If you have to take last...

This past weekend was Bailey's national competition in Anaheim. Her team was looking great. They practice 3 days a week and work hard for 2 hours each practice. Nationals is the last competition of the season. After a year worth of hard work they performed a flawless routine both days we were down there. Normally this would mean a national championship however, every stinkin' team in her division had flawless routines!
Out of 7 teams, Raglan took 7th. :( Bailey was disappointed when she heard and Mat and I immediately began reassuring her what a great job she did and how awesome her team looked. We didn't stay for the awards ceremony so everything we heard was through our texting on the way home.

What we didn't find out until we arrived home was that the senior level 2 large division was the tightest out of all the divisions at the competition. All 7 teams were within 1 POINT of each other! In fact the 1st place team in senior level 2 large division was the grand champion over all 800+ teams! So while Raglan didn't get the chance to place at least they can say they were within a point of having the highest score of the competition. Usually the 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and so on, teams place within points not a single point. Not within tenths of a point.

Bailey started dancing when she was 3. She took to it like a fish to water. Although we miss watching her in ballet, she LOVES cheer and has come such a far way in a short time with it. Next week is her year end review and I've been told there may be some back flips added to some stunting they will be showcasing for us which just freaks me out but gets me so excited at the same time! The following week will be the tryouts for next year's teams. She is hoping to make Raglan's top team this year and in my humble, mommy opinion, she's a shoe in! Great job Bailey! We love you!!!

He's 7!!!

Easton's birthday fell on a Tuesday this year which normally would mean he would have the night available to have a party for him. However, lately it seems as though every night is crazy busy. We opted to have his party on Easter weekend. We let him invite whomever he liked and figured with it being a holiday weekend that we would be lucky if half of the invite list attended. Yeah, we were wrong! We had 24 kids! That included a few that weren't able to make it. At that point I was super happy we opted for the Aquatic Center instead of an elaborate party at home. I love the swimming pool thing. You show up, they provide food, a drink, and a gift bag with balloons. Seriously the easiest and cheapest route at $5.00 a kid for everything.
I love that no matter how wide of a circle the kids have at the beginning of opening presents by the end you can't even breathe. Easton was spoiled by all of his friends and the great gifts they all brought. He even ventured out of his comfort zone and invited a few girls to the party. He just smiled any time we mentioned the girls on the invite list. He was very particular about which ones he'd actually invite.

I'm not a cake decorator and Easton for some darn reason prefers homemade cakes. I convinced him too have cupcakes and we could make a shape of a fish. It's more of an abstract one but he was happy at least.

I can't believe he's 7! He's been my baby for so long it's really sad to see him grow up. He is such a fun part of our house. Always laughing and truly helpful. Although Easton has a very tough exterior he is one of the sweetest, most thoughtful kids around. Love you bud!

Eggs, Hunts, and GORGEOUS Weather

We are having such a wonderful weekend. Southern Utah is just plain gorgeous in the spring. Friday had us worried with it being a bit windy but the weather held through the Eve. Friday started off with Easton's birthday party. We let him invite who he wanted and figured with the kids being out of school and it being Easter weekend we would get about half of the kids invited. We were wrong. We had 24 kids total! (Yes, there were a handful that couldn't make it. ) I was tickled that Easton had that many kids that wanted to celebrate his birthday with him.
We had our ward Easter party that night. Peyton took to finding eggs like a fish to water. She kept saying "mine, mine". It was a great turnout and rather fun to attend this one rather than be in charge.

Saturday morning we headed down to Vernon Worthen for the Kiwanis Club Easter hunt. The kids were disappointed that they didn't find a number in their eggs but we still had a blast playing around for almost an hour after the hunt was over.

The Orchard clan met us at the park and it took Peyton a bit to warm up to Riley where she doesn't see her that often. Riley patted Peyton's back and told her "it's okay Peyton, it's okay."

After we left the park we walked to Fargo's for some lunch. Bailey rode her Imod with her cousin Jake and they got pulled over on the way there and on the way home from 2 different police officers! Haha!

The weather was incredible all day and we had a blast hanging out in the backyard having baseball throwing contests and enjoying springtime. We took in a movie with the kiddos and barbecued for dinner. Then Mat and I dominated in bowling over the Orchards while the kids dyed eggs at Grandma's. Does it get any better?

I'm sure the weekend will not do much for my ambitions to get skinny after all of the candy and tasty food. I suppose I'll have to kick it in gear on Monday.

Peyton helped decorate eggs and totally makes picking her nose look good. :)

The kids had fun making a mess with the egg dyeing at our house and loved their baskets the Easter Bunny brought them this morning. Mat hasn't worked since before the party on Friday and we have had too much fun with our lazy weekend. Now we get to sit back and enjoy the reason we celebrate Easter and soak up the conference addresses.

Happy Easter from the Holt's!

Caleb's Big Day

Caleb turned 8 in January. Of course the following month would typically be when an 8 year old growing up in the gospel would be baptized. Unless your older sister had a cheer competition that month in Salt Lake. Naturally, the following month would suffice. Unless of course, your family had planned a trip to Hawaii then. Lucky for us we got to have the baptisms early this month due to general conference, so Caleb finally took the plunge! Truly Caleb is such a sweetheart. Not only is he a handsome fella he has a brightness about him that makes you smile.

