Happy Easter

 This is a couple of shots that were taken before the kids saw everything.

Sleepy head kids coming out to their Easter Surprise. 

Josh finally emerges from bed

This is the best I got of the 4 of them.I couldn't add any more pictures from Easter because all the other pictures had at least one kids in their underwear. So this was the only decent ones that I had. 

Easter was a very low key even at our place this year. I kept it small and simple. I found this great idea on pinterest to get them each a puzzle then put them in the plastic eggs instead of candy. So, I had that all planned out well, the night before Easter I sit down to insert the pieces into the eggs.Guess what? Most are too big to fit into the plastic eggs. Now, I'm thinking crap what do I do now. I had all the eggs separated into colors because each kid was being assigned a certain color eggs. I found some loose change and added that into them, then I came up with some coupon vouchers to be redeemed and sorted thru the puzzles to find any tiny pieces that would work. I eventually came up with a good amount for each of them. But what was gonna be a quick simple night turned out to be a late night. Oh, well, that's what comes with parenthood.

We tried watching General Conference but our Internet kept going in and out. Once we streamed it thru YouTube we were good. But that was like the last hour. And the kids weren't really being all to quiet for me to hear. So, I didn't get much. And I just have to add, that Audrey was in the tub for an entire session of conference. A whole two hours she was in the water. I kept asking if she wanted out and she'd say no. So, I add that just for my memory cause it makes me laugh.

We had a good Easter. We hope you all did too!

Josh turns 9

Getting ready to open his present that he already knew what it was.

The boys are already hard at work putting Benny's spaceship together

All that Josh wanted for his birthday this year was Legos and he chose to get one big set and have us use all our budget on that one set. He was so happy to get his Benny's Spaceship, it's from the Lego movie. They have collected most of the entire collection of that line. This boy is obsessed with Legos. He plays with them all day and even at bedtime when it's supposed to be lights out. Legos are all over in the car and every room in the apartment. He is working on becoming a master builder.

That is his super cheesy happy face. Not my greatest cake but it tasted great.

Getting some attitude from him

A super excited-giddy boy

I wanna eat this right now face

In the process of blowing the candle out. 

And this is how Josh eats all the time. He likes to use his hands. He's a messy eater. 

It was a quiet birthday celebration for us on his actual birthday. It was just mom, Nate, Colton and Audrey that celebrated with him. However, he did get a birthday celebration when we were in Utah. I'm not sure if I got any pictures of his birthday up there. And if I did then it's on Nate's camera and we can't find his usb cable. He got to pick his dinner, which he chose fish sticks and  macaroni and cheese. Not the most appealing of dinners to me but that's what he chose and he loved it. In Utah he chose hamburgers and instead of a cake he chose homemade donuts. That was a much better meal.  He has kind of a picky palate. He loves corn on the cob but refuses to eat cut off corn, doesn't like peas, carrots, broccoli, basically most vegetables besides green beans. And only if the green beans have been from Grandpas garden. If they are store bought he won't eat them. And as far as fruit goes, he'll do bananas and strawberries dipped in sugar and apples that are peeled and sliced. That's it. He doesn't like fruit either. It's kind of ridiculous. But he loves meats and macaroni and cheese.

He has grown a lot academically this year in 3rd grade. His reading has improved several levels and his math skills are really good. His teacher calls him her little sweat heart and cutie. I'm glad he's so good at school because at home he's kind of a teaser and is mischievous. He loves to torment his siblings. He just likes to say things to get them riled up, he's mostly just full of harmless chatter.And really, I shouldn't be surprised how loud this kid can be. It started from birth of him being loud and crying a lot when he wasn't getting his way. On a side note, he hated being in the car seat and cried most of the time when we moved from California to Utah and that was a two day trip. He only  stopped when he was absolutely exhausted from his crying and fell asleep. Another time he cried the entire two/three hour drive up to Bear Lake Idaho.He likes to be heard.  

He's looking forward to moving to Alaska for all the snow. He's way excited that we'll have lots of snow to play in. He also needs some space to be outside and explore. Being crammed into a two bedroom apartment has not been easy for Josh. He loves the outdoors and wants to be outside. But Mom is too nervous of all the unknown people living in the complex to let them be outside for long. Plus there really is not a good place for them to play. It's gonna be so good to have a yard again especially for him.

Josh is a good boy. He is full of himself right now. But I figure it's all a stage. We are glad that we have him in our home. There are so many times when I see his father in him, it's kind of scary. He really should've been name Joshua Scott Fritz after Daniel Scott Fritz Jr instead of Joshua Riley Fritz. And despite all his comments and obnoxious behaviour, he's a really sweet kid that does like to give his mom hugs not and then.

