That Time of Year

That Time of Year

Hello May. You are passing by in a stressy blur. So much to blog about and no time to do it. It's May with all it's usual antics...all the sports, performances, meets, concerts ,parades, field trips, and parties are in full swing. Throw in that I am preparing for Farm Chicks...my biggest vintage show of the year...and preparing for graduation...and dealing with life in general...and yeah...no blogging.

I'm barely treading water people. My common refrain is "talk to me after Farm Chicks...graduation...the end of the school year...when I get back from California, the fourth of July, after I get back from Montana, after our time at the lake, after...after...after...oh yeah...talk to me in the fall.

Plus there's this...

Why do teenagers decide to act the worst when life is the busiest? Why when she is about to leave our house does she suddenly decide do her darnedest to kill us on her way out? Ever hear of leave on a high note? Good terms? Apparently not. Our pediatrician calls it "shatting the nest". I guess technically his official words were "soiling the nest"...Tyler and I call it "shatting" on a good day and !@$%^&*& on a bad day. According to Dr. Morgan, who has seen it all in his many years of being a pediatrician this is a stage of life that should be celebrated. He nearly clapped his hands together with joy as he asked me one day how Reilly was doing and I gave him a weary bleary eye. He replied with "Fantastic! She's right on target!" Well yehaw. Apparently teenagers must soil the nest in order to be able to leave it. Especially kids who come from close, loving, supportive families. It must be done or they have a very hard time leaving home. Then he said, "You don't want a child who can't leave home, Kristin. Believe me." Oh I believe him but it doesn't make it any easier.

Bryn's Birthday

Brynnie is Six!!

It is nearly impossible to believe that my baby is already six!! Nearly as hard as it is to believe that Reilly is graduating from high school in a few short weeks. Crazy!  At six Bryn is still the cutest, sweetest, and most loving little thing. She still loves to snuggle and cuddle. She is our happy place right now. She is the one child, of our four, who is always happy to see us and thinks we are "The best parents EVER!!" That is gold, right there.

Bryn had a whole day of fun planned for her birthday. It started with donuts and chocolate milk for breakfast. Done! Then she got to open her gifts from Reilly who had to work on Brynnie Johnson's Day o' Fun. She was pretty excited about those fun presents from her big sis.

She got a Princess game and one of those crazy stretchkins. Elle also has a stretchkin and they have been putting on that crazy exercise video after school and going crazy.

After that Bryn decided that she wanted to be like the big kids and go to the mall to pick out some of her birthday gifts. She was so serious and funny about it. She picked out some interesting things. A dress for church and a swimsuit from Gymboree and a seahorse hand sanitizer dispenser with a fruity hand sanitizer that she could hook onto her backpack. She also got a huge ball and some sparkly converse shoes too.

Then it was time for lunch and she wanted to go to her favorite restaurant Red Robin. Even though my kids are vegetarians, they LOVE  Red Robin because they have the biggest and most delicious Boca burgers that I have ever seen. They go crazy for those. Also, Bryn likes that you can get salad as a side on the kids menu because salad is her favorite food...and they have ice cream sundaes!!

Then it was onto Riverfront Park...

Bryn decided that what she REALLY wanted to do was to go on the Skyride which is a gondola over Spokane Falls. This ride is pretty tame for those who have done majestic tram rides but still it is pretty going over the falls especially with the spring run off. We don't normally do this ride because it is a tad bit boring and Ailey...who panics walking across a bridge...would probably have a heart attack on it. She is terrified of heights. But she pulled herself together...sort of...for her little sister and got on eyes closed and clinging to Tyler. We were very proud of her!!

Shaking with fear but still managing to smile...way to go Ailey!!

Ailey got on but would only sit with her back to the downhill slope and Tyler's arm was in a death grip the entire ride.

Bryn is pretty fearless but I got a little bit of the death grip too until it started and then she loved it!!

It was pretty!!

Then it was off to the carousel...

Bryn was super excited!! I don't know where Ailey was.  I am guessing that she was already on a horse.. ..who cares about a stinking picture...good thing we got a bonus kid! :) Ha ha!!

 The holder of every one's crap.

Picture time!!

From another angle...oh don't mind the people smoking WEED behind my precious children. Yay. Thanks Washington voters. AWESOME.

Then it was home for a *delicious* dinner picked by Bryn, Fish sticks and chocolate milk. Yes, I was up at 3 am nearly puking and full of regret. Do not eat that combination. But hey...I emailed my sisters and got some business done. #3ammultitasker

Onto birthday cake and presents...

