~Having Fun After a Hard Days Work~

Saturday was such a beautiful day, which translates to a great day to work in the yard. The whole family spent the day cleaning up the yard from winter, mowing the lawn, trimming trees and bushes, etc. Since the kids worked so hard we decided to pack up and head to the valley to play at Pineview Dam. The kids and Marley had fun playing in the water, climbing trees, making sand castles, climbing sand hills, and exploring.

Dave couldn't resist showing Hunter how he can still climb trees.

Mckell with her sand castle.

Hunter and Mckell found a "cave".
I absolutely LOVE spending time with my family. We have so much fun together! I am truly blessed for having them all in my life.

~Our Little Princess Is 5~

My baby just turned 5 years old. Wow! It seems like just yesterday that we were up at the hospital with her. Mckell is such a cutie, and we LOVE having her as part of our family. She has such a spunky personality, she can make friend wherever she goes, and she is always thinking of her family. Whenever she gets a treat from the doctors office, at dance, or at school she insists that she get one for her brother too. At 5, Mckell weighs 44 lbs and is 44 inches high. Her favorite color is pink, her favorite princess is Aurora, her favorite place to eat is Mcdonalds, and she LOVES school. One funny thing that Mckell has done for a little while is whenever she sees a guy with earings or tatoos she will inform Dave and I that she will not marry that guy cause he has earings or tatoos. It all started a few months back when she told us that she had a crush on a boy at school. Dave told her that she was not allowed to have a crush on anyone unless he saw them and gave her the OK. Since then, she has been on the kick of letting us know who she can and can't marry. When she sees someone smoking, or with earings, or with tatooes she immediately runs over and informs us that she will not marry them :) I just had to document this, so that when she is a teenager, we can remind her, lol.

For Mckell's birthday this year, we surprised her with a family trip to Salt Lake. We stayed the night at Little America and then went to the zoo the next day. She was in heaven. We had so much fun swimming, watching movies, and playing at the zoo. Dave even splurged and upgraded our room to a suite. The view was great and the room was awesome.

We went to dinner at Rodizio. Mckell thought it was great, but about 10 minutes into dinner she was stuffed. :) After dinner and swimming, we rented Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and ordered cheesecake and ice cream through room service. Lexi thought this was the best part. She loved her ice cream and insisted on feeding herself :)

Mckell putting on her new birthday makeup.
Lexi LOVED the animals at the zoo. She was cute "roaring" at them all.

We really had a fun trip to Salt Lake, and enjoyed spending time as a family.

However, Mckell's birthday was not over. We still needed to have a party for her with the Wangsgard side of the family. We met at our house for dinner. We even played the candy bar game (a family favorite).

For about a month now, Mckell has been telling my mom that she wants an adding machine like Grandpa has in his office. So that is what Grandma and Grandpa gave her. I know it is kind of strange, but Mckell LOVES it.

Mckell had a GREAT birthday!!! We love you Mckell!!!

Birthdays! Birthdays! Birthdays!

On the Ropelato side of the family, the month of April is full of birthdays. Katelyn's birthday is on the 13th, Jackie's birthday is on the 14th, and Mckell's is on the 15th. We had a big party to celebrate the birthday girls. Mckell (5), Jackie (14), and Katelyn (4).We had dinner, games, presents, and cake. It is fun to have an excuse to get together with the family for a party :)

The relay race!

The sack race

We couldn't just let the kids have all the fun! Although Dave cheated in his race. Instead of having one bag, he was in 2. A leg in each, and instead of hopping like everyone else, he ran :)

Grandpa fell in the race, but Hunter was not about to stop and help him, lol. He kept going.

The girls' race. Jackie won.

Musical chairs

Lexi and Sarah

I want to help!!!

We just put a cover over Marley's dog kennel to keep him dry in the rainy weather and to give him shade in the summer. Well, Dave went out to shingle the roof and both Hunter and Mckell thought this was the greatest thing ever. They LOVED being on the roof with him, loved taking turns hammering the nails, and loved climbing up and down the ladder. Hunter told me that when school gets out he and Mckell are going to sleep up there every night :) I'm hoping he forgets about this plan :)