Easter Egg Hunting and Dyeing

Saturday morning Kefford made us all pancakes for breakfast. He did a good job and it was nice to have someone else take over cooking duty for a change.

Later that afternoon we went out to the Barnyard so we could do a Peterson Easter Egg hunt. Kenedy had a girls camp meeting and had to stay behind but the rest of us went and Ryker and Avynlea helped put out the eggs for the kids to find. I love that my kids have fun being big kids and don't feel like they are missing anything by not participating. They had fun hiding the eggs and then helping their little cousins hunt for them. It is so fun to have big kids, I really love it!

Here is the before shot of all the Cousins excited to hunt for some easter eggs. 

Ally, Brielle, Hazel, Rylee, Qiana, Asher, Tayvia, Brooke, Jenna, Sadie, Madison, Xander, James and               Kelly

Mikayla and Avynlea had fun holding the babies. Another good thing about this big family is there never seems to be a lack of babies to hold. We all benefit from that!

Ryker and Bailey Spent time playing in one of the barns. They had fun swinging on the rope and Ryker's swing on the rope ended with a perfectly seated landing on the hay. These boys are so fun to watch, I love their relationship and love that they are such good friends.

After we got home I let Avynlea and Rylee decorate the eggs I had boiled earlier. Ryker did not want to color Easter Eggs and Kenedy was not around so I ended up with a lot of white eggs because Avy and Rylee got bored after not too long.  I think they did about 6 or 7 each. 

Avynlea made the comment that our traditions seem to fade each year. I thought about that and told her that I don't think they fade they just change a little and we have to adapt as the kids get older. We are not getting rid of traditions just making them work the best we can in our busier lives. 

Prom Invite

A couple of weeks ago Kenedy's friend Kody called and asked me if I would be willing to help him ask her to Meridian High's Prom. I was fine with that and he came over that night to drop some things off and then used our mail key to put a paper in our mailbox. He gave me a map to give to Kenedy and then some chocolate coins.

The map led her to our mailbox where she found another map which led her back to our house. Kenedy took Avynlea with her to follow the first map and while she was gone Rylee and I put the Prom invite on our doorstep and then put out the chocolate coins to lead her up to where the invite was waiting for her. I thought Kody's map would take her back to our house the same way it took her from our house so I started the coins on the sidewalk leading from that direction. I was wrong and he had her go the other way back but it was OK she saw the coins and was able to find the note in no time. She was excited about it and then we hurried to go and collect all of the coins so they wouldn't melt in the sun.

Kenedy answered him by leaving a bag of Pirate's Booty popcorn on his car with a milkshake and this poster. The milkshake accidentally tipped over and spilled but Kody was nice about it and didn't take back his invite ;)

A couple of weeks later Kefford and I were getting ready for bed when the doorbell rang. He looked out the window and then called Kenedy down telling her the door was for her. When she answered the door she found another Prom invite on the doorstep. 

It was from her friend Robby whom she met while serving in her stake calling. They have hung out together a few times and he thought it would be fun to go to his Prom at Rocky Mountain with her. Since he goes to a different High School that was fine with Kenedy and she was really excited to be asked by him. 

Kenedy figured out a creative way to answer him but was having a difficult time finding the pop rocks she needed to go along with it. Kefford took her out and after going to a bunch of different stores looking for the candy they ended up at the candy store in The Village. They cost about $2 each which just about gave Kefford a heart attack when he had to pay for them. Definitely overpriced which is why they only bought two of them. 

After making the poster she had McCoy come over and drive her over to Robby's so that she could leave it on his doorstep, ring the bell and run back to his truck to drive away quick. I thought both of her responses were super creative and fun.

Spring Break in Utah 3

I had some family names that I brought with me hoping my Mom and siblings would be able to go to the Temple with me to get some of their work done. Unfortunately Emily was the only one able to go. We were planning on going Friday night after she was done with school but we were so tired and when we found out the Provo Temple was open Monday morning we jumped on the opportunity to go then. 

It was a really nice Temple trip and I loved being able to be there with my sister doing family names that I had found. 

When we were done I had Emily take my picture and then we took one of the two of us outside the Lord's Temple in Provo.

Avynlea loves the Salt Lake City Temple and asked if it would be possible for them to go and do baptisms there. I said I would take them Tuesday morning and then we would just head home from there. We drove separately since I was not going to be going back to Emily's when we were done and about halfway there Emily signaled and started to Exit the freeway. I thought it was strange that we were getting off so soon but went with it because I figured maybe she knew a back way that was better. But as I was following her all of a sudden I saw her tire explode and the rubber flew off. We got off the freeway and parked in a parking lot and got out of our cars. Emily said she felt something weird going on with her car and heard a strange noise so she decided to get off the freeway. Crazy! She decided to send her kids with me and she would stay and wait for her husband to come and help her out. I felt bad leaving her but needed to get going so the kids could make it to their appointment. 

