Life as We Know It

With school in full swing, we are adjusting to life and I just had to document what our everyday life is like right now. Since I had Benson two years ago, I've taken a step back and pulled my kids out of many of their extra curricular activities. It has been so good for us in so many ways and I've really grown to love our quiet life. I discovered that sometimes less is more. 

So here is small glimpse into our lives right now.

The three bigger kids are in elementary school full time. They all have fantastic teachers this year and they are all loving school. Recently Tanner spent all his hard earned award points to read a story to Tucker's class. He picked a book from home and took it to school so he could read to Tucker and his class. I got this picture from Tucker's teacher and I love it. I am so proud of Tanner and I just love these cute brothers.

Family dinners are a priority. We eat dinner together every night with Daddy. It's a time when we can talk about our days and just spend some time together.

One night, shortly after school had started, we were having spaghetti and I looked over to see that Tuck had used his noodles to spell his name. I couldn't help but laugh. He's learning so much at Kindergarten. 

When Bailey saw what Tucker had done, she wanted to do the same.
We were cracking up at her use of the meatball to dot her "i". So funny.
They may not have the best table manners but we sure love these kiddos. 

While the kids are gone to school all day, Benson and I spend all our time together.
Occasionally Benson will go to a little preschool program, but otherwise we are always together.
I love this buddy of mine. We watch shows together, eat snacks together, run errands together, read books, play, snuggle and sometimes when I'm really lucky he falls asleep on my chest. 

This boy keeps me on my toes and I often find it hard to tell him no.
Like when he asks for a huge tub of disgusting cheese balls by saying "please Mom".
Yeah- we bought them. He's too cute to say no to. 

Chris is staying busy too. Between working on the fixer upper house, working at the temple, guard duty and his day job- he's very busy. But we are so appreciative of all his hard work.
As for me, my party business is growing and I've been staying busy as well.
Life is great. We are very blessed and I just need to document our everyday life so I don't forget about the little things. 

Elly's Sealing and KC Trip

So a month ago I was blessed to attend the adoption hearing for this little cutie.
Our dear friends, the Fuhrimans, have been fostering Elly for the last two years and then they finally got to adopt her. It was such a special day. There was so much love in that courtroom.
This sweet girl is so incredibly adored and I was so happy to be a part of it. 

So then yesterday we all got to drive to Kansas City to celebrate Elly's sealing at the Kansas City Temple. The kids couldn't attend the actual sealing since they are too young, but we wanted to all be there anyways to show our love and support.
The sealing time kept getting changed around because their family was having problems getting to Kansas city. It was a mess. Flights were getting cancelled and delayed. Anyways, we found ourselves in KC with hours to spare so we immediately found some yummy BBQ.
We went to this place called "The Mudhole" and it was so yummy.
They had this awesome wall where everyone could sign their names. The kids loved it. 

We all enjoyed the food. 

After lunch we drove over to "penguin park". It's the awesome park near the temple that has all these huge animal statues and tons of playground equipment. The kids loved this place. It was awesome. We will definitely be going back. 

I had to get a picture of the kids in front of the penguin for which the park is named. 

Look at all those animals. So cute. 

The kids played so hard. It was great. The weather was amazing and we were able to play for a couple hours before meeting the Fuhrimans at the temple. 

It was such a beautiful sealing. I was able to hang out with the kids in the kid room while they prepared for the sealing, then I walked them down with the temple workers and when we entered the sealing room the spirit was so strong.
We love this family so much!

We were so happy to be a part of their special day when their family was completed forever. 

We all love little Elly so much. She's been a part of the Fuhriman family since the day she was born and we are so happy to be able to be part of this day. 

Love love love this girl!

This huge herd of kids did not cooperate for a kid picture, but the result is pretty funny. 

After the sealing at the temple, we went over to "Liberty Jail". We haven't been there in a couple years and it's such a great reminder of the early days of the church. The sister missionaries serving there gave us a great tour. 

Then we grabbed some frozen custard and ate our treat as we drove home.
It poured on us during our drive home but it was worth it.
It was a great day in Kansas City.