Our summer in a photo nutshell

Here's a small glimpse of what we've been up to since about May or so.

 OK, this was in March, but I never got to mention that we took a quick trip up to Minnesota for my nephew, Jayden's baptism.  We had a blast - we love and miss those cousins!  Carson loved his one ride at the Mall of America.

                                           
                                            
 The girls finished up dancing season.  They were adorable as Belle and Cinderella.

 Eating!

Working... but at least I have sweet co-workers!

 Amie's cute end of the year program at Challenger.

 Finding out about baby #4!

 Playing outside!

 Watching Baby Liam! (We miss you!)

 And let's not forget a quick trip to the Delta house with our awesome friends, the Benzon's! The toy handcuffs were a big hit all around, and Carson loves the girls as much as they all love him!

 A fun family hike on the 24th.

 Marching (or being pulled) in the Children's parade.

And finally, our friends Jim and Becky got married.

I'm sure there were a thousand other things that happened worth mentioning, but that's all you're getting outta me!  I need my pregnancy sleep! Good night!

Jeff's Birthday and Father's Day

Our Jeffrey is a shining star in our little family, our extended families and, I gather, in his workplace as well.  I can't imagine this crazy life without him and I am the luckiest girl in the world!

For his birthday, we went out for dinner the night before at the Chef's Table (yum!) and a movie.  The next day, we went golfing, lunch, dinner with his family.  He's pretty laid back, so it was a chill time.  From us, Jeff got a new TV.  We've had a tiny 13 inch tube in our house since the girls used our other as a drum.  He was so surprised, that was the best part!  He and I are not the best at keeping secrets from each other. 

Then for Father's Day, we ate at Chili's the night before with the gift card he got, I made him cinnamon roll pancakes, then a book, some family pics for his desk, and other little things from the girls from church, etc.  We also got to see both of our dads and spend time.

We sure love you Jeff!

On change

Recently, there has been quite a significant amount of upheaval in the world of Nikki North. I sought/accepted an RT job at LaEuropa Academy - a treatment center where I used to work as a staff.  Right in the midst of getting set up with this, I was... rather strongly encouraged to apply for a full time opening at the U Hospital where I sometimes fill in.  I debated over this for weeks and weeks and finally decided to go for it.  It would be sort of like a fast track to acheiving some bigger goals of mine and my family's. SO, I accepted that job as well.  Within around a week, I went from working perhaps once a month to working a full time job, plus a part time job.  On top of this, my sister started working and both of us needed child care and it just so happens we were able to work it out to swap.  SO, on my "days off" (Mon and Tues) I tend my 4 month old nephew, Liam (while she has all kids Wed, Thur, Jeff has them Fri, and respective dads have their kids on Sat.)
At this same time, Jeff and I both got released from our callings (EQ President and YW 1st Coun.) and put us in as 11 year old scout leaders.  This was both a blessing and a bit of burden too.  It was less involvement for both of us, at a time when things got crazy, but jumping into something new has been a big adjustment, even if it is less time commitment (especially for me - I know nothing about scouts!)
We now also have the kids home all the time for summer with no dance class, performances and preschool to run around to.
I also happen to be turning thirty this summer (WAH!), and so we planned a big family trip to Florida to do all the parks and everything. Which means we're planning and saving for that.
AND in the midst of all this, we are wanting to get out of our little bitty house.  We have pursued some options, but we have yet to jump in with both feet and really go for it.  Everytime I think about trying to get (and especially KEEP) my house show-ready I just get so overwhelmed on top of everything else.  So, thus far, it has been the one thing to keep floating to the backburner.
Usually, I thrive on change - I seek excitement and the novelty of changing it up.  However... too much of a good thing, you know?  I have generally enjoyed being at work, I just feel like I am missing so much of my children's lives and I am no longer the maestro of our family.  It is crazy.  It's a good lesson in letting go of control for me, but some things fall to the wayside.  I even ended up visiting the hospital with days-long chest pain that turned out to be nothing (ie, probably stress-induced.)

After all that, though, I am very grateful for an opportunity to stock up on work hours (for advancing my licensure) and monies (for advancing our living situation.)  We just have to muscle through the fatigue, piles of laundry and missed family time. To everything, there is a season...

The Cheesiest Date Night Ever!

