So let's see, what happened in February?
Valentine's Day. That was fun. Lame-O me didn't take any pictures of our traditional Valentine's dinner though. Too caught up living in the moment I guess. I did the little mailboxes for the kids again where I put a little note in them every day, for 14 days leading up to V-day. On the 14th, the note said that they could dress up fancy or silly for dinner, like we did last year. Such a simple tradition, and yet the kids love it so much. I love their interpretations of silly. I'm expecting old Halloween costumes, wigs, layers of clothes, etc. But their idea of silly is just an outfit that they think doesn't match. Ha,ha! It's cute anyways and we all had a fun time eating our candlelight dinner.
Layla made her Valentine's box for school and Marcus made his bag in class. They did a great job!
The other big, exciting February happening is that I finished my statistics class! Wahoo!!!!!!!! Oh man, I have never hated a class so much. I have also never studied so hard! It was an independent study class through BYU. I had one full year to complete it, and according to the syllabus, it takes students an average of 9 months to finish. I did it in just under 5 months. Whew- it was a lot of work! But I am finished and it feels sooooo good. And I never could have finished and done so well on my own. There was definitely a lot of praying, a couple of trips to the temple, and some fasting during those 5 months. I truly felt that Heavenly Father helped me do better than I would have on my own- just as He helped me as a missionary and as a mother. I am grateful! Now I just have to finish studying for the GRE, which I am taking early next month and submit the rest of my grad school application. *Finger crossed that I'll make it in for this fall.* I know they give first preference to applicants with teaching licenses, so I might not make it in the first year, but we'll see.
Last week UTA offered free fare day so we joined the Mudrows and Bennetts and rode trax up north. It was so fun and such a great idea from Kellee! She always has the most fun ideas and I love spending time with her and Camille. I don't get to see either of them often enough. The kids were all adorable and total troopers- we walked several blocks to and from the train station to Farr's ice cream shop. It wasn't freezing, but it wasn't exactly warm either. But they were all so good about it and I know my kids had a blast.
Layla participated in her first pinewood derby! She was SO excited! It was done through Activity Days at the church. They hired this guy who brings a metal track and times it all on a laptop. It seemed very legit. Layla and Mitch made her car. She chose to paint it yellow and I could not convince my stubborn girl to decorate it beyond the yellow paint. She definitely had the plainest car there, but she didn't seem to care. And her car was super shiny, which was cool. At first she was really disappointed because her car didn't seem fast. It sped up during the second round thought and she was happier. She didn't place, but she still had fun. She hand Mitch have already planned her car for next year. I'm glad they were able to spend time together doing that.
We had Oakley sleep over for two nights one weekend. We decided we need to hire Oakley to come live with us and be the kids' mediator, haha! Seriously, not even exaggerating, our kids didn't fight once while she was here. They were both so happy and the three of them played together wonderfully. It was great, though I know both my kids missed Oakley a lot after she left. She is so sweet and I love her too!
I was able to visit my friend, Jenn, and her new baby, Thompson. Wow, what a beautiful baby boy! I am so happy for Jenn and Jordan. They will be amazing parents. Liz and I had fun visiting and laughing with her.
What else happened in February? Maybe these pics will help...
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| Layla and Nikki love baking with the Easy Bake Oven! Cute girls and great friends. |
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| No filter on the view from our front porch ... sunset over Antelope Island. |
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| I told Marcus he looked handsome for church and asked for a pic. He posed nicer the second time. ;) |
We love playing with our cousins!
Oh, and HUGE news ... Mammy and Grandpa Miles are taking us all to Disneyland!!!!!!
Poor Layla had to have 3 cavities filled. Boo!
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| Harvey loves Mitch and has to put his paw on his face. |
Marcus's lego creations.
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| Went running outside for the first time in a long time. Felt so good!!! |
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| Marcus has been practicing his writing and drawing on this Magnet Doodle. It has been great to help him improve his writing skills! And it helps him wind down before bed. |
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| Took this pic of Layla while she waited for carpool. She looks like she's 12 in this pic and it makes me sad. She is beautiful. |
