Sarah

 Sarah has developed into a major bookworm.  It's just as bad as Seth.  I'm not complaining but sometimes it's very hard for those kiddos to put down their books and do what they are suppose to be doing.  She has probably read 40 books in the last 4 months alone.  Right now she is in the middle of the Redwall series and is totally loving it.

 She also still loves her rabbit.  She always feeds him a carrot after school, talks to him, pets him, and worries about him constantly.

 Now that she is in 3rd grade they get to start being part of a play.  This year the school did Mulan and she loved it.  She got to be in the chorus which she is enjoyed because of all the songs she got to learn.  The only problem was finding a costume that sort of fit.  They finally settled on this one and we still had to safety pin it in many places.

 Here she is with her bestie Makayla.

 Helping Mulan get dressed and taking a bow below.

 And dancing and singing.  We were very pleasantly surprised on how well they all did.  The whole cast was 3rd graders and it was amazing the work they can do at that age!  Good job Sarah :)

Relief Society

One of the things I love about Relief Society Meetings is setting up the dessert tables.  I loved this last one we had so I thought I would share.

I made that banner (finally something I made from pinterest!!) and then grew some wheat grass.  I set up some carrotts for a centerpiece and add some eggs and name tags for what we were eating and wallah!!

It turned out so cute!!

Silly Luke

I have to record this for posterity sakes.  It still makes me chuckle!

So the other morning I was standing in the kitchen making breakfast for the kids.  As a point for background, it's a Thursday morning which means Sam is at his early morning Mental Health meeting (not for him, he is over this specialty court at work) so he's not there.

Luke always comes right into the kitchen as soon as he wakes up and asks me what is for breakfast, he just loves to know...silly boy.  Well this particular morning he surprised me.  This is how the conversation went:

L: "Mom how do you make love?"

Me: Completely flabergasted wondering how in the heck he knows this term and who taught it to him says, "What do you mean?"

L: "I mean how do you make love?"

Me: Still completely flabbergasted and still not knowing what to say, not to mention Seth is sitting at the table laughing at me, says, "Luke I don't know what you mean."

L: him getting frustrated with me says, "I mean how do you make love!"

Me: Taking the plunge finally says, "Well love is a feeling you have in your heart..."

L: He interrupts at this point and says, "No Mom I make love to Seth when I hug him."

Me: Getting totally weirded out at this point says, "What do you mean you hug him?"

L: "Well I love Seth and you and Dad and Kathryn and Sarah so I hug you"

WHEW!!!!  

Needless to say we had a discussion on the difference between making love and showing love!

Kathryn's 8th Birthday

 This special girl got to have her birthday on Easter this year and it's her magical year.  She turned 8 on the 8th.  She has been so excited for this day and couldn't hardly sleep the night before.

We had crepes for breakfast (talk about a sugar rush especially paired with Easter candy), her favorite.

 After church we ate vanilla cupcakes, another favorite of hers.  She decided she wanted one big candle instead of 8 small ones.

 Then her presents.  She was so excited for her new scriptures.  Lately she has been using Sam's old ones and asks constantly for her own.  So fun to see her excitement.

 No she's not sad here, I just took a picture in the middle of her talking and didn't even realize it.  She has been wanting this dog for forever--after all it matches her doll :).

And she got to have a friend party this year.  Which she loved. These are some of her bestest buddies and the ones that we able to come.

(Back Row: Bethy, Ashley H, Maddi, Elli, Sophia. Front Row: Afton, Ashley F, You Know Who, Keslyn)

Here are 8 things we love about Kathryn:

1.  Her hugs and kisses--she is the best at giving them.

2.  Her desire to make everybody feel included and loved.

3.  Her spunkiness--she is amazing.

4.  Her willingness to help whoever needs--especially Luke who loves to play with her.

5. She has developed a love a Little House on the Prairie and it's so fun to see her get so excited about the story.

6.  Her desire to tell the truth--she can't not tell a lie for very long and before you know it she is fessing up and telling you what really happened and apologizing for it.

7. Her freckles that have appeared all over her nose and cheeks.

8.  She hates to have her hair down--it must be in a ponytail or pigtails everyday, and she is very adamant about it!

Kathryn we love and are so excited that you are 8!!

Easter

 What a wonderful, beautiful day Easter was.  I love having a day to really reflect on the Savior's resurrection and be able to spend that day with my family.

 We decided to do the baskets the night before so we could really focus on the real reason for Easter.  The kids were pleased as punch to have them earlier than usual.

Sunday morning we paused for some pictures especially as we were almost late to church.

 My mom made these beautiful dresses and the girls loved them.  They are looking so old and Wow!  these boys of mine are sure growing up too.  Luke wanted to pose like this and then he made such a cheesy face but that sure is our Luke!

 After church we hid easter eggs and the kids had a grand time finding them, well at least until Luke hit Seth in the head with a piece of pvc pipe.  His reason for doing that: I didn't want Seth to look in the shed for eggs.  Thanks for being honest but off to the repenting bench for you.  That boy is sure a character.

What a beautiful, lovely day we had.  Hope you had a wonderful Easter too!

Swimming at the hotel

 Since we went to Rexburg to see Jessica we got to stay in a hotel.  The kids were so excited they could hardly stand it.  Mostly because of this!

My kids L.O.V.E. to swim.  We spent several hours here Saturday morning and they had a blast.

 Henley joined us and she thought Luke and the water were pretty awesome things.

 Sorry Sam, I couldn't resist!

Jessica's Graduation from BYU-I

 My sister Jessica graduated last weekend so we decided to head over there and celebrate with her.  She showed us all over campus and boy!!  has it changed since we went to school there.  We had many fond memories from college like the bowling alley, custodial work in the Smith, church in the Romney, food in the MC, computer labs in the library, and more.  The crazy thing is that with so many new buildings and renovations of the old ones hardly anything looks the same.  We did enjoy showing the kids everything.

 That night we all went out to dinner at Craigos, a favorite haunt for college kids, which was delicious and then we headed over to Jessica's convocation at 8 pm (the kids had sure had it by the time we were done!).  But we were sure proud of her accomplishments!!!

 Almost all the family was able to come support her, Mom and Dad,

 Emily and Natalie,

 Brad, Jill, Heston, and Henley,

 Spencer and Michele,

 and Ben, Maria, and Bentley.

 This is her receiving her degree form Henry C Eyring and below is Luke who wouldn't leave Craig alone.  Good thing he was a good sport about it!

Seattle--part 2

 While we were visiting my sister we decided to head to the zoo one day.  We decided to try a different zoo than the last time and we had a great time.  It was the nicest day we had there, still a little rainy and cold, but we had a grand time at the zoo.

 As soon as we came in the gates the kids found the carousel, which they always love.  Kathryn found a walrus to ride.

 Luke chose a pig and Sarah chose some kind of porpoise that we couldn't remember the name of :).

 They had a great kids playing area that we didn't stay in long because it was raining but on a normal day we could of spent hours there.

The best part of the kids area was a "skinny" mirror they had.  We all LOVED it!

 We had lots of fun looking at all the animals.  Most of them even came out to play.

 The girls had matching braids courtsey of Prim (and perfect for shorter hair--they stay in great).  Luke and Ryan had a grand time most of the time.  They thought this bear and the monkeys were the best.

 Family picture.

 We also got to see them feed two week old tiger cubs.  They were so cute and we loved watching them.

 They are all trying to be sharks.  Silly kids.  The girls also decided to try out a hurricane simulator.  Boy was it windy!

 We also spent a long time in the aquarium touching different sea animals and coloring.

We sure love going to the zoo especially when we get to go with great people.