Our awesome friends, the Benzons, are always getting us out for date night (which is even awesomer!)  They got us set up for a cheese tasting at the Heber Valley Artisan Cheeses... or something like that.  Anyway, they gave us a short tour and then we tasted... wait for it... over FORTY cheeses!  They didn't tell us what each was until the end.  It was so great and delicious and heavenly!  Except, by the end, it felt terrible.  On the drive back, I really thought I might puke.  We had to stop and grab some Chick-fil-A... cause more fat is what I needed!  It was a blast, though and we refer to it often.

The Benzonians

The End of a/n (very short) Era

You probably know, I was loving my time in YW, but with all the changes coming into our lives, it was impossible for me to do mutual, etc, and it just so happened that the Bishopric took me out and put me in...scouts. This is 100% new territory for me, but Jeff and I are co-leaders, and he loves scouts, so that is handy for me.  We've had just a few weeks so far, and I am making the adjustment from 15 year old girls to 11 year old boys... ;)

Good bye ladies!  I'll be back soon!

Easter

Easter morning was a little crazy for me.  I was teaching in Young Women, then I was asked to be the concluding speaker in sacrament meeting, plus the choir was singing a couple of numbers (for which, I had never made it to practice) and then, there was the whole Easter Bunny thing.  Jeff was gracious about tackling the children while I tried to prepare my talk/lesson/voice and took over the Easter baskets this year (you can imagine, there was much more candy than when mom does them...)
We spread the weekend over all our families, starting on Friday morning with a Radcliffe Brunch. We had bacon, eggs, juices, cinnamon rolls, hash browns... it was quite a lovely feast. The girls got gift cards from grandma to choose outfits for their bears (the ones they got from her for Vday) and Carson got an outfit (for himself.)  There was also, of course, an egg hunt out back in my mom's fun yard, as well as coloring eggs.  We watched some movie, too, but I can't remember what. :)
Saturday, I was supposed to go to the YW Broadcast, but ended up not using my tickets, and we all went over to my M-I-L house for egg-dyeing, the egg hunt (kids got Stompeez) and apparently, it was Razz-on-Steph day. (Love you, Steph!)
Sunday brought all the aforementioned crazy in our best white dresses, which went pretty well, then we went to Jeff's Grandma's house for the big egg hunt and ham dinner.  Always fun to get together with all the Poynors.
I have to say, with so much involvement in Easter services, I had a good two weeks of really studying up on the Atonement and Resurrection.  It was such a lovely blessing to have the opportunity to immerse myself in the Savior in the time leading up to Easter Sunday.  I felt I appreciated it more amidst the bustle and really learned a few things, too. I'm so grateful for the Savior's Atonement, making life here both possible and worth living!

MTMMS

Alisa: Jofeph Shmish saw Him come down with strawberries and snow flakes

Amelie: Are you kidding me?! Of course! (to everything)

Amelie: (breathing deeply) I just have to focus! (um.. she's four)

Amelie: Mom, that's in your Aca-movie!

Amelie: Mom, I wanna be a piano teacher when I grow up! (she doesn't even play piano)
                                        ...scout leader...
                                        ...dancer...
                                        ...preschool teacher...
You know, anything that she learned about this week.

Sister friends!

 

These two cuties play together most of the day, every day and are best friends. They make my heart smile! (Even when I wake up to them squished into the same toddler bed.)

Puppy love

Amelie has been talking about a boy in her class, Jack, for months. At first mention, She told us she was gonna marry him. Turns out, he tells his parents the same things, and all the teachers know about it! Funny! One day at grandma's house, Amie wrote him a love note/picture. She lost it when it was time to take it to him and was quite sad. She finally find it while cleaning her room weeks later, and brought it to school to give to him. Today, when I picked her up, first thing she told me was that jack gave her a love note! And that it had 5 hearts on it. So adorable! Note all the bugs at the bottom-I guess even in love, boys will be boys.

Cousin Liam!

I failed to mention that the very earliest part of my Valentines day was spent with my sister, Mallory. On the 13th, she went into the hospital with contractions and I was privileged enough to be a part of it. Mom, Jaimie, and I, and of course Travis helped Mal through her labor. It was a long, slow process, but I suppose it could have been much worse. It was crazy for me, cause I've never been on the other end in a delivery. Mal tried her darnedest to push him out before Valentines day, but he was stubborn and said no way, coming early in the morning hours. Liam is an adorable little dude, with a petite man face! He ended up having to stay in the hospital awhile because his oxygen was low, so almost a week later, we were able to take the kids up to meet him. The girls adore him!