Playground Fun with Brighton & Ellie

now that the weather is getting warmer, elizabeth always wants to be outside on the playground. when i get home from work we are always at the playground, and when we aren't, she is talking about how she wants to be. she doesn't like the swings, but she loves the slide. it's very convenient that it's so close to our home.
my good friend mary came over with her daughter brighton, who elizabeth just loves playing with. they had so much fun on the playground and it was such a nice day.

Saying Goodbye to the Taintor's

i can't believe that a week with the taintor's has already passed, but i am so happy that we were able to spend so much time with them while they were here!!
i still can't believe how much has happened and how quickly kennedy,seth, and caleb have grown in the last year. i was such a baby hog with lovely lucy this past week, she is just so beautiful i couldn't put her down!
i will miss you guys so much, but i can't wait to see you all this summer!!
i do have to say that everyone made fun of me because every time i took out my camera, they would say 'here comes the paparazzi!!' i don't care what you all say because i am the one with all the pictures, so i will have to consider whether or not i'm willing to share all these precious memories :)

Horseback Riding

this week with the taintor's here it's been hard to share them with the kopenhefers, only because i love spending all my spare time with them!!! as i'm sure they feel the same way, i mean this is the taintor's for heaven sake! danielle's sister jeanene owns horses, and they were sweet enough to share the taintor's with us and invited us to go horseback riding. i have never been, i have this fear that i would be bucked off and break my neck or something. adam talked me into coming though, and i figured elizabeth would have fun, so we went.
it was funny because when we got there i was asking jeanene what horse we were riding and she was telling me about the horse, and what a good horse he was. her husband was saddling him up while we were talking and josh got up onto the horse. then all the sudden the horse just started running really fast, then faster, until josh pretty much flew off right onto his back! he jumped right up and showed the horse who was boss, but i turned to jeanene and said 'umm...so that's the horse we are riding?' you could hear the fear in my voice...and i'm not kidding, and then we all started nervous laughing.
josh assured us that has never happened before, so we did, we rode that horse. ryan was the only brave one to actually run with it a little.
elizabeth had so much fun! she struggled a little when we first got on the horse, but then she was giggling and having a ball. since we went that is all she talks about, is riding horses...her little rocking horse just doesn't cut it for her anymore.

Pioneer Memorial Museum

my brother adam thought it would be fun to take the kids to the pioneer memorial museum. at first i didn't think it would be that much fun, but it actually turned out to be really neat.
the museum has some incredible artifacts and amazing stories. my favorite artifact was this beautiful grand piano that this woman treasured and half way through their journey across the plains her husband made her leave the piano on the side of the trail because it was to heavy for the wagon and making the oxen to tired. After going through ohio the husband realized that his wife was missing, he asked around and was told that she had stayed with her beloved piano. After getting the rest of the group to a ferrie , he returned to the trail, and found his wife sitting with her piano. they were able to get the piano to the salt lake valley, and it was the second piano to come across the plains and make it to salt lake. now, that is what i call a determine woman!
we weren't able to take pictures inside the museum, but afterwards we all went to our favorite little cafe for lunch.

Family Luau

since the taintor's were in town, we decided to have a family luau. that way we could get holly to make her delicious kahlua pork...yummy i tell you!! it was a good night, we ate, and visited and all the cousins got to play with each other and then we stayed up late and watched bedtime stories.

Zoo

since ryan and i are both working, neither of us were able to go to the hoogle zoo with my family. my parents were nice enough to take elizabeth with them so that she could enjoy the animals, and have more time with her cousins. i was super bummed that i couldn't go, so my sweet dad took a bunch of pictures for me. elizabeth loves the zoo! she squeals with joy whenever she sees any kind of animal, so she had a blast when she fed the ducks. my family even ran into my cousin joseph's wife merial and their beautiful daughter brighton.

Taintors Family & Friends Celebration

with the taintor's back for a visit, it gave us an excuse to have a big party to all get together! it was so fun having so many of our loved one all together at once. The night went by so quickly...i could have visited with everyone for many more hours :)
i love my family so much, and i was glad that so many people were able to come see the taintor's before they returned home!

