Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday, after church, we headed out to Joe and Lynnaes for a family easter party. My mom had a really good idea, so she set out eggs filled with a special surprise. Here's Trent on the prowl again.

Laycee and Logan
Haylee, Regean, and Emma.

Logan

So after the hunt, they opened all the eggs and inside they found dimes! They then took their dimes and paid them to the toll taker (me) and they were able to play their easter basket fish game!

Logan is all ready to go fishing (above).

Laycee waits patiently for a bite (below)

Laycee, Regean, Logan... they all have their goodies!

Trent laughed the whole time. He loved this idea.

Haylee was a bit unsure about her find, but after much pulling and effort, she finally received her goodies.

Oh what fun when they could all open their gifts. The best part... they were not stuffed with candy! Mom had been thoughtful and really tried to fill the bags with treasures that children love.

Afterwards, the kids were able to make a craft. They made birds nests out of marshmellow, chinese noodles, peeps and chocolate eggs.

Trent enjoyed eating more than crafting lol.

It turned out to be one great Easter Sunday. The kids had so much fun being together and there were so many activities to do. I loved the fish bag idea and the craft just topped it all off. It was an amazing day.

In-law Easter Egg Hunt

So this year, the kids started off their Easter fun with a party at Grandma and Grandpas. They had a great setup this year. With over 40 grandchildren, it is hard to accomidate that many people. So, they used Brians yard for kids ages 4-8. They used their front yard for children under age 4. And they used Chappy's yard for children over age 8. Here is Logan off and running.

My niece Addy, so cute!
Laycee still wants to open each egg to see what is in it before finding another one.

Trent found the secret front! He spent several minutes up here all alone until I directed some more kids to give him some competition.

Haylee was patient and her and I went back through Chappy's yard to garantee there were no spare eggs remaining. She found like 10 that way!

It was a realy great hunt and the kids enjoyed themselves. I cannot wait until next year!

Egg Coloring

Yes I know Easter was weeks ago, but I am finally getting around to posting pictures. This year we decided that we would try out hands at coloring eggs. I do not recall a time that we have decorated eggs although Haylee remembers a time in Italy that we did it, so who knows. Anyway, I felt like this year all of the kids were old enough to decorate so we tried.

We are all getting ready.
So we had a system where Dave helped them color the eggs and I helped them decorate the eggs.

This was my egg.

Logan was so proud of all of his eggs.

Trent worked busily to decorate.

The little ones admiring their eggs

It was a really fun experience! I think next year I will set out a tarp in the backyard and let them go to town. I hate messy crafts, so this was a big deal for us. But they all did great and we had a good time. Plus we had eggs for WEEKS.

Paint

Hmm, what to chose? Shortly before Dave left, we looked at every home improvement store scouring the paint to settle on a few ideas we had for the new house. Oh the decisions were hard. Shortly, I will finally show some of the chosen colors!

Salt Lake City Marathon

So we get to the real reason we all came together to visit in Salt Lake. Back on October, Mark (my brother in law) asked if anyone wanted to run in the marathon with him. Plans were made and plans were changed. Dave and I intended on running the full marathon and between life and well more life (funny how it can change so much in just a few short months) we changed our plans. The Salt Lake Marathon was an amazing day of accomplishments for the whole family.

Here are Amy and I before the 5k race. It was an amazing race! I have ran several 5ks, but they were all on post in Italy. This was a neat experience and so motivating to run right past temple square, past a restaurant that smelled amazing and then the turn around back up a HUGE hill. It was a challenge but so fun. This was Amy's first race and man did the race bug bite her!

My dear sweet husband decided the day before the race to run the half marathon. It was a debate because he had no training, but I knew he could. He has ran that distance before and with the experience of his present company (mark and I) he was able to use some techniques to make it through the long distance. He has little time here in the United States and really needed this to officially complete one of his goals. He nearly died at the finish line lol, but he made it the whole race running (again with a huge uphill at the end) and he made a very decent time of just over 2 hrs!
Pictured here is one of the greatest accomplishments of the day. Mark completed his first marathon. Dave met up with him the last .5-.25 mile and ran the end with him. He was injured and debated about running the long distance, but again pulled out the strength to completed the race.

