Awesome Sons

The boys came home with these for me when they walked home from school the other day.

A bouquet of all wild flowers, with a leaf behind them for the background.

I love these boys.

Birthday Party trip

 We trekked up to Pocatello to be with Carrie's family for the big birthday weekend, 

and had a fabulous time with them!

I made these superhero masks with felt (and took a picture of them in the van on the way up.

The cake and pudding were a huge hit.

Enough for everyone!

MVP goes to Jules.  Claws up, perfect stance, he's for real.

Carrie fed us a yummy lunch, everyone played, 

and we just got to hang out and enjoy the day with them.

And we all love this girl too.

It's awesome having Carrie and Tanner so close now!

Spring!!

We had a fun day at the park the other day with the whole family.

. 

It's nearly impossible to get a good picture of 4 happy silly kids, 

without at least one of them doing something wacky.

I know, I've tried.  :)

I love 'em all a ton though!

And Ellen's still trying to figure out what "smile" means...

Welcome spring time!!

Then and Now in Neverland

Jonathan was Peter last year in the school play, and then this year (in Wizard of Oz,) he had one scene where he was Peter again, although he was the Munchkin Mayor for the rest of the play.  

It brought back so many awesome memories to see him as Peter again!

But I was surprised to realize that his costume from last year totally didn't fit!  He grew a ton! We had to borrow another costume from one of the other Peters.

Last year:

And this year:

I guess Peter Pan does grow up...

A little more modesty at breakfast

Our lady here was showing a bit too much skin for our taste.  

No one needs swimsuit atire to look at during breakfast.

So, a few minutes and some gold paint later, and voila!  We can eat in comfort!

Easter!

Easter is quickly becoming one of my very favorite holidays.

A celebration of the Resurrection and Atonement, life and renewal,

all tied together with fun family traditions!  What could be better?

I hope I still color eggs every year when I'm 80.  Awesome tradition.

Some of our creations this year

Layering dye with wax crayons

Made by wrapping wadded napkins around the egg and spooning the dye onto the napkin 

so it blends and soaks through in parts

Beeeauuutiful Spring day for a hunt!!

We always hide one egg that is empty, without any goodies inside.  It's the empty egg to symbolize the empty tomb, and when someone finds it, it's a celebration and they run over for a Happy Easter hug.

And then I always like the part where everyone devours their goodies.  Such focus.

For our Easter dinner this year we decided to have a meal of 

food that Jesus may have eaten in His time.

So we made unleavened bread, hummus, and herbed tilapia, and also had green olives and grapes,

Not only was it Delicious, it was neat because it had meaning.  Eating most of it with our hands really made us feel like we were in those days, and made us think about what Jesus' life was like.

We are totally doing this every year from now on. :)

Then we had something that Seth called "Easter Home Evening" 

where we took turns picking an Easter hymn or Primary song to sing together, 

and after singing each song, someone took a turn sharing something they know about the Savior.

It's been the best Easter ever.  :)