Calm Before the Storm

February was a busy month. 

First I went on a sisters weekend trip to Nashville to celebrate Maren's 40th birthday. There was much shopping (she was sent there by Scott to get a new wardrobe) and even more eating.

The first place we ate at was Hattie B's, which is known for its hot chicken.

We all got the mild, which was more spicy than I personally care for. 

And then we decided to be total idiots and get the "Shut the Cluck Up," which is their hottest chicken. You can see how dark it is--that's all the spicy coating.

Maren got this video beforehand, but no one was able to film our reactions to the stuff because we were trying to not die. 

I thought the whole thing would be funny, but it wasn't. I was in so much pain. My eyes were watering an insane amount. I thought for a minute that I might need to go to a hospital. My mouth burned for well over an hour after. Never again, man.

The food situation went way up from there. The next morning we ate at a great breakfast place, where I tried and loved chicken and waffles. I also ate the best biscuit of my life. You can see it to my left in this picture.

We also got yummy chocolate chip cookie s'mores from a food truck. Man, I could have had several more of those.

We also ate BBQ takeout in the back of some guy's Uber car on the way to the airport, but there's no documentation of that, for obvious reasons.

The only non-shopping/non-eating thing we did was the Grand Ole Opry, because Nashville. It was fun! I particuarly enjoyed the comedian.

The hotel we stayed in was the Union Station Hotel (courtesy of Scott). It used to be a railroad terminal, so it has a lot of history and cool architecture.

I loved the staircase!

Anyway, it was a super fun (and delicious) weekend, and it was nice to get a break from the kids (who I love, but come on...). It was especially good considering we were about to be on "lockdown" together for the foreseeable future.

After I got home, I had just a little bit of time before my umbilical hernia surgery was scheduled. But before that could happen--literally the night before--Carter had to get stitches. (See his blog for details about that.)

Luckily, my mom was coming to help me because of the surgery, so she was able to help with Carter's stitches care and removal. Yay for Grandma!

While I was recuperating, I found myself researching some genealogy for my mom, and in the process I discovered we're directly descended from the Tudors on my dad's side. I thought it was super neat!

Anyway, at the end of February we went to William's birthday party at a trampoline park. Aubrey made him this super cute card. I love how she spelled "birthday" and "wonderful."

On the inside of the card are a drawing of Aubrey holding balloons (on the left), a line of hearts, and William (on the right).

I got a couple videos of the kids playing at the trampoline park during the party. They had so much fun!

Speaking of fun, I'll never get sick of making my girls match. (Segway! A terrible one, but whatever.)

Anyway, February had some nice weather days, so we started having front yard picnics. Carter had to wear a hat to protect his stitches scar, but he didn't have a hat of his own yet. I think Daniel's looked so cute on him!

Clara was lucky enough to enjoy our first few picnics in her car seat.

 But eventually she was able to sit up next to Carter.

March brought about the end of Carter's soccer class. He was bummed it was over! I got a couple of cute videos from his last class, in which the parents got to play on the field with the kids. I did the whole thing holding Clara, which was interesting.

And the awesome coach substituting for Coach Scott let Carter score a goal on her. She was a great sport.

I love his little fist pump! Cutie.

By the time spring break rolled around, we were ready for a break. And oh, did we get one. Way too much of a break, in fact. We all started to go a little stir crazy, as you can see.

But more on all of that later...

Little Did We Know...

Ah, 2020. We had such high hopes when you began. But alas. We naive idiots had NO IDEA what we were in for.

It all started out okay, at least. Let's focus on that part for now, shall we? January--it was still normal then.

After our trip to California, we flew back to Denver. We had no idea that flying would become such a big deal! I actually took a few pictures in the airport, which I don't usually do. I took this one because I thought Aubrey looked so cute with all the bows Aunt Kara made for her in her hair.

And I took this photo because Clara was just so cute in her little carrier.

Anyway, when we got home, it was back to business as usual. The kids played.

Aubrey went back to school (and we had lunch with her once... Carter was in heaven).

Carter went to soccer.

We went to the park.

We played family games.

We visited the Denver Zoo.

We had dinner together as a family.

And the kids played some more. Here they were pretending to be those toys you push down and then wait for them to pop up high.

And that was life for awhile! Man, I miss those days. Maybe they'll come again...

