RMH Fun Run

I helped start a volunteer group at my new job and our first event was with the Ronald McDonald House Fun Run - we are focusing on children and the medical community. I brought the kids and we had a great morning - Matt was at Claire's volleyball tournament so they missed it.  The CCCU Cares Team was the largest group at the event, and it was our first year participating! 

Update and Catching Up!

I played volleyball with my new ward - the ladies are awesome and so welcoming! I almost didn't go because I didn't want to crash their team, but they needed one more. And we won first place in our church tournament! We won Yogurt Land gift cards too!

It's been so fun to watch Claire play club volleyball - our friend Emily used to babysit Claire when she was only one year old and she came to watch the last tournament.

Matt turned 41 - WHAT?! Yep, he's SO much older than me. He had his traditional Nothing Bundt Cake and a family dinner.

Bubba has started letting me dress him up for church - FINALLY! He likes suspenders and asks for a tie too every now and then.

I'm trying to make "Sunday Selfies" a thing... sometimes it works. I like taking them on our stairs to see all these faces! Matt was out of town for this one, at a training in Tennessee. He even had to miss Super Bowl Sunday because of his flight.

Henry got sick, and then everyone got sick. This kid was wiped out for a few days! And Matt was out of town too - yay!! I stayed home from work and luckily was able to work remotely since I have no time off saved up yet at the new job... I'm lucky to ever have time saved with four kids taking turns being sick all the time.

He crosses his legs like this all the time when he sleeps, especially in his car seat. For some reason it makes me laugh- he's a little old man.

Amazing the difference a day can make, plus a bath. Henry was feeling better again and had an appetite! I weighed him after his 3-4 days of feeling so sick, and he had lost 10% of his body weight.

I surprised Miles as a classroom volunteer for his Valentine's Day party at school. Oh the sugar highs and the messy desks! When I walked into the classroom I couldn't see Miles at first so I was looking around a bit awkwardly. His teacher spotted me and said, "Miles, your mom is here!" The other kids looked at me and then like 3-4 kids at once said, "Your mom is so tall!" One said, "I need a ladder to reach your mom!" His teacher was worried I was going to be offended or something and made a comment about it being ok to be tall. But when I told Matt the story he said, "You loved it, didn't you!" I didn't mind one bit - I'm the shorty of this Hiller bunch so I don't mind being called tall every now and then!

Another Sunday Selfie - I think we are getting better! It helps to have Matt's long arms to get us all in the picture. Sometimes I look around and can't believe I have four kids and get to live in this awesome house! It's like all our hard work is coming together and those days of struggling with going back to school and being pregnant and nursing while at work are kind of a foggy memory.

We hosted a going away party for some friends who are moving to San Antonio - they are a wonderful military family that we got to meet through church. We will miss you, Johnsons! Our theme was "Doughnut Go!" and we had some cute doughnut decor plus of course, doughnuts to eat!

Claire has made a good friend at school this year, Mady. She is a sweet girl and they get along great! We really prayed that Claire would find a solid friend this year, after some mean girl experiences last year.  The other day they made cookies and I couldn't help but have them wear our super hero aprons. I casually mentioned that it would be cool to have a foreign exchange student someday since now we have enough room to host someone - they have to have their own rooms, I think, and they could use our guest room. Mady said, "If I were an exchange student in this house I would never want to go home!"

The Power Squad lives on! Though we are fewer in number, with good friends Becky in Orlando and Emily in Gunnison, Utah, we have adopted Marcie and continue to meet for birthdays and special occasions. We met to celebrate a very belated for Karry, who lives in St. George and is always traveling.

Leah's school was doing a fundraiser with UNLV basketball tickets - nosebleed seats but all you could eat concessions for $25 a ticket. We like going to a few games a year and so we tagged along with the school.

Snow in VEGAS!

Once about every ten years, Vegas gets a snow day, and everyone goes NUTS! We woke up to snow and the kids were so excited! Definitely the first time any of them have seen snow here in town. I got them up early to play a bit - Miles sporting the flip flops made it an especially Vegas-esque moment. I told the kids the snow would definitely be gone when they came home from school (it wasn't cancelled, much to everyone's dismay) and so they put some snow in a zip lock bag. The NEXT day, full of sunshine and no snow left at our house, they cancelled school. I think everyone was feeling sad they missed a real snow day.  

Kid Quotes

Penelope says to Claire, “How many parent teeth do you have? I have mostly baby teeth still.” Claire didn’t even bat an eye. "I have mostly parent teeth," she said. 

We went out to eat and there was a huge line. I said, "Why is cafe Rio always so crowded?!" Penelope says, “WELL, it has won over 50 awards!!” 

I told the kids they could have a slumber party in the loft the first Sunday of Christmas break. Penelope said, "Summer party? Don’t you mean a winter party?!” 

Penelope and our friend Vivian's son Jackson play so well together.  While playing at Jackson's house, they got suitcases and went outside to the little playhouse like they were going on vacation.  But when I picked them up, Penelope said to me, “Miles and Claire kept bursting in on me and Jackson’s conversations. They just kept BURSTING!” They also teased them that they were on their honeymoon! :) 

Miles says to Penelope, "Your feet smell like stinky cheese that was eaten and then pooped out and then a skunk sprayed on it." Creative.  

Miles, while popping bubble wrap, says, “I think bubble wrap can solve all your problems.”  He said it was like a stress relief ... is my 9 year old is stressed?

Penelope and Ben named the ducks at Disneyland- with all that was going around to entertain them, the ducks were like the number one attraction. The names they chose for the ducks cracked me up - KEVIN, Spark, Penny and Jeff. 

Henry only wanted to ride certain rides over and over again at Disneyland. He said, “Mom, my heart wants to go on the Haunted Mansion!” How could we say no? 

After they made a good choice, I told Henry he was a nice boy and Penelope was a nice girl. Penelope said, "Soon, I’m gonna be a nice WOMAN." Oh brother. I asked her when that would happen, fearing she would say in a few years, but she said, "Maybe at 20." Phew. 

More Disney

Just some more cuteness from our Disneyland trip! I seriously want to go back and go when it is raining... Henry asks to go to Haunted Mansion EVERY DAY.

Disneyland 2019

A rainy, empty Disneyland was wonderful, despite our soggy ponchos and wet feet - day three brought back the sun and the crowds. I honestly preferred our rainy days. The kids did great - way better than I had expected with the weather.

Henry was tall enough to ride some of the big kid rides - he was above 40 inches! He rode Big Thunder Mountain and didn't love it... but he also got to go on Cars and he loved it! His biggest favs were Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Winnie the Pooh and Pirates, even though he was scared of the big drop off after the first time, he went on it again and wasn't as nervous.