Spring

I just love the sunshine and all the flowers in Washington right now.  As I drive down the road I see new things in bloom everywhere and it's just amazing to me.  Nathan pulled this forget me not from our backyard when we were weeding.  I saved it from the weed pile and have been enjoying it in my kitchen.  

This picture is of a tree blooming in our backyard.  I love the hot pink flowers.

 Recently we made cards for our cousin Shad who has cancer.  I hope he got them in the mail.  Nathan made this t-rex for him but then was so happy with how it turned out that he decided he better keep it and just send Shad a picture of him holding it.

 We recently moved Melissa up to Megan's bike and so we bought Megan a bigger bike.  The new bike came in the mail and Scott put it together.  He is a good dad.

 It's a big bike but with the seat at the lowest position Megan can ride it so that is good news.

Then I sold Nathan's little bike and Melissa's bike on Craigslist.

I can't believe that my phase of having a preschooler is almost over.  I love little kids and will miss having a little buddy to spend the day with.

 Nathan and I attended Melissa's school program where they sang songs about bugs.  It was pretty cute but Melissa was very nervous about standing in the front row.  She does not like extra attention.

 After each song Nathan would give two thumbs down.  He thought he was pretty funny.

Holly and Emily continue to practice weekly for the stake youth musical called Built on the Rock.  The performance is coming soon and now they practice in costumes.  Holly is the girl on the right.  She is in the Ammon scene.

 Emily had her birthday and a birthday party.  Luckily this year the party was pretty low key.  We just had a taco dinner with friends, ate donuts and watched the movie Aquamarine (it's about a mermaid).

 Emily has lots of nice friends that came to her party.

 Today I am thankful that:
*it is supposed to be sunny all week.  The sun really does energize me and make me feel happy.
*this morning I got to go to a RS brunch that my visiting teachers put on.  I loved visiting with the ladies,  the food was delicious (and I didn't have to bring anything), and Nathan was well behaved.
*I got to do all the fun things pictured above.  Life is good.

Melissa's baptism

Melissa with her parents before she got baptized.

The group of relatives that attended the baptism.  It was a great service and we are so proud of Melissa for choosing to be baptized.

After the baptism we all enjoyed some treats.  Brownie bites, mini cinnamon rolls from Costco and grapes and strawberries.

Here are Nathan, Melissa, and Megan enjoying their treats.

 The kids had fun with their cousins.

 Lots of good visiting happened.

 Finally Melissa looking beautiful in her new white dress.

Spring break fun

Last week my kids had spring break.  We didn't go out of town but we had lots of fun at home.

*We watched general conference over the weekend.  These girls made ties and mustaches during the conference session they watched.

 *On Monday the kids went to the dentist and no one had any cavities so that was good news.  Then we decorated Easter cookies and ate them.  Yum!  Emily had a friend over.

 *On Tuesday we went swimming at the Issaquah pool.  Only one other family was there and so we basically had the pool to ourselves.  It was fun to swim again (the last time we swam was in August) and it only cost $10 per family.

 *Also on Tuesday Holly returned from her trip to Disneyland with her High School music department.  She had a super time there.

*On Wednesday we visited Scott at his work and then went out to eat with him for lunch.

 *On Thursday some of our cousins came over to play.   It was such a sunny day that we got to play badminton with them and go to a park with them.

 *My tulips started blooming due to all the sun.  Now it is back to rain in Washington and I am really missing the sunshine.

 *On Friday my husband took the day off of work and we toured The University of Washington.  It was our first time being there. This is us posing by the husky.

 *We even went boating next to the University in Lake Washington.  Our kids favorite part was getting out of the water. We only lasted 30 minutes in the lake.

 *Now they are smiling because the boating is over.

 *We ended the break with a Moulton family dinner.  The food was delicious and the company was great.  This is the teenager table.

 *Megan and Melissa enjoyed climbing Grandma's tulip tree while the tulips were in bloom.

 It really was a great week and now we are looking forward to more long sunny days and the promise of summer in two months.

Visit to University of Washington

Braces, Birthdays and Bikes and Bunnies

 Right before I headed to Kentucky I helped with the Alice in Wonderland cast party.  I was in charge of framing the cast picture.  I cut the pictures to size, mounted them on card stock, attached the logo, and then mounted everything on another piece of card stock.  It wasn't a hard job but since I had to do 90 of them it took several hours.  The kids signed all 90 of the papers at the cast party.  This is the finished product.  I love paper crafting so this was a fun project for me to do.

 Also in March Emily got braces.  Here is the before and after.  She was excited to get them because the sooner she got them the sooner she can get them off.

While I was away in Kentucky.  Holly went on her first date to her school's Tolo dance.  She went with a big group of kids and had a good time.  She was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and her date was the scarecrow.  Scott took her to and from the dance.  He did such a great job taking care of everything while I was away.

 Soon after returning from Kentucky we celebrated Melissa's 8th birthday.

 Her favorite gifts were some webkinz stuffed animals. In this picture Megan is helping her log them onto the computer.

 

Nathan has turned into a big boy and he had outgrown his little bike.  So I took him to Toys R Us and bought him a new big green bike.  He rides very fast now and I have to run to keep up with him.

Melissa found an embroidery hoop and wanted to sew something.  This was her first time using a thread and needle and she made the cutest tree and flowers.  I can see more sewing in her future.

Some of our friends from church went out of town and asked us to watch their bunnies.  Each day we go to their house to feed them and then we get to play with them.

They are very cute and furry.

Holly gets to spend her spring break in California at Disneyland.  About 100 band, choir and orchestra kids from her school flew there together.  Here they are waiting for their flight at the airport.  

And Holly took this picture once they arrived.

I have so much to be grateful for and as I post these fun pictures I realize that.   I really enjoyed listening to General Conference this weekend, it is such a treat.  We are so blessed to be led by a living prophet and his apostles.  One of my favorite talks was by President Uchtdorf.  His talk was about gratitude and he said "We can choose to be grateful, no matter what".   I tend to be a pessimist and I needed to hear his inspired words.