Six. Two Months

 6.2 Months

• We celebrated Easter this month. You were given the book, Purrmaids. You mentioned it a couple weeks ago, so you were really excited to get the next one in the series. The weather was really nice so we were able to have our egg hunt outside. We invited the McKnights over for dinner and it was fun for you to play with both Megan and Ezra. 
• Dad had been in charge a lot this month while I was gone for Grandma Peggy's funeral and for my Florida trips. While I was in CA, you got to go to Mable's house after school. You thought it was so cool to walk home to their house, feeling pretty old. On Friday, Dad helped you guys with your chores, but after Sam's soccer practice he took you guys go to the Pizza Factory for dinner. On Saturday, you guys ran out to Lewiston for Sam's soccer game. I know you missed me, but you loved how dad spoiled you with more treats and screen time than I give you guys. 
• We had a windy day and the snow has finally melted, so we snuck outside to fly the kite. It was fun to see you guys get all excited about it. Plus, we played soccer and jumped on the trampoline. It has been so good to see the ground again.
• Just kidding, it snowed again. I had taken the snow tires off the van and the city couldn't plow the road before school. I couldn't get the van out of the driveway.We had to hand shovel it and go back and forth about 100 times. I finally got out and got you kids to school 30 minutes late. 
• I headed out to FL and you had another week with Dad. This was a hit more juggling. A few days, Maggie and you were home by yourselves after school making dinner. You were able to go to friends houses and ate more pizza at Lewiston for soccer games. You weren't sad, but you were so excited when I came home and mentioned how that felt really long for you. You are blessed to have such a great dad to do it all for you guys. 
• The weather is finally feeling like spring, I think for reals this time. We had a s'mores night where we tried Oreo s'mores and cookie butter s'mores. The winner was Oreos. We are hoping to try the different flavors throughout the summer and have a championship round with friends. 
• You needed new running shoes but when the ones that I ordered arrived with laces (didn't realize that), I guess it was time to teach you how to tie your shoes. Maggie sat down with you and I nailed it after a few tries. Way to go. 

Six.One Years

 6.1 Years

• When we git back from California, it was party time for you. We had about ten of you girls over here for a mermaid party. We started by having an after school snack. We then played a few games like pin the shell on the mermaid, hot potato with a shell, and bingo. We then had everyone get in the hot tub. It was pretty crazy, but you girls were giggling the whole time. We came out to eat cupcakes, open presents, and then end with a painting craft. You loved having your school friends and your church friends both there.
• March has been the new February this year with lots of snow. It has not let up. You love bringing your snow gear to school so you can play in the field with your friends. I laugh because when we got your class photo back, you were wearing your snow pants on the bottom and your cute floral shirt on top.
• The two big kids have started spring soccer. Because of that, we have been going to Lewiston each Saturday. It feel crazy at times with the long days there, but the weather has been better there (though still cold) so it has been nice to be able to get out and not have snow all over the place. 
• The big news is that during spring break, there were a few dry days, so I would bring your bike to  the school when the big kids were practicing. You learned how to ride a two wheel bike!!!! I am so proud of all your hard work. You still have a bit more to go, learning how to start the bike by yourself and just get in more in control, but you were riding it for over a minute before having to stop. I love seeing you so proud of yourself and wanting to go to the park to show off to your friends. 
• I have been reading the Ivy and Bean books to you and you have loved it. It started out with seeing that Netflix made a movie out of three of them. I have read a few of them before to Maggie, but we are all laughing out loud during them. The movies were just as good. This is the first chapter book that you have really gotten into. We are in the middle of the fifth book.
• Your favorite song right now is Red Balloon. You love making up "hip hop" dances in your room to this song, along with a few others. You love your kindle. You have been listening to Trap in a Video Game using your headphones and then reading all the Press Start books. Your reading has soared so much this year, really opening up a whole new world for you. Favorite shows are Super Kitties and Phinneas and Ferb. You have enjoyed the switch just as much as the other kids. I think your best friend at school right now is Paige, though you are a kid that everyone likes. I hear so many parents tell me that their child comes home telling great things about you (though you hardly share much about your day). 
  