Utah Visit in March

These are some of the pictures that I got off of Nate's camera. Most of them were him taking them but a few where he is in them I took them. 

I'm guessing this has to be somewhere in Nebraska. It can be pretty flat and boring

I know this is Wyoming but I couldn't pinpoint exactly. But somewhere shortly after leaving Sydney, Ne

Wyoming 

A pretty typical site at bedtime.

To earn his Wolf badge in Cub scouts, Josh needed to cook outside. He was bbqing some chicken. 

He was very dedicated to flipping that chicken. And they turned out delicious!

Playtime with cousins

Grandpa holding Gracee, he's always got a kid in his hands

Lots of energy being burned right now

Ahh, that face. Many hours were spent at the computer.

Nate is hanging out. And maybe cooling down, his cheeks are super rosey. 

Aunt Tilisa and Nate holding Pierce. He is such a sweet baby. Miss holding him.

Another close up of Nate holding Pierce. He liked holding him and taking care of him.

And Nate is in front of Devils Slide. He had to get a picture of it since it was the last time we were gonna be driving along that route to see it. 

And that's it for the pictures of our Utah trip. We didn't do too well at getting much taken. It didn't help that I also went to Alaska for 6 days to house hunt. The kids were left in Grandma and Grandpas care. And Aunt Tilisa and Jason took them for a night. I know they had a blast having a sleepover and having Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner because that's all Nate wants to eat now, it's his new favorite. I'm sure they enjoyed their time away from Mom and Dad and being spoiled by grandparents. I know I enjoyed a get away with just Danny and I.

Besides the trip being a vacation for me and a 14 year anniversary trip the main purpose of me flying out was for us to house hunt. And we totally found an awesome house. I'm totally excited to get this house and make it ours. It's a few years old, all one level and master suite on one side and kids bedrooms on the other side. Totally a perfect house for us. I'll post pictures of it when we get settled in.

We were so grateful that Mom flew in to drive with us to Utah to see everyone before we head out to Alaska. We won't have the funds to make it back for a few years so we really needed this chance to see everyone. It went by way to fast, I wish we had more time. I really didn't get much visiting in because of being gone in the middle of it. We miss our family and hanging out with them. It's the down side of living so far away. But we'll be back one day. And the road goes both ways. Our door is always open to anyone that wants to come visit the last frontier.

Audrey turns 5!

A very happy girl with her birthday girl 

My baby girl just turned 5 years old. She is growing up so fast. She's not a baby at all. We were fortunate enough to celebrate her birthday in Utah with her. She was so excited to have everyone over there with her. She chose a jungle type cake. It was super duper easy. She was so thrilled with it. She loves animals so it was very fitting. She loves to pretend that she is an animal. Her favorite thing about coming to Utah is playing with the chickens, cat and dog.

A very typical face for this girl 

A little bit of decorating for her birthday

 Her dinner of chose was homemade pizza. I'm not really sure that she ate much of it because she was having so much fun with cousins. It kind of surprised me that she chose that for her meal. I thought it would be something with bbq beans. And she also chose cotton candy ice cream. It so tasted just like it too. I thought it was nasty but the kids at it all gone.

A sober little girl. Not sure why she isn't smiling. 

 Audrey is loving school. She is slowly learning what she needs to. She'd much rather play and be a girl than sit down and work on letters and numbers. And ya know what? I'm ok with that. She only gets one chance to be a kid. There are years and years ahead of her to learn. She will eventually get the alphabet down, she will learn to read one day. But for now, she wants to play with dolls and make believe with friends and that's exactly what she should be doing at this age. I feel that their is too much pressure on kids now days.

All the family helping celebrate her birthday

 Audrey is definitely the baby of the family. She gets away with more than she should. It's kind of ridiculous, I know. I try and get after her more but she just puts the charm on. She is mommy's little buddy. She loves to be with mom. She has spent many hours playing and entertaining herself while I've spent countless hours doing other peoples hair. She is so used to me doing someones hair. Maybe that's why she doesn't like having her own hair combed out. She loves sleeping next to mommy. And, for the most part, I don't actually mind snuggling with her at night. Maybe in Alaska we can break that habit because in the apartment we are sharing a bed right now.

Family enjoying some cake and ice cream.

I love that Audrey likes to be girly. She really does love wearing dresses a lot. She loves all thing princesses and dolls. However, she can get down and dirty outside when she wants to. I love that every single morning her hair has a bad case of bed head. She would not be Audrey if she didn't have the crazy, frizzy curly hair. I love that she isn't afraid to be herself. She is a very unique girl. We are so glad that we have little Miss Audrey in our family!

It sold!!

