Easter joy

Fun activities, warm temps and sunny skies, and moments to reflect on our Savior's atoning sacrifice and resurrection pretty much sum up our Easter.

We had fun dyeing eggs and having peeps. Well, the children had the peeps. I can't stand them.

We had a fun Easter egg hunt with a bunch of friends. Mason was hilarious. Found his first egg, broke it open, and inhaled all the contents - including a bunch of grass - in about 5 seconds.

Easter morning was a bit crazed. Mason woke up at 4:45, and in my sleep-deprived state I watched the children discover and enjoy their baskets in a semi-fogged state. I didn't even remember to take pictures. And I had to teach Relief Society. So we managed to get everyone ready for church, although later I noticed boys were missing ties and a belt. But church was wonderful and my lesson went well. Then we snapped some basket pictures after church, although baskets had been fairly well disassembled by then. Connor loved a Lego Star Wars set, Lucas loved an R2D2 figure thing, Isabel loved new jewelry and Mason loved his new Elmo DVD. And they all loved the sweets. Duh.

I hosted Brian's parents and aunt and uncle for dinner. I made a brown sugar-and-orange glazed ham, au gratin potatoes, rolls, chocolate coconut oatmeal no bake nest cookies and a lemon berry tart - all from scratch, all scrumptious.

Hope you all had a beautiful Easter!

Scouting Connor

Connor loves Cub Scouts. Last month he earned is Wolf Badge, with 2 months to spare before his 9th birthday. Very proud of him! Here is his getting his badge and then pinning me with the Wolf pin.


Last month he also enjoyed his first-ever Pinewood Derby. He designed his car himself, did a majority of the work on it, painted it and named it The Angry Bird; it didn't fly as well as expected, but he still loved the experience.


Brian has some fun video equipment and has learned some video editing skills for work, and he put them to good use in making this fun video about Connor's first Pinewood Derby. Enjoy!

Spring Break

Spring Break started with a bang, as my new little nephew made his dramatic entrance a wee bit early. My brother Nate and SIL Alli became new parents with the birth of sweet little Aidan James, thus making me an aunt for the 9th time (7 on my side, twice on Brian's). This is the first time I've had a niece or nephew born in the same state as me, and it was so fun to get to go to the hospital and meet little Aidan, who was 5 pounds 13 ounces. Mason and Connor were 6-6 and 6-8, respectively, so not much bigger, but it is so difficult to remember that they were even close to this small. So fun to see my "baby" brother became a (very proud and doting) daddy!

With such warm weather (the warmest spring break here I can remember), we were able to do a lot of outside activities, including just hanging out and playing in the backyard, having a water slide/pool party with friends, and more outside playdates.

We also went on a fun hike near Lyons. Mason did most of the hour-long hike completely on his own, refusing even a hand to help him over the rock-strewn inclining trail. He'd fall, get up, fall, get up, and keep on going. Rock star. He was in heaven. Pretty good for not quite 22 months old. We all just love to hike.

We spent a great afternoon swimming at our local fabulous Rec Center.

We visited a photography exhibit at the Firehouse Art Center, an old firehouse converted into an art studio and classroom.

Then we headed outside and I let the kids practice taking pictures with my camera. We also found an area where there are a ton of bald eagle nests, and we even saw a couple of eagles. Very cool.

We ended the week enjoying and being uplifted by General Conference. It was a fun week, just enough play, just enough rest, just enough time together before that final school push. It kinda got me excited for summer! I'm already planning our Learning Adventures of the Week, and our Olympic country studies.