2015

Well I'm already almost halfway through the new year before doing a new post... sorry to anyone who still might check this blog.  We have had so many fun and exciting things happen!

JANUARY:

January was pretty quiet. I was mostly back to being on the couch as I was in so much pain all the time. So we improvised some fun ways for me to play with the girls, such as having tea parties on their little table next to the couch where I could lay down.  

Richard decided he needed to pick up a new hobby that can keep him busy when I am always sleeping! Ha ha.  He found this super cheap guitar on craigslist and has already gotten a few simple songs down.  I love watching him play!

FEBRUARY:

We completely revamped the way we do FHE and it has been amazing so far! I went to a Relief Society activity that completely changed the way I think about and plan for FHE.  The girls were not super into FHE every week and only waited somewhat patiently until they got a treat at the end but now they love teaching the lessons and getting out our special blanket to sit on and picking a "microphone" to do our announcements in.  Hopefully we can keep up this new attitude!  These are our fun lion treats we made when we talked about Daniel in the lion's den

We have also started going to COSI a lot more.  I usually hate taking the girls places like this on my own but we have discovered that hardly anyone is their on Friday afternoons.  They also discovered a fun art room that they will spend hours in and the crafts change in there every couple of weeks. 

Kaylee got to go to Disney on Ice with Richard for an early birthday present. We gave her the option of going to that or having a birthday party and luckily for me she chose Disney on Ice.  I was worried about how I would do a party without knowing for sure when baby girl would arrive so that was a big weight off my shoulders!  Kaylee had a blast even though she was up until 10:30 and was exhausted!

MARCH:

Obviously March was a huge month for us!  We had our favorite little Kaylee turn 5 and even though she was in the ER for asthma earlier in the week and throwing up all the night before, she still had a blast on her birthday and was able to celebrate it with Grandma Sharon here. We got in a lot of fun activities too, since Brooklyn decided to come a week late!

We were so happy to welcome Brooklyn Skye Henricksen to our family on the 27th.  I wanted to name her after someone that has made an impact on me and that I could tell her stories about and pass on good family traits.  I kept thinking that it would be someone in our family history but that never felt right.  Finally I decided that some of the best people I know and the ones that will have a good influence on her personally are my siblings.  So I took one letter from each of their names to create Skye for her middle name.  I am excited to teach her about each of my amazing siblings and see how she has inherited good things from each of them.  Brooklyn's first name was harder and I pretty much just let Richard choose since I could never settle on one I loved!  She is such an easy and special baby and we have loved having her in our little family. The girls can't get enough of her! I hope she survives all of their smothering :)

APRIL:

April brought fun visitors to our door.  Rob and Ingrid were able to stop by on their NY/Kirtland trip without their kids and it was fun to see them, even if it was just for a few hours. 

Kristi and Julie came at the end of April and their sweet husbands took a full week off of work to be with their kiddos while Kristi and Julie visited Holly and I.  They were miracle workers and cleaned my whole house, entertained my kids, took care of the baby, gave me naps, made tons of freezer meals, and made me so incredibly happy to have them here with me.  I was so so grateful two of my favorite people could be here to help me since Mom is so far away.  

While they were here we were also able to sneak away for an early anniversary dinner at Cheesecake Factory.  Happy 7 years to us!