July: This is the Place

In July was the Bevans' family reunion.  While we didn't go to the main reunion, we still got to spend time with everyone before and after they went to Southern Utah.  The weekend before, of which I have no pictures, almost all the adults went to the temple together, and got to do a special sealing ceremony.  After that, eeeeveryone went to Temple Square to take family pictures, it was a lot of fun, but it was a VERY late night for the girls (and me).  The next day we also had a big dinner at Kari and Jeremy's house, which was a lot of fun, and another really late night.  The next few days were a little painful for me, home with the girls.  It took them DAYS to catch up on their sleep! By the time people were back, we were ready for more! We spent almost all day the next Saturday at the This is the Place monument with some of the family.  

The girls had fun learning how they used to do laundry.

 They LOVED having Grandma and Grandpa around.  These girls live for attention, and so were soaking it up!

 They had a lot to do there.  Mike and I had originally been thinking it would only be a couple of hours, and we had plans in the afternoon, but we just ended up pushing the plans back later and later, and ended up spending 6 hours at the village! And, honestly, we could have stayed for longer!

 They had a splash pad, games, crafts, trains, pony rides, little shows, food, pretty much anything you can think of!

 I love how intense KK looks here!

 So proud!

 KK and Alexa pretty much hovered around the grandparents all day.

 And of course, panning for gold.  I think we were here for about an hour.  They found lots of little gold pieces, and then got to go into a gem pit and search for gems.

 This may have been Kaelyn's favorite part, though.  There was a Native American village, and they had a dance show where they explained a bit about their culture and the meanings of their dances.   At the end of the show, they taught a dance, and Kaelyn was so excited to do it! This is so impressive to me, that she just got up there, by herself, and held hands with strangers, to do it! And did a good job, at that!!

 The pony rides may have been tied with the dancing, for Kaelyn's favorite, and was certainly up there for Alexa.  They do love their pony rides!

It was great to see everyone again, especially since we probably won't be travelling for quite awhile!

June

June was the quintessential summer month, I think.  We had the end of T-ball...

 Lots of otter pops... (always outside, of course!)

 More otter pops, and splash pad time...

 Hair experimentation.... (pretty much happens at least 3x per week for about an hour each time)

 And, of course, our exciting announcement!

We're having a hard time with names this go around, but are very excited! Mike likes saying that he is the guy in Last Man Standing, which we think is hilarious.  At least he kind of knows what to expect in the teenage years!

May

So, I have all of 2 videos of April.  Apparently it was a boring month, so it's getting skipped, and we'll go straight to May!

May was pretty exciting, we had Mike's birthday celebrations, the end of kindergarten and soccer for Alexa (and me), as well as the start of t-ball for both Alexa and Mike. Plus, normal activities like walks, playgrounds, and museums.

For Mike's birthday we did a Nerf war at the church.  We bought guns, extra ammo, and safety glasses for all of us, then set up barriers, divided into teams, then went at it.  We had a few different versions of the game, but mostly it was kill everyone.

 I don't remember why we were in Provo, but pretty much anytime we go there we stop at the Creamery.  The girls love it!

 They are also big fans of the museums around here.  There are a lot of hands on exhibits, which is great.

 The end of soccer.  It was a pretty good season, but I think we were both ready for it to end.  My morning sickness was not fun to coach with, and I think Alexa just finds the seasons a little too long.

 I think we had a week break before t-ball started? It was pretty fast.  Mike coached this season, and both he and Alexa ended up loving it.  We had a really good team, and Mike was really good at actually teaching the kids, instead of letting them do whatever.

 Kaelyn and I missed our daily walks to pick Alexa up from school.  We still walked sometimes, but for the most part, I just wasn't feeling well enough to do it.

 The last day of school all the kids put on a dance show for parents and family.  It was pretty cute, although, it was pretty long, and got rather hot.  This is the kindergarten dance, Alexa was right in front, luckily, so it worked out pretty well.  She's in the long sleeved red shirt with the sweatshirt tied around her waist.  Poor kid was dying by the end, but it was supposed to be rainy and cooler! The storm ended up blowing in after the show, luckily.

And that was our fun filled May!

March

I'm behind, once again.  One of these days I'll stay on top of it all.  Until then, I'll just post by month.  So, here's March!

Alexa's "Darth Vader" mask.  We've started watching the original Star Wars movies, and Alexa has loved it.  Kaelyn, not so much, she likes the idea of it, but the movies kind of freak her out.

 Mike made my favorite cake again for my birthday this year, and Kaelyn clearly enjoyed the chocolate ganache pooling on the plate!

 Kaelyn, for about a month, started coming in to "cuddle" during the nights.  Sometimes she'd come in during the mornings, and so would just take over Daddy's spot, thank goodness, since she sleeps like a starfish!

 Easter!

 And Easter dresses! I'm never sure what I'm going to get when I ask them to stand and smile so I can take pictures of them.

 And, of course, our big announcement for March: we're expecting! Baby #3 coming in November.  And we'll find out the gender at the end of June!

February So Far....

Ariel and Tinkerbell have become quite the cooks lately!

 Tinkerbell is getting pretty talented at stirring and dumping without getting everything everywhere.

 And Ariel has moved on up to using griddles and flipping pancakes!

 Enjoying the fruits of their labor.

 The Super bowl was a big hit this year, and even the girls liked watching it (while they were shoving snacks in their mouths :) )We (Mike) were very happy that the Broncos won.

 The girls had a lot of fun with Valentines Day this year.  They got cookies from my parents and lots of candy from various teachers and friends (and parents), our house was covered in hearts and glitter, and they had fun making Valentines for everyone.  Of course we had our traditional heart hairstyles:

And Kaelyn and I got to go do the snack station at Alexa's school Valentines party.  We did a make-your-own trail mix with different goodies, and Kaelyn did a great job sitting and eating the entire time! I had been worried that she'd try to follow all the big kids and do all the things they were doing, but put some juice and cupcakes and pretzels in front of her and she'll sit like a little angel!