Congratulations Graduates!!!

Some of my favorite people received diplomas last week.  I am so proud of each of them for their accomplishments, and am grateful to have been able to rub shoulders with them through the years.  Good Luck to all of you, and I look forward to making many more memories together.  Love you guys!!!

So I know this picture is kind of funny because her eyes are closed, but I love it because it is so her (she closes her eyes a lot in pictures), but look at the beautiful third position she is standing in . . . that's my dancer!  I also wanted to get a picture of the lei that my mom, Candice, and I put together for her to wear on this special occasion.  

Another side note: I was going to crop this picture until I noticed two of my other siblings in the background, just chatting away - Candice and Jordan.

McKady, holding her diploma after her 8th grade promotion

 LOVE this picture!!!

  You would have thought McKady was some kind of celebrity the way these guys swooned over her after the promotion.  Stetson insisted on holding her hand the whole way out, and was very put out when I wouldn't let him go home with her.

J.D. - McKady - Stetson

Just to prove that Lucy and I were there; yes, I know we look a little rough, what can I say?  Lucy has suddenly gotten very shy, and this is what she does when we are around a lot of people.

Stetson - McKady - Amber - Lucy

So I went over to my parents' house before graduation, and Jade was just headed out the door.  I had to get a photo of the awesome lei Candice and I made for him - do you like it?  I thought it was pretty funny that he was so nervous, I don't remember being nervous to graduate, he didn't even have to speak!

Jade, before High School Graduation

McKady was kind enough to tend my kids so that they didn't have to sit through the graduation, which was nice and short, by the way:)  Then she walked up to the school with them and met us on the lawn for pictures.

The Grover Clan

I've always thought that the parents of the graduate deserve just as much recognition.  Thanks mom and dad for raising such an awesome son!

Mom - Jade - Dad

Sorry, this was just me playing around - I thought it turned out pretty cool.

Jade Grover, an American graduate

And my beautiful niece Brielle.  I LOVE this girl, and am sure going to miss her when she goes away to college.  Congratulations, and Good Luck!!!

Brielle Francom - High School Graduation

Is that what I think it is?

Yup, that is definitely a baby bump . . .

We are working on baby #3! 

Amber at 12 weeks

So, I wanted to keep this one a secret for awhile, but got tired of making up excuses for being sick all the time, so we made the announcement.  The due date is November 25, the day after our anniversary.

For me, each pregnancy has been a little worse than the last for "morning sickness", and this one has definitely been the worst! I have been really tired all the time, and get dizzy easily.  I can't seem to find the energy or motivation to do anything.  The nausea sets in each evening around 5, so making dinner is a chore.  I tried the PSI bracelets, and they help a lot with the nausea, but somehow I have got to find a way to get more energy!  My doctor's response to me being sicker this time was, "maybe it's twins".  I immediately got nervous, I don't know if I could handle that!  He did an ultrasound on this super cool little hand-held machine, and confirmed that there was only one heartbeat, and only one baby, so that was a relief.  I am now officially in the 2nd trimester, so I am hopeful that things will start to improve.  Mostly I feel bad for my kids, I just haven't been a very good mom lately.

I have started to improve a little in the last week, so that is encouraging.  I have been trying to walk every day, and I think that helps me mentally as well as physically.  I just get so discouraged when I don't feel well enough to do anything, I almost feel trapped.  I have been trying to eat as much and as often as I can, but it has been hard, and I have lost weight.

All of that aside, though we are a little nervous, we are very excited to welcome a new little person into our family.  Stetson is old enough now that he understands more what is going on.  When I told him that I saw a picture of the baby when I went to the doctor, he got all excited and said, "can I see it?".  He is also a very good little helper around the house and with Lucy.

More pregnancy updates to come. . .

Lucy is Two!

Lucy in her birthday shirt

 Has it really been two years since Lucy rushed into this world backwards and scared us all to death by refusing to breath on her own?  I guess it has!  And we are so grateful for the priesthood blessing Lucy received, for her miracle turnaround, and for the last two wonderful years with her.

Lucy's birthday cake

 We started Lucy's birthday off a day early with a Luau party at Grandma and Grandpa Grover's house.  All the cousins came, and we had a blast!

Lucy with her cake and presents

The table decorations

The yummy food - Hawaiian haystacks, fruit kabobs and hot dogs!

The Birthday Girl

Stetson is all decked out for the Luau

Lucy's cousin Dodger . . . 

. . . and even her cousin Zach dressed up for the occasion.

Uncle J.J. and Aunt Tamra

Grandpa and Grandma Grover

Lucy loved the fruit kabobs, and didn't mind sharing with Grandpa

Grandpa and Lucy doing the Hula dance!

And there she is with all her presents, getting ready to blow out her candles

The cousins got in on the present opening fun

 Lucy got lots of fun stuff: two balls, lots of books, some fun treats, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, moon dough, balloons, candy, finger paint bath bubbles, new sandals and a sand bucket and shovel - what more could a girl want?

A trike of course!  This cute little trike is from Mommy and Daddy.

 Let them eat cake! What is a birthday party without cake and ice cream?

Zach, Kade and Stetson

Lucy's cousin Aspen really got into her cupcake!

Happy Birthday Lucy Mae!

 On Lucy's real birthday we had a little family party for her to open a few presents.  This really confused Stetson, he is pretty sure she turned two at the first party, and then three at the second party, and pretty soon she will be four just like him!  Ha, ha, it's a good thing they don't grow up THAT fast!

