Crossley Chronicles: March 2009

Spring Break was truly a blast! We got to go visit friends and family in Utah and Wyoming. The trip started out a bit rocky with Price Canyon being a complete snow storm most of the drive...and we were driving at night. Thank goodness there was an off duty pilot car that was driving really well at a good speed for not being able to see very well. So I stayed behind him for a majority of the canyon. Unfortunately my kids get car sick and both Brandon and Abby threw up before we got to our friends house, so we spent the night cleaning up throw up and dealing with a screaming baby (Madie did great in the car, but was not happy once we got there). The rest of the trip however was sooo much fun! We stayed at our friends house first...thanks Kirston and Travis!

THE LIVING PLANET AQUARIUM

On Saturday we went with Kirston and kids to The Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. The kids had a great time. It was really neat to see.

We got to see jelly fish...they had the lights change colors to make it look like

the fish were changing. The kids really liked the jelly fish.

Madie was so good...she rode in the front carrier for the first part of it and when

she fell asleep she rode in the stroller. In the pic below she was yawning.

Abby got to touch a sting ray...the water was too deep for the kids to
stick their arms down to reach them, but by chance one came by when Abby
had her arm down in the water and had it's "wing" up along the side. When she
touched it, the sting ray flipped it's wing and splashed water at us...she jumped, I jumped
and dropped Madie's nursing cover...oops. It was pretty funny.

Brelynn, Abby and Brandon sitting in a little area they had for little kids.

The frogs were pretty cute.

Brandon and Cole checking out some more frogs.

Kirston and "the boys"! Brandon called her "mom" the entire time we were there.

It was pretty funny. We would ask him who mom was and he would point to me and then

to her.

"Indiana Dad?" and Brandon

Sunday

We went to church with Kirston and Travis to our old ward...we used to live there close to them

for a while. It was so fun to see some of our friends that were in the ward when we were there. I couldn't believe how tall some of the girls were that were in my Activity Days when I was the leader. My how time flies. We had dinner at Kirston's afterwards...it was delicious! That evening we packed up and headed to my Aunt Libby's house.

Aunt Libby's house

Sunday-Wednesday morning

Sunday night we got to see family that we haven't seen for a while. It was so much fun!! Monday it SNOWED and was FREEZING cold so we stayed inside and the kids played and played. Cailee and Abby put on a musical theatre for Aunt Libby...it was pretty cute. Before it snowed the kids went out with Uncle Lynn and gathered the eggs from the chickens.

Cousin Emily holding Madie. One night we were there she really got to laughing at Emily. It was so cute.

Cailee and Abby hiding during hide and go seek with Brandon.

Brandon hiding under the pull out bed.

Tuesday

We took some time while everyone was at work to go visit my Cousin-Aunt Julie (that's what we always call her). It was so good to visit and the kids had a lot of fun playing with her cute grand kids. It's been way too long since we'd seen everyone. Julie and I got to run to Seagull Book...with out kids! YEA. It was sooo good to visit. So why aren't there pics...the BATTERIES DIED and we hadn't had a chance to get more at the store. AHAH.

That night we went to my friend Katie's house for dinner. We used to live right across the street from them and the kids became great friends. We got pictures with Katie's camera, I just haven't gotten them from her yet, so pics to come later. We had a great time there. The kids of course took all the pillows off the couch ( a favorite past time) and layed them out on the floor to play on.

That night we went back to Libby's and first off had to get GUM out of Cailee's hair. That's right, GUM. She now knows why mom and dad always say to keep gum in your mouth. Well, we now know that peanut butter works for more than just sandwiches. We then packed up most of our stuff, got kids to bed, ect. I got to visit with Emily and Libby for a while...while they worked on Emily's wedding invitations (I can't believe your getting married Em-invites are really cute BTW).

Wednesday

We left Wednesday morning and headed for Wyoming. We didn't forget the Dramamine this time. Had a bucket just in case though. Brandon thought it would be a great hat. Better than a throw-up catcher.

Abby attempting to sleep.

We got to my brother Danen and sister-in-law Kimberly's around four. The kids were SOO happy to see their cousins. At night Aunt Kimberly would read to the kids. They loved all the fun stories. Thanks Aunt Kimberly.

Sweet Kennedy and Brandon.

Madie playing on the floor during story time. I love my baby girl!

Thursday-Game Time

My younger sister plays basketball and it just so happened to be the State Tournament going on the same time we were there. It was so fun to watch her play. They were Regional Champions and took 2nd at State!! Way to go Darc!! We are all so proud of you!

My younger, but now taller brother Justin holding Madie.

My Mom with Abby and Cailee on her lap and cousin Hailey sitting next to them.

Daddy and Madie....my older brother is in the background.

Hailey and Abby are the same age. They were born a little over a month apart. We were due a couple weeks apart, but Abby decided she didn't want to wait and came five weeks early.

My little sis' team in a huddle. You can see her facing one of the couches smiling. She got the good sportsmanship award during the second game! WAY TO GO!

We went to this AWESOME restaurant that night with a lot of my family. My parents, Danen and Kimberly and kids, my younger brother and sister and my fam. It's called SANFORD'S and inside they have the walls covered in old things...license plates, bikes, posters and their are T.V's everywhere. The bathroom (so I'm told-Aunt Darcee was a good sport about taking kidos to the bathroom.) even had a tv on the ceiling...how crazy is that. The food was amazingly good and we had a great time. I always have a good time with my family though!

They give all the "little" kids hats. Darcee just had to try it on. Funny thing-she looks cute in anything. She's so beautiful!

This is how Madie enjoyed the restaurant! Exciting, I know.

The fam looking to see what to order. Blake ordered a "flat tire". I had a "dip stick".

Brandon sportin' the hat.

They don't give you napkins...these are at the ends of all the tables. Isn't that awesome. You can kind of see in the background some of the "old stuff" I was talking about.

ARR...I spot meself a pirate searching for treasure.

Cailee enjoying her mini-corndogs, applesauce that comes with a gummy worm sticking out of it and fries. Everything was sooo good. They kids ate really well.

Friday and Saturday

We watched more basketball these days and when we weren't at the gym we spent our time at Danen and Kimberly's playing. They got a new dog a little while ago named Jaxon who is adorable. Abby absolutely loved him. She even wanted him to sleep with her and was sad when he couldn't. Sorry Abbs. My older sister came donw on Saturday for the Championship game with my Aunt and Grandpa Don! It was so good to see them. She brought little Ashlee (her new baby born in Dec.-four weeks and 30 min. after Madie), Megan and Aaron with her. It was so much fun to see them. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Ashlee and Madie together. Not sure why I didn't. We all went to the game that night. It was a tough game, but we are all so proud of my little sis. Congrats on 2nd!!

Sunday

We traveled home Sunday. It was a pretty good drive...very windy. We about lost our driver side mirror to the wind. Thanks to a little enginuity on Blake and my part we are able to tie it back to the van till we got home. We were all very happy to be home. That night during dinner this is how Madie felt. I think this is how we all felt. EXHAUSTED...but a good thing. We had a great Spring Break...it truly was a blast! Thanks to everyone for a great time.