Quick wonderful trip to Utah

My wonderful Grandpa Farnsworth passed away last week at the age of 93. He gets to be with the love of his life now. I flew to Utah with Katelyn on Friday. I am grateful beyond words that I was able to go. 

He was a pilot in the Navy and because he was a captain, they came to honor his service.

My mom and Aunt Diane. 

I finally got to hold Tim outside of the hospital! Isn't he the most handsome little man?!

It was so special to hear the faith and love of my Grandfather, told by his children and grandchildren. We were all influenced and loved by him. I will miss him.

Katelyn did pretty well on the flight. I sat by absolute wonderful people. 

Halli kept saying, "Cousin!" And signing it. She is such a doll. 

Can I just say that I love my family so much. I was overwhelmed with love for my family and Ben's family. I miss them so much it hurts and I was so grateful to be able to hang out with them all, even of it was just a couple of days. 

Ben moved our entire house while I was gone. The boys were at a friends house. (Thank you Ish!) I had packed almost everything before I left, but he had to do a TON on his own. I am so grateful for Ben and his happy attitude and loving support. We are excited for our new adventure in our home!

Mid May

I'm starting to pack. I found the boys listening to Grandma read them a story (her voice is recorded in the book) in a box.

We move next week. I am SO excited! We start staining our kitchen tomorrow. I'll post pictures after. We have oak cabinets and we are staining them a very dark brown. I know this is going to be a ton of work but I think it will be worth it!!

Apparently, I love putting Katelyn in pink. She's only missing a pink bow. ;) 

The boys love going to get daddy from work once a week. We even went inside this week because they were decorating for someone's birthday. Love his coworkers. 

I LOVE technology at dinner time. It makes cooking SO much easier. I think this is the only time that Liam is this peaceful. 

I'm starting Katelyn on a preschool curriculum. It's big here in Texas. 

Hahaha. No I'm not. She started biting the crayon and stabbing the paper after this picture. She does love to sit at this table. I need to buy another chair. 

Troy went on his first play date alone this week. I know, that is crazy, since he's 5. But Liam was heart broken for about 20 minutes. He had to nap anyways. The second he woke up he asked for Troy. Love these little buddies. 

Troy recently talks to his friend Damien on his "phone." Liam talks to Liam. Hahaha. I laugh every time. 

Katelyn is starting to walk a lot better. Never crawls anymore. She still gets so giddy about the fact that she's walking. Ben hates putting her to bed because she will usually hang out with us and he loves all the time he can get with the kids. 

Troy is really big into helping lately. He makes his own pb & j. Liam wants to copy of course and eats a piece of bread with a lump of butter in one corner. 

Ben is really busy with work. They've hired two more people to be on his team, but they won't get here for a few more weeks. Plus his boss' wife had a baby today. He loves what he is doing and I know it will calm down. I've been reading Daughters in my Kingdom. It helps me regain perspective, realign priorities in our life, and be grateful. These are things I often lack and I am grateful for the continual teaching of the gospel. 

Friends

The boys call this, Pirate Putt Putt. Thanks to Jake and the Never Land Pirates. They have started to add obstacles (Legos.) I don't think it's any more difficult when you are hitting from 2 inches away, but creative!

I was watching a couple of kids that we know well. Troy and Liam love playing with Damien. He's the same size as Troy, but about 6 months younger. They played this for a few hours. I definitely had to supervise and stop a few grand ideas. Boys definitely get more crazy with more boys. But they loved every minute and it was fun to see them laughing so much. 

Desi is a few months older than Katelyn. These little girls were so cute to just watch. They kind of just stared at each other. 

Katelyn eats a banana every morning. She could eat three a day if I let her. 

Grateful for friends!

Ben's Work Party

Ben had a work party and I finally got to meet all of his coworkers! What a wonderful group of people. We could easily be friends with all of them. 

Ben is holding a crawfish. Gross, gross and more gross. I did try it, which was quite the self triumph. It actually didn't taste too bad. But you have to disect a giant roach to get to the bite of meat. It's pretty huge here in Houston. There's a sign on every corner celebrating crawfish season. I hope it's a fad. I don't see me ever "getting used" to it. 

