Mariah is 14!

Fourteen years with our Mariah Jeanne. It feels like yesterday she was the sweet baby girl with the black hair sticking straight up off her head...and now, the hair has changed some, but she is still the sweetest girl. 

Mariah decided to forego the interview this year so I'm just going to list some of our favorite things about her. 

She is kind. I've never seen a girl her age that speaks so highly of others. She tries to give others the benefit of the doubt, and she is such a good example to me.  

She is good. Lately Mariah has often stepped in and helped me without being asked and I'm so grateful for her.

She is so funny. She has such a clever sense of humor but doesn't work too hard to try to make people laugh. She doesn't try to take center stage, she just quietly says the funniest things. 

She is talented. This year Mariah has put in a lot of work on the piano. I love hearing her sing while playing chords. She loves doing artwork and working on lettering too. 

Mariah is The Best big sister. She is so very patient with her younger siblings and comes up with fun things to do with Eliza, Vivi, and Asa. She isn't as patient with Chet and Austin...it would take a celestial level of patience to put up with those two on the daily, she can handle them no problem though. And they have a lot of fun together too. 

Mariah is brave. I have been so proud of her as she is learning to drive. She doesn't get angry with me when I "overreact", and even though it is out of her comfort zone, she is always willing to get back behind the wheel. 

Because she is homeschooled, she often is put in situations where she doesn't know anyone in a group, but she is willing to be uncomfortable as she tries new things. 

She has really enjoyed practicing with the varsity soccer team and is so grateful that the girls have been so kind to her. 

This girl is a favorite. I can't wait to see the growth she makes this year. 

And just a little throwback...

Time goes too fast! Sure love you Mo-Miah! 

April

April is always a busy month, but we made it especially full this year. 

We kicked off the month with our anniversary/April Fools. 

Chet printed off a nail through the finger do-dad to try to prank me. They decided I would believe it more if one of the contractors pretended he had it through his finger. They asked if I could give him a ride to the hospital and I was a little confused and wondering why he was freaking out so much, but said I would. Needless to say, I didn't give them the reaction they were expecting. Obviously they were unaware of all the traumatic injuries that come from growing up on a ranch. A nail through the finger is nothing. 

Tanner and I didn't do much for our anniversary because we were preparing for our big trip later in the month. 

We had our Passover meal,

 

And celebrated Tanner. He's such a good sport with the craziness that is around his birthday.

Easter Eggs were decorated.  

We went to the community Easter egg hunt and I was able to convince Vivi and Asa to wear their bunny suits. It was freezing outside so I think they were happy to be wearing them. We met up there with the cousins and everyone gorged themselves on candy through conference.

That night we celebrated Mariah's birthday.

I forgot to get candles so we did a little arithmetic to get to 14. 

Tanner was on call Easter morning, but we still did the scavenger hunt and made resurrection rolls. It didn't go quite the way I had envisioned, but that doesn't take away from the joy that comes with knowing that Jesus Christ lives! 

We got to go to the Rathbun fish hatchery for a field trip. It was way more interesting than I thought it would be. Fish...who knew? Vivi gets excited when her buddy Emmett is there. 

I took the boys to Scott's shop and they were geeking out about all the 3-D printers. I was just trying to not have a nervous breakdown figuring out all the things in the house. 

Tanner and I were able to go to Hawaii for our 15th anniversary. It's the first time we've gone on an extended trip since I was pregnant with Eliza. We were due. 

Grammie flew out to watch the kiddos. They had a tea party, made cars for a drive-in movie, had a mystery dinner, went to the movie theater, the skate park, and Snack Shack. The chicks hatched too so it was basically the best week ever for the kids. 

Tanner and I weren't miserable either...

We had such a wonderful time! Shipman's beach was one we had to hike out to but was so beautiful. There was one spot where the river came into the ocean so it was a little bit of a shock to go from icy water, to warm water and then back to icy. Very therapeutic though and it was free...can't beat that. But in all honesty, I'm a wimp when it comes to cold water so I didn't participate in the "therapy" for very long. 

We went to so many beautiful beaches...

This was a favorite of Tanner's on the southernmost tip of the United States. Instead of sand, it was just coral. and on the other side there were cliffs. We could see dolphins off in the distance. 

While walking to the bathrooms at this beach I saw that a wedding ceremony was talking place. I was confused, "why would they pick to get married right by the bathrooms?" Then I walked around the bathrooms and saw the view. Now I'm wondering, why would they build the bathrooms right in front of the most beautiful view? 

Chad, Kaisa, and Esther joined us. 

Jared and Kiersten were so wonderful opening up their home to us. They were the most amazing hosts. They took us to so many amazing beaches. 

 

One of Tanner's favorite parts of the trip was trying all the fruit. 

The Paniolo was a favorite...Kaisa got this photo with no time to spare (Tanner wouldn't slow down... rude) But Kaisa nailed the shot. Such a cool picture. 

