February 2021

February came in fast and hard and we were busy right away.  Birthdays started off the month with Quincy's 11th birthday in the lead.  This girl is creative, caring, the biggest tease around, and has an infectious light and joy about her.  We had so much fun celebrating her. 

She chose to have a Chopped Birthday Party and it was so much fun seeing her create food items with her friends.  There were 3 teams and they competed against each other to come up with their own pizza creations and their own cake creations.   

Next up was our sweet Coco who turned 3 years old!  She is my little bestie and shadow who is constantly my side.  She is developing a funny personality and is constantly surprising us with things that she says.  She loves Minnie Mouse, Princesses, animals, her sisters, and being outside. 

We decided to have a Princess Tea Party with a couple of her friends.  It was adorable to see these cuties altogether.  

There were lots more basketball games throughout February and it was fun to watch and support Tess and Quincy during their games. 

We love it when our friends come to visit.  Even if it's quick.  The Rinke's were in town for a tournament and we got to see Avery play soccer and then had dinner together.  It was also fun to see Coco loving on Megan finally!

Just to remember, I will forever love how she would wrap her arm around my head and pull me close to her...

The Olson Crew came down for another visit and it was fun having them. Angie and I went to the Parade of Homes and laughed so much when we got caught in a downpour.  And then we got to celebrate Valentine's Day with them so we all decorated cookies and made homemade pizzas for our candlelight dinner.  We also took the kids to climb around in the arboretum, played games, and ate more Peanut Butter M&M's than anyone should eat in a year!  It's also nice to know that I can still take on my nephew, even though he's going to be taller than me in a second.  

Grandma and Grandpa Payne sent us a gift card to our favorite ice cream place for Valentines Day.  It was awesome!

Back in January we were notified that Tess was going to be tested to determine whether or not she was a fit for the Advanced Learning Program.  We soon found out that she was and that there were only 2 schools in St. George that had the program.  After studying them both out we decided Diamond Valley Elementary was the best fit for her.  However, because they have a spanish immersion program as well they thought it best if we transferred her right away so that she wouldn't be so far behind next year.  So we did.  And she felt all the emotions that comes with changing schools.  But she was mostly excited and ready for the change.  When I dropped her off on her first day it felt like dropping her off for the first time... I was suddenly so sad at how big she suddenly felt.  But we knew that this would be such a good change for her. Another change that came with it is that she would be riding the bus.  I wasn't sure how I felt about it but it really has made the transfer so much easier.  

Cute friends: 

Addie had the opportunity to sing at the Tuacahn Market one Saturday and it was so fun watching her.  She has been working with a voice coach since we moved here and we've have loved watching her develop in the thing that she loves.  

And the last birthday of the month was Devin.  I surprised him with a night in Las Vegas.  He had no idea until we were actually driving there.  I couldn't believe that I was able to pull it all off!  So we ate at this amazing BBQ place, ditched the crappy hotel that I booked to find a better one, went and saw a movie, and got some amazing donuts.  The next day we hiked some of Valley of Fire State Park and it was so beautiful.  We can't wait to go back to explore more of it!

Park Days with Coco.  Every once in awhile I can convince her that pushing the swing is actually the fun part! 

At the end of this month, Coco started getting a lot of drainage coming out of one ear and it quickly turned pretty bad.  After getting her checked out with the ENT he found that one of her tubes (which we had been told had fallen out) actually got lodged in her canal and was causing a major infection.  So we scheduled a surgery to have it removed.  It was quick and she had all the doctors and nurses wrapped around her cute little finger.  

The younger girls also decided that they were done with bunk beds.  So when Mary-Ann came to visit (of course) we got them a whole new setup.  It turned out so great!

As busy as February was it was such a fun month celebrating half of our family's birthdays and visiting with people we love. We feel so blessed, with hearts so full.