The party was held at Connie's house, a fellow engineer, and she had the place stocked with bubbles, chalk, water guns, and games. The boys had a blast to say the least. 

I think Liam is confused. I asked him to point the gun at me for the picture, after I told him not to point at people. Haha. Woops. 

I didn't get a picture of Katelyn, so here is one from the park :) She is walking all of the time now! She still gets giddy about it. She just starts smiling and laughing at herself when she walks for awhile. She even walked in shoes for the party. Katelyn will smile at you all day long as long as you don't try to take her away from mom or dad. 

We move in less than three weeks! 

Mom/Grandma came to visit

Ben's mom came to visit this past week. I dropped her off early this morning. We had a blast and wish it could have been longer!

We had lots of fun on Friday at the beach. Ben has those pictures. We built a sand castle and played in the water. Katelyn even crawled around on the sand. It was great weather. 

Saturday we relaxed in the morning, well I was actually stressed because we were getting family pictures that afternoon. I'm so grateful mom was there. She was so helpful in getting everyone to look. Cross your fingers we get some not too crazy ones. It is really hard taking pictures with three littles! Grandma promised the boys a train ride and ice cream if they were good. They definitely did better than I thought they would and she delivered. 

The boys loved it!! 

Katelyn really wanted some. Haha. I had to take a picture first! :) Another beautiful day. We loved talking to mom at night. That's pretty much what we did. She is such a great person to chat with. Ben was so excited for her to come. It was tender to me. 

Sunday we were pretty busy because Ben had to teach and I was playing the harp. Mom pretty much saved us because I don't know what we would have done. She stayed with the kids while we took the harp and tuned it and came back and got everyone. Everything went really well. We went to see our new house after church and naps. Oh I am getting a little anxious. Our families have been so sweet to put up with sharing a bathroom with us. 

Grandma bought fun toys for the boys. Coloring books, sunglasses, yummy snacks and bubbles were the favorites. 

Katelyn wouldn't go to Grandma ever, but one night she just did. For about 20 minutes. The two K's. 

While Ben was at work, we got the kids ready, cleaned up the house and ventured out to see some of Houston. We went to City Centre. Troy loves his Grandma. 

We went to Sugarland, ate, shopped and hit up TCBY on the way back. Ben always thinks of his mom when he sees TCBY. So, naturally, we had to go. The boys wouldn't stop to take a picture. 

Katelyn flashed me a smile in between bites. 

We already miss mom/Grandma. We love her! Can't wait till next visit! 

P.s.  While I typed this, Liam and Katelyn got into the cottage cheese that Gramdma bought and ate the whole thing. 

Easter

I love Easter and I love thinking about my life with my family after this life. The Easter songs and messages at church were so uplifting. I felt greater love for my Savior and a desire to be with Him and all my loved ones again. This gospel makes me so happy. Sometimes I worry about making holidays too commercial, but I think traditions make wonderful memories and closer relationships with friends. We had some great memories with two families. 

Easter Hunt with the Walkers, Andrew and Caitlin. There were a ton of eggs. Damien is on the very left next to Troy. Desiree is on the very right. These kids love playing together. And we love hanging out with Andrew and Caitlin. So it works out!

We also had a cute hunt with the Bowens. It was all Nate and Allison because they surprised our kids after dinner on Easter. Dalton is there little boy and he is so handsome and sweet. 

They have a tradition of tacos on Easter. But not just tacos. They made the most dressed up tacos I've seen. So yummy. I'm going to miss this ward of friends. I'll have to come back and visit. We won't be too far away. 

Our Easter morning was pretty simple. A little candy, toy, and yummy breakfast. It's not quite the same without family. I need to be a little more prepared next time ;) oh how I love Easter. Troy sang with the primary. Well, I went up with him and then he came back down halfway through the song. Progress. He sings the song Gethsemane all the time, but is not a fan of the spotlight. Maybe next time. Sweet Troy. I love his little voice. Liam knows the song too because of Troy. They certainly make up words when they don't know it.