We were very blessed to have our home sell rather quickly. It didn't feel quick at the time but really it was. We put it on the market on Jan 1 or 2 (I don't recall) and by beginning to mid Feb we had an offer that we accepted. It was so much work to keep the house spotless and in showing condition every single day mind you with 4 children and a husband out of town all week. He had to do some training in Oklahoma for his new job in Alaska. So, he left Jan 6 and had a 5 week course. Luckily he was able to come home on the weekends but that left me flying solo all week. We closed on our home March 10th. 

MOVING IN

This was taken the first week that we moved into the house. 

 Look at how young and skinny Danny and I are?! I kind of miss being blond.  And look at those cute little guys. They were so young and blonde. Colton was 6 weeks old when we moved into this house in Gladstone, MO. I think Nate was 4 1/2 and Josh was 2. Yikes so young! And I thought these were the hard days. Ha these were the easy times, why can't we realize that then. I did enjoy those days with the kids being so young. But it's also a really good stage that we are currently in too.

MOVING OUT

This was taken the last days we were at the house. 

This is currently the stage of life we are in as we move out. I've gone much darker on the hair and Danny has added a full beard. I can't even remember the last time I saw him clean shaven, it's been years. Nathan is now 11, Josh was weeks from being 9, Colton is a few months from 7 and Audrey was days from turning 5. We didn't even have that little girl when we moved in.

By the time we leave Missouri we will have lived here for 7 years. Longest place that we have lived anywhere. We made many changes to the home. We changed the landscaping, added siding and our awesome red door that we loved. We loved this home. It wasn't perfect. But it was perfect for our family at the time. I loved having a salon downstairs, I enjoyed all my time doing hair and chatting with so many people. We loved our huge yard for the kids to run around in, and the sand box was a love/hate relationship. Kids loved it, friends loved it but not so fun when they enter the house covered in sand, yuck. Oh and I will not miss mowing that lawn with the humidity and the long mowing season MO has.

We have loved our time in Missouri. I can't even stand the thought of saying good bye to all the friends that I've made here. I tear up every time I think of saying bye. Our ward is fantastic. Since Danny has been gone, they have stepped up and helped me in so many ways that I can't even begin to name. Maybe one day I can mention all that they have done for me. But the services that they have given me and my family has been abundant.  I couldn't have made it thru without all their help. Our new ward in Alaska has a lot to live up to. Moving to a new ward can be kind of scary because each ward has such different dynamics, so I am kind of nervous about it. Wish me luck!

Pinewood Derby 2015

Josh waiting for his car to be released. 

 Yay! Pinewood Derby time again. Josh was the only official racer from our family this year. We opened the races to anyone after it was done. Josh did win 2nd place. He did really well. It was such a neck to neck race between him and the winner. He was thrilled. Besides Danny doing the cutting out he did most of it on his own. And he chose none other than camouflage to paint it.

He won this race

All the kids like to be up front and center

His face tells it all, he was having fun

Audrey can give some awesome faces too. 

By the time open races began the kids wanted to be up even closer

Audrey with her very girly car. She loved that she got one too. 

Colton wanted green and one lego sticker. He went simple

Nate wanted a super cool real race car look

Mr Josh with his ribbons and award. He was so happy he got second

         

Nathan's 5th grade activities

SUPER SAGE

Nathan is part of the SAGE program at school. It's students in academically  gifted education. He's been there since kindergarten. We were really hesitant when his teacher presented the idea to us. We held off for s short time. But after talking to the SAGE teacher we felt that we could give it a try. One day a week he is bussed to another school and attends class with other students in the program. It is a class that requires a lot of self learning and research projects. It has been great for him. It's always been his favorite day of the week. 

This year in SAGE his teacher had them participate in the First Lego league competition. They had to create and program Lego's to accomplish certain tasks. They had to also do a skit and presentation and posters. Alot of work went into this competition. And she only had these kids one day a week to accomplish the task. So from Sept to Jan this was their focus. Their first competition they scored well enough to advance. They went to Union Station in downtown Kansas City for the final competition. They did well but did not place. They went up against teams that meet much more frequently and not to mention they had kids that were much older then them, high school kids, that they competed against. I know they were bummed they didn't win but what they did accomplish at their age was fantastic. It kind of seemed unfair to have elementary kids competing with middle school and high school kids.

In front of his displays. 

His team was called Super Sage and they all had matching shirts.

His whole team waiting to begin the programming table.

supporting the guys doing the actual programming

Waiting for results. 

DARE GRADUATION

Not a whole lot needs to be explained for this event. Nate participated in the dare program and this was his graduation. Didn't get many pictures. It was a very short and sweet program. So these are just a few of the pictures that I got. 

Best smile that I'm gonna get from Nate. And I believe that the dare program began in 1983

Arianna, Gage, Nate, Alexis, Brittany being goofy

Ashton and Nate