I remember my baptism day and the only picture I have from it is a Polaroid of my dad and I wearing white. I remember insisting my dad wear his mint green suit to match my mint green dress that I had chosen to wear. Oh how that ages me!!! The day I was baptised my brother (obviously) was also. Along with my cousin who's father had passed away so my dad had the honor of 3 in one swoop. Baptisms today seem to be a lot more work than I remember mine being. Of course the whole family came back then but the baptism was it. No dinner, no gifts, just a Polaroid attached to your baptism certificate. I really don't mind any effort we made to make Caleb's day special. He was beaming all day and I just tried to keep the tears in check.
Along with Caleb's baptism this week I had sharing time and got to sub for the primary president in ward council. Wouldn't you know it was her turn for the thought and prayer. I tend to stress badly with sharing time alone. Why 100 little children intimidate me I have no idea. Giving a thought in ward council is pure torture in comparison however. Although, having the bishop call you up after your sons baptism and ask you to bear your testimony in front of a small group of family nearly did me in! Thank you for that Bishop!
When all was said and done I was unbelievably grateful for being blessed with such an amazing kid. I'm so pleased with the boy Caleb is and the man he is growing up to be.

Now if we could just get a bit of Caleb's mild nature to rub off on his little brother...

Caleb and Easton both ended their basketball seasons the week we left for Hawaii so I am now getting around to posting about their awesome season. Although Easton could have played on Caleb's team we ended up putting the boys in separate leagues. We wanted Easton only play against boy his age. It was also nice to compare the two separate leagues. Easton played in Hartman Sports Club while Caleb played for Ivins city. We were very impressed with the Ivins league overall. It was half as much and the facility was nicer.

Easton was so fun to watch. He was intense. He is certainly not the type that will let other kids push him around. The rule was 50 cents for each basket scored. Each game they played I was at least a dollar poorer. I loved it. Easton actually started to get the hang of it by the end of the season. I can't say that I see a future for my little shorties in the tall man sport but they sure love it.

Mat coached both teams and after Caleb's first game when only one kid scored (from a foul shot) we were all a bit worried. He took those kids though from being the worst team there to being the ones to beat. Ivins league doesn't keep score at this age but we are certain they never lost another game. Caleb played great. He loves basketball and we love watching him.

Peyton was just happy if there was bleachers to play on and a ball to roll around. Now onto spring soccer and baseball!

Hello!!! Mother of the Year!

Having 5 years between Easton and Peyton I find that I forget a lot about raising toddlers. One thing however, that I remember well, is if you hear silence there's trouble to be found. Peyton seems extra advanced with this skill. Today while I was working away making a video for Caleb's upcoming baptism, I could hear Peyton off in the other room playing the keyboard. I had to edit the video which I admit, got me a little caught up in memories of my little guy. After the video had ran through and I had the bugs worked out...sure enough silence was heard. I almost feel like the music from the movie psycho should be playing whenever I go to investigate the silence. You know, the music builds up, and then right as you turn the corner, SHRIEKS! Today's silence was brought to me by the makers of Magic Shell chocolate and the older kids leaving it on the lower shelf. Peyton had worked her way up on the counter and was trying to wash her feet clean while watching Phineas and Ferb. These are the results.

How am I supposed to be mad at that? After all, I'm the slacker mom who wasn't watching her.

Somehow, I don't think she would have gotten her feet clean.

I will say this. She knew she had made a mess. There were dirty paper towels nearby clearly a sign that she planned on cleaning it up. I truly don't mind moments like this. Ones that are easy to clean and easy to fix. Magic marker on the leather couches, and holes burned into the new trampoline mat from cousins, are moments I could do without.

Th Big Vacation!

Every year since Bailey was little Mat and I have taken the kiddos to Disneyland for a family vacation. While we love it there we always talk about doing something else. This past summer Mat and I told the kids if they wanted to help us save the money we could take a more extravagant vacation. They chose Hawaii. So we got a jar and started saving. The rule was that we didn't go until we had enough saved. We knew the bulk of the money would come from extra jobs Mat did but wanted the kids to contribute as well. After the first 3 months we counted what we had and told the kids that if we tried hard by Spring Break we could go. They counted down the months and days leading up to our trip.

When we first got to the airport we had some glitches in our travel already. The flight delayed us 8 hours! I was frustrated knowing that we were traveling with 4 kids and this was not ideal. Bailey kept reminding me that it was okay. We still got to go.

When we finally got to Oahu it was GORGEOUS! We didn't have a bad day there. Our hotel was fabulous and the beach was pristine. Of course that's the first place we went.

We did everything we wanted to do. Shopped at Aloha Stadium, went to Pali Lookout, snorkeled a ton, and went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Mat and I kept asking the kids if Hawaii was what they expected. Of course they had conjured up different images in their minds but were certainly not disappointed.

The favorite stop was the PCC. They loved the night show. Usually by the time we've been on vacation for a week we are more than ready to head home. We really could have easily stayed another week.

One thing I really wanted was family pictures on the beach. So we packed up the tripod and took out the remote control and headed out. We never did get a "perfect" shot. We did get a load of great ones though. Of course we were worried if we were spending too much money so when we got home and tallied up our expenses we found that we had $500.00 left! Woohoo! We're already on the savings train for the next vacation. Wonder where we should go? :)