Shatter

 Sara got the coolest new nail polish in her easter basket called Shatter by OPI. It just came out and is really hard to find, but the lady that does my nails held a bottle for me because I knew Sara would love it.  Here is the before......

and here is the after.  I love it and Sara said it was her favorite thing in her easter basket this year.  Hopefully soon they will come out with other colors besides black.

Tea Party

 One Sunday after church Sara wanted to have a tea party with Brandon.  Brandon on the other hand wanted nothing to do with it.  Sara promised him that he could sit in "her seat" in the van for two weeks, that he could use the t.v. downstairs whenever he wanted to for two weeks and a bunch of other things like that.  The negotiations went on throughout sacrament meeting until they both signed a paper agreeing to the final stipulations (I have no clue what those are).

As soon as we got home from church Sara set up the whole thing in her room while Brandon waited on the couch in the front room.  He was not happy about doing the tea party and even less happy when I came in to take a picture, but he did it and I think he enjoyed whatever he got for two weeks.  I think Sara will be overjoyed when Sophie gets a little older and wants to do things like this.  Hopefully by that time Sara hasn't outgrown it.

Yellowstone Bear World

We finally went to Yellowstone Bear World after living here for over 6 years! We never went before because it is expensive, but the weekend we went we got in for half price and we can go back anytime this season for half price.

The kids loved the rides and Sara really liked going on them with Sophie. It was overcast and kind of rainy, but it wasn't very crowded which I loved!

Brandon found some friends from school and from Scouts, so they hung out and went on rides the whole time. I don't think he even saw the new baby bear cubs.

The babies were so cute, but very wild! Sara and Sophie got to pet them and watch while they drank a bottle.

We did the drive-thru wildlife park last and it must have been nap time because most of the animals were sleeping.

We did see a few bears that were awake and one even came over to check out the van. We had to leave the windows rolled up the whole time, so I was happy that the windows were pretty clean.  When we left everyone was STARVING, so we ate at Big Jud's for dinner.   Sophie didn't get much of a nap, so she was totally cranky, but overall it was really fun!

Easter fun

We were so lucky to have nice weather this year for Easter! I wanted to do all the fun worldly Easter things on Saturday and then on Sunday remember the real reason we celebrate Easter. We started out with lunch and playing at the park. Sophia's favorite part is the slide.

Sara and Brandon even had fun playing.

I love this picture of Sophia playing with the bark at the playground. She would grab lots of the bark then jump up and throw it- when she was done she had it all over in her hair and on her clothes.

When we got home from the park the Easter Bunny had come and hidden the kids baskets and some eggs in the yard. Sophia got lots of fun toys, but of course she liked the jelly beans the most.

Sophia had fun finding all her eggs hidden in the grass even though I had to walk around with her to point them all out.

Sophie got really excited when she found out there was candy inside. She opened all her eggs and dumped the candy in her bucket- then ate a lot of it!

Sara and Brandon had fun too, but they were moving so fast I couldn't get very many pictures of them. They each had one magic egg with $2 inside! We all had such a fun day!

Yummy ice cream

Sara was doing something with her friends one night, so I decided to take Brandon and Sophia to Cold Stone. Sophia loves ice cream!

When Brandon leaves for a minute Sophia decides she needs to try some of his ice cream.

Brandon takes his ice cream back, but is nice enough to share with his sister.

Brandon moves his ice cream farther away hoping that Sophia will leave it alone and eat her own ice cream. Nope, she just reaches farther and still gets what she wants.

In the end Sophia decides she is done with her ice cream and only wants Brandon's. He is nice enough to indulge her. Ahhhhhhhhh, the life of the youngest most spoiled child.

Park

I don't know why, but when I upload photos I just see the code and not the photo. Kind of weird! Anyways, we have had a couple of nice days here in Eastern Idaho and Ben took Sophia to the park to run around. She loves being outside and going on the slide and cries whenever they come home and she has to be inside again. I cannot wait for summer when she can play outside all day every day!

Sara update

While I was waiting for our appointment at Primary Children's I wondered if we could get an earlier appointment in Boise at St. Luke's Children's Hospital.  I called the pediatrician back and asked him to refer us to St. Luke's.  We got an appointment 2 weeks later!  I was a little nervous because I have never driven to Boise before, and I had no idea where anything was.  


The doctor was not planning on doing the scope, but after talking to Sara he decided it would be a good thing to do.  Luckily for us he was able to fit us in that afternoon.  


The pictures from the scope looked normal, but we would have to wait 5-7 days for results to come back from the blood work and biopsies.  Turns out there was some damage in her esophagus either from acid reflux or an allergy, but all tests done for celiac disease came back negative.  The tests for food allergies all came back negative, so we are pretty sure we are dealing with severe acid reflux.  The doctor called in a prescription and Sara has been taking it for a couple of weeks now.  It will take about a month to see any results and we are driving back to Boise in May for a follow up.  


I am so happy that nothing is seriously wrong, and that we finally have some answers!  All the doctors and nurses at St. Luke's were amazing and I will happily drive to Boise again.

New Computer!!

Ben finally got a new computer.  He ordered all the parts online and built it himself.  He is so happy!  Our old computer was only about 10 years old, so it was definitely time for a new one.

Ben can't do anything around here without "help" from at least one child.

Sophia liked playing in the big, empty box.

Headlamps aren't just for camping!

Brandon likes learning new things and spending time with Dad.  Ben got some new water cooler thing for the processor.  He says it's amazing!

Ben says this little part that the red arrows are pointing at is the best and most amazing part of the computer.  I can't remember what it's called, but it was around $300 so it must be AWESOME!  I don't remember any specific information about what size or how much of whatever is in the new computer, so if you want to know ask Ben.

  The new computer is finished and Ben is busy installing everything and moving files and stuff over from the old computer.  Now the kids will have a nice computer all to themselves and hopefully will stay off my laptop.

New toy

So I bought this tent for Sophia for Christmas and never gave it to her.  One night she was cranky and bored, so I sent Brandon down to the storage room to get it.  I love having older kids who can do things without my help- Brandon got the tent out and only needed a little help securing the poles.

Sophia likes throwing all her toys in it, then throwing them all out again.  She tolerates Sara and Brandon playing in it, but just barely.  Most of the time she screams until they get out.

Bowling

For Sophia's birthday Grandma Esau got her this Mickey Mouse bowling set and a new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse dvd.  Sophia loves both of them!

Lucky for me Sophia doesn't care how the bowling pins are set up.  She just stands them all up and then throws the balls at them to knock them all down.

We have a Picasso

Sophia loves to draw and color!  We all have to watch her closely because if we leave her alone too long she will find things to draw on besides paper.  We also have to make sure that all the writing utensils are put up, or she will find them.  So far she has drawn on her little table,

the kitchen table,

the wall,

and the couch.  Luckily I can easily clean what she has drawn on, or I don't have to look at it because it's downstairs :)