We had so much fun on our vacation that I forgot to take pictures most of the places we went. Dang it.

After a big Sunday dinner with the family, the kids decided to do an improptu concert for us with this toy they found. Sydney favored us with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" several times, and cousins sang songs they had learned in school. Everyone wanted a turn whether they could sing or not. We then went to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Olsen. Tyler started fussing soon after we got there and my grandma offered to hold him. He stayed in her lap all night and was happy as could be until he fell asleep in her arms. It was a lot of fun to watch my kids play with toys that I played with as a kid at my grandparents' house. This is my grandma, my parents, my kids, and me.

We had an action packed week after that. Monday morning, we went to do some shopping since there are a LOT more stores near my parents' house than mine. In the afternoon, Ben played Axis and Allies with my Dad while the kids and I headed to Springville to hang out with my sister-in-law Emily and her four boys. My brother had built them a playroom since we had last visited, and the kids had a blast.

Tuesday we went to Bridal Veil Falls and played in the water. Sydney decided to climb the falls herself, and I didn't notice until she was too far to hear me. When I finally caught her eye and waved to her to come down, she just happily waved back and kept climbing. I had to chase her up the falls to get her to come down. I was worried she wouldn't be able to climb down herself since she tends to freak out at the wrong times, but she did great. Zack just threw rocks the entire time. Little boy bliss.

Wednesday was zoo day! Almost everybody came, which made it really fun and really crazy. We saw the baby elephant and also got to see an older elephant do some tricks. Right before lunch was the bird show, which Zack screamed through because he didn't want to sit down. The weather was beautiful so the animals were all active. The kids got to pick something up at the gift shop, which they thought was awesome.

Thursday morning, Ben and I got to go to the temple. Our temple is three hours away so it was nice to be able to go to one so close. We grabbed KFC for everyone on the way home then headed to Chuck E. Cheese. Ours is an hour away and Sydney had been dying to go. We loaded up with tokens and played until they were gone. The kids enjoyed cashing in their tickets as much as the games.

I got to go shopping with my sister-in-law Emily on Friday morning. We went to DI in Provo where I found a good-sized wall decoration I just had to have. Yes, we managed to pack it in the van to get it home. We both found some books for our families and then hit the clothing racks. As of that week, Emily had lost 50 pounds and was still planning to lose more. None of her clothes fit, so we found some cute pants that really showed off her amazing accomplishment.

Then it was off to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. This was a Sydney request as well. She is crazy about dinosaurs. We ended the day with a birthday dinner for my brother Stephen. His wife Kathleen did an awesome job feeding so many people.

Saturday was our last day in Orem. We took some family pictures in the morning since it is so rare that we can get all of us together. I hadn't seen my sister Stephanie for three years, so I was really glad she took the time to drive up with her kids from Arizona.

We grabbed some fast food and all went to see Toy Story 3. Yes, I am one of those people who cried at the end. Who didn't?

We quickly packed up the van and headed to Logan. We atteneded church with Ben's mom and our nieces and nephews then enjoyed some much needed down time snoozing on the couch. Monday morning we packed up again and headed to Ben's brother's wedding. Because it was a new park, it wasn't in my GPS, and we got lost. Whoops. We had to call Lorne, Ben's brother, to get directions. After the ceremony, we ate lunch with the family and hit the road. We had to reach Cheyenne that night. Quick visit, I know. We hope to have more time next year.

It was so great to see our families and have a much needed family vacation. Next year, might need to be a little less hectic though.

This past week started off with a trip to the doctor for Tyler's four month well child visit. He weighed 16 lbs. 6 oz. and was 26 inches long. Sydney weighed that much, but was an inch and a half longer, when she was 13 months old! I feel more justified about complaining that he is getting heavy.

I showed the doctor how Tyler's left ear is a lot further forward than his right and his left cheek is larger than his right. She went to consult with the other pediatrician, and they decided that we need to do a CT scan to see what is going on. That is scheduled for the 23rd.

