When Olivia was born, Liz and Mike came to the hospital with a special gift for Oliva from her Opa.  Let me back up… Liz was pregnant with Matt when my dad died, and before they knew Matt was going to be a boy, my dad had gone out and bought a cute little dress, just in case Matt was a girl.  Well, Matt wasn’t a girl, and neither were the next 6 grandchildren to follow.  But Liz held onto that dress (and some cute ruffly socks to match!) all these years, and she gave it to me when Olivia was born as a gift from my Dad.  It was a very sweet, emotional things for me, and I am so grateful to my sweet sister for giving us such a special gift!  We will cherish it always!  And now that Livi is big enough to fit in it, I had to make sure to get a picture of her in her special dress from her Opa!

As we sat in the temple, it was hard not to notice the young couple sitting near the front.  From the tags pinned to their shirts it was easy to figure out that this was a young couple getting ready to be sealed.  She was going through the temple for the first time, and they just looked so cute and excited and happy!  In contrast, Brother Cain, looking a little less young and robust, also had a tag pinned to his shirt.  And though there were many differences between him and the young couple, he was just as excited, if not more so, to be sealed to his sweetheart for time and all eternity.  They were looking out with hope to the future that lay before them, and he was looking back at the wife he had already gone through life with and lost.  It was so poignant to see both couples, and realize that those eternal sealing blessings were the same. Brother Cain was as excited as a 20 year old!  And his kids were equally excited!  It was just so neat to be able to be a part of the whole thing!

Initially I just thought we were doing Sister Cain’s endowment and the sealing.  But once we were in the sealing room, I was delighted to find out that not only were we there to witness the sealing of Brother and Sister Cain, but they also sealed Brother Cain’s parents to each other, and Sister Cain’s parents to each other, and both of them to their parents.  Then it was time for the two of them to be sealed to each other and their children.  Wow!  It was so neat to be a witness to several generations all being linked together at once!  There was not a dry eye in the room, and you can only imagine the joy that Brother Cain and his children felt!  It was marvelous!

I am so grateful for the blessings of the temple, and the blessing that it is for me to be sealed to my husband and children!  It really makes all the difference in this life to be able to hold onto that hope and promise.  What a wonderful weekend!

I’m also so grateful that Don’s daughter in law came to our hotel and watched Livi while we went to the temple.  It was quite a few hours, and Livi refused to take a bottle.  So I can’t imagine it was fun or easy to listen to her scream her hungry little self to sleep.  So I’m so grateful that she was kind and patient with our little girl so we could go experience this special day together.  I hadn’t been to the temple since Livi was born, so it was very nice to go back!

I’m also grateful that Don and Judie treated us to a flight down there!  It sure beat listening to Olivia scream all the way down to St. George!  She did great on her first airplane ride!

And of course, the three boys had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa Wittke’s house for the weekend.  We are very grateful to them for letting them sleep over, buying them lego sets, taking them to McDonalds and the movies, and having a great time with the boys!  It was a memorable weekend for one and all!

Preston quickly learned that the Tooth Fairy lives the law of interest, and that interest was in his favor!   He now hope the Tooth Fairy is late every time!

We went there for a preschool field trip the other day, and the kids had a great time!  Kyle was so proud that night at dinner that we were eating the fish he caught!  He couldn’t stop talking about it!  We moms were equally proud at our ability to get the fish off the hooks without completely freaking out!  :>

My day started off with Mike delighting my five senses.  Isn’t he so creative?  So as I got up he delighted my sense of sight and smell with this super cute flower arrangement (and a scented candle) on the table:

He bought the pitcher, put the lemons in, and everything!  Wow!  He deserves some award for that!  And even purple and yellow – my two favorite colors!  From there I went to get in the shower where I was greeted by a soft, cozy new purple towel to delight my sense of touch.  It’s seriously so soft!

After my shower, I was treated to a yummy breakfast, complete with these cute fruit flowers to delight my sense of taste:

And when I got in the car I also had a yummy new air freshener in there for my sense of smell.  I an’t remember what the sense of hearing was… maybe my family singing “Happy Birthday?”  Either way it was a very fun and creative birthday treat!  Add to it lunch with my sister, and dinner with my family, and it turned out to be a pretty great day!

At one point in the day Kyle told me that for my birthday he was going to give me the gifts of patience and listening,  Can you think of a better gift from a 4 year old? I sure can’t!

I also love sharing a birthday week with Kyle!  We had a fun family dinner with my side of the family to celebrate both of our birthdays!  He was so confused – he couldn’t figure out why he was having another birthday after he had already had one.  As everyone left he opened the door and yelled, “Good-bye!  Thanks for coming to my extra birthday!  I’m 5 now!”  It sure made us giggle!

The long awaited R2-D2 cake:

That night he just wanted to stay up all night and play with all of his cool new toys!

