Lately...

Here's a few pictures and updates of the past few months:

• We are adjusting well to being a family of five. Now that Ava's sleeping through the night it seems like we're getting into a groove again. I'm learning to simplify, say "no", and carefully prioritize so that I can give the best to the people who matter most to me. Like my wise friend Sara once mentioned, "I don't have to be the best at everything or even to everyone. I just have to be the best mom and the best me I can be."

• Lately I've been trying to give each of my children 15 minutes of one-on-one, undivided attention, twice daily.  Sounds easy, right? But I'm finding I really have to work to make it happen.

• Matt's in the final stretch of his third year of residency. He's been busy with work, chief responsibilities, moonlighting, auditing classes, fulfilling church responsibilities, and preparing to apply to fellowship programs. We'll all be glad when things slow down a bit for him.

St. Patrick's Day

Ava in her festive green. Skylie was very concerned about getting pinched on St. Patty's Day.

Matt's Birthday
Matt was at a conference all day and night of his birthday. We met up for lunch downtown, though, and afterward the girls and I decked out Matt's car. Skylie and Kaitlyn seemed ecstatic to keep a secret and surprise Daddy.


My memory is fading, but I'm pretty sure Matt and I (and Ava) had a date night in March to celebrate his birthday and get him some dress clothes.

Easter Highlights
Youth temple trip (for me)
YMCA Egg Hunt on Saturday (Matt took the girls, solo)
Finding Easter baskets and eggs on Sunday
Sunday dinner with Dave and Jenny's family

Painting, Painting, Painting...

While Matt was out of town one weekend our bedroom transformed in the wee hours of the night from this:

...to this. 

It took me months to find bedding I liked and even longer to nail down the shade of gray I envisioned. Our bed is the first new piece of furniture we've bought in 8 1/2 years of marriage. And it is oh so comfy! Good things are definitely worth the wait, in my book. When Matt says "I love you" at night I often reply with "I love this bed." 

In April I painted the master bedroom and bathroom, Ava's room, and I repainted the upstairs bath. Pretty sure I was a little crazy to take that on with a two month old. :) But I think* I'm finally done with all the painting projects in our house. Matt, I'm pretty sure, is just glad he's not being woken up at 3 a.m. to the sounds of me taping and painting.

Ava's Blessing in Kansas City
Our niece, Addy got baptized in May so we made the trip to Kansas City for her special day. While there, Matt blessed Ava. My dad, Matt's dad, and Matt's brother, Layne, participated in the blessing.

Ava was blessed that she will:

• Be a conduit for the Spirit for our family
• Learn from her sisters and help them be the best they can be
• Have the Spirit with her
• Grow spiritually, physically, and be mentally strong
• Have a testimony of the Gospel 
• Work toward making covenants, being sealed in the temple as an eternal family, and returning to her Heavenly Father
• Be an example to others

Visitors

We've loved getting to see lots of family and a few long-time friends this past month: Layne and Becky's family; Matt's parents; my parents; my brother, Lee; and we even saw one of my friends from high school (Peter) and his family. It was great to see everyone, but it does make me wish we could be closer to "home"--family and all things familiar. Maybe someday... For now I'm excited to be in Utah for a bit this summer. :)

December Recap

December is already a blur. With Thanksgiving so late in November, the Christmas Season seems like it came and went so fast! I felt a little jipped.

Matt's parents came to visit for a few days in December. Kaitlyn and Skylie relished the attention. We visited Garfield Park Conservatory, the Lilly House, and the surrounding grounds outside the Indiana Museum of Art. We also saw Santa and Mrs. Claus at the nearby library. I'm kicking myself for not getting any pictures of the kids with Nana and Papa.

Hiking outside the the art museum

Hiking outside the art museum

Visiting Santa at the library. Skylie bravely told the jolly red elf she wanted a trampoline for Christmas.

The kids and I visited the Children's Museum a time or two.

As a family we checked out the holiday lights and ate frozen yogurt downtown. This is one of my favorite holiday traditions.

Matt and I opted for a low-key Christmas Eve and Day. Two families joined us for Christmas Eve Dinner. I'd said I'd come up with some holiday activities for the kids to do. It ended up that they watched the Nativity movie put out by our church. (I am just that cool and creative these days.)

Early Christmas morning Skylie burst into our room exclaiming that Santa had come and had brought two great big presents. We made her wait for over an hour for Kaitlyn to wake up before we began opening gifts. The suspense about killed her!

Each year I claim that the kids are only getting "one or two things and that's it!" But somehow by Christmas morning the amount of presents under the tree explodes--thanks to grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins who spoil these girls.

