Head count

It's that time, time for the annual counting of heads in our home.  We counted and we made it another year without loosing a one. I say it jokingly, but honestly sometimes the fact that we are still here seems nothing short of a miracle. We are a family of six and holding strong.  To say the kids are excited for the holidays would be putting it lightly. Thanksgiving this week, Christmas tree hunting, zoo lights, hot coco after school, and family gatherings galore, there is a lot to look forward to. With that said we thought we could give you an update on the kids likings, as a few of you have asked for gift ideas, hopefully this will help....

Kaine @ scout camp 

LOVES music and works on writing his own music with his friends.  He is still playing the piano, viola, and guitar and added a harmonica to his lineup as well.  He enjoys The Beattles, The Piano Guys, and anything classical. He is taking German at school this year and has also spent a good deal of time teaching himself Italian and French. 

favorite characters: quoting Kaine "not into characters anymore"

favorite animal at the zoo: eagle or hawk

favorite color: black, only black
favorite food: pizza (still, always)
favorite treat: anything with a chocolate peanut butter combination

measurements: shoe 9 mens , shirt men's small or medium, pant 31x30

Lilia @ ballet camp 

LOVES reading and creating. If her nose is not in a book her hands are creating a painting or new necklace. Crafts are must in her book. She also likes to sing and dance for us and can do a super sweet head stand. 

favorite books: Junie B Jones, Fancy Nancy (and Nancy Clancy), she also is very interested in non fiction related to animals and science. She reads at a 3 grade reading level.   

favorite characters: Fancy Nancy,  Strawberry Shortcake, Elsa from Frozen

favorite animal at the zoo: elephant

favorite color: purple and sparkles

favorite food: spaghetti 

favorite treat: Reeses peanut butter cup

measurements: shoe 1, shirt 7, pant 6t

Eli, the happy guy

LOVES motorcycles, superheroes, trains, and hiking.  He likes to play camp out and build block towers with his younger brother. 

favorite books: Dr Seuss and Mr Magee books  

favorite characters: Paw Patrol, Rescue Bots,  Minions (from Despicable Me)  

favorite animal: grizzly bear

favorite color: quoted from Eli all of them

favorite food: mac and cheese

favorite treat: Popsicle 

measurements: shoe 11/12 youth,  shirt 5t, pant 5t

Levi out for a ride

LOVES keeping up with his siblings, still working on potty training, but we know he'll get there. He can often be found with the tinker toys building like his brother. 

favorite books: still not there yet, he just likes running off with his sisters :)
favorite characters: Elmo, Cookie Monster, Woody from Toy Story

favorite animal: the sea lion

favorite food: waffles

favorite treat: m&ms

measurements: shoe 8 youth, shirt 24 month/2t, pant 2t

Imagine it, we still LOVE spending time together. Trips to the zoo, farmer's market, and national parks often themselves on our weekend calendar. This year we even trained to do a few running races together. Camping is something else we love to do. 

we enjoy: a good movie to watch together (recent favorites are Home Alone and Despicable Me),  the local jumpy house, although our trampoline has replaced our frequent trips there and board and card games are always fun. 

favorite food: pizza wins this year
measurements: 6 and holding strong

51, could it be?!

How could it be?! The last blog post was 51 weeks ago exactly! While you can't say I went a whole year without blogging, practically. Yikes! So yes, the Conrad family still exists, but boy have we been busy! 2014 has been an adventurous year, a year of change, a year of blessings, a year I hope to always remember. I got to thinking about the blog because I was reflecting in gratitude and thought I ought to poor out my thanks for others to hear, so here it is.. 

                                               

I am so thankful for our family of six. A big change in our home this year has been Kaine going to his mom's to live during the school year. This change has been difficult in ways we could not image. It is wonderful to know families are eternal and while we might not always have all the time with him now we desire, one day we will. This year I am especially thankful for my mothers, my mom who birthed me, my mother in law, and my grandmothers. Their example gives me the strength I need to be the mother our children need.  I am full of gratitude for a wonderful home, so much so that we decided selling our home wasn't the right thing to do and we are here to enjoy it's comforts a while longer. I am  thankful for our abundance of health and happiness. Truly my greatest joy is the smiles I see on our children's faces daily. We find food our table daily, clothes on our backs, cars to drive us where we please, employment, beautiful places to hike, bikes to ride, and the list is ever growing for things we must give thanks in. Our greatest gift though is our Savior, Jesus Christ.  His love provides us with peace and through Him we have found joy that we would not know otherwise. I am thankful to be a disciple of Christ and because of Him we have everything. 