6 Years Old

 6 Years Old

Dear Millie,

Millie, you are such  an amazing person. Dad and I are so pleased with how you are growing up. One thing that I really love about you is how you have the ability to make the people around you feel like the most important person. You are so good about treated people with kindness, including them in your play and activities, and just being plain fun with them. I have heard from so many other moms how their kid loves playing with you. You are such a good friend.

I love how nurturing you are. You are always looking ways to help JoJo. You are excited to babysit her and read her books. When Vella was here the other day, I admire how well you helped me take care of her. You are going to be an amazing mom one day.

Another thing that I love about you is how you love to have fun! You make life enjoyable by blasting music and having a dance party. I still laugh when I walked in your room one day and you and Cecily were dressed up in Maggie’s fancy dresses, jumping up and down to some catchy teenager song. Yo love life and are good about bringing joy to the people around you.

Dad and I are so proud of you are Millie. We love you so much.
Love, Mom

We celebrated your birthday while we were in California. You were given a badge saying it was your birthday. Because of that, all the cast members wished you happy birthday whenever you walked by. The best part was the parade. We were on this bend that didn't have many people. There were so many people that came out of the parade to wish you a happy birthday. Christoff stopped by and gave you a hug, Aladdin let you rub his lamb for a wish, Tinkerbell sprinkled fairy dust on you. The badge said your name on it, so they all wished you a happy birthday by name. You definitely felt like the VIP of the night. On your actually birthday, we went to Goofy's kitchen for character dinning. You loved the buffet. Minnie made you a special cupcake and the characters sang to you. You told you it was extra special  because it was your golden birthday. When we got back, you celebrated your birthday with your friends with a Mermaid party where all nine of you girls crammed into the hot tub. You loved it all. 

Five.Eleven Years

 5.11 Years

• We started this month by setting goals as a family to go along with the primary program. Your goals this year (with some guidance from me and dad) is physical: to learn how to ride a two wheeler and run to the stop sign and back; spiritual: read the comic scriptures of the New Testament; intellectual: read a chapter book by yourself; social: play with a new friend at recess each week.
• It's been a pretty regular month around here with school. Your teach put you in your own reading group with a separate teacher that comes in and just reads to you. I received an email from your reading teacher that they wanted to start reading Magic Treehouse. I was so excited because you were nervous about setting the goal to read a chapter book and I thought when we were setting goals, that Magic Treehouse is a great first chapter book. This email came the day after you agreed to make that your goal. It was nice to see that God will help you and care about you.
• Grandma and Papa Price came and stayed with you kiddos for 9 days while Dad and I were on a trip. You guys had a blast without us. For Christmas, you each made a coupon of a date that you wanted to do with them. You got to take Papa out for a brownie sundae at The Trails. At night, instead of reading books, Grandma would share stories of her life. There was hot tubbing, movie watching, dollar store craft buying, thrift store shopping, board gaming, and partying. You guys were so good to them and I know they really enjoyed their time here. 
• We have been skiing twice now as a family. I was going up the lift with you. I asked you, "Millie, I am scared of going down fast the hill. How do you go so fast?" I loved your reply. You told me, "I just tell myself that I am Millie and I can do anything." I was so proud of you and your bravery. But in all reality, you smoke me down that mountain. Especially jump hill. Dad loves taking you up the lift because you guys will play 20 questions and I Spy. 
• You started dance this month. The ballet class was full and later in the evening, so you switched to Jazz this year. The class only had three girls in the fall, but now there are 12 of you. You have really enjoyed it.
• We had the worst playdate with your friend Paige. First, you girls wanted to do science stuff. So you got out your science kit and made your own volcano. I told you girls that if you were going to make a mess, you were in charge of cleaning it up. Well, your definition of clean is a lot looser than mine. I had to reclean the kitchen. While I was doing that, you girls got into the hot tube Good, you can't really make a mess there. Well, Paige thought it would be fun to rip the muddy grass out of the ground and make mud pies in the hot tub. I walked down there to check on you and the water was dark brown with clumps of dirt and grass all over the place. AHHHH! I am grateful dad was there. We had to drain the whole thing, wipe it out, and refill it. I was so grateful that the weather was warmer so we could use the hose. Needless to say, you were grounded from the hot tub for a week. We still love you though.

