Happy Easter!

Kaleb has done a fine job of creating a beautiful centerpiece for our Easter table.

Even with Legos we can worship our Lord and remember the sacrifice he made for all of us.

 These beautiful flowers came in the mail from Nana and Poppa. 
I love fresh flowers. We are all enjoying them....even Toby. I caught him checking them out. Thankfully there isn't any baby's breath. Cats love babys breath.

 I think we are getting the hang of this Utah weather.

We weathered through the winter nicely and are welcoming the warmth of the sun.

We have one patch of ice left in the shad in our yard. I think after today it will be gone.

 I love that my older kids enjoy doing family things like dying eggs. Daphne of course has designed beautiful eggs with crayons and dye. We now have plenty of beautiful eggs for tomorrow. We will be headed to Idaho after church to spend with Kathy. Victoria is planning on flying her kite. It is always breezy in Malad.

Kaleb dyed an egg for Benjamin and called it Saint Benjamin since he is in bunny heaven now.

I love this time of year. I love the Utah seasons most of all.

We are looking forward to shorts, flip flops, hiking and wildflowers.



Rich and Angela

 Rich and Angie were married yesterday.

It was a beautiful wedding, a beautiful beginning for two wonderful people.

 I managed to grab a picture of Rich with three of his boys. They were eager to get their "monkey suits" off. I never did get a picture of Angie's very handsome boys. She has two. Somewhere around 10 and 15. I know I'm wrong so please don't quote me. Levi is on the left, then Luke and Chad. I'm so glad they came and supported their Dad's marriage to Angie. I am sure that meant alot to Rich.

 They did an awesome job of meeting and greeting.

 Two of my favorite people! Actually I should say 4 of my favorite people. 

 My girls and my cousins.

 And of course, my favorite Aunt.

Aunt Carol looked beautiful in her new dress. I love the color on her.

She always makes the kids feel welcome and will ask something specific about them to share.

I like that she does that.
It makes them feel important.

 Rich's little grandbaby Marlie is so adorable.

When it is time to smile for the camera she would squint her eyes tight and smile.

It reminded me of Victoria's Funny Face that she made when she was that age.

It got everyone all gooey over how adorable she is.
I couldn't stop playing with her. I miss having little ones.
My little ones are almost all bigger than me.

You gotta love weddings.

There is a time for meeting the new family, meeting the best friends, alot of smiling to the point that your face hurts, eating, drinking lots of lemon water and then there is the moment when you have had enough and are ready for the  2 hour drive home.

Victoria was proud to announce that she ate 9 cake pops and 4 egg rolls.

She slept the whole way home.

 Kirk and I rarely have a picture together. On a whim I took this one myself.

We are in black and white because,

I wanted to see what I am going to look like with white hair,

I wanted to see if Kirk will really look like Santa some day,

and....black and white showed less wrinkle definition.

Congratulations to my handsome cousin Rich

and his new beautiful wife Angela.

I can't wait to spend time with you again.

My Dad 1979

I just came across this and had to post this picture.

If you know my Dad you would know that he can be very creative in his napping techniques.

Notice the cigarette and the elbow lying on the ground.

I think he was desperate for some "shut eye".  That what he called taking a nap. He always said that he was born too late.  He was meant to be a cowboy.

1979

 This is how I spent my childhood.

Crammed in the back seat of a CJ2 bright orange Jeep prowling on any dirt road that my Dad could find. My sister and I would bounce along buckled in tight holding onto the roll bar.  Sometimes we even banged heads which was not fun at all. I don't know how I did it but sometimes I could even fall asleep and take a short nap on one of those roads. We got filthy dirty but saw places that other people only read about.  Now I don't even think you can get on any of those back roads through the Mojave desert or through Panamint Valley let alone the back roads of Death Valley.  I know.....wierd.....who would ever spend Easter vacation in Death Valley....yep, I have.

My fondest memory of that is having an egg hunt on Easter morning. All the kids grabbed paper sacks (we didn't have plastic) or shirt pockets, wash basins, whatever you could find. I found an egg in a tail pipe once and one nestled in a spare tire. It was fun, dirty and quite the challenge making 5 gallons of water last between 4 people for a week. I remember being about 8 and returning home from a jeep trip that lasted a week. I looked in the mirror and saw the grime on my face and hair. I was fascinated by flush toilets and running water.  I tried to wash my face which quickly made a mud mask.  I didn't dare us the towels. I just left the bathroom with a wet face until it was my turn for the shower. A bath was out of the question unless you wanted to be sitting in a mud puddle.

Quite the experience.

I miss it....I think.

I always thought that my Dad looked like Abe Lincoln.



Last of the Snow.......

 Not only is it totally ridiculous that our Christmas lights were still up until the first weekend of March, but the boys discovered that they needed tools to remove the lights from the eaves.

I know....we had several icicles that needed to be chipped away to free the wiring and a few light bulbs. We have experienced quite a few "firsts" since moving here. 

Victoria and her Dad got in some last minute building. Yes, it really was warm enough for Kirk to not be wearing a jacket. It is so wierd to feel like 43 degrees is warm. We have loved the winter but now that the snow is melting and the grass is beginning to show, we are looking forward to Spring and all of it's splendor.  I have always wanted to live somewhere where there are all four seasons.....

We love it here.

Laura Ingalls Wilder

 It only took me a few minutes to figure out why Victoria scooted her chair close to the heater with her desk stool next to her. We had been reading The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder this past month and Victoria is loving it as much as I did when I was little.

It has been fun to experience the books all over again. I love that she is sewing. She has even put together a sewing basket with projects lined up. That's my girl.

 She and her friends even play that they are pioneers.  They spend quite a bit of time debating who gets to be Laura this time.  Hopefully they are taking turns.

I think if they could get closer, they would.

Sledding with Star Academy

 The very end of February brought more snow.

Perfect timing to expend some energy and spend time outside.

Most of us met after classes and spent 3 hours sledding.

It was great to be outside in the crisp air.

While I hung out chatting with the other mothers the kids completely exhausted themselves.

It was awesome!

Old Man

Toby will be 17 in a few months......

that makes him 119 years old in cat years.

He has lost quite a bit of weight this year but remains massive in comparison to other cats....especially Mattie.

I'm surprised he isn't needing a walker or a cane.

He definately has spunk when he takes on Henry.

It probably keeps him young.