 We went in and as the kids were getting their recommends checked I asked the brother at the desk if their was a waiting room Rylee could wait in. He was very kind and said she would probably get bored but that she could wait in one of the chars right by his desk. Rylee brought her Kindle with her so she was OK with that arrangement. We were done faster then we thought we would be and so Rylee did not have to wait too long and was able to keep herself from getting bored. 

It was really neat going through a small portion of the Salt Lake Temple. The Sister leading us to where we needed to be showed us some doors the were from the original building of the temple and posted out a couple of other original features. I liked watching the kids get baptized and they even had me help by giving the kids their towels as they got out. I loved the experience and I am glad I was able to bring the kids to do this because I know they loved it also. 

After we were done we went around to the front of the temple so we could get some pictures while we waited to meet up with Emily. 

Such a great ending to a great trip to Utah. I am so glad I was able to meet up with my family and be with them for a couple of days. It is never often enough but I am grateful for any time we have to get together!

Spring Break in Utah 2

The weekend that we were in Utah was Conference weekend! During the first session I actually started my Little Mermaid cross stitch that I have had for a good many years that I have always been too intimidated by to start, I decided now was the time and I did it! Rylee and Avynlea also worked on their little cross stitches and then helped Emily cut laminated cards out for her class. 

After the first session was over Mom, Emily and I went to The Wood Connection to pick out some wood crafts to work on during the second session. Emily got some really cute Bunnies and I found a mermaid and seahorse decor to paint and put in my house. While we were there I won a small wood project and then was given another small wood project for shopping I think. Avynlea really wanted to help so I let her paint my mermaid and seahorse while I worked on painting the boards they go on. When Rylee saw what was going on she wanted to paint as well so I gave her one of the small free projects I got and let her paint that. 

I had a lot of fun crafting with Emily and my girls and loved being able to listen to conference while we did it. 

Later that evening while the boys went to the Priesthood session us older girls decided we needed to have a girls night and go get cupcakes. I decided that at 17 Kenedy was now old enough to participate in our girls night and it was fun having her come along. Andrews girlfriend Maddie was also able to come along with Mom, Emily and I. We went to a cupcake shop that was featured on Cupcake Wars with the owner having competed on and won.  I have been to quite a few cupcake shops in my day and I really like this one the best. I thought the cupcakes were a good price and they tasted so good, I got a peanut butter chocolate one and also a homemade Oreo that was huge! It is probably a good thing this cupcake place is not local to me, I would be there all the time!

When Kefford learned that us girls were going to be in Utah for conference weekend he was able to find 6 tickets for us to go to the Sunday session. We had Emily and Isabelle come along for our girls trip to Conference. We wanted Mom to come also and would have tried to get a standby ticket but she was still recovering from her kidney surgery and was not feeling good enough to go. 

We drove to Salt Lake City and then took the Trax to get to the Conference Center. It was easier to do it this way rather then trying to fight the crowds and find parking over by the Temple. It was not the best of days to be outside waiting for our ride or standing in line waiting to get in because t was so cold and rainy. Emily and I were the only smart ones to wear jackets, even with my jacket I was pretty cold so I did feel bad for the kids who did not bring warmer outer clothing. 

Everyone was getting really wet while we were waiting in line to get into the Conference Center. All of the flat ironing I did to Kenedy and Rylee's hair was wasted standing out in the rain. A really nice guy standing behind us felt bad for my freezing and wet girls and he took off his Jacket and gave it to Avy and Rylee to share. They kept a god hold onto it until we got inside and then gave it back to him with a big thank you.

Avynlea thought it would be cool to get a picture with all of us holding our tickets.

We saw pictures on the wall of the first presidency and the 12 apostles so some of us took pictures with our favorites.

Kenedy and I love Elder Holland, his words always just speak to my soul and his talk at this conference did not disappoint. 

Avynlea loves Elder Uctdorf 

and Isabelle loves Elder Bednar. 

Rylee was laying on my lap for a little bit of the meeting and i put a braid in it while she was down there. She wanted to see it so I took a picture for her to look at.

I was really bummed that President Monson was not feeling well enough to be at this session but I loved being there with his counselors and apostles. It was a really great meeting and I am glad that Kefford got us tickets so we could experience being there. 

Kefford got a little bored between sessions and sent me a picture that he photoshopped. It is Loki from the Thor movies with Kefford face, he is a funny guy!

On Monday Andrew called to let us know that we could come and tour where he works if we wanted to. He works at a fertility center and we all were excited to go and check it out. I couldn't take many pictures because of confidentiality and privacy stuff for their clients but we were able to get a group one of all of us with our fun hairnets we had to wear.

