April 6 - Idaho: Day 1

Me & the kids made the trek to Twin Falls all by ourselves this afternoon!  (Daddy had to stay home and work.)  We made it in 3 hours and 50 minutes with only one stop in Tremonton!

First stop: Mandy's back yard!  Then we hit up the park for an hour!

Next we had a dinner picnic in the back yard!  And then we played some baseball and Nora found her very own slide fit to her size (AKA the gutter).

Bedtime!  Andlie & Haze slept in Daisey's old room with her and me & Nora slept in the other room.  Nora slept on her very own "Idaho big girl bed" and loved it!  She was eager to go to naps & bed every day!  Looks like it's almost time to convert her crib at home.

April 5 - Andlie's Special Night

We started a new tradition tonight.  Every month on their birth date, each kid gets to go on a one-on-one date with either Mom or Dad (they choose) at the place of their choosing.  Then they get to stay up 30 minutes later than the other kids and hang out with just Mommy & Daddy and do whatever they want.  Today was the 5th, so it was Andlie's special day!

She chose to go to Menchie's and get ice cream with Daddy!  They had fun making silly/scary faces since the cups & spoons were zombie-themed at Menchie's tonight!  They had lots of good conversation about lots of different things and had a great time together!

At home, Andlie chose to play "Pet Shop" with Mom and Dad.  She got out all 17 of her Littlest Pet Shop figurines and we played pretend according to her rules.  For the last 10-15 minutes, I taught her how to play Telephone!  (You know, the game where you whisper something in the person next to you's ear and then they pass it to the next person and then the last person has to say what they heard?)  Andlie LOVED it!  She had so so so so many giggles and we all had such a fun time just playing with each other!  It was a great night for all of us!  Excited to keep this tradition going!

April 4 - Adventure Club Continues

The kids went out for Adventure Club again this evening.  Always remembering their backpacks full of their favorite things.  (I think it must be in the rules.)  Today, it wasn't just Haze, Nora, and Andlie.  Instead, it was a transformer (Haze), a scout (Nora - affectionately named by Andlie), and a leader (Andlie)!

April 3 - Panaca Trip Day 4 (Cedar City Pit Stop)

This  morning we drove from Panaca to Cedar City where we stopped for a few hours.  We arrived around 2:00 pm and ate the delicious sloppy joe dinner that Grama had made for us and finished the last session of General Conference.

Then we headed over to Granny's to visit for a few minutes so we could see everyone.

Then we headed home!  I think Nora was pretty comfortable.....

 

We arrived home around 7:30.  We were excited to be home except that the power was out when we got home!  Apparently it had been out since about 5:30 pm and was out because of a downed power line in Provo Canyon and a tripped circuit breaker at the substation.  22,000 homes were out of power.  We had fun with flashlights and blankies for a while, but we were excited when the power came back on around 8:30!

April 2 - Grandma Paul's Memorial (Panaca Trip: Day 3)

Went to St. George today for Grandma Paul's memorial.  All seven siblings and their spouses made it!  It was a beautiful, simple, special service and I'm sure she was smiling down from heaven.  Mostly because all of her kids were together & happy.

At the end of the day, we squished in a little visit with Grandma & Grandpa Allen.  We had lots of fun visiting them!  Bryan & I are both blessed with WONDERFUL families.

L to R: Rich, Andy, Louis, Norm

L to R: Thayna, Pierco, Venice

Everyone who attended the memorial minus Randal who is taking the photo.

The Allen Family

Grandkids!  L to R: Graeson, Kadri, Andlie, Sander, Haze, Nora

I took one real picture & then said, "1, 2, 3 everyone say, 'Farts!'"  Got some good happy faces from that one.

April 1 - Panaca Trip: Day 2

Enjoyed LOTS of sunshine today!  Beautiful!

Celebrated April Fool's Day!  I woke up & told the kids that I made brownies for breakfast!  They were super excited until they realized that I had actually made "Brown Es."  Funny Chandi!  

Before that I played the ol' poppers under the toilet seat joke on Bryan again.  (Second successful year!)  Andlie took the brown Es with us down to Grama & Grampa and had fun pranking everyone all day long. 

Andlie had a trick up her sleeve for Daddy.  She's been planning it for weeks.  We got a one dollar bill and tied string around it and then she hid.  I told Daddy that he left his money on the floor and then she pulled.  And laughed and laughed and laughed!

Then Haze wanted in so he & Andlie had Daddy tie strings around candy and then told me that I dropped my candy on the floor and pulled!  More loud laughter!

Spent some time at the park with Tony & Leslie and gang and Grama & Grampa!

Ate dinner at Paul & Jenny's house.

 

March 31 - Announcing

Today we traveled to Panaca in preparation for attending Grandma Paul's memorial service.  We stopped in Cedar on the way and I wore my brand new shirt.

Grama immediately recognized it's message and squealed with delight and hugged me!  Grampa was at a meeting at the church, so he got a text.  Shortly after, I got a call asking me to confirm the good news and then he said, "Are you at my house?"  "Yes."  "Okay, I'm gonna excuse myself and come home."  Which is exactly what he did and then he gave me a huge hug!  And then winked at Bryan & said, "You've got some good swimmers there, soldier."

Hung out with Grama & Grampa & ate popsicles for a minute.  Texted everyone else in the Goodwin/Benson family and then headed to Panaca to spread the news!

Grama & Grampa Puppy took a minute, but they eventually understood what the shirt meant and passed around their congratulations!  Tony & Les immediately got it when they walked in and hugged & were excited!  Told Paul & Jenny the next day.  Fun to be able to show everyone the shirt in person instead of texting it to them like planned.  Posted on Facebook on April 2.

Nora slept in a big girl bed for the first time in Panaca!  (Meaning no Pack 'n Play/bed to contain her.)  She did great!