Oh, how do I describe Kyle?  He’s one in a million.  To know him is to love him… you just can’t help it!  He has such away of wrapping your heart right around his little finger, and then taking you on the ride of your life.  I asked Mike how he would describe Kyle and he said, “He’s very alive.”  Yes, that he is, and he lives life to the fullest.  He is so sweet, so zany, so persistent, so energetic, so loving, so smart, so mischievous, so helpful, so stubborn, so enthusiastic, so relentless, such a tease, so kind, and a million other traits all rolled into one. Interestingly, he going through a bit of a shy phase too right now also.  When he gets in big groups or new settings he’s very reluctant to join in, and has a tendency to hide.  It’s so interesting to watch this phase given the rest of his personality.  But overall, he keeps us hopping, running, sighing, and laughing all the time.  I have no idea what our family would do without him! It would certainly be boring around here!

One fun thing about Kyle is that he really gets obsessed about the things he likes (and it’s always only one thing at a time), and it becomes his whole focus in life.  First it was trains, trains, trains 24/7.  Then it became Cars.  We ate, slept, and drank Cars.  Now it is Star Wars.  I cannot even begin to describe his obsession with Star Wars.  He talks and talks and talks about it all the time, and can tell you every detail about every part of it.  He only wants to play Star Wars all day long everyday – whether it’s toys, on the computer, or “in real life.”  The nice thing about his obsessions is that it makes it very easy to shop for him come birthday and Christmastime!  Here are a couple of his favorite Jedi stances:

Kyle is a FANTASTIC brother.  He is so nice and kind to his big brothers (though he tends to play with their things – which drives them crazy), and he loves to play with them.  It’s so hard for him to be home alone without them all day long.  Summer will be so nice for that!  Kyle is also absolutely in love with Olivia, and is such a great big brother to her.  He loves her to pieces – he loves to play with her, talk to her, hold her, help her, kiss her, hug her, give her toys, and on and on.  Sometimes he loves her so much I have to remind him to give her a little space.  If she cries he’s usually the first one there to help her, and is quick to tell me when “she needs to be feeded.”  If he’s holding her and she starts to cry he is insistent that he does not want you to take her, and he tried his best to comfort her.  Unfortunately for her, that comfort often comes in the form of him letting her suck on his dirty four year old finger.  He’s just helping build up her immune system I guess.

Kyle is a very quick learner – especially when he is interested in what he is learning.  For instance, one time he heard me spell out the password to get on the computer, and he had it memorized from that point on.  I was quite surprised one day when he showed me that he could get on the computer himself because he knew the password!  Oh, and that’s another obsession of his… “computer coupons” to play Star Wars Legos on the computer.  And he’s quite good at it!  He gets limited time on the computer each week, so he’ll do just about anything to earn an extra “coupon.”

Kyle likes the color green, playing with friends (especially Keira and Nick), reading books together, snuggling, pushing the limits, helping out, and  making people laugh.  We sure love our Kymo!

Ky’s birthday this year was on a Saturday, which was perfect because the whole family could be home together.  The day started out running… with Bountiful Baskets, soccer games, and pictures.  We have a tradition that Dad makes everyone a yummy breakfast on their birthday, but that was difficult since he had to leave at 7:00.  However, since he’s so great he mixed up everything for German Pancakes before he ran out the door to pick up the BB, so we were  still able to enjoy a yummy breakfast before the 8:00 soccer game.  We also had Kyle’s favorite – “Sasha” (sausage) with it.  I always think the responses I get when I ask the kids what they want to eat on their birthdays are interesting.  I think, “Really?  All the great foods in the world, and that’s your favorite?”  German pancakes are great, but the chicken nuggets and fries for lunch, and pizza for dinner for Ky’s bday are pretty typical favorite foods around here.

Since Kyle’s birthday was on a Saturday, we were able to have his party on his actual birthday.  He of course chose a Star Wars theme for his birthday party… what else is there?  It was such a fun party, and Dad especially liked that we had a smaller crowd than the last couple parties we had around here.  As the kids came we had them color Star Wars pictures while we waited for everyone to get here, and for the real fun to begin! We were so honored to have a REAL Jedi Master come to the party to teach the younglings the ways of the force (see, I listen to Kyle enough I can almost pretend I know what I’m talking about).

Since Mike was dressed in his Jedi costume, Kyle insisted that I go dress up as Padme, and he got dressed up as a Jedi as well.  He went to his room and grabbed a belt (because all Jedi wear a belt) and Blank (which became his Jedi cape).  I love that Blank has gone from simply being a blanket to being part of his play.  And Mike said he loves that his Jedi costume is now being used at his kid’s parties.  We originally made his costume for all the fan films he and his friends were going to make.  Here we are many years later – no fan films, but plenty of kids birthday parties and Halloweens have seen the costume.  And the fabric he was going to use for the pants have since been used to make his duffle bag for trek.  It’s a great example of how the dreams of youth change into the reality of adulthood.  And the reality is so much better!  But I digress… back to the party…

So after this very handsome, strong and good Jedi made his dramatic entrance (taking down my cute balloon garland as he came) he proceeded to give each kid a lightsaber, and take the kids through a series of Jedi training moves.   Each kid got to battle him after they had mastered the moves.