Holly Month

As soon as Thanksgiving is over, we decorate for Christmas. This was the first time we got to use the artificial tree I got used from Facebook. It worked out really well!

Daniel also made this holder for our stockings. We never really had a good place for them before, so I was excited about it.

At the beginning of the month, we had our ward Christmas party. A man from the ward had a perfect Santa beard, so he dressed the part for us. Carter refused to be in the picture, but I got this cute one of the girls.

And later I got this selfie shot with all three kids.

I also got this funny video of Aubrey and Carter playing.

Whenever it got really cold, the kids would fill different containers with water and wait for them to freeze. Then they'd bring them inside and drink the water from them as they melted. 

In the middle of the month we celebrated Daniel's birthday. He doesn't like to do much on his birthday, but the kids had the idea to sing to him and give him some fake cupcakes. Hehe, so cute!

And after they had gone to bed, we celebrated Daniel's birthday with some poutine. We got the fries from Five Guys (because, really) and bought the cheese curds at the grocery store, but I did make the gravy from scratch. And it was good!

As it got a little closer to Christmas, of course we had to keep up the tradition of frosting Christmas cookies with Nana and Papa. The kids always love it!

And Clara was there too, haha.

Afterwards we all walked around downtown Golden to see the Christmas lights. There were some statues along the walkway, and of course Carter was immediately drawn to the guy with the gun. He tried to grab it, but alas...

Then Aubrey, Carter, and cousin William found a butterfly statue. Their faces are all amazing here.

And here.

Oh, and here too.

The bridge over Clear Creek was lit up with tons of lights, but I couldn't get a good picture of it. This one will have to do.

The next day was Sunday, and the kids decided they didn't want to sit with us. We decided to let them go and planned to take them back if they misbehaved. But this is all they did! They sat on each other's laps and ate snacks. Works for me!

That day I took advantage of the kids being dressed nicely and did Clara's montly photo. But, of course, the older two kids wanted in on the action. Clara was okay with her doting siblings at first...

... but then she got a bit unsure. (Also, I have no idea why Aubrey and Carter are making those faces, haha.)

And then she became downright unhappy. Poor, long-suffering baby! Hahaha.

On Christmas Eve we made the traditional Mangum Chinese food. (Don't you love our fancy serving platters?)

And for the first time we made our own scallion pancakes. They were a but underdone but tasty! I just need some more practice.

On Christmas day we did stockings first, obviously. Carter got this fun, stretchy ball thing.

Clara got a few of her siblings' recycled toys in her stocking, haha.

And Aubrey got these Wacky Tracks. I loved those things when I was a kid!

And, despite Daniel's reservations, Carter got the bullets for his Nerf-style guns.

The big kids got their own suitcases from Santa, while Clara's present from Santa was this toy piggy bank. She has grown into it! Haha.

Carter got a soccer ball from Grandma and Grandpa as a reminder that his present from them was his soccer class.

I have no idea what he was opening here, but he looks excited!

Clara got her own personalized blanket from Grandma and Grandpa. I love the colors!

And Aubrey got some new Disney princess dolls (like Glitter Gliders) from Grandma and Grandpa.

Mommy's and Daddy's present to Carter was a new bike! We wrapped the helmet and then unveiled the bike after.

Carter also got a Batmobile that he had fallen in love with at Costco.

And Aubrey was very intrigued by this huge present...

... which turned out to be a balance board that can be used in a ton of different ways.

It didn't take her long to start using it as a reading spot. Here she is with her new Friend magazine, which she got a subscription to as a present.

After all the presents were opened, we put together the photo puzzle Santa gave the whole family. It's of Aubrey, Carter, and Clara.

I love this--Clara's little face on a puzzle piece!

Speaking of this cute girl, here she is in her Christmas outfit. I just had to document it!

After Christmas day we took a trip to California (with the kids' new suitcases)! Grandpa enjoyed Clara snuggles.

And all the cousins had a blast together, as usual! Carter and Bennett were particularly cute with each other.

And the older boys were very good with the littles.

We celebrated New Year's Eve with everyone, which meant doing poppers with the little kids several hours before midnight. We also did s'mores. Fun was had!

We had a good time, as usual, and it was sad for cousins to have to say goodbye. But I got this cute video of Bennett making Clara smile. I think it makes for a good ending to this blog!