Spring Break!!!

 We have had a wonderful spring break!  Monday was just the usual Monday stuff - library and such, plus a trip to the library, and the kids got to do a music camp with Sister Shum.  

Tuesday was another music camp with Sister Shum, and Anna had track practice and Aaron had an orthodontist appointment since he had a bracket pop off.  I did some more yard work and then in the afternoon, we went to OMSI with James' friend Caleb.  We had a great time - the older kids really enjoyed the new teen area!  

Wednesday was more track practice for Anna, and some shopping to get things ready for the trip to the coast.  

Thursday morning Dan worked for a bit, Anna went to track practice and I cooked and packed.  By afternoon, we were ready to go!  We drove down and got there in plenty of time to get checked in and unpacked and head to the beach!  

We used the fire pit to (try to) cook up hotdogs and smores for dinner, but we had some problems getting the fire to light - the fire pit was just too wet!  But we ate and had fun.  

I think the kids were nearly as excited about the hot tub at our rental place as they were about the beach just a short walk away.  They loved it and were great about following the rules! 

Friday morning we spent some time at the beach.  There was enough wind to fly the kites, but barely, so we had lots of crashes too, but the kids had fun!   Then in the afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa got in to stay the night with us.  We went to check out some nearby tide pools.  They were awesome!  We saw so much and the day was just perfect!  We loved exploring and seeing the amazing sea creatures!  Evelyn was much less thrilled than the rest of us - she thought almost all of it was icky and her foot was hurting from a painful handspring on the beach the day before.  

After, we dropped Grandma and Grandpa and the younger kids back off at the beach house for some more hot tub time and Dan and I took Eileen to try to find some more stuffing for her centaur.  She REALLY wanted it done to take pictures on the trip, but we hadn't gotten enough stuffing and her hands hurt from the crocheting, so I finished it off for her and we found a nearby little craft store.  Unfortunately they didn't have any stuffing, but fortunately it was small town full of sweet people and the lady at the store carded some left over wool for Eileen to use as stuffing - she spent nearly half an hour carding it for us and then gave it to us for free, so we bought some yarn and thanked her profusely!  We got Eileen's centaur finished and then we took them out on Saturday morning to take pictures on the beach before we headed home.  

We had a great dinner and evening of chatting and playing games with Grandma and Grandpa on Friday night, then headed to bed.  They left the next morning to head up to John and Melissa's house and we had a last little trip to the beach and packed up to go home.  We asked a sweet older man walking by to take a picture for us, but I think he struggled with my camera, because these were the pictures we got - one cut off David and the other cut off Aaron.  But we were grateful and had a good laugh after!  At least between the two pictures, we got everyone.  :)  

Sunday we got up early to head down Emmalee's ward for Samuel's baby blessing.  It was wonderful to be there and the Relief Society lesson was wonderful.  After, we went to John and Melissa's for lunch with their family.  It was a huge group and we had a great time with them all!  We got home and then in the evening, we had dinner with the Blanchards and had fun playing some games with them, then we headed home and dropped off the boys and Eileen and I headed to Stake Choir.  

It was a wonderful Spring Break - it was so nice to get away for a couple days and just be together without distractions!  

Spring!

This week has had some beautiful spring weather and some great spring showers!  Eileen decided this week that she wanted to cook Ramen - not the cheap packets of Top Ramen, but real ramen.  So she found a recipe and then she and Dan had to go to an Asian market for most of the ingredients.   They found these durians and had to take a picture!  She made the meal up for Friday night - it was a long process - and she had to start some of it on Thursday evening and spent a good chunk of Friday working on it too.  We learned some things in the process, but it was still really good!  

David was coughing early in the week, so I kept him home from preschool for the first part of the week, but on Thursday, he hadn't done anything more than cough, so we had him wear his mask and he went to preschool and had a great time!  

We had some really lovely weather this week and so we got to spend some time at the park running around and playing.  The kids got letters from Grandpa Cox - and David got a coloring sheet in his letter - it was a color by number sheet and he's been loving it!  He colors so carefully and keeps wanting to show it to everyone!.  

Saturday morning, the weather was nice, so Dan and David and I went to the garden store to look around and get some things for the yard.  Since the weather was nice, we spent some of the morning working out in the yard together and got some of it looking MUCH nicer!  f

Then David used his lunch date coupon to go out to Wendy's with Dan and I.  The afternoon was mostly spent in the craft room and having fun together

David had a very low fever for a little while on Saturday, so we kept him home from church on Sunday (even though he was fine Sunday morning) just to be safe.  Dan had to stay home with him this time since I was leading the music and accompanying the musical number.   Church was wonderful!  The talks were great and the music went well!  After we had a quiet afternoon playing games and reading scriptures and making yummy food.  In the evening we had our first Stake Choir rehearsal and I am directing the choir - it was wonderful, we had a pretty good turnout and a wonderful time singing beautiful music.  

