Easter Saturday!

The Easter Bunny delivers the goods and fills the baskets on Saturday morning instead of Sunday around here.  It helps us remember and focus on what the true meaning of Easter really is on Sunday. The kids woke up to their baskets missing again.  They hunted around the house until they found them hanging from the shower, in the oven, and under the computer desk.  The day before a snow storm rolled through leaving a few inches of snow on the ground.  Makell and Kaitlyn still wanted to try their luck with the town Easter Egg Hunt.  It was crazy seeing all the eggs laying on top of the snow! The snow didn't discourage people from coming. The number of people were no less than previous years.  The kids were bundled up in their winter coats and hats.  Quite a different sight and experience than normal.  The egg hunt was over in less than one minute. The eggs were picked clean off the ground.  Makell went through her candy before I knew it!  That girl has quite the sweet tooth.  Kaitlyn seems to know how to balance it out.  A little here and a little there until it's gone.  Kourtney on the other hand never finishes her candy.  When the time comes to set baskets out, her basket is practically full of uneaten candy from the previous year.  Good thing Makell doesn't know that!   

Egg Drop!

It was the Annual Egg Drop at school for Makell!  Each student was asked to "protect" their egg somehow, as it would then be thrown off the balcony. The object was to protect it well enough that it wouldn't break.   Makell and the girls decided to put her egg in an old jar of peanut butter that had just been taken out of the 72 hour kit.  They thought since the peanut butter was bad and needed to be tossed out anyway, why not throw it off the balcony.  She wrapped her egg in saran wrap and submerged it into the middle of the jar.  Makell turned her jar of peanut butter into an Easter basket. The kids were pretty proud of their project! They usually toss the eggs off the top of the school, but mother nature decided to drop about four inches of snow on the ground, so they decided to do it indoors this year. It was still a hit with all the kids!  After Makell removed her egg to do her inspection, she noticed a super small crack on the end. The peanut-butter worked fabulous!  We are thinking the crack probable happened as we were inserting the egg into the jar.  The bottom of the peanut butter busted out, but the egg was fully intact!       

Spring break ...

Our Spring Break this year was pretty lame.  A few days of our break was rainy so there wasn't much we could do outside.  Adam started a new project in the garage so most of our time was spent helping him.  We were able to break away to have a little fun.  We went to Trafalga for some glow in the dark miniature golf. Makell loved the fact that her white clothes were always glowing!  We had a few movie nights and late nights with friends. I can't complain too much because sometimes the best breaks or vacations are just taking things easy!

Kaitlyn had a Birthday!

 

Kaitlyn had another birthday!  I can hardly believe that ten years ago we brought this little bundle of joy home from the hospital. She brings so much happiness and laughter into our home.  We surprised Kaitlyn with a birthday poster that she would see as she came up the stairs. Her birthday fell on Sunday this year so we chose to open presents after church.  She was the lucky one that wore the birthday hat during primary today.  She now has a new softball glove to play with this year. We celebrated with her favorite...cheesecake!  We sure love this little girl!  Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!  