On Wednesday, I had my first experience with calling poison control. I had been working on the laundry to get ready for our trip to Utah and thought all of the kids were watching TV. Zack kept complaining about wanting a snack, and I kept putting him off. When I had finished with the laundry, I went to the kitchen to get them a snack. Our jug of water from the fridge had been left out and was tinted pink. I picked it up and noticed something red at the bottom of it and couldn't figure out what it was. Then I saw one of my Zyrtec pills on the counter. Then I saw another one and a Sudafed. I started to panic so the girls came into the kitchen to see what was wrong. We only recovered 14 out of 85 Zyrtec and 2 out of 30 Sudafed. I started to panic as I realized that there was a chair pushed up to the counter and Zack had gotten into my meds. Then I remembered the water and realized that all of the stuff at the bottom was the pills. However, I had no way of counting them since they were turning to mush.

I call poison control, and she told me to watch him for any usual behavior or irritability and that she would call back in an hour. After 45 minutes, Zack fell asleep in my arms and wouldn't wake up. The best I could get from him was an eyelid flutter then he went back to sleep. I called the pharmacist at poison control again, and she said to take him to the ER. He woke up in the waiting room, but was just dead weight in my arms. He didn't even seem to notice as they hooked up monitors and the blood pressure cuff. A couple of times he just slumped over sideways and went to sleep.

After watching him for a while, they determined that he had probably taken some Zyrtec, but not enough to cause any real problems. They sent him home to sleep it off, and I pushed plenty of water into him. By the next day he was fine, but I would not let him out of my sight.

Thursday was the crazy day of packing, and Friday morning at 7:30, we hit the road on our way to Utah. We stayed the night at F. E. Warren AFB in Cheyenne, and were on the road again at 7:15 on Saturday. Apparently June in Wyoming is AWFUL. It was 32 degrees and we got caught in a snow storm. The wind was blowing hard and bitterly cold. And here we were in our shorts and sandals. Brrr.

However, we made it safely at about 3:30 yesterday afternoon and were able to see most of the family. The kids actually did really well in the car, thanks for the DVD player we purchased for these road trips. Seventeen hours of driving is a lot. We actually only had 21 hours of travel time with meal and bathroom breaks. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Tansy decided that she wanted to help out with some chores. She actually did a pretty good job.Here is the best Mother's Day present: all of my kids facing the same direction for a picture. I took nine to get this one.

We also celebrated Ben's birthday. The big 3-0. Since this is Ben we're talking about, it was really low-key. All the kids cared about was that there was cake. Ben was on 12-hour shifts every day, which is why he is in uniform for the party.

Tansy and Zack decided to get creative one day by dumping all of the contents of the salt and pepper shakers on the table and making art. We were sweeping it up for days.

And who knows what was going on here before he fell asleep. He seemed just as puzzled when he got up.

In other exciting news, Ben took the girls to a bike rodeo here on base a couple of weeks ago. They pulled Sydney's name in the drawing and she won a new bike. It was fantastic timing since she really is too big for her old bike. She even got her picture in the base paper.

We are also going to Utah on Friday, the 11th. We will only be there for just over a week since Ben has stuff to get back for, but we look forward to spending time with family that we haven't seen for a while.

Here are the highlights of the last three weeks:

Ben and I thought we smelled gas in our house right before he was going to take Sydney to a soccer game. I called housing maintenance to come check it out, and they told me that I would have to call the fire department first so they could test it. I called the law enforcement desk and they sent the troops. They ambulance arrived first, and the EMT said that he could really smell it when we opened the door and had me and the babies come out. The other EMT was a friend of mine from church so the kids were pretty happy. Security Forces and the fire department were close behind. They didn't find a leak anywhere. They said this was happening a lot in our neighborhood and figure that it is something to do with the construction. They are actually tearing houses down not far from here. We were the fourth on our street in two weeks to call and not have a leak. Weird.

