Our favorite 5 Year Old!

We just celebrated Emma's 5Th birthday and it was such a fun day for all of us. Emma woke up and ran into to wake us up and let us know that she's 5 now and that she's old enough to go to school and to play in the 5 year old group...whatever that means. We laid out all of her presents the night before, but in her excitement to remind us how old she was, she didn't even see them when she jumped out of bed. The first thing she said after the birthday announcement is, "Where's all my presents??" So we pointed her back to her room and Nick got up and snapped some pictures of her. I can't believe how much my little Emma Jean has grown up and I have to admit, I love it! I'm only a little bit sad that my toe head baby is growing up too fast.
Does she look like anyone you know? Maybe her baby sister?

Emma's such a fun girl and has such a great personality. She's a loving, caring, and happy person and she's a fantastic big sister. She loves helping Maggie and playing with her. I'm so grateful for my Emma Beans and what a sweet little girl she is. Even though we have our days, I hope she always knows how much Nick and I love and adore her. My little drama queen...what would we do without her?? Love you Emma Jeanie who eats zucchini!

For Nick

Nick & I Nick & Emma Nick & Maggie


Here's a post to the Man of our family. The one and only man, unfortunately for him. He's such a wonderful husband and a sweet daddy. He might try to act tough, but when it comes to our girls, he's a tender and loving person. When the garage opens at 7:00 both of our girls start screaming and yelling in excitement. They look forward to Dad coming home. And truth be told, every time the garage opens or closes they start screaming for dad. He & Emma have had so much fun making up games and teaching them to Maggie now that she's getting old enough to play. The usually include chase, Emma hides and Dad finds and chases her. This generally ends in our bedroom tickling Emma. Catch, where dad sits at the bottom of the stairs and Emma sits at the top and they throw the ball back and forth. The girls love it.
These pictures of Emma and Nick are so dang funny. The second picture needs explaining. They decided that they would count to 3 and both lean down and sneeze in the water at the same time. A silly game but Emma thought it was hilarious. Usually dad's sneezes lasted longest and Emma busted up laughing. So cute! This is how Nick is everyday with our girls. He's silly and tender and their best buddy. I love watching him play sports, games or video games with the girls. They all usually end up laughing cause he's being so silly. So here it is, an Ode to our Dad. He's a great man and a great husband. I feel so lucky to have someone so amazing in my life and for my girls. Love you Nick!

Hogle zoo

On Monday April 28th we got to go to the zoo for Emma's monthly preschool field trip. Aunt Mari and Aunt Jerrica went with us. We had so much fun! We got to see so many fun animals. We got to see baby spider monkeys, Maggie had lots of fun imitating the monkeys. Emma had fun running around with her preschool friends and her aunts. Maggie walked almost the whole time, fortunately we got her a little harness to wear that looks like a dog backpack. She was in heaven! She loved seeing everything and taking it all in. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to post. I forgot my camera, duh Amy! But my neighbor, Amy Colbert was kind enough to take some for me, she'll e-mail them to me later. There aren't a whole lot of highlights, except for the tiger. When we were looking at the tiger he started to talk. It was so cute, he went on for a couple minutes. It was so soft you couldn't hear it if you were talking. But we all stopped and listened to him. It was really cool. After the tiger we took a break for lunch...mmm...peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. After that we headed back to the front and visited the gift shop, then left for home. We were only there for about 2 hours, which was perfect, Maggie was exhausted on the way out. Her little body was just worn out. But she did so good. Overall it was a good trip and the girls learned a lot about the animals.

Catching up....

You might have thought that the Powell's have left the blogging scene due to our lack of posts. But that's not the case. It just seems that life has been crazy along with a few problems with the Internet. But alas....we are not gone! In fact, I have lots of posts to catch up on. About a month ago we went down to St. George yet again, that's the only place we know to vacation at. We went down with the Ruttenbur family and truly relaxed. It was very nice and the weather was very nice as well. We left on Wednesday night and unfortunately hit some bad weather in Beaver. The roads were just ice and two semi's got in an accident and had the freeway shut down. So we sat on the road for about 20 minutes and Nick decided to get out and talk to the semi drivers to get a status update (they have CB radios and were talking to others closer to the accident). He got out of the car and almost slipped and fell right there, it was that bad. We got a status update and let the other drivers around us know and then waited about another 40 minutes. Our girls were so good! We were there for so long but they didn't whine or fuss at all. But we got going and finally got to St George. The Ruttenburs showed up on Thursday night. Friday we went to Zions and did a couple of little hikes, again, the girls were all so good and they had a lot of fun. Anna, Lena, Emma and Kylee

Our only mishap was Maggie tripped and face planted in a puddle of mud. I wish we'd have grabbed the camera! It was sad but so funny. Poor Mags. Zions took up most of Friday so we headed back home and got some grub and just hung out. Saturday we decided to go to the park and the weather was so nice! It was sunny and warm. All of the girls had a lot of fun playing on the playground, blowing bubbles and running races. They raced each other two at a time. First Lena and Kylee, then Emma and Lena, then Emma and Kylee. Anna didn't have anyone to race so her dad was good enough to race her and let her win. It was cute. I'm sure her mom, Sowako, would have raced if she wasn't 8 months pregnant. This is Lena and Kylee racing

We spent all day Saturday playing and enjoying the sun. Sunday we packed up and went home. It was a short vacation, but still a lot of fun. Thanks to the Ruttenburs for entertaining us.

