Easter Bunny Antics

I thought the Easter Bunny got pretty creative this year with his egg hiding. Usually when the kids get up there is string that they get to follow throughout the house that will lead them to their first clue. They will then have three or four clues and these will lead them to their basket. This year there was not string.

When the kids came upstairs their baskets were in plain sight, but they were empty except for a piece of paper that had 20 or so picture clues. The kids had to study the pictures closely and figure out where the eggs, or treats were hidden.

This one was in the cereal cupboard next to a box of Cocoa Pebbles. . . This one was in one of our plants in the living room.

The kids really had a lot of fun and were pretty stumped with several of the clues. It took about an hour to find all of the goodies.

Updates

Kalia is getting so big.
One of her first times having her hair curled. She loved having the curlers in and now walks around the house with the bag of curlers quite often. They are her new favorite toy.

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Loren is coaching Matt's competition basketball team. We had these beenies custom made for their team. We also had their team name embroidered on the back of these warm ups. Of course, all the boys had to get a pair.

Better Late Than Never

Heather and Mike's sweet new baby girl is finally here. At one week over due, Melia Virginia Morgan (I think that is the whole name) has come into the world. She is a darling 7 pound 1 ounce baby.

I can't wait to see her again!

Moans and Groans and Skeleton Bones. . .

Kalia used two different costumes this year. She was a cute little witch at the ward party. We got the dress from Kristy and then my friend Sarah just happened to have a hat that matched perfectly. I have to say she was a mighty cute witch.Yes . . . at 14+ months Kali is finally walking.

I was very proud of my cute cupcakes I took to the party.

Mike and Bron both carved their own pumpkins. Mike's is on the left, Bron's is on the right. With the great knives you can buy in the pumpkin carving kits, Bron actually did carve his own.

Kali was not sure what to think about the pumpkin guts. Mike kept pulling them out and she kept putting them back in. It was pretty funny.

Here we are at the parade at the school. Matt is one of the aliens from Pizza Planet (Toy Story movie).

Mike actually didn't go trick or treating on Halloween. He chose to go to the Utah blackout game with Loren. Mike was happy to wear his football jersey at the school parade. I can't believe how old he is starting to look.

Kali got this darling poodle costume from Aunt Kristy.

Bron borrowed a costume from our friend Sarah. He loved the fact that both he and Kali were dogs.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOYS AND GIRLS

I have had a lot of people ask if we can tell a difference between raising Kali and raising the boys. I usually tell them, except for making bracelets, putting bows in her hair and carefully planning her wardrobe each day, they are pretty much the same. Well today I learned the difference.

It was lunchtime and Kalia was being particularly fussy about what she wanted to eat. I had made her a peanut butter and honey sandwich - usually a favorite. She would just turn her head away when I offered it to her - and attempt to throw it on the floor when left on her plate. (the sandwich was just a big square with the crusts cut off - she hasn't wanted her food broken up in pieces lately). I decided she was big enough to enjoy her food cut up with a cookie cutter. The boys loved biting legs, arms and the head off of many different animals in their day.

I cut her sandwich into a dog, barked at her and tried to get her to take a bite. Again she turned her head away. I said, "Look Kali, it's a dog (barking noise)." Then I sat the dog down on her tray. She smiled and picked the dog up (I was feeling a victory was coming). She then proceeded to kiss the dog and try to feed her Cheetos him. Needless to say, she never did eat her peanut butter and honey sandwich today.

Grandma Place

My Grandmother's funeral is tomorrow and I thought I would take some time to think about her. Grandma has been very sick for the last three years and really we have just hoped that she would be able to return to her Father in heaven and her husband as soon has they were ready for her. I was quite surprised at the feelings that I felt when Dad called to tell me she had passed away. I hadn't been to see her recently. It was hard to visit because she didn't really talk to us anymore and she couldn't hear me and I felt awkward when I would visit. I had such a huge feeling of loss after Dad called. This was the only grandmother I really remember and I loved her and I know she loved me.