My sweet neighbor from across the street had baked chocolate cupcakes that day and brought them out for all of us. She said she had eaten six and didn't want to eat all of them. She had called them out just three days earlier and also didn't have a leak. They kids were in heaven. We also bought a new van. Both Ben and I were feeling uneasy about driving our old van to Utah and back this summer so we decided we'd better follow that prompting and trade up. We now have a 2009 Toyota Sienna. It is slate colored, which is just a fancier way of saying dark, bluish gray. It has power doors, which the kids love, and I just want to hug it all the time. Can't wait to show it off!

Sydney turned six on April 23 and had a party on April 24. Pictured are Princess Tansy, Princess Sydney, Princess TalieAnn Tijerina, Princess Maddisyn Woodruff, and Princess Abi Cook. Kaija Nielsen also came to help out, which was awesome. Sydney really wanted to invite her, but I didn't think a 12-year-old would enjoy being just another guest at this party.

Sydney wanted a dinosaur cake. This stegosaurus was falling apart before the party even started. Sydney said it was okay and that I did a good job. What a great girl. I think it's funny that her stegosaurus lunchbox is in the background.

And Sydney had her last soccer game yesterday. We almost missed it because I totally forgot about it until 3:51 and the game was at 4:00! After five minutes of complete madness, we were out the door and Sydney ran in just in time. She has done so well. Her coach told me she was one of the most improved players she had ever seen. She jumps right back up when she gets knocked down and isn't afraid to take on other players even though they are all bigger than she is. Parents from other teams were even commenting on how good she was. She is already looking forward to outdoor soccer in the fall.

Ben is currently at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas and due back Tuesday night. He has only been gone six days, but we have really missed him. He is getting to do some fun things like mountain biking and hiking that he hasn't gotten to do here, so he is having a lot of fun. Just not TOO much fun, if you know what I mean.

Lots to catch up on, so hold on tight.

Tyler started smiling a few weeks ago! I love how happy he gets when he sees us. So fun! Tansy got another haircut. She had some crazy mullet action going on. I should have taken a before picture so you could get the full effect. The hair on top of her head is coming along in its efforts to recover from Sydney's haircutting endeavor. I still haven't been able to fully explain to my kids what "Business in the front, a party in the back" means, though.

And Sydney lost her first tooth! She was so excited. She had been wiggling it for days, asking us to take it out before it was even close to ready. But one night after she had gone to bed, she wiggled that thing right out. Ben wrapped it in toilet paper (brilliant!) and helped her put it under her pillow. She was thrilled to find her "golden coin" (Sacagewea dollar) the next morning.

And just to throw one in of Zack, here is my latest in my "Children Sleeping in Weird Places" collection.

Sometimes I really wonder how I would care for my kids without Sydney. Before the move, our swing worked just fine. However, when we pulled it out for Tyler, it didn't work. He really likes it so we sit him there and push him. I was making dinner one evening and turned around to see this:

I hadn't asked her to do anything at all. She is such a great little helper.

And let's not forget the Easter festivities. Ben and I colored eggs with the girls while the boys slept. Way easier this way.

Tyler decided to make an appearance, so he got decorated too.

Of course, the Easter Bunny came!

He hid some eggs in the living room.

We followed up our morning fun with some General Conference, most of which we don't hear because of the pile of little people constantly running around.

I made a turkey dinner that evening and put my potato peels down the garbage disposal. Plugged the sink up really well. The plumbing in the kitchen has always been of questionable quality. I think we did ourselves a favor. The next morning, I called maintenance and they cleared it right up. Thanks, guys.