It took our family three-and-a-half hours to open presents! Even though everyone got a somewhat modest amount of gifts (about eight each) the girls loved taking their time opening presents and playing with the loot. It was so, so fun, and I definitely recommend taking that approach if your kids will allow.

Camelot Jr. game. I highly recommend this game. It's puzzles increase in difficulty so that even older kids are challenged. One night after the kids were in bed Matt and I tried to do some of the "expert level" puzzles. We weren't successful!

Kaitlyn loves her shopping cart. For some reason, I adore the look Kaitlyn's giving Matt in this picture.

My brother, who has no children of his own, is surprisingly good at giving gifts to my kids. Both Skylie and Kaitlyn love this flower building kit.

Santa granted Skylie's wish.

Matt and I gave the kids art supplies--washable paints, a few wooden and ceramic toys to paint, markers, and construction paper. They may have loved the $1 birdhouses as much as they loved the trampoline. Both painted birdhouses are hanging in our tree now, and Skylie says "maybe it can be a bug house because it's too little for birdies".

Later in the afternoon Matt took us to see the movie, Frozen. So cute!

When Matt and I got our Christmas tree this year I told him that the day we set up the Christmas Tree may be my favorite day all year long. To me, decorating the tree kicks off the holiday season and fills me with anticipation of all the fun that's coming.  But I've changed my mind. Christmas day is definitely the best!

Hope you had a great day, too!

Canada Vacation

Pitcher Family Reunion

August 9-13, 2012

Payne Lake Lodge

Cardston, Alberta, Canada

In August, Matt's family went back to their roots--Cardston, Alberta, Canada--for a family reunion. Me and Matt and our kids flew into Salt Lake late Wednesday night and caravaned with his parents and sister up to northern Montana on Thursday. We met up with Layne, Ginny, and their families on Friday morning and began the reunion. The entire gang stayed at Payne Lake Lodge, and we spent most of our time at Glacier and Waterton National Parks.

Kaitlyn

Skylie on the car ride to Canada

Sky, Matt, and Kaitlyn at breakfast

Kaitlyn's Great-Grandpa Cahoon

Kaitlyn's Great-Grandma Cahoon
I am kicking myself for not getting pictures of Skylie with her grandparents and great-grandparents

Great-Grandma Pitcher

Papa, Braylie, and Skylie hiking Bear's Hump in Waterton National Park. Skylie hiked nearly every step of it all by herself.

Our gang atop Bear's Hump

Matt and Skylie on Bear's Hump overlooking Waterton

Sky, Addy, Ben, and Brayden during the picnic before hiking at Grinnell

Skylie and Braylie

Our family on the boat ride before hiking to Grinnell Lake in Glacier National Park

Matt with a a mustache? Maybe?

Perhaps the entire family could pull it off.

Skylie and Braylie at Grinnell Lake. These two became fast friends, and Sky still talks about her cousin often.

At Grinnell Lake--one of the prettiest places I've seen.

Our family with Grandma and Grandpa Cahoon at Grinnell Lake Lodge. Despite their age they hiked right along with us.

Matt's cousin, Kenny, graciously agreed to take the entire family boating Monday evening. Nana stayed home with Kaitlyn, so we got to spend some one-on-one time with Sky.

Matt, Tyler, and Layne had a wild ride on the tube.

Eventually Kenny succeeded in sending them overboard.

Laura and I enjoyed a much more mild ride with the little girls.

See Skylie grinning ear-to-ear? She was in heaven. (I remember when I was young my friend, Heather, would invite me to go boating with her family. Heather and I would go on the tube together, and I'd always be signaling a thumbs up sign to "Go faster! Go faster!") I think we've got another little dare devil--or two--on our hands.

Braylie, Skylie, Kohen, and Kael playing in the sand while some when boating  for one last ride at dusk.

A few highlights I want to remember are:

• Swimming and dining in Montana
• Talks with Matt's mom and dad on the car ride to Canada
• Hiking--a lot. Bear's Hump in Waterton and the Grinnell Lake Trail in Glacier are a few hikes I can recall
• All the quarters Nana and Papa gave the grandkids for finding cool stuff on the hikes (or for any other reason Nana could think of)
• Playing Minute-to-Win-It
• Picking berries 
• Braylie and Skylie watching movies in Brad and Laura's van
• Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Cahoon's
• Searching for golden rocks
• The candy store in Waterton
• All the time and efforts Matt parents put into making this reunion run smoothly
• Boating with Kenny
• How loopy and funny Skylie became when she got so, so tired
• How sad I felt to leave. I had to fight back a tear or two. It is always hard leaving when I know it will probably be a year--or more--before we see family again.