Easter

Easter started off our spring break this year. It was the coldest, snowiest Easter I can remember. But we still had a lovely time- although we kept remarking how it didn't really feel like Easter! The kids sang the most beautiful songs in our sacrament meeting that day- The Miracle and Gethsemane. I love listening to them sing, it was the highlight of the day for me!

We did Easter dinner at my parents house and it was delicious and so fun. The kids loved having their chocolate eggs with their names on them right on the table- most of them ate them before dinner was even done. I love seeing Davis eat his whole dinner with his egg in hand, alternating bites of dinner and chocolate!

I had a different dress planned for Lila to wear, she had other plans. In fact, I had nice, cute new clothes for all my kids to wear on Easter and only 2 of the 4 did. 

We dyed eggs a few days before and also hosted a brunch for Ben's parents. It turned out lovely.

 

Over Spring Break we got Nate and Halie in town unexpectedly for a few days! Halie's dad suddenly passed away and they came out for the funeral. These little kids totally understood the assignment as cute little guys and these two were never without a niece or nephew in their arms, lap, or nearby. I sent this cute picture of them with the first graders and Halie wrote back "I think niece/nephew love might be the cure for anything". So true. These guys sure love their aunt and uncle. 

We went to the church history museum one day with my mom, who is a new tour guide there. We stopped to see the cherry blossoms at the capitol. They were stunning! We had a picnic on the grass, and Davis cracked us up when he suddenly hopped up and ran laps around the picnic before plopping right back down in Nana's lap. 

And for more spring break fun, we took a little road trip to BOISE! I had been wanting to do something and this was such an easy option. We had lots of people we love in Boise and it was so fun to see them! Lila did about as well as expected on the trip (so....bad) but she did fall asleep for a few minutes one time and we all appreciated the repreive.

I snuck out one night for dinner with Jana! It was so fun- I just loved getting to spend time with her!

The kids loved the hotel! Free continental breakfast, a pool, TV, what more could you want?! 

We spent most of the time with Keely and her family, which was so so fun for me! Cody even joined us for lunch one day which was a special treat!

Keely and I took the younger kids to the children's museum and it was darling. These two were newscasters for quite awhile. Lila also did some emotional processing for her upcoming dentist appointment.

The kids loved working out in the hotel gym each morning. It was kind of hilarious, but no one else was using it so I felt okay letting the kids kind of do their thing. 

We went and got ice cream potatoes at the cutest little drive in with Keely's family! They were funny and actually delicious!

We took all the kids rock climbing at the YMCA one afternoon. I was so proud of all my kids for trying it!

Davis and Brooks totally hit it off- they are the same age and became fast friends!

We walked along the Boise River on the greenbelt.

I took the kids to see my old houses in Boise! The top one is where my parents lived when I was born. I don't remember this one at all- we moved before I turned 1. The bottom one I definitely remember- we lived here when I was 2-4 years old and all my early childhood memories are right here. This street is so beautiful now with huge mature trees- they were all just brand new when we lived here.

The "heated" hotel pool was pretty cold by our standards, but we still managed to have a good time!

And then we drove home! It was a wonderful spring break!

March Madness

The best way to describe March is MADNESS. Gosh we were so busy but it was really a terrific month!

We started off with a bang celebrating our sweetest Davis boy! I love celebrating him and Papa together- these two have such a sweet bond!

Davis, being the last birthday in the 8 week birthday season at our house, always really looks forward to this day and it did not disappoint! He ordered cinnamon rolls for breakfast, kept saying rules didn't apply to him because "it's just my birthday" and woke up at 5:20 am out of excitement. Needless to say, I was saying a quick prayer for his teacher that day! 

He's so into basketball right now, so I made him a basketball cake and he loved it. His brothers just adore him and love doting on this sweet birthday boy!

Right after Davis's birthday, Ben left for a 16 day business trip to Vietnam. We missed him a lot! But we stayed really busy while he was gone, which helped a lot. 

I laughed at this picture of Lila because there are at least 6 different shades of pink going on here!

Sunday afternoon craft time, Davis created Bei Bei! 

We got Chase allergy tested. This poor kid is always stuffy and this winter we set about trying to find better answers to his constant congestion and sore throats. We found out that his sinuses are full on infection (even after 2 weeks of antibiotics), his adenoids are huge and he has lots of allergies. Shortly after that we started him on weekly allergy shots and we'll probably be getting his tonsils out this summer. He's been a real trooper trying to figure all this out.

We babysat the DeForest kids one afternoon. Cute Hudson did most of the work, Ruby was napping and he entertained all the little boys plus Davis for over an hour in a complex imaginary world. I was outside with Lila when Davis yelled out to me that Ruby was awake and not happy. By the time I got in there, Hudson had her out of the pack n play and completely happy in his arms! He really is the best little nurturer.

Jungle Book took over a LOT of the month! Between me directing and making all the costumes, Ben built part of the stage, Hudson was a vulture and Davis was a leopard, it was really a whole family affair! We had our big all day dress rehearsal the Saturday before and it was exhausting but so magical to see it all come to life.

We made this lime cake for St. Patricks day and it turned out so delicious! As you can see from the boys clothes- we don't have a lot of green stuff to wear! Chase and Hudson acted as leprechauns to keep it a little magical and made green muffins and dyed the milk green for Davis and Lila to find that morning. 

We had a lot of sidewalk time- the boys realized they could still love chalk if they used painters tape to create cool designs.

Just a couple of princesses going out on the town.

We had six Jungle Book performances and oh my gosh, they were magical! Everything came together in the best way and I got emotional every single time watching these kids be so brave out there. It really takes a village of volunteers to put this thing together and it was truly a privilege to be part of.

My favorite part of the whole show comes right at the end during the song "That's what Friends are For". The whole jungle works together to scare Shere Khan and keep Mowgli safe in the jungle. We called it "the song of death" while we were learning it because it's so fast and the choreography was a little more involved. The kids totally rocked it though and the song ends with all the kids, with their hands in the air, yelling "THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR!!!!" Cue the tears for me every single time! Seeing Hudson up there with some sweet friends, thinking of cute Josie the leopard who watched out for Davis through the whole run, and getting to put it together with some of my closest friends- friendship was the theme of the whole experience.

Ben got home from Vietnam right after opening night (so he came to the next four shows). The kids were so happy to see him and so happy with the little gifts he brought!

I got to help on Hudson's field trip to BizTown. This place is so cool! He got to be the CFO of computech and had a great day. He put a lot of thought into his outfit because "my dad works in tech so I know they aren't super formal, but I still want to look professional."

I can't believe I don't have any pictures of it, but Chase helped with the school play at Fairfield. He ran the sound and music and even though it ended up being kind of a long and boring experience for him, I'm so glad he stuck with it to the end. We went to see the show "High School Musical" and Davis and Lila danced through the whole thing. He was a cute little sound guy, but I think he's decided not to do it in the future :)

And then we made our traditional Easter nests to celebrate Easter!