Five.Ten Years

 5.10 Years

• Pre Christmas Fun: Us girls snuck off to Lewiston when the boys were gone to get your ears pierced! You were so excited that we were finally getting this done. You were so braved about it. We made the whole day fun by playing at gymnastic 360, eating dinner at Panda Express, and going to the Train Park to see all the cool lights. We celebrated Happy Birthday Jesus with The Stanzak family this year. We were able to go to your music concert. I love how Ms. Carla is so good about including fun dance moves and this year you had glow sticks for Jingle Bells. You received the Empathy award for Character Counts in the month of December. I feel like that fits you well. Once school got out, we delivered flowers to some grandmas in the nursing home. We were able to have different families over for sledding parties. On Christmas Eve, we had Noah's family over. It was fun to see you guys explore the different hills. With the Stone's, you guys made it out to the pond (you called it the half pipe). By the end though you were pretty wet because the ice creaked at the bottom. It was nice to end each sledding session with the hot tub, hot cocoa, and cookies that people brought over. Also, we spent one evening decorating mini gingerbread houses. We have made an effort to try to watch new Christmas movies, though the Home Alone series is still your favorite. 
• For Christmas Eve, Dad was able to make it back for dinner. We had shrimp, homemade bread, grapes, dates, olives, cheese, and grape juice. We set up the candles again and made it all fancy.You kiddos loved putting on the Nativity play. This year, your role was Mary. We did our We Three Kings song which ended with matching Mickey Mouse pj bottoms (to get us excited for our Disneyland trip). We ended the night with all four of you kids sleeping in your room. We dragged the kid tree into the room so you could sleep with the light on. 
• Christmas morning was so magical. Santa brought you a makeup kit and a sticking full of goodies like ski goggles and LOL surprise doll. JoJo gave you a little backpack for your American girl doll, Sam gave you a slinky, and Maggie gave you a fairy potion kit. You gave Maggie and ribberband bracelet making kit, Sam a safe to keep his candy safe from JoJo, and JoJo the Rapunzel shoes. Dad and I gave you overalls, your own Alexa, and a Kindle reader. You loved all your gifts. We went to church in the middle. When you came up from getting dressed, you had put so much make up on. You had blue eyebrows, red lips, and blush all over. We ended the night with Salmon chowder. It was a great day. 
• Two days after Christmas, we packed up to go to Utah. It was fun to be with Grandma and Papa. We went bowling with them, played games (Uno Attack is a favorite at their house), and ate way too much candy. We met up with cousins to play at McDonalds and played at Bonnie's house. We did have our big family party. We brought the dodgeballs out with us and introduced the Matthews to a bit of a Price family tradition. Grandma had to unwrap game and then we all ate a big lunch and opened up presents. Grandma gave you a microphone. Tally gave you a Barbie. You had Henry and gave him gift card and some popcorn. Dad and I left for a New Years Paper, so you got to party it up with Grandma and the cousins. She let you guys stay up to 11pm and shot off fireworks. It was a blast for you guys. 