We then had the kids perfect their skills by learning concentration (hitting a balloon in the air with their lightsaber), balance (walking on a balance beam), and use of the force (hitting a Death Star pinata).  Kyle was being a bit shy, and didn’t want to join in the festivities until they were hitting the balloons with lightsabers (which he started out doing in the kitchen so he could still hide).  He kept telling me he just needed to sit and take a deep breath, so he couldn’t do the Jedi training.  But once he got out there and started having fun he was fine, and enjoyed the rest of the party.

After the pinata we did presents and cake.  When he decided on a Star Wars party he told me he wanted a lightsaber cake.  Then a couple days before the party it became an R2-D2 cake he wanted.  Unfortunately my week was insane, and I knew I wouldn’t have time to make an R2-D2 cake.  Of course, Kyle would not be dissuaded (did I mention he’s a bit persistent and stubborn?).  If he couldn’t have an R2D2 cake, he wanted a cake of Obi-Wan and Anikan fighting with their lightsabers, but it had to be the Obi-Wan and Anikan from the clone wars.  Um, maybe not…  I finally talked him into having tie-fighter cupcakes only because I promised to make an R2-D2 cake for our family bday dinner  next week.  In the end he loved the tie-fighters, and all was well.

After presents and cake we had one last battle.  Instead of battling each other they battled “Sith bubbles.”  It’s was pretty intense!

The rest of the day he played, played, played and ended with a family movie night.  What a fun four year old birthday!  Here he is with his new Star Wars wall stickers!  He loves them, and they move around to new positions daily!

I also had a very funny picture of him sitting proudly in his new camp chair in nothing but his “birthday suit” showing off his new star wars guys.  But I thought better of putting it up for the whole world to see!    But he LOVES his new lego starfighter that Dad helped him put together (and super glue together since it is in the hands of our dear Kyle)

Saturday and Sunday were full of Easter festivities, which I will blog in another post.  But Monday we went with the Holmes family, Nick, and Grandma and Grandpa Wittke to the Natural History Museum at the U.  I haven’t been up to the new one until now, and while I thought it was pretty awesome, I also missed parts of the old one.  I guess you can never have it all, eh?  We Oveson’s love a good museum, and had a  great time!  Zach gets so into reading and experiencing each and everything – he just gets sucked right in!  He could be in there all day long and still not be done!  Preston takes a more relaxed approach, and likes to step back and take it all in, enjoying the whole experience.  He especially loves the interactive exhibits.  Kyle loved being there with Nick and Keira, loved the toys at the end, and his favorite part was the “chicken nugget fries” with Grandma and Grandpa after we were done at the museum.  Livi slept the first half, and was pretty pleasant through the rest of it.  So all in all, a pretty great time was had by one and all!

Good thing Livi woke up so Nick could use her car seat!

On Saturday we had our traditional Easter celebration at Grandma and Grandpa Wittke’s house.  We had dinner, games, and a fun egg hut!

Men on a mission…

Wow!  Does David look like my Dad or what?!?

And what Easter would be complete without the dying of eggs?  We forgot to take our eggs down to Grandma’s, so we dyed eggs at Grandma’s and then came home and dyed eggs here!

Sunday morning Kyle slept in pretty late – much to the dismay of his older brothers!  They thought they were going to go CRAZY waiting for him to wake up so they could do the egg hunt and look in the baskets.  Somehow they survived, and we had a great time hunting eggs once he woke up.

Olivia’s loving her new book…

Our adopted Grandma, Sister Bivens, made Livi this super cute Easter dress!  She’s so talented and so sweet to think of us!!

After church we went down to Grandma and Grandpa Oveson’s house for Easter dinner.  It was fun to see and spend time with everyone!  Grandma Oveson had both knees replaced about 2 months ago, and it was nice to see how well she’s doing.  And Livi got to meet her cousin Ethan!

Livi is now three months old, and I can’t believe how fast she is changing and growing!  I was holding her while she was sleeping the other day, and looking down upon her perfect, sweet, beautiful little face, and just wishing I had a pause button.  I just want to pause for awhile so I can soak up her babyhood more, and experience all the joy and wonder that this stage of her life has to offer before it slips away.  It just goes way too fast, as I’ve learned with my other sweet babies!  And with the demands of this very busy life we lead, I’m worried I’ll miss something, and it will be gone before I’m ready.  So where’s my pause button?  There’s a passage from Richard Paul Evan’s book The Timepeice that always comes to mind when I’m feeling sad about my kids growing up: