can all say we are ready for some sun, sleep, and health for the next month!

BYU Basketball Double Date

Back in November for Rhys' birthday, our friends gave us tickets for the BYU basketball game against Portland for a double date! So after waiting three months, it was finally game time. We had front row seats and it was awesome to see the players so close. They are huge! I was also scared of being hit by a ball during most of the game.

Our tickets also included food - a drink, a hot dog, popcorn, and candy. Gluttony!

Mika was fun to watch and it is crazy how big he is. His legs are as tall as me.

 It was a great time and BYU won!