Lucy with her presents on her 2nd birthday

Lucy got this cute wagon, and immediately loaded it with her other birthday gifts and hauled them around.  More sandbox toys, another ball and a blue monkey with super long arms and legs (great for playing ring around the rosie, or "Ashes" as Lucy calls it).

She got this new dress, and had to put it right on, then she did a beautiful dance for us

 And then - two days later - Lucy got a package!  I don't know who was more excited, her or Stetson, but we had to come right home and open it up!

A birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa Black on a mission in Palmyra, New York

 She got some super cute clothes and once again, she had to dance around to show them off!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!

Dancing on Air

Jeanna Grover put together a super cute Spring Dance Review this year!  The theme was "Dancing on Air", and each song was associated with a radio station.  She had inserted fun radio clips between the songs, so we didn't have to stop and start the music, they just went on and off with the radio clips.  It turned out great, and we had a blast!

The Crazy Cloggerz:
Alexis Taylor, Paige Palmer, Emma Ward, Ashlyn Palmer
Jordyn Moon, Madison Palmer, Brittany Grover, Celeste Hillhouse

On the Country Station performing "Hoedown Throwdown"

The Classy Cloggerz:
Brittany Black, Carrie Joslin, McKady Grover, Shaeli Black, Amber Black, Jeanna Grover

On the country station, dancing to "Stuck Like Glue"

An Awesome April

The kids and I were over at my parents house and Kenny drove by, hauling some hay from the Nielson field north of town to our field south of town.  He called ahead to let me know there might be a fun picture opportunity, so we got ready.  And there they go: Kenny, the hay, and the dogs - so funny!

Jasper is on top of the hay and Spot and Boda are down on the truck bed

 It must be branding time, 'cuz we got a big box full of supplies from the UPS man.  Stetson gets so excited about packages, and this one was extra special because it had something in it for the kids . . . packing peanuts!  I know, what a mess!  But these weren't super static-filled, so they weren't too bad.  I left this box out for a few days, and the kids had a blast!  They spent hours playing with the peanuts . . . who needs toys?

Stetson is all packed up and ready to go!

 One of the nights that Kenny was gone on the truck, the kids and I wanted to do something fun.  I had been washing bedding, and had just pulled our big fleece out of the dryer and it was nice and warm.  The kids both wanted to sleep with it, so I suggested a sleep over . . . in the living room . . . all three of us!  We brought out pillows and more fleece blankets, and Stetson even brought up his beanbag chair.  We ate snacks and drank chocolate milk while we all watched Tinkerbell.  The kids fell asleep during the movie and I let them sleep there all night.  It was a long night for mom, but the kids had a blast!

The Black family sleep over

 We were so excited when Aunt Suzie invited us to go to Cottonwood with their family, Aunt Jody and her kids, and Aunt Alicia and her kids.  It was a beautiful, warm day, and we all had tons of fun!  The famous slide in Cottonwood was already occupied, so we kept driving and found a nice little spot just past the first crossing.  Right off, the kids decided they wanted a "pool" to swim in, instead of just wading in the creek.  So they went to work building this dam . . . ingenious!

Enjoying the pool created by the dam

Kade and Stetson

 Lucy fell asleep in the car on the way there, and slept forever!  I was just about to wake her up so that she wouldn't miss out on ALL of the fun, but she woke up on her own.  She didn't waste any time getting in the water, and enjoyed playing with this cup for quite awhile.

Miss Lucy Mae

 And then she found the pool.  The water went up to her chest, and it wasn't super warm, but she didn't care, she got all the way in!  I was reaching for my camera to take a picture when she went under!  Needless to say, we didn't get a picture, but she was okay, and came up with a smile.  I thought that would scare her and she would want to get out - no way!  She stayed in for quite awhile.

Lucy was hungry after her little "swim"

 What is more exciting than a new baby horse!  Kenny got to watch this little filly being born, and was even able to help mamma Chaquita out a little.  This is the first of our colts to be born this year.  All of our mares were bred to our stud, Frosty.

Easter Fun

Well, the Easter Bunny found us this year, and left a trail of eggs to some really cool stuff:

My cute bed-head kids, loading up on candy Easter morning:

Time for church!  Of course we know the real reason we celebrate Easter is to celebrate the Resurrection and the Atonement of our Savior.  What a great opportunity to attend church, partake of the sacrament, and enjoy a wonderful Easter program!  Here is Lucy, sporting her new Easter dress, just before church:

I wish I could take pictures of my kids every Sunday before church . . . they look so adorable!  And it only lasts about 5 minutes!  I let them get some of that excess energy out on the swing set so that church would be a little more peaceful . . . I wish I could say it worked!

We had a wonderful "farewell breakfast" for Kenny's parents, and of course I forgot my camera.  All of his family was there except for Tony and his family.  It was great to see everyone and spend some time together.  Grandma and Grandpa Black will spend the next 6 months in Palmyra, New York, serving a Temple mission.  We are excited for them, but will miss them terribly!  Good thing we are planning a family vacation out there in July!  Yay!!!

After church we headed over to Grandma Grover's house for more festivities.  She had hidden an Easter Surprise for each of the Grandkids, and they had a great time finding them:    

Lucy found hers under Grandma's new window seat!

And Stetson found his in the wood box!

 After that we decorated plastic Easter eggs with foam stickers . . . something new we tried this year, and it turned out to be a lot of fun for the kids.  Then the big kids hid the eggs, and the little kids found them.  It didn't take Lucy long to figure out what she was supposed to do, and she was gathering eggs as fast as she could!

"One for me!"

Just looking for more eggs

Stetson found one in the tree!

"Check this out, mom!"

All the kids after the big Easter egg hunt.

 Thanks guys!  It turned out to be a very fun Easter!