We Sure Missed You Guys!!

most of you know that i am super close to my family. when i learned that my brother adam would be moving his family to wisconsin last summer, i thought how are we going to get by without being together all the time!! i will tell you this much, this last year hasn't been the same with the taintors gone. although we have had many good times making memories this last year, it has always felt like a huge part of our family togetherness has been missing.
i am thrilled that the taintors are here for a visit. they have had a new addition to their family since we have last seen them, and i was so excited to see the whole family!! i had dibs to hold sweet lovely lucy first, although papa beat me...i teared up when i was able to hold her. i just was overwhelmed with joy that my whole family was together again!! i love them so much and i know this week will go by so fast and they will be leaving us once again, but we will make the most of it. the taintor brood always has a good time together!

Night Night

after elizabeth had a bath and got her pajamas on, i told her it that it was almost time for bed. while i was doing laundry, i could hear her in my bedroom saying night night mommy. i came into my room to find that she had brought in her blankets, teddy bear and also taken all my pillows and made herself a bed on my floor.

Easter Sunday

i love easter. i am so grateful that jesus sacrificed and atoned for my sins. i am still amazed of the power of his atonement and the resurrection. that he was willing to lay down his life to give us the opportunity to live with him again, as well as our families from here to eternity.
we went to my parents this year and ate a very yummy dinner. my mom makes lamb every easter and is was delicious. it was nice seeing all the girls in their colorful easter dresses too. elizabeth loved her dress, she was sad when we took it off her for dinner (this is because she refuses to wear a bib). a little later we all went out and watched the kids and dogs pop bubbles. it was a good day.

Jerusalem Dinner

the last few years holly has done a jerusalem dinner the saturday before easter sunday. we all sit on pillow and eat with our hands yummy food like dried fruit, chicken, goat cheese, crackers, and peta bread. although, ryan couldn't find dried fig at the store, so i thought it would be funny if we brought fig newtons...so we did :)
it was even more fun this year because elder, or rather austin baxter came for a visit and stayed with us. austin is one of the missionaries that taught us when we met with the missionaries, and he even came to the temple with us a year after ryan was baptised. he comes up every once in awhile and it's so nice to spend time with him. also my dear friend elizabeth also came to the dinner with us, and time spent with her is always enjoyable.

Easter Egg Decorating

every year my parents have all of the grand kids over to decorate easter eggs. the kids love it, this year papa even drilled holes in the eggs and some of the adults blew the eggs out so the kids could decorate and keep them. i still can't get over the fact that holly being the pregnant one, blew the most eggs...i gagged just watching them!!
elizabeth was really tired but she still had alot of fun dropping the eggs into the dye.

So Long, Farewell...

i love my job, most of you know that i love what i do. it's not like i'm a doctor like my big brother adam, just a receptionist. it's mostly just desk/paper work, but working with so many different physicians and patients has always felt very meaningful. i was in 7th grade and my great grandpa hicken lived with us (sorry to break it to you all, but yes i was grandpa's favorite, he even told me so..hehe) and we eventually had to put him in a rest home. the rest home was next to my jr. high, so i would just walk down to visit him after school. Once he passed away, i volunteered not to long before they hired me and after that i just knew i wanted to be in the health care industry. it didn't matter to me if i was serving patients food, or taking them their mail, or making their next appointment, i just wanted to brighten their day and try to make a difference. i was ecstatic when i got a job at the salt lake clinic, and i have loved the past five years that i have been able to work there. i have learned so much from all the different physicians that i have worked with. i have met so many people coming into the clinic whom have taught me so much about myself. i have also created life long friendships, that i treasure.
i wanted to share just a few pictures of my friends, these ladies are full of energy and would always hear a lot of laughter coming from our desk! i already miss you all!!

i was ready for a new adventure though, and i was lucky enough to find that adventure much closer to home. i now work for an incredible pediatrician, i should know, he is elizabeths! he is such a caring and attentive physician. i have only been there a couple weeks, but i have already made some wonderful friends and i really enjoy it.