Spring Break in Branson

Yay for Spring Break! Ty got a whole week off so we decided to rent a big house with some of our friends in Branson, Missouri. We really wanted to do something fun with everyone before the craziness of finals, boards and moving started.

 It was such a gorgeous house! I wish I would have taken pictures of the inside.  It was so nice to be staying in a house instead of a hotel.  We would put the kids to bed every night and stay up late playing games and eating Blue Bell ice cream!

 Lisa and Marshall

 Ashley, me, Chauntelle and Lisa

 Here I am at around 18 weeks pregnant!

 

 Saylor was so excited the whole time to sign her name in the guest book.

 Say sure loves to be with her Daddy!

 The hot sign was on at Krispy Kreme so of coarse we had to stop! We also got to shop at the outlet malls!

 Oaks is usually more of a mama's girl but Ty always tells me it's only a matter of time until she switches over...

At the arcade!

Getting ready to ride the go-karts!

 Ernie and Max

 Say fully believed that she was driving the entire time haha!

 

 I was sooo excited and screamed the whole way!  I always have to try to restrain myself so I don't scare my kids too much.  I just love go-karts so much!

This was the most awesome go-kart track I had ever been on! You got to spiral all the way up to the top...

 Then speed down that hill!!

 

Having our own rock concert!

 On our way home from Branson we went to Kansas City and went to the temple.  We walked out of the temple right at sunset and the view was incredible!

 

 Ernie and Chauntelle are some of our very favorites and we miss them so much! They were such good sports to come on vacation with all our kids! They love all our kids like they were their own. My girls are obsessed with them! They totally shocked all of us on this trip with the news that they were pregnant! Such a fun surprise, they are going to be the cutest parents of all time!

Somehow Ty's little brother Tallon happened to be in a national basketball tournament in Kansas City right during Ty's spring break! It made all of Ty's dreams come true to watch his little brother play in his very last college basketball game.

 

Oakley and Grandma Great

 Say loving her new Elsa Barbie Grandma brought for her birthday.

 People that know Ty know he isn't a loud or yelling kind of guy.  But when he is playing or watching sports, a whole new side comes out in him.  He is especially passionate when he watches his brother Tallon play.  He was so loud at the game, they asked him to come down at half time to compete in a game in front of the whole crowd!

 Ty totally won! He got a backpack and two free tickets to a waterpark in Kansas City!

The girls were SO excited to see their Uncle Tallon after the game. They both requested to have Griffin hair for the game. After this trip Oakley would randomly out of the blue tell us that Tallon was her fwavorite because she loves him sooo much!

 Ty's supportive family that came all the way to Kansas City to watch Tallon play.  It was so fun to see family!

 

Our last trip to the St. Louis Zoo

We had such a fun week when my mom and sister came to visit.  It had been a long, cold, sick and pregnant winter and I was so in need of some visitors to lift my spirits. My sister works a LOT and it was such a huge sacrifice for her to take a whole week off and fly all the way to Missouri! When I drove them to the airport to fly home we got to spend the day in St. Louis! It had seriously been the most bitter cold winter and we got a random super warm day in the 70's when we went to the zoo! It felt like we had all been transported to summer for a day and it felt glorious!

 

I had the most amazing group of friends in Missouri that helped pass all those long days with out our husbands.  Here is a pic of all our kiddos minus Oakley (currently having a tantrum) and Chet.

Oakley would stop and pose every time I got out my camera!

 Saylor's best friends in Missouri, Kellen and Eden.  She walked by the computer and saw this picture and was instantly in tears:( She misses her Missouri friends.

 Skyler and Saylor

 The kids were all quite mesmerized by this giant monkey! I love that Hudson is kissing the glass.

 Having Grandma come is the best!

 

 Riding the carousel

 Max and Lisa

 Stacy and Hudson

 When Kirstie comes to visit it's literally the happiest thing in my whole life! I don't get to see her nearly enough.  My girls think she is pretty cool too.

 Group shot of everyone! We had such a fun day! It's kind of hilarious how long it takes to do things when you have 10 kids in tow.

 

We are really going to miss this zoo! It was huge and awesome and the best part is that it was free!  We will definitely be visiting again when Ty graduates in two years!

Saylor's Frozen 5th Birthday!

So going back to March...Saylor turned 5! She of coarse requested a Frozen party! Ty's super talented cousin Alyssa made this gorgeous Elsa dress for Saylor.  Say made a pretty cute Elsa!

 My mom and sister came for the week and helped me soooo much with the party! I couldn't have done it with out them.  I was still feeling pretty awful from pregnancy so they saved my life!  My mom made this darling Frozen cake.

 Say has lots of friends so we had quite the houseful of kids over! When everyone first got there we built Olaf's out of marshmallows.

 Oaks favorite part was eating it!

We cut out tons of snowflakes and hung them all over the walls and from the ceiling to transform our kitchen into "Saylor's Ice Castle"

 The kids in line to play pin the nose on Olaf...

 It's funny to look back and see how small my belly really was but I remember feeling huge at this point haha! I was around 16 weeks and my clothes were no longer fitting me!

 Lisa and Stacy were so awesome to come and help paint all the kids faces.

 Lisa painted a beautiful butterfly on Say's face!

 Marshall was also so good to help...here he is playing musical chairs with everyone.

 Sky made the cutest little puppy dog!

The kids all playing freeze dance.  Say told me this was her very favorite part of the party.

 FREEZE!

 Lots of cute princesses!

 We had a few fun snacks that I tried to make go with the Frozen theme...

 

 

Getting ready to sing to the birthday girl!

 What a fun group of friends Saylor had in Missouri!

 The next day on Say's actual birthday we had cake and ice cream with our family and Lisa and Marshall.  They taught us the game where everyone goes around the table and tells their favorite thing about the person whose birthday it is.  We all told Saylor how much we loved her and why and it made her so so happy!  I loved watching her face especially when I told her birth story from when she was born. I still can't believe I have a 5 year old! 

 

She has been especially sweet to me since I got pregnant and is always offering to help clean the house, rub my feet and is constantly hugging and kissing "brother" (my belly).  She told me that when brother is born, I will take care of Oaks and she will be taking care of baby brother. 

Saylor is such a smart and beautiful girl.  She loves to sing, dance, swim, go to school, draw, write and play with Oaks.  She is also extremely strong-willed, stubborn and dramatic. When she is happy, her being dramatic is hilarious and makes things more exciting and fun.  When she is mad....watch out! Haha we are so much the same it scares me sometimes.  Saylor is still a complete Daddy's girl.  Saylor is extremely affectionate and loves to kiss! She has already been caught kissing a boy!  Aaaahhh! She is only allowed to kiss Ty on the cheek because she gets too smoochy when she kisses him on the lips.  Saylor is boy crazy! She tells me about boys she loves in her class and she will tell me she is worried about who she is going to marry.  This part of her did not come from me! I'm just hoping she gets all this boy craziness out young or else I'm in a lot of trouble!  It doesn't help that she is completely gorgeous and she knows it. We sure love this girl!