Jon's Birthday

Yesterday was Jon's 32nd birthday. In the morning, I secretly delivered balloons to his work. He loved it. In the afternoon, we met for lunch and then he went flying in a jet for 2 hours. After that, we went miniature golfing as a family, he got buffalo wings for dinner, and then back home for cake, ice cream, and presents. I made him a volcano cake and it looked awesome! I think Jon had a fantastic birthday. He's pretty spoiled if you ask me!

Tyler's Birthday Party!

Tyler will be 7 this Tuesday, but we had his birthday party last weekend. He chose to do it at a skating rink with his friends from school and church. He had a blast and got WAY too many presents. He got everything he's into...Bakugans, FunKeys, Star Wars, etc. Now we need to go through his old toys and donate about half of them! Tyler requested a skateboard cake and a robot cake. I am no cake decorater, but I think they turned out okay.

Graduation

Jon made a quick trip last weekend to Gainesville, FL for his brother Kirk's graduation from dental school. I know Jon was happy to be able to go and support his little brother. He is very proud of him for his accomplishments! He took Lindsay and Joey with him and Tyler and Anna stayed home with me!

Lindsay with cousin, Finley

Jon and Kirk...there's always enough time for golf!

Jon with Kirk's family

Jon and the graduate!
Cousins...baby Joey with Noelle

Trip Part 2: Los Angeles

After 5 days in SLC, we headed to Los Angeles, California. Jon was presented the Flight Surgeon of the Year award at a medical conference there. My parents flew in to meet us and party with us. This was seriously one of the best vacations we've taken in a long time! We crammed so much fun stuff into 4 days. We toured Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, and downtown LA. We went to a Laker's Game and a Dogder's game. We took a tour of NBC studios and went to "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno. On the last day we were there, we went to the jewelry and fashion districts in downtown L.A. My mom and I found so much jewelry and knock-off purses, it was AMAZING! As we were shopping in the fashion district, the police came and confiscated all the knock-off purses that were being sold. Luckily, I had purchased mine before they were all gone, but my mom wasn't so lucky!

Trip Part 1: Salt Lake City

Jon and I went on a 10 day trip. We took Anna and Joey with us and left Tyler and Lindsay at home with a babysitter. It was such a wonderful vacation! Our first stop was in Salt Lake for Jon's sister's (Jaynann) wedding.

The Whole Gang

Brad and Jaynann

Jon's Maternal Grandparents...Doris and Figs Hanna

Outside the Bountiful Temple

Beautiful Anna!

Still Alive...

Okay Jen...I know I need to update, but where is the time? I do have lots of new and exciting pics to post, but here are my excuses for neglecting the blog...I was outta town for 10 days, then I got home and had to get unpacked and back into the routine of daily life. We had Tyler's b-day party today. I babysat 5 extra kids last night and 3 of them spent the night and one of them split her chin open on the edge of our pool and we had to make a quick trip to the doctor. I am still babysitting one kid until Wednesday. And to top it all off, I am totally sick with a sore throat, stuffy nose, no taste/smell, and sleep deprivation. I know, blah, blah, blah...you've heard it all before and there are no excuses, right? Well, I promise I will have some updates soon!

Flight Surgeon of the Year!

Jon received the "Flight Surgeon of the Year" award. We are flying to Los Angeles where he will be presented the award! We leave tomorrow morning, but we are taking a detour in Salt Lake City for Jon's sister's wedding. The best part about this trip is that I am only going with 2 of the 4 kids. We have a babysitter for Tyler and Lindsay! I can't wait!

Here's a pic of Jon after his 1 month sabatical after his deployment. He definitely looks like he could be part of the Taliban!

The Deadly Cactus

I've been meaning to blog this story for a while...

When we were in Phoenix for Spring Break, my parents drove down to see us. One day my parents were babysitting all 4 kids so Jon and I could go to the temple. When we got back to the hotel, my mom was all flustered and upset. I asked her what had happened...

I guess Tyler and Lindsay had been playing outside the hotel room and were pretty fascinated by the giant cacti that were everywhere. Tyler was able to pull off a big cactus needle and he was very proud of it. After Tyler and Lindsay came inside, they were calmly watching TV. My mom was trying to clean up around the hotel room and she bent over right in front of Tyler. Tyler obviously spotted his Grandma's large buttocks (sorry Mom, but it's true) and he poked my mom in the fanny with his cactus needle.

So then Jon and I come back to the hotel and we hear the story and I honestly had such a hard time keeping a straight face. I had to put on my "Tyler, you are in big trouble" face, even though I thought it was hilarious. I really had to hand it to Tyler for being so creative...although, I probably would have done the same thing when I was a kid.

It gets funnier because then my mom (the hypochondriac) thinks that she is going to die from this cactus poke. She said her butt was numb and her whole right leg was beginning to lose feeling. We didn't stop hearing about the cactus poke the whole trip.

We've been home from Phoenix for over 2 weeks now and yesterday, my mom calls to tell me that she thinks the cactus poke is now infected because it is all red and there is a hard welt there. I just had to shake my head and laugh. Too funny!

Easter Outfits

Here are my cute kids in their Easter clothes! They are adorable!

Easter Activities

The kids had school off on Good Friday, so we filled our day with Easter activities. We started off by dying eggs. It is always such a huge mess, so we decided to do it outside this year.

The mess.

The finished product.

After dying eggs, we made and decorated Easter cookies. Anna was more concerned about eating the frosting!