Five.Nine Years

 Five.Nine Years

• This month has been fulled with going to Sam's wrestling matches, reading to fill out your reading chart, and you quick primary activity with ice cream sundaes in the morning. You got as many toppings on your ice cream as the number of articles of faith you memorized. You memorized five of them. The bishop later told me how much he laughed with he saw all the chocolate dripped down your face and onto your dress. He said that it looked like you had more chocolate on you than what you ate. 
• We were able to spend Thanksgiving in Oregon with all the Price family. We left Friday morning. Dad drove separately since he has to leave early. There was no waiting for cousin, Lainey was there, ready to play. On Saturday, Grandma watched you guys in the morning while Dad and I went to the temple with Dusty and Janecce. That night we drove out to Hood River to go on the Polar Express. It was the first time for us. All you girl cousins got your own booth. You got to sit with Sonora, and it was so fun to see you girls believe in the magic and get excited over all the details. Sunday, we went to church and had family photos taken in the cold. We had our first Thanksgiving dinner at Annie's house. Uncle Josh joked that he was going to make sushi. Well, he did and it was a huge hit. It was decided that is needs to be a yearly thing. Monday, Dad left to go home. Us girls all went to Woodburn mall in hopes of getting your ears pierce. Sadly, the employee was certified to do it. Instead, you girls raided the clearance section and we ended with sushi for lunch (you girls ended up with a stack of plates taller than you). I was able to take you girls to Target to buy Christmas gifts. On Tuesday, we moved our stuff over to Dusty's house and got to do a sleepover with the younger cousins while the older ones went to the temple. On Wednesday, we went up to Portland and did a hike to the Witch's house. Thursday was Thanksgiving number 2 because Joey's family was there. We were able to play dodgeball in the morning. We had it at Grandma's house, and yes Josh made sushi a second time. You definitely got your fill of sushi for the trip. Friday, we were able to attend Karl's Court of Honor for his Eagle and then head out to the tree farm to cut down a Christmas tree. We walked all over to find the perfect one. We tagged it with our ribbon and then walked all the way back to find grandpa with the saw. He asked us why did we pick one so far away, we are going to have to drag it all the way back to the truck. You kids did not want to do all that work, looked around for a half second and pointed to the tree next to the truck and said it looked great. we wrapped it up in plastic, threw it on top of the roof of the van, and headed home the next day. Crazy story about Mowgli. The last night, all the cousins where watching a movie at Annie's. I think Mowgli got overwhelmed and hid. We thought he ran away when everyone was loading up. We looked all through the house and all through the neighborhood. Annie even texted the neighbors, but no one had seen him. You kids said a prayer. I figured if we can't find him by morning, and he showed up later, Grandma could watch him until she came out in January. The next morning, I can hear Annie get so excited because guess who was sleeping on the couch, Mowgli. We think he was under Lainey's bed in the far corner and we just couldn't see him. 

Five.Eight Years

 5.8 Years

• We made a quick trip up to Spokane so Dad and I could go to the temple. You enjoy hanging out at the Potters and playing with Canyon. We went out to pizza and found this hang out place with ping pong tables and giant jenga pieces. 
• Other fun moments was going on a pony cart ride with a lady from Syringa, celebrating JoJo's birthday (you and Sam went in together and got her a barbie hair styling head), our big Harry Potter Party where you got to dress up as a ghost (it was fun watching the first 15 min of the first Harry Potter movie so you could understand why we decorated the way we did), and cheering on Sam at his first wrestling tournament of the season (where you love running around with your friends Lainey, Sam Stone, and Dallin). 
• Halloween is in full force. We started by going to the Ward Trunk-o-Treat. You dressed up as a ghost for that activity. You got to go around with your friend Lainey since I needed to stay back at the van. The youth put on carnival games to play afterwards like fishing, musical chairs, and bean bag toss. Cecily invited you over to her house to decorate halloween sugar cookies and then play at the park afterwards. The night before halloween, we carved pumpkins. You tried to scrap out the guts, but it still kind of grossed you out and was hard for you to do it all by yourself. On Halloween, you switched ideas and went to school dressed up as Red Riding Hood. We caught up with Dad and went through the haunted house for the first time. While Maggie was freaking out, you were boasting about how you weren't scared. During it, you jumped a couple of times, but overall, you liked it. It was fun to end the night trick-o-treating through our friend's neighborhood. 
• And just like that, fall is over and the snow is here. You woke up one morning with a tummy ache, so I had you stay home. The tummy ache lasted all of five minute after we dropped the big kids off. JoJo loved having you home to play with. After lunch, we geared all up and went sledding down the big hill. You love winter, especially all the snow activities. After sledding, we headed over to the playground, where we piled all the snow onto the slide and then have you and JoJo take turns crashing into it. We finished our day out there by making snow woman (you insisted yours was a girl and not a boy). I secretly am glad that you stayed home sick that day. 
• Dad and I took the big kids to Boise to watch BYU play so you got to have a sleep over at Annie's house. You were so excited.