Mother's Day

I sure love these kids!

Spring Break - Glenwood and Cove Fort

Glenwood is where my mom is from. It is a small town just east of Richfield. We were able to visit my grandpa who is now in a care center in Richfield. He is almost 96 years old. It was very difficult for me to see him. He didn't know who I was and was very confused as to why I was in his room. Even though he didn't know me, I am grateful that I was able to see him again.

This is the house my mom grew up in. We were able to go inside and let the kids look around. They have been here before, but they don't remember any of it.
On the way home we went to Cove Fort. From lds.org: "A safe haven built in 1867, Cove Fort was constructed at the halfway point between Fillmore and Beaver, Utah. In the 1860s the 60-mile trip between these two towns required two days of travel. Cove Fort was the perfect place to stop for the night to find safety, shelter, fresh water, and plenty of feed for livestock."

We were met at our car by a missionary who took us on a tour. It is very interesting to see all the rooms and different things. Our family really enjoyed this tour. It makes you appreciate the nice comforts that we have today.

Spring Break - Elsinore

Elsinore is where my dad is from. It is a small town just south of Richfield. It brings back a lot of childhood memories to go back there.

This is the house that my dad grew up in. It used to be a light tan/yellow or maybe it was white. Whoever owns it must be restoring it - or maybe they think that gray is a good look.

This is the old school house that we used to go down to and play at the park.

Most of the old playground equipment has been replaced, but there are still a few of the originals (or at least were there when I was a kid). The teeter tooter (or see-saw, whatever you prefer) was a huge hit. My kids have never been on one. Such deprived children.


Also a classic is the rocking horse that looks like it has been painted a hundred times.

If you ask my kids the park was the best part of the whole trip. If we would have known that we could have saved ourselves the three hour drive and spent the day at a park near home. They may have been bored, but it was fun for me to be able to show my kids the areas I grew up loving.

Spring Break - Fremont Indian Museum

For Spring Break (April 1st) this year we went down to the Richfield area. We had intended to go to Capital Reef, but it was freezing cold and snowing. So we found some other things to do around the area.

Fremont Indian Museum

My sister recommended this cool Indian Museum about 20 minutes south of Richfield. It was really quiet fun.

There were lots of hikes that you could go on to see the different Indian writings. We chose the short one just outside the museum because it was so cold. Someday we will have to go back and explore all the other hikes.



Inside the museum there were lots of hands on things for the kids to do.

They could grid their own corn.



Try on different replica Indian clothing.

Play inside a replica Indian home.

Weave their own cloth.

Visit the replica Cave of a Thousand hands. (There is a hike to this, but the replica was good enough for us.)

Giraffe, Giraffe, Bobblehead

Last year Lindsey wanted a giraffe party. Mean mom talked her out of it because she didn't know what to do at a giraffe party. We did a Hello Kitty party instead. Her hopes and dreams of a giraffe party continued throughout the year. So, of course, this year we had a giraffe party.

Aaron made her this giraffe cake. We had great dreams of a giraffe head coming out of the cake, molded out of rice krispie treats then covered in frosting. But time got the better of us and she got the simplified version. The great thing about Lindsey is she doesn't care. She is happy with anything.

I made her a giraffe hair bow to wear on her special day.

The kids each made a giraffe mask.

They made giraffe bracelets

They also went on a Giraffe Hunt around the house.

During down time between projects Cassidy let everyone in a game of Duck, Duck, Goose. I told them they should do Giraffe, Giraffe, and then choose something. Someone said Giraffe, Giraffe, Bobble head. Everyone thought this was hilarious and so the game turned into Giraffe, Giraffe, Bobble head.

She got a new bike. This bike has a tiny bike attached to the handle bar for her Barbie to ride on - how cute is that!

And of course, flowers from Dad.

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

5th Annual Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

The Count Down ....

5 .... 4 .... 3 .... 2 .... 1 ..... GO!

30 seconds later . . . .

10 minutes later . . .

We came, we found, we ate, we left.

Ba-Bye

Easter Attire

Here they are in their Easter Attire. Shopping for modest Easter dresses is getting more and more difficult each year. I prefer they have sleeves. (For one thing, early Spring is not the time of year to be sporting a sleeveless dress. It is still freezing out there!) I purchased Cassidy & Lindsey's dress back in January - because if you find a dress with sleeves, you buy it.

My most difficult was actually Grant. I really wanted to find a solid colored short sleeve dress shirt. I looked high and low and didn't find one. In the final hour I finally found this solid white polo shirt and called it good. Next time I will start worrying about him a little sooner. I got very little participation out of him during picture time. This is the best shot I got. He was probably upset about not getting the dress shirt. ;)

Happy Easter Everyone!

Cute Shoes!

Today I put a pair of sandals on Grant that he hasn't worn before. He looked down and said "Cute." Then again on his way out the door. "Cute shoes." I looked over at Aaron and his face was priceless. He said: "My son just said his shoes were cute. He spends way to much time with girls!" Poor Grant, first the tea party, now the cute shoes. We need to find you some boys to play with.

Picture Practice

Aaron gave me a new camera for Valentines day. In order to learn something new it requires practice, so I took my kids outside and practiced taking pictures. I still have a lot to learn about f-stops and aperture and all that jazz. I need to find a good photo editing software to use. I am looking at Photoshop Elements or Apple has a new program called Aperture. Any of my photo editing friends have any suggestions?

Here are a few of my favorites. I haven't had a chance to go in and edit any of these. For these next pictures I had it set on continuous pictures so it captured the entire sequence of Lindsey throwing a shovel of snow. Kind of a fun feature.

This picture I am trying to capture the block of ice that Cassidy is throwing at me. It is hard to see it because it is white, but still cool to capture that mid-air.

I just love this picture of Grant. One of my very favorites.

I am excited to have a new hobby. Now I just need it to warm up so I can go outside and get more practice!