Spring Break in Utah 1

After we got back from McCall we had one night at home to unpack and then repack so Kenedy, Avynlea, Rylee and I could leave for Utah. My Mom told me that Andrew was flying her to Utah for a week so that she could visit and meet his girlfriend. When I found out about that I checked my calendar, saw I didn't have anything pressing and decided to go to Utah so I could see some of my family. We left on Thursday and will drive home on Tuesday. The girls will be missing two days of school and I am trying not to feel anxiety over that, I just keep telling myself that they are awesome students and it will be ok. If I don't think about it I am fine. 

We got to Orem in time to go to Emily's school to spend a few hours in her classroom before the bell rang to go home. Emily sent a message that morning telling us how excited her kids were that "The Cheerleader" was coming to their classroom. She had shown them pictures and video that she had taken when she was here last October of Kenedy cheering and the kids had remembered and were so thrilled that "The Cheerleader" was coming to their classroom.

When we got to her room her class was at recess but when they came in they were pretty excited and I could here some of them saying that "The Cheerleaders" were here. Funny kids lumped us all together and made us all cheerleaders! Emily had a class she had to go to after school and so we took Ben and went to her house in American Fork. Emily really wanted to be with me when I saw her new house so I was told i could not take any tours without her, oh boy. I was a good sister and stayed on the main level and did not venture upstairs without her. Isabelle was at home when we got their and Andrew came to hang out with his girlfriend Maddie after he got off work. Emily came home about 7:30 when I was finally allowed to go see her upstairs with her. 

The youth in Emily's ward were going to the Temple and Avynlea and Kenedy brought their recommends so they could go also. When they got back Kenedy said that they were told if they brought family names they could only do those and no extra even if it were only one. So when one of the leaders asked the girls if one of them could do a name he brought none of the girls were volunteering. Kenedy finally said she would do it and was pleased when they did let her do more names then that. Kenedy told me when she went into the font and was doing the girls name the leader asked her to do that she felt the girl was there and that she was really happy about being baptized. I love that Kenedy had that experience and that she was in tune enough to be able to receive it. They went to the Mt Timpanogas Temple and I told them to get a picture of them outside the Temple. Avynlea was amazed with how huge the Temple was and really enjoyed being able to go. 

The next morning I got up a 6 to go to the gym with Emily and Isabelle. It was an arms day for them and I did the workout with them and my arms were hurting for the rest of the day. It was nice to go and workout with my sister and my niece. When we got back home we had to hurry and get ready to leave for her classroom. Isabelle got dropped off at the middle school by her Dad, Kenedy wasn't feeling well and stayed home to rest for a little longer and the rest of us went to school with Emily. While the class was doing busy work Emily had Avy and Rylee pull a few aside to read with them. It was cute watching them be the "big kids" and Avy and Rylee loved being helpers. We also spent some time cutting out flashcards Emily had laminated. The girls kept asking Emily for busy work to do and though it was a little bit of a struggle she was able to find some things she needed done and they loved it. 

 At about 10:00 Andrew came by to pick me up so that I could go to the airport with him to get my Mom. Mom just had surgery on her Kidneys and was not allowed to lift heavy things so I went inside to meet her and get her suitcase for her while Andrew waited in the "park and wait". Once we picked up Mom we stopped at In & Out to get some food and then picked up Kenedy to take her to the school with us. The kids were working on a STEM project and Emily really needed us to help the kids and help with the chaos. Mom wasn't feeling good and Andrew took her back to the house, I was really tired and wanted to leave with them but I saw the look on Emily's face and knew she really needed my help so I stayed. The kids were to choose an animal and pick a part of its body to draw life-size, they then needed to tear smaller pieces of paper and fill in the animal by gluing them on.  One of the boys drew a really impressive crocodile and was not going to have enough time to get all the tearing and gluing done so I went over to help him. After a while other kids got finished with their much smaller projects and came over to help as well. When I started helping I asked him how he wanted me to do it and what his vision was. He was very clear that he wanted the top part to be green and the bottom part of the mouth to be brown. I said ok and got to work. He was such a cute kid and was so appreciative of all the help he was getting. He kept telling me what a good job I was doing and also told me that I was a very good listener, he kept saying that to me and one of the girls turned to me and said she agreed that I was a good listener and that my teacher must tell me all the time what a good listener I was. These little first graders were so cute! Kenedy came over to help and by this time it was about done so I stepped back and let them finish, I also wanted to take a couple of pictures.

Helping in the classroom with this project was fun and exhausting, I was so tired from not sleeping well the night before and getting up early that as soon as the kids left for the day I put my head down and fell asleep for about 10 minutes. I was so glad when her day was done so we could go home and relax.