182nd LDS General Conference

We had the privilege of going to the Sunday morning session of  the LDS General Conference this year.  It was amazing!  We kept it a surprise from the kids until a few days before.  When Adam showed them the tickets they were pretty excited!  I loved Kaitlyn's response. "My goal is to see the Prophet and ALL the Apostles. I have seen three of them so far. (pause while thinking) Oh my gosh!! I will get to see ALL of them"!  In the past during conference there has always been someone who comments on how neat it would be to actually go.
I will admit that Sunday sessions are my favorite.  I love staying in my jammies all day, and just taking it easy. It was quite a different experience this time!  The alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. so we all could be ready and out the door by seven. We had to be in our seats by 9:00 a.m.  Even though we had a parking pass it was not guaranteed that you would get a spot to park.  Even with getting there two hours early, most spots were taken.  Lucky for us we found one! As we were exiting the car in the parking garage area a girl around 18 or 19 approached Kaitlyn face to face.  Her eyes were as big as silver dollars as almost touching nose to nose said, "Isn't this so exciting"?!!!  Kaitlyn said she could even smell her breath. Lol! Ya, a little weird I would say.  The girl ran off with scriptures and notebook in hand. It seemed as if she couldn't get there fast enough.  Kaitlyn wasn't sure what to think as it totally caught her off guard.  The rest of us could only laugh as we watched Kaitlyn's face in confusion and unbelief that someone she didn't know would do that. Lol! The Sunday morning session began with, Music and the Spoken Word. It's a small performance of hymns and a sweet message from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
I am always amazed at the power and spirit that is felt when entering the Conference center! It's an amazing experience!  Many people commented on Makell as she walked in with her purse, notebook, and temple picture into the conference center.  She was so excited! Kourtney and Kaitlyn were the best little note takers. They each had over five pages of notes! I was so impressed! Makell drew the sweetest pictures of the Temple, Pres. Monson, and L. Tom Perry. L Tom Perry is one of her favorites.  She had the privilege of shaking his hand and talking with him when he came to our Stake Conference a year ago. That experience must of made a huge impression on her!  It was so evident how happy everyone was.  Every time I looked over at the girls they had a big smile!  I was so grateful that we were able to experience this together! A memory we will never forget! 

"Serving" Others...

 

     I had to blog about this!  For FHE we focused our attention on serving others.  We had noticed over the past few weeks that our family could really benefit with a good reminder! :)  We had President Ed J. Pinegar (Pres. of the LDS Manti Temple) as a guest speaker in our ward a few months back, and he shared this idea and his family's experience with us.  After hearing about it I knew we had to try it! :)  After we had our family discussion/lesson on service, it was time for our family activity!  I had purchased dowels and taped plastic spoons to the end of each one. The dowels had to be quite long so it was impossible for the individual to feed themself.  We taped a dowel and spoon to each persons hand and then sat a plate of jello (tried to make something that was easy to clean up) in front of each person. The rules were that you could only use the arm that was attached to the stick and spoon.  

   Oh my gosh!!!!Adam and I laughed so hard  as we watched the girls try to put a piece of jello on their spoon, and then try to get it into their mouth! I had tears running down my cheeks at times! Finally, after a few minutes of them struggling, the light bulb came on for Kaitlyn!  She realized that the only way anyone was going to eat jello was if someone else "served" it to them.  I loved watching the girls laugh hysterically and have so much fun!  From the picture you can see that it is definitely a kitchen table activity!  Jello ended up on the floor, in peoples laps, and even on the walls! They are still talking about it!  I found out from Makell's school teacher that she even shared the fun experience with her class. You will have to try it! :)   

Kourtney aka Our "Utensil"

Kourt just finished performing in the school musical Beauty and the Beast.  From the beginning to the end, it has been a several month process for her.  Kourtney has spent many days practicing before and after school.  There were even a few 7 hour Saturdays thrown in there as well.  When she first told Adam and I that she was going to be a "Fork" and a "Villager", we weren't quite sure what to think?  A fork?  We were so excited and surprised when we finally had the opportunity to see her perform!  I think she is the cutest fork ever! :)  The fork, spoon, knife, and plate costumes turned out really cute!  She also played a villager which made for several back and forth costume changes throughout the performances.  I think they ended up performing eight different times throughout the week.  

Kourtney and Belle... aka Rachelle.  Rachelle lives in our ward and was one of my beehive girls.  She is such a sweet girl and very talented! She was a perfect Belle!  Kourt loved performing with friends.

Members of the cast had to arrive forty-five minutes early so the make-up artists could get everyone all fancied up!  All that make-up made her look sooo grown up!  She hated wearing foundation and eye "goop" as she called it. :)  They were very generous with the make-up!

I usually take the little girls every year to watch the schools yearly performance.  This was by far my favorite!  Not because Kourt was in it, but because they did such a fabulous job, and the costumes were amazing!  I didn't get a good picture of the main cast in their costumes when they had become "human again".  :(  They were impressive!

She had a great time!  We loved watching her!  Great job Kourtney!