So if April showers bring May flowers . . . what does April snow bring? Okay, okay, so its beautiful and to be fair, we do have some beautiful flowers already in bloom -and the sun was shining today as it snowed (and showered). Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor? I know He was smiling today as he sent this to us.
Kids can sleep in the darndest places. As I was grocery shopping the other day the front of the cart got really quiet, usually meaning some kind of trouble is brewing, right? To my surprise David had somehow gotten comfortable enough leaning on boxes of cereal to fall asleep. How cute - and a big plus for me. Now I could actually shop with some semi-quiet peace (remember I still have Rebekah in front). Actually I was almost finished shopping, but realized if I went to the checkout counter before he had slept long enough he'd be awakened while I was unloading the groceries and of course start into a total meltdown (not fun) so I checked my clock, realized I still had 20 min. before I needed to go to the checkout in order to get home in time for the other kids to get off the bus - yeah! How did this work out so well? Except what do you do in a grocery store for 20 min. when you've gotten everything on your list? Oh, well.
Saturday morning Emma and Rebekah headed outside before getting dressed. The cat was gone by the time I took the picture, but I found them outside petting our cat and playing in this little section of dirt and rocks - and yes, that's dirt on Rebekah's mouth, she of course has to taste it all. Yum! (Grandma Diane, I know you're cringing)
Here's the gang settled in to watch General Conference. Listening to the prophet, Pres. Thomas S. Monson, the quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and many of the other General Authorities of the church was, as usual, inspiring and uplifting. There were many messages that touched my heart, but the one that I hope to keep close at hand and use daily is the message from Pres. Deiter F. Uchtdorf about that statue of Christ that was damaged during the war and as they tried to repair it realized that the hands couldn't be repaired and there was a sign put by the statue that we are Christ's hands. I hope I can be Christs hands, that I can do his work and reach out and help lift his children.
Saturday between sessions of conference we went for a short hike to some falls down the street from our house and had a picnic. The falls were pretty (you can barely see them behind the kids), but we couldn't see as much of them as we'd like because the way down to see them was a little too steep for all of us. We had fun anyway and saw a little snake which gave everyone a thrill.
These three boys had so much fun together whether it was having light saber duels, flying airplanes, or just digging in the sandbox.
A picture of the whole gang of kids before they went to hunt eggs.
Eggs high and low they found them all, and rather quickly too.
Rebekah wasn't interested in finding any eggs. I was trying to point one out to her, but she just pointed with me and then walked away.
My very favorite thing is when the kids are playing on their own and working together having a great time. Here they were playing 'bubble gum, bubble gum' to figure out who would be it first for their game of tag outside.
He and his Uncle Pat decided to tap the Maple trees.
Mmm. . .homemade maple syrup!
Here's us riding up the lift - a rare picture of him and I - alone.
So, I was most nervous about getting on and off the lift and of course the first try I missed getting on with Eric and had to ride up by myself - that's okay at least I got on! He had a good laugh. Ha, ha.
This is Melanie in front of the jump she went off her first night of skiing! Why I don't know, but I am glad she dared give it a try - she's not usually that daring. I'm sure part of it was being with her dare-devil dad -even though he said he didn't even dare do that (but he's old! ;o) ) Anyway I guess she went over a smaller one first and did just fine, but this one didn't go so well and she was bruised and hurting so came home and put some ice on it and then sat in the hot tub -while her sister lucked out and was able to switch off and go the rest of the night with dad. Melissa had a great first night of skiing too. I guess its good to learn when you're young and agile and have no fear. - and recover much faster from your falls!
Here's the girls going up the lift together on the day they went with Eric. Aren't they cute! They're so lucky to have each other!
Here's Eric and Melanie, Melanie's friend Maddie (she happened to be skiing with her dad that day too) and Melissa.
Here's them going down the hill. We met them for lunch and the little boys couldn't understand why they couldn't jump right in and start skiing too!
So fun! One more way we can enjoy the wonderful season of Winter!