Spain

What you have all been waiting for...

Connor and I got back a week ago from Spain. I know, exotic. Also exhausting! We saw so many amazing things. Our reason for going was to see Connor's parents on a mission in Mallorca- and Island off of Spain. But while we were all the way out there we also had to see Madrid and Barcelona. This is the short version (in pictures), if you want more pictures contact me directly :)

After not sleeping for 30 straight hours we drug our luggage to what we thought was an English speaking branch in Madrid. Never was I so happy to see the name of our church, even in a different language...
Well, it wasn't exactly an English speaking branch but we did attend the English speaking Sunday School. In our very small ward we did meet someone who lived in our current ward before we did!! We had a tough time staying awake in sacrament meeting due to the warmth of the room and the inability to understand what the speakers were staying combined with the lack of sleep. I am sure we were quite the sight.

I loved the adorable buildings in Madrid...
All of the places we stayed had cards, or in this case, gigantic metal plates, that activated the electricity in the room. Without it nothing would work. And next to it is a classic light switch...In case you were wondering, yes, there is a Hard Rock Cafe in Barcelona and Madrid. Here are Michael Jackson's red shoes and Madonna's awesome outfit...
I made Connor take me to see some Flamenco dancing. Behind us is a big group of Japanese tourists. Connor loves doing the white guy surprise by talking to them in Japanese...
Maybe I should take up this form of dancing next...

We met up with Connor's sisters, Cami and Jenny, and Whit and Will (niece and nephew) and did baptisms for the dead in the Madrid Temple...

We immediately flew to the Island of Mallorca. It was wonderful to see Roger there to welcome us. In Palma they had a beautiful Cathedral...

We stayed at the most quaint little villa. I would stay there for every vacation if I could, it was dreamy...

Inside our haven...

Our view was amazing, open farm land all around us...

We finally (after trying for the last 10 years) won a doubles match against Connor's parents. I won't mention their age, that makes me look bad. We played on Rafa Nadal's courts while he was away winning the French open...

The view from the top of Formentor, the mountains drop into the sea...The adorable, little town of Soller...
We flew to Barcelona for one las stop.

The famous Sagrada Familia. Gaudi's master piece that is still being constructed after 40 years...My favorite place we went was Park Guell, also by Gaudi. It was a magical park...

Behind me is the view Barcelona out to the ocean...
Our tiny little washer in Barcelona almost ate our clothes (it wouldn't give them back). Funny enough it also dries the clothes. It would be hard to have a big family living on one of these...

As amazing as it was, I appreicate my family more and I am so grateful for the blessings of living in this great country. Thank you to Kamrah who watched our 4 kids for 9 days with the addition of her busy toddler and 8 month pregnant belly! YOU ROCK GIRL!

Strawberry Picking

We went strawberry picking with Ashlyn's preschool a few weeks back. It really wasn't the experience I was dreaming of. Ashlyn was excited to go, but 5 min in her bucket was "too heavy." She was more interested in what her friends were doing.
Corbin was more interested in the mud.

Kamryn usually hates been strapped in her stroller. However, strawberries happen to be her very favorite fruit. Luckily at Hunt's you can eat as much as you want. That is exactly what she did. Of course the pictures doesn't quite show ALL the places I founds strawberries. She could have stayed all day.

We took them home and made freezer jam, strawberry ice cream, yogurt parfaits and smoothies. Divine!

Cinco De Mayo

This post is long overdue- due to computer issues, on my end or computer end- I still haven't figured it out.

We had our second annual Cinco De Mayo gathering. It was splendid. We shared a great festive meal and went out back for the most entertaining part of the evening- the Pinata!!!

Corbin...
Dylan...
Ashlyn...
There were many other kids, but this post would be three pages long if I posted them all. Sadly, the pinata was pathetically filled with candy. I was happy, but the kids weren't.

However, the best part was still yet to come. A family we invited and who RSVPed never showed up. Then on Saturday they pulled up as we were outside playing in the front yard. They were dressed nice and brought their authentic mexican food (taco bell). I panicked. What do I say? Luckily, they stayed and we were able to enjoy each other and laugh about it. So we celebrated Ocho De mayo! Maybe next year we will celebrate ocho de mayo in their remembrance.

Skillz

Ashlyn went to a friend's house for a play date yesterday. She came home doing this...

I did not lift a single finger in Ashlyn's quest to training wheel freedom. She rides like she has been at it for a long time. Amazing! She literally woke up this morning and asked to go out on her "two-wheeler." I will be sending Corbin over there next week in hopes he will come home potty trained.

Do you think my hopes are too high?

Painting

My latest creation...for the playroom

Night Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday we enjoyed my friend's annual Easter egg hunt. This is unlike any other...

• 1,000 egg
• 50 kids
• 5 prize eggs
• use flashlights to find the eggs because it is at night

This is a P.A.R.T.Y!!
Ashlyn was one of the lucky 5 to find a prize winning egg...
After she eats the whole bunny we will see if she still considers herself lucky.

We got some fairly good Easter pictures...

