Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Catch up!

When my friend Heather asked if I had some pictures from our visit to Cunningham Falls State Park, I realized that I never put up pictures from that day! We Killion ladies drove up to Cunningham Falls with the Heit's, the Story's, the Wangberg's, the Cleaves', and the Cowart's. WHAT A FUN TRIP! After we ate lunch, we took pictures of all our kids and then we set out to see the falls.
Hiking is always much more fun when you have a walking stick.
When we reached the falls,
some of the older kids started to climb up the side. Some of the younger kids decided they would do it too, and their moms jumped in to join the climb! I decided to keep the girls away from that climbing HAHA so we went a little bit downstream.
Lizzie and Cate had fun throwing stones and sticks into the water. Soon many of the kids joined us.
It was such a fun outing for all of us; I can't wait to go back! We went to Ben and Jerry's for some free ice cream the next day.
The kids were overjoyed!
We then flew to Utah, and that trip is covered in the post before this one. Since that post, we've returned to our regular routine. Don't you love it when your kids help out around the house...with bubble bath soap? ("Mom, we wanted to make the table clean...just for you!")
Lizzie's friends, Sophie and Chloe, gave Lizzie a mini muffin/cupcake bake set for her birthday. We FINALLY used it (not just for pretend play)! I found this very easy, tasty recipe online and we made mini vanilla cupcakes with Aunt Julia and Mimi.
The stand is so cute! Lizzie had a lot of fun placing each cupcake just so. Too bad none of them stayed there for very long... ;)
We found these capsules at Target--place one in a bowl of hot water and watch it turn into a bug shape. The girls are fascinated by them!
We've been to two birthday parties! Corbin turned two and his party was at the Adventure playground. It was a beautiful day! Maddie and Lizzie singing "Happy Birthday" to Corbin
Corbin got a lot of fun things!
And the cake was fabulous! Cate especially loved it :)
Mia had her birthday party at the dance studio where Lizzie had her dance class last fall/winter. She LOVED it! Getting ready to go to the party!
All the girls lined up, ready to go. (Thanks Molly for taking these pictures)
I love this one--it's a little blurry, but the happiness is there!
Each girl decorated her own crown
After a frigid Monday, the weather is slowly getting warmer, and we like that! It means more outside fun.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Utah

Many of you may have seen my facebook post about Chris's grandfather who passed away on March 31. We bought plane tickets to Utah the next day on April 1st, and we arrived in SLC on Wednesday the 4th. We had a 45 minute layover in Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and we had to BOOK IT to the next terminal for our second plane. We were literally the last people to get on the plane! But thankfully we made it. Lizzie was out when we landed in Salt Lake!
That night we headed over to Grandpa's viewing, and I managed to snap a picture of the girls.
At the funeral home, there were really beautiful sculptures--the girls loved this one.
During the beginning of the funeral service on Thursday morning, Cate was beyond tired and shrieking whenever I tried sitting down. I took her out into the foyer and she fell asleep after some singing and pacing the room. That was a blessing because it allowed me to listen to Chris's mom and her siblings speak, as well as listen to the musical numbers by Darby and by the whole clan of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Everything was beautifully done and I know Grandpa was pleased. Andi took a picture of us after the family luncheon--Lizzie was practically choking me but she was so cute about it so I smiled away!
Grandpa was to be buried in Heber (after the service in West Jordan) so we took a drive through Park City to get to Heber. By this time it was pretty chilly so I'm glad I grabbed jackets for the girls! Cate would not sit still so I walked around the grounds with her. After the closing prayer, Lizzie and Juliet (her new BFF--why must we live so far away from each other, Suzy?!) joined Cate and me. They were so much fun together! They found some interesting items amongst the tombstones.
The next morning we woke up to S-N-O-W. The girls were in absolute heaven!
My hot husband!
Later in the afternoon, we went to Spike and Andi's house for a family lunch and they had a ton of fun things planned for the many kids in attendance. Tossing carrots into the bunny's mouth was hilarious to watch, especially because my girls walked right up to the bunny and just dropped the carrots in--no tossing for them ;)
The highly anticipated Easter egg hunt was a blast, of course! Despite the snow!
Here is one happy camper! (Cate was napping...but don't worry, Lizzie shared!)
Later on, we finished the night by going to Macey's for some ice cream. Chris got his Kong Cone (except they put it straight into the cup!)
and the girls were happy with their cones!
I helped Lizzie finish some of hers.
We had to get down to Provo to see Uncle Billy before the weekend was up. He told us that the Sikahema's were in town so there was a Cherry Hill get-together at the Wilk. How awesome to see so many friends from NJ! The girls had fun meeting some new friends, the children of MY friends!
We took this time to introduce the girls to our beloved campus. Naturally the bookstore was a favorite!
When Lizzie spotted the "Y" in the snow, she started shouting, "LOOK! Mom! Dad! The Y, the Y!"
We made a stop by the JFSB, the best building on campus, so the girls could throw some pennies into the fountain and so Chris and I could remember that cold November night when he proposed to me there :)
And then this group of people approach the fountain and we watch some random girl in a bathing suit walk into the fountain...
It was a fairly chilly morning and the water was freezing, but there you have it. HAHA Oh Provo. We went to the Eyring Science Center and we let the girls play with their new soccer ball and football next to the SWKT.
We met up with Bill and Becca Walker at the JSB,
and we headed over to TUCANO'S for some lunch and for some Ashley Walker love! :)
For Easter, we dyed eggs
and the girls woke up to a Easter egg hunt, complete with clues directing us where to go. Lizzie definitely loved it! (Thank you Granny and Grandma!)
Later we drove to Orem to meet up with my mom's side of the family, la familia Lopez! This was the first time they've seen Lizzie since she was four months old, and this was their first time ever seeing Cate. Here are Kerry, Lizzie, Cate, and Kira.
My aunt and uncle had an Easter egg hunt for all the kids. Lizzie and Cate were very happy!
We grabbed some neighbors to take a picture of all of us!
Four generations--my abuelita, my mom, me, my girls
We made a final stop in Orem and Provo on Monday morning. We had to say goodbye to Becca (sorry we missed you Ashley!)
And Julia requested that her birthday lunch (Happy Birthday Julia!) be at Tucano's...(Tucano's twice in a weekend= no need for meat for a long time)
We said goodbye to the Riverwoods, Mt. Timp,
and BYU (as seen from the air).
The hardest part was saying goodbye to Granny Killion and Grandma Carter. While we were sad to be missing Grandpa, we were happy that we were able to see so many family members and friends. Bittersweet feelings for sure.