Braces are off!!! and Hannah has a concert!!!

On Cinco de Mayo, Anya got her braces off!  This was a very happy day!!

Especially for mom and dad, because that meant we did not have to transfer to another Orthodontist in Colorado!  Yay for finishing treatments!!

Before and After.

Our orthodontist, Dr. Cloth, was seriously the best!

He always had a funny story, ran a tight ship so we were always seen on time, and when we left he gave Anya this awesome gift package.  It was full of all the things your not supposed to eat with braces on.  So fun, she loved it!

First bite into a carrot.  This girl loves carrots, and she missed not eating them.

That night, after dinner, we had a "Braces Off" party!

We had an assortment of nuts, popcorn, caramel apples, gummy and sticky candy...everything off limits is now back on the menu. 

 Dig in!

 Hannah's last concert of the year.

We will miss this Orchestra program.  Mrs. Finnegan was awesome!

 Good job playing beautifully and being so dedicated to practicing Hannah!

Some cute pics...

Here are just some random pics, that I felt like give a little peek into our lives.  At least my life with the boys...

 Our house was very cold!  I mean freezing.  So we always cuddled in the mornings under warm blankets until we were warmed up enough to eat breakfast.  Here is one of our early morning selfies.

 Hunter is our builder.

He built this building all on his own, I was very impressed.

 Moving day arrived.  Hoping they take care of all my pottery!

 Dinner time with no furniture :)

We lived in our house for about 3 weeks with only camp chairs, air mattresses, and 1 old T.V. (I'm talking its over 20 years old and still kicking).  We had an awesome friend take mercy on us and bring over some bean bag chairs for us to use...which was perfect!

 got to take advantage of the summer days before we move!

All tuckered out.  With no couch to lay on to rest, a camp chair will do just fine.

We're back...

Since this is our families journal, I guess I better get back to it.  We have completed our "cross country" move, and school has started, so I do need something to occupy my time until our next adventure!  So here we go...

For a youth activity the girls at our church did a daddy/daughter rappelling day.  Matt had gone before, but this was the first time for Anya.  She was super excited, did very well and had a great time...Until...

 see what I mean, looking like a pro...Until

 ...

Her awesome mom, me, forgot to braid her long hair.  She had about waist length at this time, and they left very early in the morning.  I didn't even think about it!  She had put it in a pony tail, but still...lots of loose ends.  She got all jammed up in the ropes with her hair.  It was seriously tangled all the way to her neck, she couldn't even turn her head.

 Thankfully, this all happened where she was close to this little out cropping of a ledge.  I mean, it was barely big enough for her to kneel on.  

 Now, she was jammed up with all the ropes our group had.  So there was really no way for anyone to rappel down to her, so they were discussing climbing up or down to her.  She was about in the middle of this particular cliff's face.

 The Lord was really looking out for her that day.  There just happened to be a group of scouts rock climbing just a ways over on the same cliff.  They saw Anya in trouble, and moved their ropes over.  Then they climbed down to assist her.  For awhile there were snippets of "who had a knife?", "we need to cut her hair...".  But come on?! They are scouts, well versed in knots...right?  They were able to untangle Anya's hair from her ropes, get her all straightened out and back down the cliff.  She was even brave enough to go one more time...this time with her hair stuck down her shirt :)

Yay for Scouts!

Last trip to D.C.while in Virginia.

We went up to DC for one last time.

It was pretty cool, because we got to tour the inside of the White House, and we got to go to the top of the Washington Monument.  The Monument has been closed for like 3 years due to damage suffered in an earthquake.  It fortuitously opened back up just a couple of weeks before we were to move.  We jumped right on it, secured tickets online and back to the top of the Monument we went!

The White House.

The original White House burned during the war of 1812.

Then it was rebuilt with the East and West wings added in much later years.

It was pretty cool to see inside, but sadly, they did not let us in to the West wing.

No pictures allowed inside.

So we huddled around the front Porticco and took some pictures.

These are still with in the gates of the White House, so you need tickets to even stand on these steps.

Our family.

My kids are slowly overtaking me.

Then, one photo outside the front gate.

 Anya's Washington monument tale...

She went to the top when she was 2 years old, so she has no memory of going to the top. 

In 2010, we came to DC as a family while Matt was in Virginia on business.  We wanted to go to the top, it was a mission for Anya.  But sadly, we were unable to acquire tickets.  They sell out very quickly in the spring/summer months.  Last we went was in October, and we just walked up and got tickets...so we were surprised they were sold out.  3 weeks before we were to move from Virginia this time, the Monument opened back up after extensive repairs.  It was fate!  I jumped online and grabbed tickets.  Anya has completed her mission, she has been to the top!

In the last 2 years she has been to the top of the Eiffel Tower, Berlin's radio tower, Statue of Liberty, Washington Monument,  all we have left I think, is Seattle's space needle.

 Up at the top, looking out the windows.

 The view was spectacular that day.

We got a great shot of the Jefferson Memorial

 After the Washington Monument we walked over to see Lincoln.

after this photo, we realized we were missing Cora.  She had run ahead of us, and we thought she would just wait for us at the top.  She was no where to be found.  It was quite busy, lots of people, and I admit I started to panic a little.  Turns out she had gone back down to find us...Matt found her as she was coming back up.  We had a few reminder lessons about staying where we are so other's can find us.

So relieved we had the Lord's blessing that day and everything turned out well.

 One last view of the Washington Monument.

We really loved living close to DC.  It is such a cool city, with so much to offer.

Maybe we will be close again someday.

Back on Track...Cora's Birthday!

Cora's birthday occured the week after our stuff was all packed up by the movers. 

So, we did not have any furniture really, except some camp chairs, bean bag chairs, and air mattresses.

The girls really loved getting their birthday candy bouquet.

 The requested birthday cake this time was Raspberry fudge cake.

These girls do not take it easy on me!

However, it is forcing me to learn how to make new things, and I discovered a yummy new Chocolate frosting that I think will become my number 1 stand by.

 Aunt Trudy made her this awesome quilt.

She has been waiting since Christmas (when she asked for it for her Birthday, silly girl)

and was so excited to finally get it!

 Happy Birthday to the sweetest girl in the world.

We can't imagine life without you, and hope it was a great day.

I skipped Easter too!

I completely skipped Easter too.

I feel like Easter is often times over looked as a Holiday.  Not as bad as Thanksgiving, but still, sometimes it seems exhausting so the traditions are let up.  I have tried to make it a big deal, just as big a deal as Christmas in importance.   That's why I loved Germany and Europe.  While they really knew how to do Christmas with all their Christmas markets and fan fare....they also gave the same attention to Easter.  I loved going to all the Easter markets in Europe, and quite missed them this year.

For Easter, the 12 days leading up to it, we do our Resurrection eggs.  We try to really focus on the Savior, his gift to us, and his ultimate Resurrection and all that means for us.

 However, we also add in the fun.

We always dye Easter Eggs.

 Here are this years products.

We used a new dye this year, it was very messy...so I don't think we will use it again.

I have a good friend that does a great Easter Crack off, with their Easter Eggs.  I think I want to start that tradition next year.  It sounds like so much fun!

 Easter morning, and our favorite event, the Easter egg hunt!

 mmmm, me thinks Hannah ate something blue from her Easter basket....

 Looking for that one, last, elusive Easter egg.

We never found it that morning, but Cora ended up finding it about a month later!

The candy was mush...yuck.

Our Easter picture.

In all our grass-stained, goofy finery.