This is a picture of Grandma as I remember her.

The Grandmother I knew came to most of my performances growing up. She shared Christmas, Thanksgiving, Mother's Day, Sunday dinners and birthday's with us. She liked to complain and nag at her husband saying "Arthur" and calling him "Jerry" when she liked him. She complained about bean cans being smaller than they used to be, people being less friendly and she couldn't believe that anyone would wear clothing that looked like it was made out of an American flag. She wore high heels and pants every day. Nothing was made "the way it used to be."

When I was in 6th grade we played jacks all the time when she would come over on Sundays. She always had cookies for us at her house. We loved her bean salad and everyone but me loved her Christmas pudding cake. Grandma had a lot of energy and was seldom ever sick. She was scraping the ice off her car, driving her own car, and walking around in high heels the day before her stroke. Here she is sledding in high heels.

She would sometimes laugh hard, putting her head up to the sky. She went through a period of time when she would cover her face anytime Dad was taking pictures. That must have been when she was trying to reject old age. Eventually she gave in to the fact that she had to get older and stopped complaining too loud about getting a picture taken.

For her 90th birthday I put together a video of her life. My Dad had just run into a bunch of pictures and negatives and let me go through them. As I was putting the video together I got to thinking about how much I don't know my grandma. What was she like as a child. What were her dreams and hopes she was expecting from life. It is amazing to think of all the changes she has seen in the world in her lifetime.

I think sometimes I just saw her as a Grandma. I love these old pictures and the stories they might hold. I wish I had known more of her.

As I am getting older (34 now) I am realizing that I am still the same person inside that I have always been. I think of all the high school and growing up traumas and heartbreaks and they still exist inside of me. Life has been a lot different than I had envisioned it. I am in an extremely happy place right now, but that has come with realizing that things just aren't going to turn out the way I originally hoped, life is not like the movies and I am in charge of my own happiness. I love my husband and my four children and wouldn't want to be anywhere other than where I am right now in life.

I can't imagine what it would be like to be 90 years old, when most of the people who really knew me are no longer on this earth. Death does not scare me, but growing old certainly does. When everything I am is gone, what will I be? Hopefully Loren and I will be a very old couple sitting on the porch swing laughing over our memories - if we still remember them.

I hope Grandma was happy with her life. While I don't feel like I really knew who she was inside, I feel like I have a lot of her in me.

I love you Grandma!

I was looking through some pictures and found this one of the boys. I think I took it for one of Mike's projects at school. I just think it is a cute picture. I love this bunk bed.

Kalia's helping dad pull the weeds. A few weeks ago I babysat Hailey and Aubrey while Kristy and Ben went to Vegas for their anniversary. The girls were so well behaved and Bron got along with them for four days. It was pretty amazing. One of the days they were playing downstairs and when I went down this was the spot Hailey was in. I thought it was super funny and had to go grab my camera. She looked like such a grown-up girl.

Of course after I took the photo Aubrey had to have her turn to pose for a picture.

Another play day with my girlfriends.

Sarah has an awesome backyard. The kids had a great day playing in the sun and water. This was the first sunny day after a couple weeks of rain.

I thought this was a super cute picture of Hailey.

All the girls.

We also took the kids to the Sweets factory for a tour. This was really cool. The tour is free, you just have to schedule ahead of time. Here is the link.

http://sweetcandy.com/main/onlinetour/

This week for our field trip everyone went to the zoo. We have all purchased the Tracy Aviary Pass. With this pass you can get into several different places for "free." Free - but you have to buy the pass. We have purchased the pass for the last three years now. I think it's pretty cool.

(However, I didn't go to the zoo this week. It has been a crazy week that I hope to never repeat again.) The pass includes the following.

Ogden Eccles Dinosaur Park
Free Weekdays Only

Ogden Nature Center
Free 1st Thursday of each month

Utah's Hogle Zoo
Free 1st Thursday of each month

There are a few other places you can get into.