Tuesday was our REALLY exciting day. Once a month, Ben is on the Maintenance Duty Officer (MDO) shift. Last week was his turn. This means he works from 4:00 p.m. until at least midnight. Tuesday night, we had a huge storm going on outside which escalated to the point that the tornado sirens went off. This was shortly before midnight. I grabbed the girls, who were already screaming, and took them downstairs to our laundry room. I ran back upstairs and grabbed the boys, who were sound asleep. I took them downstairs and left them with the girls while I grabbed the laptop, some books and movies, and the electric air pump. When I got back downstairs, water had started coming in under our basement door, flowed across the concrete floor, under the wall, and into the laundry room. The kids were freaking out. I carried them all out into another room that does have windows, although small ones, and tried to position us away from them. I blew up the air mattress to provide a more comfortable place to sit, and generally moved around frantically trying to provide some space for the kids to relax.

Then Sydney had to go to the bathroom. We don't have a bathroom downstairs. I didn't want to leave Tansy and the boys downstairs alone, and I didn't want to be upstairs if a tornado was really coming. So I had her pee in the utility sink. While we are in the middle of this potty adventure, Ben calls to say that the tornado warning is over. I packed my brood back up the stairs. Sydney decided to say a prayer, then I said I family prayer, then Tansy wanted to say a prayer. Want to know if prayer works? Four small, scared children went right back to sleep even though rain was still slamming our house and thunder was rumbling right over us. Yep, it works.

I apologize for falling behind on the blog. The amount of time that I actually have both hands available to me is limited, and I have been using that time to do such ridiculously wasteful activities such as laundry and dishes. I have developed some mad, one-handed typing skills, but I reserve those for things of a shorter nature such as Google searches and Facebook statuses. Again, my apologies for the neglect.

The 14th was Tansy's birthday. Now when you ask her how old she is, she says, "I'm big!" You mean three, right? She wanted a puppy cake, so here is my masterpiece shortly before it plunged off the edge of the table. Just kidding. I did move it to a more secure location after getting the picture. It elicited the appropriate amount of excitement. She spent a good portion of the morning bouncing around saying, "My puppy cake! My puppy cake!" Way to go, Mom.

Of course we also celebrated St. Patrick's Day this past week. We had our traditional breakfast of green pancakes on green plates with green milk. Somehow I missed getting a shot of all of us in our green shirts.

On Saturday, we took our cats back to the rescue. It was so sad. Last Monday, I went to the doctor because we realized that I was allergic to the cats. I had been taking Claritin and Bendryl to the point that my mouth was so dry it was hard to swallow sometimes. She gave me several suggestions about things to do so we could try to keep the cats, but we were either already doing them or they just weren't reasonable right now (how many of you can vacuum several times a day and wash ALL soft surfaces in your home several times a week with four kids under the age of six?) She said that my throat was so inflamed that I needed a prednisone shot, and she started me on Flonase. Now that they are gone, I have been trying to clean all of the allergens out of my house. We really miss them and hope to be able to adopt a dog when we move into our new house, which should be finished this summer.

To ease the pain of losing our pets, we treated ourselves to a day at the Independence Center. We really have gotten used to living in the middle of nowhere. We are so impressed with a mall. A two story mall no less. We got lunch at the food court, did some shopping, took the kids on the carousel, and got some ice cream. Nothing like a little soft-serve to ease your pain. Try it. You'll see.

All of our big news for the week happened over the last two days. We have been promising the kids pets for some time now, and yesterday was the day. Ben brought two new friends home. The first picture is of Sia. She is a very friendly cat who loves to constantly rub herself all over you. We just got back from church and have no idea where she is. Probably sleeping after her busy night of roaming around and meowing loudly.

This next picture is of Landis. She is still pretty nervous about being here. She stays downstairs and is posing here in the middle of the trashed playroom. I just had a baby. Give me a break.We decided to just keep the names they came with to answer that question.

Our other news is about this little guy. Tyler is growing so fast. I had to snap a picture because he looked so funny with his hands like that when he is sound asleep.

Tyler was blessed today. Yes, he does look like he is being devoured by a white tuxedo. He was really good during the blessing, which I was worried about because he woke up and totally wasn't supposed to. It is days like this that I am reminded how grateful I am for the priesthood. I love knowing that my husband is worthy to do this for my children and will continue to be there to provide this power for our family.