13th Anniversary and Disneyland

Lucky #13 for us and we decided to celebrate at Disneyland this year. Going without kids is such a different experience - we covered way more ground and rode all the rides we wanted to go on multiple times. Of course we had to eat at Cafe Orleans and we ate way too much good food, but hey, we walked like 12-13 miles a day!

I remember when we were first married, my friend Valerie gave us a wooden sign that said "Hillers - Established 2005" and it seemed like we were just playing at marriage. How long would it take until that established by date seemed solid and real. Well, I think we are definitely to that point - 13 years and 4 kids later, we still love and like each other. Happy anniversary to us!

Soccer Wrap Up

After a year hiatus, we were back in soccer again! Penelope said she wanted to play, but she was too nervous to take the field at practice and after three tries, we decided to wait for another season.

Claire and Miles both enjoyed their teams and improved this year - though I think a lot of that was from actually getting to practice with their dad at the park and getting one on one attention.

Miles was a striker this year and Claire was a defender, so she didn't get many chances to score. Miles scored often and was voted MVP of his team. He even scored from mid-field: after a weak kick off by the other team he ran in and booted the ball, taking everyone by surprise especially the goalie. The ball rolled right through his legs! It was a great season!

Penelope's Birthday Party

Penelope wanted a unicorn birthday this year! Throwing elaborate birthday parties just isn't my thing, much to my children's dismay. But we always do a fun family party and Betty brings fun games and prizes for the kids. She even found a pin the tail on the unicorn game :)

Penelope's 6th Birthday Questionnaire

What is your favorite color? Pink

What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries

What is your favorite dessert? Strawberry sundae

What is your favorite stuffed animal? Unicorn

What is your favorite TV show? Adventure Time

What is your favorite subject in school? Art

What is your favorite food? French fries

What is your favorite drink? Root beer

If you could change your name, what would it be? Pink-a-Smell

What is your favorite season? Fall

What do you want to be when you grow up? A police officer

Who are your best friends? Arianna, Beckham and Brooklyn

What is your favorite book? Pinkalicious

What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

What do you like to take to bed at night? Stuffed Spiderman and soft, pink blanket

What is your favorite thing we did this year? Go to Cedar City to see our family

What is your favorite animal? Cat

Easter Photos - Corn Creek

We had photos taken of the kids for Easter this year out at Corn Creek, a nature conservatory out past Mt. Charleston. We saw a sign that showed a tortoise - tortoise crossing next 4 miles. How cool! We hoped we would see some of Oogway's cousins (he woke up a few weeks ago from hibernation, by the way).

The area had little streams and bridges, animals, plants and trees you don't normally see in Las Vegas. What's cool is that this water source led people to settle this area a few hundred years ago, and there are some old outpost buildings and what's left of a stage station. Our photographer is one of only three who is authorized to shoot out there right now, and I was happy to try a new location for our photos. Taking photos around Easter help me get an annual photo near Penelope and Henry's birthdays, and the Fall/Christmas photos are near Miles and Claire's birthdays. I figure we are covered that way :)

I love how these turned out - It is ALWAYS worth the headache of the outfits, getting them dressed up on a Saturday and trying to get all four kids to smile at once. I only need one good photo, I always say - but we got way more than that this time!

Are we done yet???