Grandma Hodges' Funeral

Ryan's grandma Hodges passed away on April 25th. Which was Ryan's dad's mom. We were very close with her and loved visiting her and being with her. We were shocked to here of her passing, as she had just moved from Utah to Pocatello about 3 weeks before and Ryan and I had planned to visit her the next time we went to visit my parents in Pocatello. She was only a few miles from their house. So when we got the call saying that the nurses found her in her room laying on the floor, we were pretty devastated. The whole family took it pretty hard. But we know she is with Grandpa and with our son Ethan. The funeral was beautiful. Probably the best funeral I have been too. Ryan sang a solo, "How Great Thou Art." It was amazing!! It was so fun to hear about grandma and her life. She impacted so many people. Here is a picture I found of Grandma riding a bike, and also of her and grandpa and their kids, Wendy, Marv, Margene, and Dennis. The whole chapel, and most of the gym were full of those that came to pay their respects. Here are a tone of pictures we took during that weekend with our family.  

Morins + Krista+ BSU= A great weekend!

The BSU football team was having their Spring Game and Ryan was given a free ticket to it from someone in our ward. So we decided to make to take a family trip over to Boise and watch the game with the girls. They have never been to the BSU stadium and tickets were a good price so we thought what the heck, let's go! We stayed with our good friends, Joanna and Nate Morin and their 4 cute kids!

Our kids get along so well together. It's so nice and refreshing to see that. As kids in the neighborhood they don't click as well with. The first night we bought pizza for dinner for everyone. Thank you Nate and Joanna for letting us crash your place on such short notice! Love you guys!

Nate and Joanna needed to still burn their Christmas tree. So when it went up in a flame of fire all my girls yelled and ran away from it! haha. 

Playing up on the bunk bed making up silly songs and games. Coloring and drawing pictures. Kade their oldest, is an amazing artist! And Madisen is becoming a little artist herself lately. It's been fun to see her exploring that part of her talents and drawing so much. 

Besties! In order from oldest to youngest. Missing their newborn baby, Kara.

Too cute!!

Go Boise State!!

Joanna and I

After visiting with the Morins for a day I met up with one of my best friends from High School, Krista and meet her adorable newborn baby, Lila. She has now 3 kids all under the age of 3! So fun and yet, so crazy! She is such a great mom and I was so excited to see her and visit with her and her family- who I adore! Thanks Krista for letting me hold Lila. You look so beautiful too, Krista! Love you!

Onto the BSU spring game. It was a pretty nice day out and before the game started we went across the street and ate out at Chili's restaurant. I think the girls had a pretty good time at the game seeing the football players. They have always enjoyed sitting with dad and watching the game together. They really get into it sometimes. Afterwards we went out for icecream and made the long 2 hour ;) drive back home.

Conference Weekend

My parents came over Conference weekend to hang out with us and watch conference. Conference was wonderful. I really enjoyed all the talks this session....I guess I usually do but something about this session was special and I found some answers to things that I had been pondering and I am grateful for that. 

The girls always loving seeing any one of their grandma's and grandpa's. We played a lot of Rook. We also tasted different kinds of Apples to make apple pie. And we all voted on which Apples we liked the best. The 1st place apple was the Granny Smith apple. Second place was the Red Delicious. And in third place was the Gala apple. Thanks for coming and hanging out with us Mom and Dad!

Cooper Boy

We have had our puppy Cooper since December 13th when my parents brought him to us from Pocatello. My sister, Celeste got Cooper and had him for a month or so before getting caught by her landlords and was forced to give him away. Ryan and I have been talking about getting a dog for a few years now, so we thought let's try it out. Cooper was a very good dog, and he is very cute. BUT with him still being a puppy, he needed lots of attention and it was very difficult for me. I am not a dog lover and I really tried to have a house dog for my husband and my kids. But it just got to be too much for me. I was the one who was home with him all day and I just couldn't play with him like he needed me to. He seemed lonely and even when the girls got home from school they ran off to do other things and didn't really give him the attention he needed and deserved. Plus Ryan and I were waking up 2-3 times a night for 4 months to take him potty. I wasn't used to losing so much sleep! So I was a little agitated some days because of that. And even when we took him potty he would still pee on our kitchen floor or leave a "present" for us in the living room 3-4 times a week. He knows to go outside but if we weren't aware that he was waiting by the back door to take him, my poor garbage can in the kitchen is where he would do his business. And I found out he sure likes to chew up things too! I found that out right away after several pillows were destroyed. Ahh!

 The worse part was Ryan and I were arguing over him more and more. We didn't like that Cooper was coming between us. It just wasn't worth it. So we decided we needed to find a new home for Cooper. The girls were pretty sad about giving him away, and I felt horrible for a few weeks. I even went back on my decision and decided to keep him regardless of my feelings or frustrations with him, but then after stepping in his pee for the 5th time, I would be in a rage all over again and later came the tears!

 I was done.

Sorry girls.

 Sorry Ryan.

How about we get a fish? Eh?

Actually when I mentioned getting a fish and a few water frogs, they were all cheers and smiles.

 YES. They liked Cooper a whole lot and played with him sometimes, but I am grateful they weren't completely attached to him as I thought they were. So it was an easier transition to make then I thought it was going to be. We found a great home for Cooper and I know he is going to be much happier in his new home. The lady that bought him has 3 other dogs and Cooper was playing with them instantly! She said she tends to spoil her pets. Well that is great! He will love being spoiled.