I loved the boogie boarding, even with the pound of sand in my suit...totally worth it. 

We opened up fresh coconuts on the beach like the locals. 

My highlight was probably cleaning frog eggs out of the Weicher's pond...I'm an easy pleaser. But seriously, they felt so cool and there were so many! Also, swimming with the manta rays. That was such a surreal experience. The rays seemed to really like Tanner so they kept coming right up on us. Thanks Tanner for being an animal whisperer. 

We had a Poke bowl, snowcones, acai bowls, malassadas and lots of spam musubi. 

On our last full day on the island, Tanner and I decided to hike Captain Cook Monument Trail to do some snorkeling. 

This was us at the beginning of the hike, so fresh, so energized. The snorkeling was amazing, we were so glad we didn't pay money to take a boat to the cove, the hike out was going to be nothing!  

Here we are after the hike out. Needless to say, we were humbled. The trail was only 3.8 miles but with an elevation gain of 1,269 ft, it was beasty. But we had lots of water, and after a sno cone we felt refreshed enough to hit the beach again for some more boogie boarding. 

We finished the night with a beautiful sunset. It was so good to get away from the stresses of life for a while with my favorite person. Here's to more amazing vacations with this man! 

I am so grateful for my mom! She made her time with our kids so fun that they didn't even have time to miss us. Vivienne let me know that Grandma is her favorite. Me too Viv. 

Vivi had been planning an "adventure on the property" for a while. She had even drawn maps of where we were going to go. We packed a picnic and followed our fearless leader. We had to leave our picnic spot after discovering ticks, they are everywhere this year! But Vivi was ready to move on to her next spot anyway and we didn't see any ticks so we stayed there for a while. 

Eliza had her tumbling show case and she has improved so much. She works on new skills at home and loves to show people what she is working on. One of her coaches wrote a really nice note about how Eliza's "kindness, composure, and willingness shines bright." Couldn't be more proud of her! 

Grammie made cream puffs and they got fancy with some of them. Swans! 

We took Grammie to Pella to see the tulips while Tanner and the big boys rode bikes at Redrock. 

We were all real sad about Grandma leaving. 

Mariah got her leaners permit. She isn't exactly thrilled to be driving, but she is willing and very teachable. Yeehaw!

More exciting tractor work for the kids to watch. 

We're loving the chicks...I only call them girls because we are manifesting hens, not roosters. 

March

We started out the month celebrating our Vivi Kay

She requested, "burritos with the berries, chocolate, and whipped cream." So crepes it was. She made sure we opened presents before Dad left for work so she could enjoy them all day. 

Our dear friends surprised Vivi with horse rides and cupcakes. They even decorated their barn for her. And Ellie was so sweet letting Vivi ride her little pony. 

And the big kids got to ride too! It's always a good time on Redwing. 

Vivi requested a rainbow cake with marshmallows and was super excited to use her new toys that her big brothers made on their 3D printer for decorations. 

My parents stopped in on their way back to Nevada. 

They watched Vivi and Asa while the older four and I went to watch the Missouri cousins in their play. They all did so amazing and we can't wait until the next production. 

Grammie did a fantastic tea party. And Papa Ralph made sure to take them to the Snack Shack every day. 

Tanner traveled to Utah to baptize little Tanner. He had a great time with family and was able to see a few friends too. 

These pictures make me so happy. 

We had a going away party for some dear church friends. The highlight of the evening was the Ranger rides. 

Austin and Eliza enjoyed Marshmallow engineering at a primary activity. 

And Austin made a cake. We all enjoyed eating it. 

Chet made it to state in Archery so there was lots of practice going on. Here he is with his biggest cheerleaders. 

On the warm days there was lots of 4-wheeler, go-cart, and "Asa" riding. Asa calls the Ace the Asa.

Eliza and I enjoyed this beautiful sunset on a walk. T-shirts in March, we loved those days. 

Vivs likes to serenade us on the ukulele. 

We went down to the cousins' for the day while their parents were on vacation to give their Aunt Britta a breather. But the kids played so hard outside that I felt like it was a little vacation myself. 

Elsie really loves Eliza.

We've enjoyed our Easter countdown, mainly because it involves open flames. Asa likes to try to roast the little fake eggs I have for decoration and tries his hardest to sneakily blow out the candles before it's time. But I'm sure he's getting something spiritual out of it too. 

We had another pool day and Mariah got to go this time. 

Asa and Vivi enjoyed the free samples at Hyvee one day. 

We decided to go to State archery as a family and it went really well. Asa was starting to get a little antsy towards the end but we made it! Chet was happy with how he did.

We then went and did a little clothes shopping for Mariah followed by a Costco run

Vivi decided she needed to put all her hair into this bucket hat to help her curls be better. The things we do for beauty. 

We celebrated Palm Sunday with the missionaries, Brother Gilmore and Evan. 

We ended the month at the Alito's pond. It's always a good time with them.