The Beginning of March

My Uncle Glen passed away at the end of February. He is the first of my aunts and uncles to pass on. He was a wonderful man and I feel very grateful to be related to him and his family. Here I am with his wife, my Aunt Carolee.

Several of my relatives came into town for the funeral, including my sister Heather (who lives in Arkansas). I hadn't seen her in almost 2 years, so it was especially fun to see her.

While she was here we ate at Cafe Rio and walked around the Meridian Temple. It was very windy, but beautiful!

I love the Meridian Temple grounds. 

Our kids quickly warmed up to Heather and thought she was pretty great!

The night before the funeral we had a family get together. I got to see so many people I hadn't seen in years. Here I am with four Flake cousins my age: Julia, Tiffany, Anthony, and Laurel.

Dad with four of his favorite grandkids.

Mom with four of her favorite grandkids.

My cute family 

Hanging out with Uncle Lawrence.

Heather wasn't in town for very long, but my kids formed an instant bond with her and were so sad when she had to fly back home.

Our kids: Caleb (2), Abby (4), Leslie (6), and Emily (8).

Caleb had this really cute suit that I bought for him, but he refused to wear it. It's a miracle we got those pants and that shirt on him!

Spring is on its way!

The Burr Bunch

Last Monday we registered Abby for Kindergarten. Can you believe I'll have 3 kids in public school next year??

She's growing up too fast!

Yesterday we took our kids on a walk along the Boise River.

We saw tons of geese, which are now Caleb's favorite animal!

Our two kids who were born in Las Vegas: Emily and Leslie.

They loved throwing rocks in the water.

Emily Mazel

Having fun climbing trees

Emily and Caleb

After we finished the walk, we had a great time playing at the park.

All smiles!

February Fun

Emily and Leslie started another swim class at the YMCA at the beginning of this month. Abby and Caleb look at books, color, and play on this dragon slide while we wait for them to finish. I'm glad they are good friends.

The weather was so nice at the beginning of February. I took the kids to the park and they rode their bikes outside. I kept saying, "This winter has been so mild!"

Then on February 12 we got 9 inches of snow!

We made snow trenches and tunnels. We finally got our snowstorm!

Everyone was so happy...except for Caleb! 

Emily and Leslie didn't get to bring in valentines for their classmates this year because of Covid. We decided to have our own little party at home on Friday. We bought a yummy heart shaped pizza from Papa John's for dinner.

I helped the kids make a Valentine craft. Can you tell which one is Caleb's??

We made valentine boxes and gave each other valentines. Then we played a valentine matching game and watched "Cinderella". It turned out to be a pretty fun Valentine's Day!

On Saturday Greg and I celebrated Valentine's Day. We put on a movie for the kids and had a nice dinner date together at home. He made us a delicious chicken cordon bleu dinner. He was nice enough to watch a Hallmark movie with me too. What a guy!

On Monday we made heart shaped sugar cookies. All of our kids love helping Greg bake. He is such a patient dad!

I think this is such a cute sisters picture. Can you believe that I bought those 3 dresses for $14!! Sisters make the best friends!

Caleb is only 2.5 years old, but says he is done with naps. He says he hates naps! Every once in a while I find him on the couch like this, typically right before dinner! He is so precious!

Caleb wearing Leslie's glasses.

Me with my people (Emily was at school).

One night before I went to bed, I found this little note on my bedroom door. It was written in Emily's handwriting. I thought she was trying to tell me something, so they next day I asked her about it. Turns out it was for one of her school assignments. I decided to keep it on my door because it's a good reminder.

On Saturday we took our kids to a trampoline park. They had a blast!

Even THIS guy had a great time!

Morning snuggles are the best!

February 2021

Our kids love to come lay on our bed right when they wake up in the morning. Sometimes there are a lot of people all cuddled up together on our bed, but I do love this tradition.

Last Friday we signed our family up for Family Swim Night at Goldfish Swim School. It was so much fun! Emily and Leslie have been taking swim lessons the last few months and we were all so impressed with how much they have progressed. 

Sometimes Caleb feels left out when all of his sisters have bike helmets and he doesn't. So, he just put Emily's on!

This is what happens when you have three older sisters...

Abby was selected as the Student of the Month at her Preschool. We had a lot of fun filling out her poster.

She loves riding her bike. We haven't gotten much snow this winter, so our kids can ride their bikes in February!

Leslie's Kindergarten teacher was on Maternity Leave from October-January, so she had a substitute teacher for 3 months. She really loved her substitute and was very sad to say good bye to Mrs. Cahill.

Sometimes Leslie brings home the most adorable assignments from school. In this picture she was supposed to draw one thing that is special and unique about you. She drew herself playing with Abby and Caleb. So sweet!

3rd grade has been an interesting year for Emily, with most of the school year on the computer. She has become a really good reader this year and has been able to let so much of her creativity out. She always as some project that she is working on. There is always a mess wherever she goes, but at least she isn't bored!

She was very proud of this Barbie outfit she made entirely out of ribbon.

Last weekend we went over to a friend's house for dinner and games. The kids put on a little play on for the adults, and while they were doing it, a lamp fell on Emily's head. She started bleeding quite a bit, but thankfully we got her all cleaned up and there was only a tiny cut.

She was a big girl and hardly even cried!

A few days later, my sister-in-law was in a bad skiing accident and broke her collar bone. We went over to see her when she was done with sugery.

We're so happy she is okay!

January 2021

The last time I ate dessert was on New Year's Eve 2020. I tried to recreate a cookie that my sister, Bethany, ate at Cutler's Cookies. It was very good but, I haven't eaten dessert for 24 days!

Our little Abby started Preschool on January 4. I was able to find a great lady who taught Preschool out of her home close to our home. Everything fell into place and Abby is still so happy every time that she gets to go.

On January 8 Emily finished reading The Book of Mormon for the first time. Last January she made the goal to finish it and it took her just over a year to do it. We are so proud of her!

Emily's cute school ID card.

Leslie turned 6 on the 19th. She had been looking forward to it for weeks because it was also the first day back to in-person school since Thanksgiving. Unfortunately she had a fever and had to get tested for Covid on her birthday, but she was a brave girl and kept a smile on her face! We said a lot of prayers that day and thankfully her test came back negative.

She got everything a little girl could want: a Fancy Nancy book, nail polish, a princess crown, a coloring book, a new shirt, a game, a toy unicorn, mermaids, and a Barbie (technically a Ken doll). 

Complete with her favorite spaghetti meal with chocolate cake for dessert.

The most adorable 6-year-old around!

It's cute that he's still a momma's boy. I'm sure he'll grow out of it, but right now it's pretty sweet!

He loves to cuddle and give hugs. 

Greg grew up in Atlanta, so he is a big Braves fan. This Christmas I bought them matching shirts.

I sure love my boys!

Last Saturday we took our kids to the Aquarium of Boise. They all really enjoyed it!

Yesterday we took our kids to the Children's Museum of Idaho. They really liked making felt pizzas, playing at the store, and being vets. We were there for almost three hours, but they could have stayed for a lot longer!

Everyone loves giving Greg hugs at bedtime. Here are our kids all in line eagerly waiting their turns.