The Easter Egg Hunt

We had a glorious Easter Egg hunt on the Saturday before Easter. It was a beautiful day, Wymount Quad 3 was the site. Rather than try to think of clever places to hide the eggs, I divided them up, put them in sacks, and had the kids hide them for each other - so Katie hid eggs for David to find, David hid for Richard and Jenn and so forth. It seemed to be the year of the tree. Dave hid one quite high in a tree for Ben to retrieve, Richard climbs trees like a goat would climb a mountain and hid cereal for Dave to retrieve. David propped up Dave to hide the "big one" for Richard (which by the way he knocked down with a rock - no fair!)

HIDING THE EGGS

FINDING THE EGGS (OR CEREAL)!

The one Richard knocked down with a rock.

Melanie seemed to enjoy the hunt the most. I got such a kick out of watching her follow everyone as it was their turn to find hidden eggs. The audience requested popcorn as they watched the hunt. Carson and Granpa stayed in the house and rested.

Katie's hunting was particularly challenging. As you can tell she had to have a bit of help to get to where her eggs were. Thanks alot Ben!

Called to serve in...

ARMENIA!!!

I am so excited to go, but terrified at the same time. I am just grateful for the support I will have as I prepare to go from my earthly and heavenly families :-) Just wait for more to come...

Girl's Choice

The theme of the Girl's Choice Dance was "Cops and Robbers." Ben had a much better time this go around. Here is a preview picture

Spring Fling

I've tried my hardest not to complain about the horrible winter in Idaho Falls - okay I admit to whining a little, but it wasn't nearly as much as I felt inside. Ben and I found a very therapuetic practice - while looking for my cell phone, we dug down the 5 foot piles of snow in the front by taking a big shovel full from the pile and flinging it into the street. Cars driving by would quickly smash and melt the clods of snow. Another practice that kept me entertained was to check the drain chain in the back. If it is warm enough, drops of water trickle down the chain and freeze before it gets to the bottom. If the temperature hit around 30, sometimes (if the wind didn't blow) the ice chains would break and form piles of ice at the bottom. I loved observing the process. (Double click on this photo, you can see the details better)

My other entertainment has been the windmill. I love watching it work furiously in the wind.

I gave up waiting for the snow to melt, since we still have a foot of snow and temperatures stubbornly hovering around 30 degrees; I was finally eligible to buy a new cell phone at a discount on Saturday, March 8 so I bought one. Today, Sunday, March 9 after 2-1/2 months of digging and searching I FOUND MY CELL PHONE, not in the big pile in the street but much closer to the house. And guess what??? IT STILL WORKS!! It was a bit dirty and wet, but not scratched. It cleaned up real pretty and started right up with it's display picture of Carson.

Another miracle, I had to take a picture I was so excited. I took a picture for proof.

I planted 50 daffodil bulbs last fall and several of in the front are starting to peek through the bark. SPRING IS COMING!

Weekend Visits

It has been so nice to have "the kids" home the past few weekends while Katie has been getting her mission papers ready. Dave, Melanie, Carson, and Katie came to Idaho Falls President's Day weekend; then the next weekend Richard, Jenn, and Katie came. It was so fun to have them home.

Mr. Carson had a rough weekend and grandma and grandpa got the early morning shift. Here is grandpa getting him to sleep and then grandma enjoying grandpa's success.




A typical picture of Melanie these days nursing Carson on the couch.



I am not sure which picture Katie ended up turning in for her mission papers, but here is my favorite.


I think my biggest surprise of the first weekend was Uncle David handling Carson. He is like a fish to water in know how to hold, comfort, and coddle a baby.


Had I not been so lazy on pictures the weekend Jenn and Richard were here, I would have gotten a picture of Jennifer competing in the boxing game of the Wii. I think she remains undefeated as she is vicious! And a picture of David and Richard playing Star Craft would have been a great one to have, they were pretty focused on beating the other team (the computer). I also wish I had a before

and after of the guest bedroom pillows. Jenn had finally had enough with the old flat, drooled on pillows and whisked me away to Ross to find replacement pillows and duvet covers. Both guest rooms are now are stocked with good pillows.