Not only did the fun stop there, but all of the kids ran a 1k. Not sure it was really 1k, but they all participated. They got a shirt and medal. It was a great way to spark the need for exercise and the internal accomplishment of a race. My kids have all participated in 5k races, so for them, this felt like another opportunity of great fun!

I was so thankful we all ran a portion of this race. The atomosphere was amazing and really we all accomplished great things. There was fun and a huge sense of pride in doing new things. I cannot wait for the next race and hopefully won't be too far off. I am not the greatest runner but I love doing it and I am amazed at how the body can endure so much and recover so well. How empowering it can be!

Down Town Salt Lake

Our second day in Utah, we went down to Salt Lake. First stop was the Salt Lake Marathon Race Expo. We picked up bibs and got us all registered for our respective races. Then we headed over to Temple Square. This was very fun for us because our children have never been there. This is the Salt Lake Temple.

I loved this statue. It reminded me of the physical effort it took for the early Latter Day Saint to trek across the US and finally settle in Utah.

Most of the kids L-R... Trent, Ethan, Collin, Contessa, Haylee, Laycee, Logan

The Tabernacle. I was surprised at how small it was! When I was a child on TV, it always looked HUGE! It is rather small which most likely greatly reduced the number of people that could actually attend Conference.

Steps of the temple with all of the children

Another temple view

After the temple grounds, we walked across the street to tour the Conference Center. It was amazing! This replaced the Tabernacle.

Our families on the opposite side of mirrors

Top view of the Conference Center. One neat fact, it has no obstructed views. The technology used made it possible to allow every seat proper viewing.

Outside upper deck view of the temple from the conference center.

The kids.

The tour was a bit long for the children really, but it was a rather enjoyable experience. There was so much to see in downtown that I really wish we could go back one day and view some of the other sites. Next up on our adventure was the Salt Lake Marathon. Stay tuned!

Wheeler Farm, UT

Our first day in Utah, we had a few errands to run and then we went to this really neat farm. The Wheeler Farm was a largely free farm where you could go and just explore the property. They had some of the original buildings still up.

We were able to learn about different types of eggs.

Dave had to use the outhouse (man men are gross!)

Haylee is trying out the saddle with Callie on the end.

The kids gathered around to watch the ducks

I never get pictures of Trent and I LOVE this one.

They all were excited to see the cows.

And we all had the opportunity to milk the cows. This was a first time for many of us and definately a different experience.

Logan got in there and tried hard.

And we took a little tractor ride around the property to see what else was out there.

Sweet huh?

Running to the sheep

It was really fun! It was a nice "kill a couple hours" location. The weather was beautiful. The property was amazing. All in all, we were really happy to have headed over there!

Utah

Shortly after arriving in Arizona, we packed up and headed on another trip. This time we were northbound to Utah. Dave decided with his brother Scott that we wanted to travel through the night so the kids would sleep. It was a long 12 hours. When we got up into the mountains, the snow started falling and for endless miles, all of the adults were on edge about the weather.

It was such a relief when all four very tired adults arrived with 6 very energetic children to this sweet home that we would share with two of Dave's other siblings and their families.
This is a picture of the home staring my neice Callie (thanks Jess for letting me steal the pic!). The home looks small from here but there was more than enough room because of the full basement. The kitchen was nice, but really needed a tad bit more room. They had this silly moped just sitting in the kitchen for decoration or something! Anyway, coming up next is our fun trip to Utah. We all enjoyed it!

I am so blessed to share my life in the service of 4 little children. I know one day they will not be little anymore, but they will always feel like my little children. I have been greatly blessed to have my mom set an amazing example of how I should teach my children and what to teach them. I am again blessed to be a member of a church that emphasizes the importance of motherhood. There are many many days where I feel less than adequate. There are many days that I wonder what we were ever thinking having these children. And then there are more days that I just wish I had 12 of them. Children bring amazing joy to my heart. My mother has helped me so much along the way and I would not be the mother I am today without her.

One day, Haylee and I were in the car. She was discussing with me how much she is like me and she said that she is just like me. I went on to inform her that even though we are very similar, she is not just like me. She was a bit confused and she asked how she was different. I explained a few traits she picked up from Dave and some ways that she is unique all of her own. Then I went on to explain that hopefully she would be better than me and learn from mistakes I have made and be a better mother than me. She then ponders that a moment and says to me, "Mom, I want to be just like you."

