Petersons Never Give Up: Pre-Spring Break

Lizzie has been so funny lately! She has recently upgraded to eating right up to the table with us! I went to clean the church the other Saturday and Sean put her up to the table and gave her an apple. She looks so pleased with herself.

I'm sure I've mentioned before, but I made these road pieces out of felt for the kids for Christmas. They are one of the favorite toys in our house. Brett and Alana really like to put them out while Lizzie is sleeping because she tends to play like king kong with them.

We inherited lots of bits and pieces from my Grandmas house. I snagged this big rug to put on the tile in the summer when the kids are playing in water outside because the tile gets so slippery! Brett and Alana have discovered it and are using it for the river in their car games, they build some pretty awesome bridges!

One day Momma Z invited the girls and I to go up to the cemetery to see Grandma. My mom used to take my grandma around the cemetery every Monday. They would go to Hires and get lunch, then go out to the cemetery to drive around and look at the deer. They would spend hours in there watching the deer, thinking of Grandpa, and chatting away. Mom drove us all around and showed us all the deer. We walked up and put flowers out for the deer. It was a very special thing to see what they've been doing all these months! Alana and Lizzie thought it was so so fun to drive around with the windows down in the front seat watching the deer.

On Thursdays, we attend a playgroup with our ward. We've started having them outside, and Lizzie LOVES it. The other kids do too!

Brett read Green Eggs and Ham at school and wanted to try some. All 3 kids loved them! Alana called them rotten eggs. We've had them twice since.

We got Lizzie a fun walker to practice her walking skills. This one is actually a little bulkier than I expected, but she still really enjoys it!

The same morning I went to clean the church, I took pictures of Brett and Alana's CTR shields in the Primary room.

paying tithing

say prayers

We had been so busy with visiting Grandma, funeral stuff, and cleaning out the house, that we were in need of a good solid outing. We chose to go to the aquarium. It would cost our family $70 to go one time, so we opted for the yearly pass which will pay for itself in 3 times (we've already gone twice).

After our visit, we went to a neighbors house for a weenie roast!

We celebrated pi day with a chicken pot pie and a chocolate pudding pie.

Sweet Alana drinking hot chocolate in her panties. The daffodil in the background is from one of the neighbor boys =)

Our second time at the aquarium

We got a frisbee gold set from Great Grandma and we've all been enjoying it!

On the night before St. Patricks day, Brett was telling me all about how the Leprechauns were going to come and play tricks on us if we didn't put out green and a sign that said please come in. I found myself at Walmart that night looking for new shirts and cupcakes =)

Alana has been talking about going "marching" (hiking) for a long time. She remembers going to Moab and she really has wanted to go again. We got down the hiking backpacks to try them out before our Spring Break trip to New Mexico.

We went to a St. Patricks day party at Brett's school which was a little dull, but the kids had fun and we went to get ice cream from McDonalds afterward.

My sister and niece came into town last weekend and it was so fun to spend time together. My parents, Sam, and Kaity came over Saturday afternoon. Alana and Kaity played together a lot, but Brett was feeling pretty sick. Kaity and Brett were able to play a little with the nintendo. We decided to go get some dinner at the Pizza Pie Cafe. Brett still wasn't feeling that great so we took a little bowl along just in case his tummy started acting up again. As we were driving there, Brett was really uncomfortable and Sean and I were discussing just taking him home when he started throwing up. I was so grateful to have brought the bowl and so proud of Kaity and Alana for just plugging their noses and remaining calm.

Sean stayed home with Brett and the girls and I went out to dinner.

Lizzie is just getting so big sitting with her siblings at church. (her sitting doesn't last very long!)

Brett felt a thousand times better on Sunday, so he had plenty of energy for church and playing at Grandma and Grandpa's with Kaity. Kaity modeled her new baptism dress for us. I can't believe she will be 8 in August!

On Monday morning, Brett, Alana, Lizzie, and I went back to my parents to spend a few more hours with Sam and Kaity. We made a little bed for Lizzie to nap in at my parents =)

The swings are well loved! I told Brett he could skip school to play with Kaity longer, but he really wanted to go. So he went to school and the girls and I went to waffle luv, and the cemetery with my mom, Sam and Kaity.

On Tuesday Alana had her last tumbling class. They did a little showcase which was so fun to watch. She has grown so much with these 10 sessions. She loves having her little class each week and feels so special learning new things with her teachers. The thing we are most proud of is her balance beam. She has been petrified to do it and has worked really hard, practicing at home and trying with her teachers in class and was able to do it with just a little help form Miss Sammy.

She got a medal which she was so proud of. She was pretty mad though because she didn't like sitting and watching all the other kids do their routine, she wanted to tumble the whole time.

We got the trampoline out from under the tarp and the kids and neighbors have been really enjoying it. Lizzie had her first try the other day and fell instantly in love!

The Relief Society was organized in March, so each March there is usually an activity focusing on the birthday of RS. This year the presidency decided we didn't want to do birthday gifts each month so we decided to have a bunch of little gifts the sisters could choose from. We did a "Very Merry Unbirthday" theme and the sisters on my committee nailed it!