We are so looking forward to spending the holidays with our family. We send our love to you all and will hope to see you soon!

Surprise!

We LOVE a good surprise! Who doesn't?! This past weekend we had the best surprise we've had in a long time.... our friends the Malufau's came to visit us from St. George. We had such a great time, the kids played like they never missed a beat. But this surprise gets better, not only did our friends come, but we got to go to the beach! And I know you are thinking it is November and we probably stayed inside and watched movies, but you would be wrong. It was perfect, 55 degrees and beautiful blue skies and all the sand we could ask for. We love our friends and are so thankful they came to spend some time with us.

 make over time

 slumber party at the beach

 sunshine and fun at the Oregon coast



Head Count

It's that time of year, time for the annual counting of children. We counted and they are all here, all four of them! We made it another year. Matt and I feel so very blessed to raise these four ever growing children. To say the kids are thrilled that the holidays are upon us would be a slight understatement. With that said we thought we could give you an update on the kids likings, I know a few of you have asked for gift ideas so hopefully this will help....

Kaine

LOVES music and apps. He is still playing the piano and viola at school, but is teaching himself guitar at home.  He enjoys artists he likes include Coldplay, The Piano Guys, Bach and anything classical. Kaine is always looking for a fun new app to play. He spends about one weekend a month camping with his boy scout troop, he'd love to have his own stuff he said.

favorite characters: The Avengers, Ender's Game

favorite animal at the zoo: elephant
favorite color: neon orange and neon green

favorite food: pizza (still, always)

favorite treat: Hershey's Cookies and Cream candy bar

measurements: shoe 8.5 mens , shirt 16/18  youth, pant  16 regular (although almost ready for 18)
youth

Lilia

LOVES creating. If she's not coloring then she is usually beading up a necklace. Playing dress us is another favorite.

 

favorite books: anything  "easy to read" levels 1 and 2.  We are working on sounding out words  and she is thrilled to be able to read.

 

favorite characters: Camilla the Cupcake fairy (book character, she doesn't have it, just a favorite from the library) Fancy Nancy, My Little Ponies, Strawberry Shortcake
 

favorite animal at the zoo: giraffe (three years in a row)

 

favorite color: pink and brown

 

favorite food: lasagna

 

favorite treat: York peppermint patty (three years in a row)

 

measurements: shoe 1, shirt 6, pant 5t

Eli

LOVES motorcycles, superheroes, and using his imagination. He is often going on a "campout" or fighting off bad guys.

 

favorite books: he is still into board books, he is just starting to enjoy being read to

 

favorite characters: Batman, Superman, Minions (from Despicable Me) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Wars
 

favorite animal: polar bear

 

favorite color: red
 

favorite food: corndogs
 

favorite treat: m&ms
 

measurements: shoe 10,  shirt 4t, pant 4t

 

Levi

LOVES keeping up with his siblings. He is my good "helper" around the house, always pretending to do what I am. We have a small set of tinker toys he plays with often, so I imagine he might like wood building blocks or even more tinker toys.

 

favorite books: still not there yet, he just likes running off with his sisters :)

favorite characters: Minions (from Despicable Me), Woody from Toy Story

 

favorite animal: the sea lion
 

favorite food: waffles
 

measurements: shoe 5, shirt 18 month, pant 12/18 month

 

Family Ideas

 

 

We LOVE spending time together. Trips to the zoo, park, and a good hike all find themselves on our weekend calendar. Camping is something we look forward to almost all year, we plan to camp more next year.

We enjoy: a fun movie to watch together or a game of Twister or a couple of hours at the local jumpy house.

favorite food: tacos and Jimmy Johns

measurements: 6 and holding strong :)

Thankful

2013 has been a challenging year, a beautiful year, a year full of joy, a year with a loss that could never be overlooked, a year in which we have so many blessings to count.

 

We are so thankful for one another. It might seems silly, but it is true we are a happy family, happy to love and play and cry together. We know families are forever and we are so thankful we have one another to spend eternity with. We are grateful for our families. This year has reminded us just how precious family is and how dear we hold you people in our lives, whether we share blood or bonds of friendship. We are full of gratitude for a wonderful home, our healthy bodies and sound minds, the food we find on our table, clothes to keep us warm, cars to drive us where we please, vacations, employment, and the list goes on and on. But above all we are thankful to have a Savior, Jesus Christ to guide us back to our Heavenly Father.

 

I read this quote about gratitude and I hope to be able to live the principles of it as I know they are true.

 

Happy Thanksgiving family and friends! We love you all and are ever thankful for the blessings you bring to our lives.