Easter and the Beach

Last week my sister was here from Wyoming for her spring break. We had beautiful weather and one thing she wanted to do was to go to the beach. To all my Texas friends, I have to say how wonderful it is to live only 2 hours from the beach. We packed up in the morning, drove down during Kaitlyn's morning nap, played for 4 hours, and drove home during her afternoon nap. To my North Carolina friends who are shocked that we went to the beach, I have to admit that we've lived here for 4 years and it's the first time I've ever taken my kids to the beach even though others go the first week they move in. I guess I've always had an excuse: gas is too expensive, it'll be too crowded there, I'm pregnant and sick, I'm nursing a new baby, I don't know where the good beaches are, whatever. I'm glad I finally had an excuse to go. We had a great time.

Easter Sunday

Trish had braided the girls' hair the night before. It looked awesome.

Lexi and I set up the primary room while Nathan and the older kids did choir practice. I had some time to take her picture and she desperately wanted Kaitlyn in it with her, but Kaitlyn wasn't agreeable.

Kaitlyn on the way home.

Kylie's cinnamon roll hair-do.

Our camera was malfunctioning so none of the pictures turned out that great. It would zoom in on it's own, not focus, do whatever it wanted and I didn't want. But here's the best one of all the kids.

March and April Pictures

Here is what's been happening at our house lately:

Thomas gave the FHE lesson on Prophets the week before General Conference. Kylie helped him prepare it. Lessons are a love of hers and she is really good at them.

Spencer putting down new pine straw.

Cleaning the house to put it on the market.

Any article of clothing goes over Kaitlyn's head and around her neck. Even if it's an old shirt that is now a rag. She had a blast with rags all over the house.

Madalyn proud of the Magic Eraser she used to shreds.

Kylie thought some sort of posture/balancing lessons would help the kids learn to not touch the walls I was touching up with paint.

Eating lunch outside while the carpets were being cleaned.

Thomas and Kaitlyn with fevers at the end of March.

Dinner and Family Home Evening at the duck pond.

Kaitlyn has discovered the brownies.

Kaitlyn making her birthday cake.

I can't believe she's one!! We just adore this precious little girl.

We went on our spring Mommy dates on April 14. I didn't bring my camera (which is on its last life anyway), but here are the outfits the girls picked out.

House Situation and February Pictures

I want to post more often, I really do, I just don't have much to say. I loaded pictures onto the computer just now and still didn't find much. Maybe I'm purposely taking less pictures so that I have less scrapbooking to do and won't feel so far behind. :) The biggest news is that we're going to sell our house. Or attempt to. Maybe. Last month we found this house in the country that we absolutely love. Correction: we love the 21 acres it's on, not the house. The house itself is only 1500 sq. feet, which is smaller than our current house of 1680 sq ft. Moving to a smaller house when our family is always growing has never been a plan of mine. But I think of that gorgeous yard complete with expansive lawns, beautiful shrubs, a variety of trees, a playground, a tire swing, acres of woods, a pond, and even a huge barn and I think there must be a way to make the house work for us. I've drawn out several possibilities for additions and am meeting with the contractor again this week to determine costs and feasibility of making this house work for us. Meanwhile, we're busy repairing, cleaning, and staging our house to put it on the market. Sometimes I think I'm crazy, but I'm sure having fun reorganizing, de-junking, and making our house look nice (new doors, shower curtains, rugs, light fixtures, mailbox, etc.) At least my boring winter has come to an end and spring is providing me with lots of fun projects I never would have done, but I feel justified spending money on because we might sell our house. I'll keep you posted on the house situation. Here are the fun pictures since I last posted:

Valentines Day dinner Pink heart shaped pancakes. Does everyone do that? FHE activity and treats Riding the train as orphans. Kylie loves to fix trays with food on it. Thomas playing, "Which hand is it in?" "This one!" Building the Salt Lake Temple after watching "Mountain of the Lord"

The kids chisel away old bricks. Kylie is spinning wool using a ball of twine. (Notice the semi I'm trying to move away from.)

I don't remember taking this picture. Just a cozy one.

The most exciting thing was having our good friends come visit us from New Hampshire. They stayed the weekend and it was best weekend I've had in a really long time. They have 5 kids and we all get along great. They brought such a sweet spirit to our home. We wish they could visit more often. The kids chowing down on spaghetti and homemade mac n cheese.

The kids minus the two babies--ages 15 months and 10 months.

Scripture reading

I loved having our couches full of loved ones.

Kaitlyn joining in the song on the floor.

Playing in the water filled ditches.

Thomas threw up just as were loading into the vans to go out for pizza. Then he konked out on the floor as we waited for frozen pizza to cook as we changed plans.

The babies play tackle.

FHE with two large families. It was the best! We were so sad to see them go, but felt grateful that we were able to have a blast together and cherish every minute they were here.