Tale as old as Time

This has been a rather crazy week.  Eileen had a couple days off from play practices which was good, because she was getting a bit burnt out by then.  Then it was back to the grind for a very long and tiring weekend for her.  

Weather has been back and forth between rain and sunny - often in the same day.  We've had some fun days playing at the park with friends and some wet walks!  

Anna had her swim banquet this week.  It was fun and the food was good and she had a good time with friends.  

The week was also busy and full of water polo and youth activities and school and Anna has officially started track practice.  

Thursday was an early release day - which just meant that I had to do more driving the kids around everywhere...  They wouldn't let the track team practice right after school, so Anna took the bus home, then we drove her back for track a couple hours later...  But Evelyn could stay after for her play practice and Aaron could stay after to practice his euphonium in the band room.  And of course, Eileen started her last weekend with the play. 

Friday night, Dan and I went to see the play.  Anna watched too, since she had gotten back from a band festival right before the play started and she had no ride home, so we got her a ticket and she watched with a friend up in the balcony and and Dan and I watched from our prime second row seats!  :) Eileen was the cutest little ice bucket and villager ever!  She did great and the play was really well done by everyone!  After, we took Eileen and Anna to a sleepover birthday party for a good friend of theirs.  

Saturday was one of those quicksilver weather days - the morning was beautiful and sunny and warm and we cleaned out cars and did some yard work, then it got cloudy and rainy.  Evie used her coupon for a lunch date to go out to chick fil a with me, then I took her and David to watch the play.  David loved it, he sat still and watched the whole thing and after told me all his favorites.  At first his favorite was Belle because she was so pretty, then he changed his mind to Lefou being his favorite because he kept falling down.  Either way, he loved it!  

Saturday evening, we had a ward Pi day party and had fun with friends and eating pie!  Then we took Anna, Aaron and some of their friends to a youth dance.  Aaron had liked the last one enough to want to go again and he danced with 5 girls this time - all girls he didn't know!  

Church meetings were wonderful, but between the dance and the play and daylight savings, I'm not sure most of my kids were awake for much of it...  both of the older girls took 4 hour naps after church.  :) 

Jam and Colorado

Well, we finally got our fruit last Sunday, so this week after the purees had thawed, we started making jam.  We now have a fresh supply of home made jam to last us awhile!  We did strawberry, raspberry and boysenberry.  We all really wanted some rolls to eat the jam with, but Eileen was exhausted from tech week for her play, so those would have to wait a bit.  But we have a refrigerator full of the foam from on top that we are finding lots of way to enjoy! 

We have had a busy week of school and sports and activities and such, David and I had fun playing magnets this week and he was so proud of this truck he made that he wanted me to take a picture and send it to Grandma Jones. 

Evelyn auditioned for her middle school play which is High School Musical Jr.  She did well enough to get called back!  She is so excited!  

Friday afternoon, I headed to the airport to go to Colorado for Grandpa's 95th birthday.  There was some drama with my ticket - as in when I got to the airport, I didn't have one - when we got the tickets online, United apparently went far enough into the process to get our credit card approved, but then didn't finish it and charge it, so our reservation got cancelled.  Thankfully there was still room on the flight and I was able to make it to Colorado, but had to pay a lot more than we should have because of their mistake.  I stayed with Frank and Tina while I was there and tried to help out with party prep as much as possible.  It was a great party and Grandpa really loved being surrounded by people he loves and who love him.  It was wonderful to get to see family and spend time together.  In the evening, the family all went out for dinner and then we sent Grandpa home to rest from a long day, while the rest of us did our best to get safely home in the snow!  

The next day, I had a brunch with Mom and Sandi and Grandpa and then after that, a late lunch with Sandi and Mom and Tina.  It was a wonderful weekend!  

Things on the home font went well too.  Dan sent me picture of Eileen's rolls and and his Lemon Meringue pie to make sure I came home with all haste.  As much as I wanted to get home quickly, the weather had been snowing steadily all day in Denver area, so of course all the flights were delayed, so while I got in later than I had planned, I was really just glad to get home safely.  

Christmas of 2020, I had planned on and tried to get Dan the new PS5, but it has been impossible to get - and even still now can be almost impossible to get, I say almost, because Dan finally managed to find one online and get it before they were sold out again.  It arrived this week and he's excited (and I'm excited for him!)