Bad Dreams

Our little girl is afraid of the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny and the latest, Leprechauns. I think it is because all of these figures come in to our home at night... very scary to my 4 year old.

Because of this, she rarely sleeps in her room. She ends up sleeping on the bottom bunk with Mason, and at some point in the night she sleeps on my floor then after several attempts to climb in between Mark and I, I usually give in because of exhaustion and then she is breathing in my face. A couple of times I have ended up sleeping on the floor myself. I cannot stand kids in my bed.

Last night after prayers... we were tucking the kids in and Ireland started to cry. Mark was holding her and asking what was wrong. She said, "I don't want to go to sleep because then I have bad dreams." Jacob leaned his head over the rail of his top bunk and said, "I have a strategy you can use." (yes he said strategy) He went on to say that when you have a bad dream you can pray to Heavenly Father and ask him to send you good dreams. He said it works for him. Ireland and Mark said a prayer and asked for good dreams.

I love it when you have proof that your kids do hear some of what you say...

Usually I just see proof of the negative things I say and do like..

Mason saying, "Oh My Gosh" a little too much. I guess I do also! On top of that Ireland is constantly putting Mason and her stuffed animals in time out. (Don't know where she learned that) And Jacob holding his hand above his head and saying to Iree, "I've had it up to here." Woops... I got that one from my mom.

All in all... It was so nice to hear Jacob giving his little sis some great advice!

Spring 2009

Michelle and her kids (Scott, Sunny, Sammy, Sawyer, and Spencer) came to visit for their Spring Break. We had a blast at the parks, riding bikes, roasting marshmallows, playing at the Sand Dunes and just hanging out. We had a great time and can't wait for her to visit again

We had Heidi's girls for the weekend.
We had fun with the cousins...Movie Night, Dinosaur Museum, Hanging out at Andy's and a birthday party for Parker.

March 9th,

One year ago today,

My big brother Dave left for Heaven.

We have had a long year of tears, emotions, memories and all the firsts without Dave. Heidi and the kids experience this every minute and have handled it very well. Daily I think of him and his family. Just the other day, in a conversation with Mark, I thought, "Just ask Dave... he would know." I caught myself before I said it. I often do this and then remember he is gone.

Through this experience I feel a desire to make things matter. Life isn't just about existing... We are here to learn, experience, create meaningful relationships, and in my opinion enjoy life to the fullest.

This picture was taken at Dave's Life Celebration. A few months later I noticed Dave on the screen behind our family. This is our only Kirby family picture with us all as adults.

"Escape Artist"

Lessons Learned!

We took a little weekend trip to St. George and Zions.

The first morning at the hotel Jacob and Iree woke up early because they were so excited. I wanted to let Mark and Mason sleep a little longer so I took Jacob and Iree down to breakfast and left Mason in the care of my sleeping husband.

At some point Mason woke up, didn't wake up his dad and went looking for mom. I guess two guys found our little boy in his pajamas wondering the halls by himself and saw our door open slightly. They knocked on the door but Mark didn't answer.(Mark is a very deep sleeper and it takes him a few minutes to reach consciousness) Luckily Chuck and Heather were in the room next to us and Chuck came to the door to see who was knocking. He claimed Mason.

Talk about a scare! My little boy wondering the halls of a huge hotel!
So I have learned a few valuable lessons. Mason is no longer an infant... he is a very curious , smart, daredevil little boy that I cannot leave "unattended" for a second. Second lesson... don't leave children with sleeping husband! Third lesson... Hotel doors are NOT toddler proof!!

Zion's National Park

Swimming Pool Fun

Mason sporting his bright white tummy. So Cute!

The hot tub was huge and not too hot. The kids loved taking little breaks to warm up a bit. The other pool was outdoors and pretty warm but the outside temp was only in the low 60's

Jacob always has a blast with the Farnworth boys. He thought he was pretty funny floating around in that pink floaty.

Iree was all smiles... We all love that!