Are they good even if no one is looking?

Famous

Ashlyn was on one the latest coupon clipper adds...

You can to see the entire Woodplay playsets catalog here. Corbin, Dylan and Ashlyn can be seen throughout the catalog. You should have seen Ashlyn at the photo shoot, she loved the camera just as much as they loved her.

Tornados

Some of you have heard that we had quite the tornado storm here in Raleigh on Saturday. Thankfully we were not in their path. However, there were many that were hit on the South and East sides of Raleigh.

Connor and Dylan had a wonderful opportunity to help with clean up on Sunday evening. Many of the YM in our ward left church early to help in these efforts as well. Sadly, I am without pictures of this first time experience for Dylan, even with a firm reminder. I am sure you can imagine how excited Dylan was and it really made him grateful that we were not hit. Ashlyn, on the other hand was quite upset that she was not allowed to go. She was in her jeans and old t-shirt before I could say hippopotamus. It took a lot of bribing to get her to agree to stay.

Please keep the families of those who lost their homes and family members in your prayers.

One and counting

On Friday Kamryn had her first birthday! How fast this year has gone. It has been packed with so many blessings. We have enjoyed our first year with her- to say the least. Sadly, the 4th child gets jipped on a lot of the frills in life. This was our pathetic attempt at a party... When we sang to her she acted interested but confused as to why everyone was looking at her. Because she is my best eater, I assumed she would devour the cake unlike all my other kids. Surprisingly, she didn't. How sad. However, I can't say that it was the best cake I have made. She didn't mind getting her hands messy... She was great at sharing... She likes both chocolate and vanilla... Most of all she liked her bath... She didn't seem to have any interest in unwrapping her birthday presents, I couldn't keep Corbin, Ashlyn and Dylan to stop unwrapping for her... She was content just playing with the toys that were already around... I truly have mixed feelings about this birthday. I have loved every minute of this munchkin. She has an extremely happy temperament. I have always felt like she was so mature for her size- like I could connect and talk to her as if she understood. I am excited to see each new step of her life because she continues to become even more entertaining every day. However, I am so sad that one year has already passed only because it means that it will continue fly by at the same rate and I have enjoyed it too much for it to move so quickly. I have come to realize that my experience with motherhood has been a little backwards. When Dylan and Ashlyn were little I wished away the years and wanted my babyhood days to quickly expire. Now, as I am on my fourth baby I am finally coming to realize how much fun this is and how much I really love it- only to realize it is winding down. It could be due to the dynamics we are in right now, but I wish I had known then what I know now. I have learned to treasure each new day.

Hey Carianne what's your game now?

My baby sister came to visit before she starts back into nursing school. The kids never got tired of jumping with her...

Or riding her legs...

We took her to the beach for her first Atlantic beach experience. As you can see were were all pretty excited to be there...

I still am blown away how these kids don't get tired of being covered head to foot in sand...

Kamryn loved it too. Last time she was at the beach she was a wee little one...

She loved the feel of the sand and water...

All three kids begged to be buried...

Corbin was a "strong man"...

Ashlyn was a mermaid...

And I got burned out after that, poor Dylan.

Carianne also played with the kids here and there while I bound this extra piece of carpet for a runner (a longer project than I had first anticipated)...

She also played with our kids while we went to the temple TOGETHER, while I was at the chiropractor multiple times, and while I made dinner (my hardest time of day.)

Ashlyn said it best when she said more than once... "I am so sad that Carrie had to leave."

We love you Carrie, Thanks for the visit!

April Fools

This is a very belated post, but I felt like I should let Ashlyn's birthday post take precedence.

April 1st is one of my VERY FAVORITE holidays of the year. I dream about it for days in advance. I get giddy like a child who wakes up on Christmas morning. I know, silly.

A list of the tricks I enjoyed playing this year...

• Left a note on Connor's Car from a stranger apologizing for the dent
• turned Dylan's backpack inside out
• smeared lipstick on Connor's face on his way out the door
• recorded a tricky phone message
• ate a flyswatted "fly"
• hung "wet paint use back door" and "wet paint use front door" signs

Sadly, my very pregnant friend was the only one to fall prey to my door signs. I had forgotten about them after Dylan did not even notice they were there (what would I do if they were real?) So I made a pregnant lady walk all the way around my house!

Til next year...

5 Going on 6

Ashlyn turned 5 on Wednesday. I know I say this every year for every child, and I will say it again just like Quincy does on Little Einstein's...

I CAN NOT BELIEVE IT!!

She is still so petite. But petite is cute!

She picked her favorite dinner, chicken rollups, and we watched Tangled for the first time.

The big party was on Saturday...

(Because her party was on a separate day from her real birthday, she somehow assumed she was turning 5 on Wed and 6 on Saturday!?!?! I don't think I can let her get away with growing up that fast!)

Some of the Gang...

A few festive decorations...

A hat for every cowboy and cowgirl...

And of course pin the tail on the horse...

Horse shoe painting...

Tasty horse...

Whew. And then we watched conference