If you have a six year old you might know the joy that is the Poopsy Pet. We gave one to Elle for her birthday and Bryn could barely part with it. Elle's poopsy pet is a panda that poops bamboo. Bryn received the tiger that poops zebra balls. Disturbing. (The package says they are striped eggs...huh? I think we all know the truth.) The unicorn that poops rainbows was all sold out. How unfortunate.

Her favorite gift...Just Dance 2015. I think we were all pretty darn excited about that!!

Then it was time to burn off some of that cake with a little Just Dance and karaoke. Bryn changed into her new church dress, Ailey put on her new swimsuit (they picked out twin swimsuits), furniture was pushed out of the way, and booyah! Party time!! Who cares that it was 10pm?!

Caramel the stretchkin joined in.

Then we got down to business. Reilly got home at about 10:15pm and the party continued on until after midnight, party animals that we are. It may surprise you to know that in a house full of girls who are all dancers it was  KAMERON who kicked all of our butts. HIDDEN SKILLZ!! Someone has been hiding his candle under a bushel!! No more. Dance Kameron Dance!! 

Happy Birthday Brynnie!!

 You are a pure delight!! 

WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!!

Easter 2015

Easter at the Lake

Easter Sunday fell on General Conference this year. It was nice to get up, do our traditional Easter things, and listen to the morning session of Conference. Then we packed up and headed to the lake. The weather was delightful...sunny and mild...not what had been predicted so it was extra enjoyable. We met my mom, grandma, Stacey and John and their kids including John's mom who was in town from Utah, Kelley and Elle and Elle's sister Kendall who was visiting from Seattle, my cousin Justin and his wife Hannah and their kids. My kids were so excited that Justin and Hannah's kids were going to be there. They have a lot of fun with them. Reilly's boyfriend also joined us. (If you must know the bloom is off the rose in that department...how are Tyler and I ever going to survive sons and daughter-in-laws?!)

The teenagers and the dads did a great job hiding all the eggs. Here are all the little kids lined up youngest to oldest and ready to run!! We had to divide them into two groups just so the little kids could actually get some eggs because some of the older kids are very enthusiastic egg hunters. This year was especially exciting because there were three golden eggs. Golden eggs have money in them!!

Then the hunt was on...

Elle and Bryn

Look how excited Paige is!! It was so much fun to see her running around and talking. She is a little cutie pie and loved by all.

Grace and Kam...how cute are our middle schoolers?! Kameron has a lot of fun hanging out with Grace. They make me laugh.

Look at all the eggs that cute Gavin found!!

The most enthusiastic and intense egg hunter of them all...River!! Get outta her way!!

Reilly had her own little Easter Egg hunt... it was how Justin asked her to Prom.

Haylee and Ailey

Hannah and Justin

John's mom Judy and my cute Mom

The Sykes family and the two grandmas...River was not a happy camper.

Then it was time for dinner. It was fabulous. My mom's ham, baked beans, collard greens, potato salad, rolls, veggies and ranch, jello jigglers, sugar cookies, John's mom's famous Sunshine Cake, and my grandma's green punch. It was delish.

Two of the best guys you will ever know!

After dinner everyone headed back outside for the most anticipated event for the adults...the ol' Easter Egg Toss. Yay!!

Ladies first...

This year was momentous because we were joined by the eldest great-grandchild. Reilly turned 18 this year and was thus deemed old enough to toss!! She was pretty excited about that. Some how I missed taking a picture of the guys. I would say that this year's toss was a success!! No one hit the dock, or small children (although my cousin Justin came close nearly beaning Dane and Gavin off of the long dock...ha ha!!), no one had to go for a swim to retrieve one, and my grandma slept soundly through it all. (She is NOT A FAN of this!!) The danger of Granny's wrath has always added an extra element of fear, excitement, mystery and delight to the toss...it's a magic and irresistible combination to naughty grandkids...even when they are in their 30s and 40s. Believe me she can rouse out of a deep sleep or a dementia stare when the words "throwing eggs in the lake" are uttered at the merest whisper with a "What's going on??!!" This year Reilly won out of the girls and my cousin Justin won out of the guys. Good times!!

The kids played on the beach, waded in the lake (I did too), played with worms, and fished.

It was a gorgeous day, the perfect place, and the perfect way to reflect on the miracle of Easter. We really missed my Aunt Bonnie and our other Ellersick cousins. Easter was especially tender this year. I am so grateful to know that we will see this guy again and that we will laugh and joke and tease once more. I am so grateful to my Savior who has made it possible.

 I miss you...

Happy Easter!!