Oh the sweet voice of an 8 year old telling her mother she wants to be just like her. I just hope at age 8, I said to my mom, "Mom, I want to be just like you."

We celebrated Mothers Day last week and I received a few great gifts from Dave and the kids. I had almost forgotten that today was the real mothers day because I had already celebrated. But as I awoke today to "Mothers Day" I was feeling tired and worn. Laycee was being her very stubborn self and Logan was awoken by Trent making his rather cranky. Haylee tried to be the little mother she is and it was not well received. It was not feeling like a day of celebration at all. But then I remembered this video I had seen another time. I hope these words can touch you the way they have touched me.

To all those that are mothers to little children, Happy Mothers Day. To all those who are mothers to grown children, Congrats on making it through. Happy Mothers Day. To all of those who long to be mothers, Happy Mother's Day, you are motherly to some child because that is our divine destiny.

Disneyland

You can't drive down the California coast without stopping at Disney! We wanted to make a few memories before Dave headed off, so we stopped. It was an interesting situation because Laycee was tall enough for most of the rides and Logan was not. But I think they all had fun. We drove 18 hours from Washington so we could stop our first night in Anaheim. We spent the next 2 days at Disneyland and California adventure. We wanted to do all of the rides we have never done at Disney and really discovered some cool rides! Then on the 3rd day, we let everyone pick one ride they wanted to do again. After a few hours of rides and a bit of shopping, we headed out for the last 6 hours of the trip to Arizona. It was a great trip and such a nice getaway from the stress we had been feeling. I am so thankful for the memories made!

Leaving in a caravan

So, in early April, we left Washington. It was bittersweet for me to leave behind the military and all of our life. Dave was more then happy and ready. He feels like the Army had nothing more to offer him. They already paid for his bachelors and masters degree (well he has one more class to complete). They gave him some valuable training and experience. So, he could see no more reason to stay with them.

We were heading back home and we haven't been home in years. On top of that, we were moving again knowing Dave won't be with us. And not to complain, but we were leaving behind beautiful grass and amazing trees for... the HOT, DRY desert. But, we are ready for the change. I am so ready to give up some of the military ways that are so engrained in us now. But I will miss military wards. There is nothing quite like going to church with other military families. So, I took one last picture to remind us of our last duty station.

After many months of stress and fighting this decision, I am genuinely excited. I was holding out hope that at the very last second Dave would change his mind about the Army. I also hoped that he would find a stateside job. After many nights of crying about the choices ahead of us, I decided that I needed to just listen to the Lord and do His will. One night for scripture study, we were running late and I just opened the scriptures to D&C 68 I believe and chose a random verse. It said that the Lord has many blessings, but because of fear, the early saints were not able to receive them. That verse spoke right to my heart. I was afraid to make some HARD choices and in turn was potentially sacrificing great blessings!

So, we packed up the van and the Tuscan and two luggage carriers on top. We loaded the kids and my brother in law in the car and headed on our next journey in life. Thankfully we had some fun planned along the way!

I feel at peace with Dave heading to Iraq (not that I don't fully expect many sad days) but I know that the Lord is by my side. I feel so happy to be coming home and I feel even more blessed that we are buying our first home in a great location. It has been amazing to watch as the Lord has unfolded His plan as He promised me He would over and over.

Trent's time to Shine

So Trent's last request before we left Washington was to have his yellow belt test. We were very lucky they were doing a test days before we left and his Sensai thought that he was ready. Trent has been doing karate since November and he really loves it. It is a must after we get settled again. So, here is his yellow belt test. It was a neat experience for all of us to watch him.

Last Day in Washington

Ok so I have been trying to post a video of Trent for a few days now and am going a different route instead. So, since I don't want to get 4 months behind on blogging... I will press forward. The last day we were in Washington, our friends The Newvilles had us over for dinner. It was so nice to have a homecooked meal. Haylee and Tenli had become good friends and there were many tears over the last days there that she would be leaving Tenli behind.

Laycee and Savannah had become great church buddies. They always had their sweet arms around one another or were holding hands.
Here are the boys, Trent, Logan and Austin.

And all the kids have to be silly right?!

It was a sad goodbye. We were thankful for one last time with them!