The Meanest Mom Ever

Okay, who knew Hannah Montana could cause so many problems. I'll explain... Emma, Maggie and myself go shopping for Emma's summer clothes, she has very little and needs a lot more. So we go to target and then head over to Kohl's. They always have lots of cute skirts and I've been informed that she won't wear any shorts, just "skirts that twirl and cute dresses." So we go to the little girls section and find skirts and some jammies. Unfortunately, she also saw the purses. Now anyone who knows Emma knows she loves purses. She sees this Hannah Montana purse and "just has to have it!" I told her no...wow...wrong answer! She flipped out. Screaming and crying and making a scene. I had to keep telling myself "I love my girls, I love being a mom." She sits down and tells me she won't leave until she gets it. So I pick her up and Maggie starts crying and trying to dive out of the cart. I told her we wouldn't buy anything and we leave. I had to literally drag her out of the store. It finally started to hurt so she stood up. We get to the car and she tells me I'm the meanest mom ever! You know, I can handle that. So we have a good chat. I ask her, "Why do you need another purse?" Emma: "It has a fun arm handle thingy!" Mom: "How many purses do you have right now?" Emma: "12." 12!! For a 4 year old I think that's plenty. So she tells me that she wants a new family and she's leaving the house. So I ask her where is she going..."To Grandma and Grandpa Powell's! They'll buy my whatever I want!" I laughed so hard, that's funny! She needs to ask her dad about that. Anyway, I tell her I'm going back in to buy the skirts and she needs to wait in the car. Her response..."FINE!!! But then you take me to live at Grandma's!!!" She actually did calm down and realized how silly it was to flip out like that. We had a really good chat about how she acts and how it affects her and me. I assured her because of the way she acted she'll never get that purse. Again, I was told I'm the meanest mom ever. But that line actually makes me feel good. I must be doing something right if she thinks I'm horrible right??

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday was no doubt, lots of fun. Nick was sick, so I was flying solo at church with the girls. I think they were a little antsy because the Easter Bunny hadn't come yet. He decided that it's best for him to come after church to we don't have to fight over taking any candy or toys with us. We reminded Emma all day Sunday and a couple days before that Easter isn't about the easter bunny, candy or easter egg hunts, it's about the Resurrection and the life of Jesus Christ. She was very good to remember and to listen. Maggie is still too young to get it. She just loves the suckers in her easter basket. Hence the reason her mouth is all blue. Love those blue suckers!! We were able to enjoy a little time together as a family and then my parents, Mari & her room mate Rebecca, Grandma Holyoak, and of course Cole, came over for dinner. Aly was on Choir Tour in California and we missed her a whole lot, that's why we invited Cole, to have a little piece of Aly with us (that's her man). Grandma & Grandpa Cook came with a few more gifts for the family, books for the girls & Enchanted! Nick and I got a FHE box. My smart mom knows me all too well. I always need help there. I made pumpkin rice soup, nobody was too sure about it at first, but they all liked it and there wasn't a single drop left over. Even Cole, the pumpkin-anything-hater enjoyed it. We played some games and tried to eat dessert, but no doubt, I screwed it up. It was an eclair type dessert w/vanilla pudding, but I bought the wrong kind...the cook & serve, not the instant....my bad. Oh well, we had enough candy to fill up every one's sugar needs. But most importantly, we got to spend time together as a family and remember the great importance of Easter & the sacrifice made for us to be an eternal family and return to our Father in Heaven and Savior. Hope you all enjoyed your day!

Easter Egg Hunt

We usually do the Easter Egg Hunt at our house, so we did this year again. We thought it would be a miserable day, but the weather worked out perfectly. We had my brother Chris' kids (Garrett, Keaton, Maysen & Jaycie), my girls, & our sister in law Kelly's (Garrett & Averie). Aunt Mari, Uncle James & Aunt Jerrica came to supervise the events as well as Grandma & Grandpa Cook, Grandma & Grandpa Powell & Grandma Holyoak. Maysen, Garrett C, Averie, Garrett P, Jaycie, Chris, Emma, Keaton & Maggie (left to right)

Maggie's favorite part, no doubt, all of the candy. Notice a sucker in each hand!

Emma with her stash of eggs & candy.

Maggie got first dibs on the front yard, she made out pretty good.

We also do a money egg. Usually there's a quarter or a dollar for each kid. Well I have to say all of the kids made bank this year. Uncle James & Aunt Jerrica brought a $2 bill for every kid. Grandma & Grandpa Cook did 18 money eggs, 9 $1 & 9 50Cent eggs. Grandma & Grandpa Powell also threw in a dollar for each kid. No doubt they loved the extra money. If you notice in the first picture, Garrett P is holding up his money. He was the most excited. It was so fun to have everyone over and to be able to enjoy each other's company. We all hung out for a while and just enjoyed the nice day.