Easter

We had a fabulous Easter this year!

On Friday we participated in an annual egg hunt with friends, then we dyed Easter eggs that night.

We tried the rice with food coloring method and it worked great!  Our eggs took to the dye much better than the traditional method, it was less messy, faster, and more of an active process.

They only waited long enough for me to take pictures before they peeled and ate ALL of the eggs.

Easter fell on General Conference this year, so we were blessed to enjoy a lovely spiritual weekend. 

We're pretty simple with Easter baskets, but we enjoy the tradition.  This year the kids received breakfast snacks (juice, applesauce, granola bars, and something I'm forgetting...), flip flops, and dresses or ties.  We hid Annie's and Logan's baskets REALLY well this year.  It'll be hard to top next year!

After watching the final Conference sessions, we had a special family devotional.  I set the table with our nice dishes and set out special foods that we thought might be similar to what people in the New Testament might have eaten or things that were mentioned in the New Testament.  We had grapes, grape juice, olives, fish, soft cheese, and multigrain crackers (in lieu of flatbread because of our allergies).  I also set our oil lamps on the table, lit them, and turned out the lights.  (I wish I'd taken a picture of the table!)  We reverently passed around the food and explained why we chose each item.  Then, when everyone had some of everything, Jim read from the scriptures about the life, Atonement, and resurrection of Jesus.  We ended with giving everyone the opportunity to bear their own witness (testimony) of the Savior.  The kids were very reverent through the whole thing, and it was an uplifting spiritual experience for us all.  We ended the night by watching The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd.

Showing off their Easter clothes.

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We gave Annie a beautiful hair clip for her birthday, and this was the first chance she had to wear it.

Annie is taller than Logan now!

Annie's 10th Birthday

Annie turned 10!  She is turning into such a beautiful mature young lady.  She's a huge help to me and such a good big sister.

For her birthday, we had a friend party and a family celebration.  Her friend party was the biggest party we've ever done!  Our ice arena does $1 skating during spring break, so we reserved the use of a locker room and allowed her to invite as many friends as she wanted.  We ended up having 19 kids on ice skates (including mine)!  Several of her friends hadn't skated before, but they were all super brave and had a great time.  I'm always impressed by what great kids my kids are friends with.  We're very fortunate that they know such nice kids!  Even though it was the biggest party we've ever done, it was actually super easy.  I only had to make dessert beforehand.  Then it was just a matter of tying lots of skates and letting them make their own fun. 

Abby did great on skates this year!  (We went several days during spring break.)

Abby eventually let go of the wall and skated on her own. 

Birthday parties and ice skating are exhausting!

On the day of her birthday we celebrated with a family dinner, treats, and presents.  She had a church activity that night, so we let her choose a family movie the previous night.

Alex's Baptism

Once he turned 8, Alex chose to be baptized.  Jim's parents came to visit that weekend.

Audrey made the girls these dresses.

I think this is our first family picture since Brig was born.

We're so pleased that Alex made this decision.  He is turning into such a mature young man!

His baptism was a very special day.  Also, he asked Logan to speak at it, so Logan had that chance for the very first time.  He was super nervous, but he did a great job explaining the covenants that Alex was making.

Alex Turns 8

We have an 8 year old in the house!  This boy is so full of love and fun.  I don't know what I'd do without my Alex.

He had two celebrations.  A week before his birthday, he invited two friends to go with him to a trampoline park and then back to our house for dessert.  They had so much fun jumping and climbing around! 

These two friends of his are really great kids; I'm so glad he has good buddies.

On his birthday we celebrated as a family.  He opened presents, had a dinner of his choosing (meatballs), watched a movie (big screen with our projector), and enjoyed ice cream floats.

After the kids gave him their presents, we had fun teasing him with ours.  We gave him a little fish tank, but had him open the little plant for it first.  I told him we thought he'd like it for a decoration; he tried SO hard to be polite, but it was obvious he was disappointed.  It was pretty funny.  Then we had him open the rocks.  Then the fish food, etc.  Then, while I finished dinner, Jim took him to the store to get some goldfish.  Over the next couple of days, we killed 6 goldfish, but finally kept one alive.  One month later and it's still swimming!  Yay!

This present was probably the coolest thing he received.  It's a bilibo, and is the most fantastic wiggly toy ever.  The kids spin and spin and spin around on the carpet with it, and it doesn't make me crazy!

This baby is the cutest thing ever.  Be still my heart.

March

Jim, Logan, and Alex had a boys' weekend in Chicago.  They used our museum pass to get into two of the big museums (for FREE), went out to eat, swam in the hotel pool, and had a great time.

We pulled out the jumpy toy for Brig.

Cute little girl.

Another cutie.

I love this kid.

My boys!

Someone has me wrapped around her finger.

My girl!

Just eating clementines...

Working with Daddy is exhausting!

Abby wanted crazy hair.

Brig sampled avocado.

What is this stuff?!

Laurel frequently lets herself outside.

I love how she's dressed herself for the cold weather.

Abby is a camera thief!

Who needs blocks when you can play with a package of toilet paper?

Jim has taken over math lessons with Annie and Logan. I'm told he's way more fun than I am!

Abby, "Mom, I'm teaching Brig how to play."