Dad's birthday

For dad's birthday, the kids drew him pictures, and brought photographs and candles.  We lit them, sang to him, and blew them out.  A month later, when we went back to his grave, the candles were still there!!  We sure do miss him. Every time we go to his grave, we take turns telling stories about dad, singing songs, and inspecting all the neat things people leave for their loved ones.  I'm not sure if I feel closer to dad when we're there because I don't really think he's there, but it's a wonderful opportunity to put all our thoughts on him and try to retain the few memories our kids still have.  Though Argenta didn't get to spend her earthly life with him, I hope that he memories will be created through us remembering him always.  Happy birthday dad!!

Hike

We went on a little spring break petroglyph hike with our dear friends. JR was amazing and carried Argenta most of the way.  We had a great time getting out of town for a bit, friends for all, and healthy air! At the very end, Kolton was getting tired and Janet and I looked back just in time to see Kinlee giving him a piggy back ride.  It was so sweet!! We have been blessed in the friend department!!

Kids, kids, kids!

All the hanging out pictures of the month made it into this post, so there are a lot of pictures.  As shown, we had lots of playdates in April, hair dye, movies, costumes, cousins, sibling play, outside play, rain, and hammocks.

• Argenta now has 8 teeth with several on the way!
• She LOVES her babies and carries them around the house, patting their backs or pushing them in their strollers saying, "hi baby, hi baby," in her sweet, high-pitched voice.  
• She is obsessed with the outside and simply will not tolerate anybody going out there without her. Fortunately, she will finally let us put shoes on her feet, so that makes it easier for her to get around out there.  Still, she eats a lot of dirt, chalk, and sticks.  Hopefully her passion for the outdoors won't lead us to poison control.  
• She loves to be tickled, and they kids love to tickle her!
• She thinks that Kolton is the funniest kid she's ever met, and she beats up on him all the time.  He lets her.
• She thinks Xiana is supposed to be with her at all times, even when Xiana is trying to block her out of her room because she's making rubber band bracelets. Xiana usually agrees.
• She is thrilled when Ekco comes and never forgets her even though Ekco is often afraid she will.

• Xiana went from a level 6 (reading) to a level 22! I think that is largely due to us reading the Book of Mormon as a family at night.  She's loving to read and immersing herself in her very own chapter books. It's so exciting!
• She is taking ballet classes and LOVING them! She's so naturally graceful and has a wonderful teacher.
• She is also taking piano lessons from my mom.  Mom is so generous to give her time for free.  She also pays Xiana $1 ever lesson she has that she practiced 6 times that week.  So, essentially, my mom is paying Xiana to give her piano lessons for free. Talk about a jackpot!
• Xiana and I joined the church choir at her request.  She's learning the hymns and truly sings like an angel! Plus, it's been fun for me!
• She has a lot of friends, and she's learning a lot of big lessons this year about kindness and inclusion. I am proud of her for making sure that friends are included, even when it's hard.  
• She's getting excited about turning 8 already this year.  She can't wait to be baptized. It is such an exciting time.  
• She surprises me daily with things she knows or understands in a new way.

• Kolton is a fearless superhero pretty much all the time! 
• He got to go on a special daddy son date (another post later) where he had a blast.
• He truly is so wonderful with Argenta. He is her little buddy all day while Xiana is at school. He smothers her with kisses, wrestles her, and helps keep her safe.
• While at a friend's house he laughingly came into the room saying, "haha I scared her out of the craps!"
• He is learning his letters all by himself (since I never help him) and knows how to write his name and can identify and write most of the alphabet.  
• Like Xiana, he's incredible at memorizing songs.  His current favorite is "Dirt."
• When breakdancing in the living room he asked me, "mom, aren't you proud that I got new moves?"
• He told me the other day that he needed a drink of water. I went to get him one, and he protested saying, "I want some of that man water" while pointing at Brian's water bottle.  Funny kid!
• At Costco a woman came up and commented on how pretty my kids were! I looked over to see Kolton crying.  "She said I'm pretty mommy.  I'm not a girl! I'm handsome!"
• He's at such a fun age of making sense of the world. He just gave his first talk in primary which he dictated and I typed. It's darling to see how his brain connects things.

All in all, we are blessed!!!