1st Visit to the Dentist

Joel had his first dental appointment last week. For some reason he was very nervous to go, and would either whine or cry every time I brought it up for a couple days before the appointment. This surprised me because he has gone to 3 of Levi's appointments and Levi has always enjoyed his visits. Thankfully, since Levi loves the dentist and he was always quick to join my team to convince Joel that the dentist is nice and, "it's so fun, you get a new toothbrush and a prize!"

When we got to the dentist Joel started whimpering in the car and asked me to carry him inside. He was shy and hesitant to get in the big chair once we were called back to get started. However, the hygienist there is so great, she distracted him right away and he was quickly comfortable and became his chatty, charming self. Joel followed every suggestion he was given, and handled the cleaning very well! By the end of the appointment he was hamming it up and convinced them to given him 2 stickers (one for him and one for Levi) as well as a prize from their treasure chest. The dentist said that everything looked great with the health and condition of Joel's teeth, but that they are very crowded for his age, and when his permanent teeth start coming in they will likely be in need of braces and possibly an expander. This came as no surprise as Levi has inherited my tiny teeth, and his are spaced out while Joel has some big Boyer teeth that we have always noticed were tightly placed. Overall, I'm excited to have him past his first appointment and hope he will never have a fear of the dentist again!

Sadly I forgot my phone, so I had to get a picture of the good patient once we got home. He looks so big showing off his new toothbrush and toothpaste!

Celebrating Our Savior

We had a wonderful Easter this year! If I had to choose a favorite holiday, it would be Easter. Taking extra time to think about what Jesus did for us towards the end of his life on earth is always good for my faith, and helps me to keep things in perspective. Growing up, my family always participated in lent, like many people do, by choosing something to give up or spend time on for the 40 days prior to Easter. This year I gave up sweets, and I did my best to think about Christ when temptation arose. I look forward to encouraging my kids to participate as they get older. Next year I hope to start a tradition of dinner time lenten devotionals. Levi learned a lot about Easter in bible class as well as preschool this year, and it was so fun and exciting to hear him talk about the meaning of Easter and relay the Easter story in his own way. I hope, with God's help, to cultivate a love for God in him and his siblings that will grow strong well into adulthood.


On Saturday the boys and I had fun making Easter cookies. Last year this project was a bit stressful for me, so this year I changed things up. We made the dough in the morning, and I let the boys each take one small task to help me put it together. After the dough chilled I rolled it out and then the boys took turns cutting the cookies out and placing them on cookie sheets. After they baked and cooled, Joel and Levi each chose several cookies to decorate and then took turns applying the frosting and sprinkles while the other played outside with Philip. I finished off the remaining cookies on my own and cleaned the kitchen while everyone played outside. Much calmer, and a much better experience :)

Later that afternoon, we all dyed eggs. Joel insisted on putting some of his eggs into each and every color, creating some very interesting colors. Levi had a blast seeing what colors he could make with different color combinations. One of my favorite things about dyeing eggs is eating them after the hunt. We had hard boiled eggs for breakfast and egg salad sandwiches for dinner :)

On Easter morning we woke up early. Levi and Joel were very excited to see what was in their baskets! They received a lot of candy, and some ninja turtle socks, superhero stickers, and card games from the Target dollar bin. Love that place. Joel was so cute as he closely examined each item he took from his basket and then yelled, "look! I got...!!!" each time. After opening baskets the boys searched for the eggs they dyed in the back yard. Both of the boys had fun hunting for the eggs, and thankfully, this year Penny didn't eat half of them.

After a quick breakfast we headed to church with Pop and Moe. I always enjoy being back at my "home church" and the service was very meaningful with beautiful music. The boys did fairly well sitting through the long service, thanks to the 2 to 1 adult to child ratio :). After church we all went to Pop and Moe's house for lunch and time with family. Kate, Dustin, Nora, Asher, Bennett, Seth and Morgan were all there. So sad that Molly and Ryan couldn't be there too! We were also very thankful that Gran could join us. She has been having some major struggles with her health lately, and recently spent a few days in the hospital. I know the time where she is no longer with us is approaching quickly, and I just can't imagine our family time with out her. She has been such a big part of my life for so long, and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful woman as my grandmother. Levi and Joel also adore her and watching her interact with them is so precious! The first thing they did when we arrived at the house was run to her room to say hi. They were very worried about her when she was in the hospital and said many bedtime prayers for their Gran. She told me they were so sweet giving her lots of pats and hugs and telling her they were so glad she was better. Melt my heart!


While lunch was finishing up, the kids made adorable bunny cupcakes. My Mom saw the idea on the food network and had all the supplies set up and ready for the kids. They made them with very little assistance from the adults and the results were so cute! My Mom also set the table with cute place holders as well as bunny slip covers for the kids chairs. We all enjoyed a delicious meal, and then overfilled ourselves with desserts. I contributed the cookies, my Mom made the beautiful and tasty berry pie, and of course we had the kids bunny cupcakes.

After eating we all went out front to enjoy the beautiful weather and the kids took turns (often begrudgingly because I forgot the boys scooters) riding scooters around the circle for a couple hours. We also had fun with some cascarones (eggs filled with confetti). Each kid got their own dozen, and had fun cracking the eggs on themselves, each other and the adults. They had so much fun and were pretty cute with confetti filled hair.

Before the chaos!

All Done!!!

It was a wonderful day celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus by spending time in worship as well as with the blessing of family He has given us! What an amazing thing God did for us, for me.

Celebrating Easter at Preschool

Levi has been learning about Easter all week at school, and today they celebrated with a fun second half of the day. Joel was able to tag along and not only was he well behaved, but Levi and all of his classmates, loved having a little buddy join in on the fun. I love that his school encourages sibling participation at special events. First, they had an egg "hunt" outside in a large grassy area. The kids each brought a dozen plastic eggs. The teachers number each set of eggs 1 through 12 and then while gathering their eggs each child was to find one of each number of egg to fill up their carton. Such a fun way to incorporate numbers and counting into the activity, and the kids loved it! It's silly, but I was so proud when Levi was one of the first to finish, just behind two girls who have been 5 since the fall :).

After the egg hunt the kids had a chance to plant flowers in their spring garden. It was so fun to help the kids plant! I was laughing to myself, noticing how the girls were so careful and commenting on how pretty the flowers were, while the boys were mostly interested in who could dig the biggest or deepest hole. As we were finishing up planting, what had been just a few light mist in the air, started to turn into rain, so we herded the kids into the gym to play before chapel. It was so sweet to hear the kids talking about how God was watering their newly planted flowers!

After recess was over all the classes gathered for Easter Chapel. The preschool director did a great job teaching the Easter story to the kids. After the lesson, the kids sang some Easter themed songs. Listening to them sing "Lord I Lift Your Name on High" with such enthusiasm that it brought tears to my eyes! I know God loved hearing those precious voices praising Jesus! What a fun and special day, and a great start to Easter weekend!

13 weeks!

When I'm pregnant, I love my second job just a little bit more. Saturday while at work I was able to have an extra sonogram to check in on our littlest love. Praise God, everything was looking great with baby, and he or she was curled up, head down, but also very active. It brought tears to my eyes to see that sweet little heart beating and arms and legs stretching and wiggling. At the time I was 12 weeks and 5 days. That put me one day past the gestational age I was when we lost Sam. Each day I move past that age, I feel a little less anxious. I just can't wait until I can feel those little kick and nudges or reassurance in a few more weeks! Here are a few pictures of baby Boyer #4...

head (bottom right) spine (white line diagonal, middle)

head on right, all curled up 

curled up leg near center, see the thigh, shin and foot :)