Easter Sunday

The kids were excited with their Easter Baskets.

Church helped us feel the real meaning of Easter, and both Daddy and I shared our testimonies as this Sunday was our last time in our ward.

Can't help lovin' that man of mine!

I'm so grateful for this Easter Season and the time to ponder on the real meaning.  The Savior's Resurrection brings me such hope.  I know life continues on after we die and that we will live again.

Happy Egg Hunt Day!

We went to a city egg hunt this morning and collected lots of candy.  I helped Grant and he picked up a few handfuls of candy and then was done.

Family came over this afternoon for a potluck lunch and another egg hunt.  The kids found a $20, $10, 2 $5, and 8 $1 in the eggs with change in the tiniest eggs.  They were pretty excited!  Candy filled the others and the candy was about as good as the money.

Sweet sister-in-laws were fun to have over.

Adorable neice with her little baby boy.  I always love her hair and how fun she is to be with.

Daddy-O is so awesome.  We love having him home and feel so happy to have him here on Easter weekend.  Soon we'll be together again.  We are counting the days.  10 more to go.

We gave out Easter Ears, thanks to my sister, and my neice made the cutest bunny.

My sister, brother, and I went into Idaho Falls to feed the ducks.  The kids had loads of fun.

Noah enjoyed playing around with his soon-to-be cousin, Kynee.

My darling sister and her fiance will be married in May.  So happy for her.

I enjoyed visiting with my brother and taking fun pictures at the Falls.

I was saddened today when one of my sisters left for home early today.  My heart aches for the troubling situation we encountered.  I love her dearly and missed her and her family tonight.  I hope and pray we can all find resolve soon.

Tired and Rescued

Packing has been exhausting.  I also have been lacking sleep.  I'm so grateful my sister has come up to help me.  She has been wonderful to do the dishes, sweep my floor, and help pack.  But she has helped me the most in motivating me to keep working.  I couldn't have accomplished all I could without her.

Grant wanted to join in the fun of helping and vacuumed the kitchen with his roller toy.  He looks cute with his little balloon in hand.

I'm going to miss our living room when we move.  This is the room where we greeted guests.  My visiting teachers taught me many times here.  I love hearing my children play the piano and occasionally read to me in this room.  The brown couch is our "time-out" couch.  Such a nice room!

My wonderful big kitchen and friends

Moving to a smaller kitchen will be an adventure.  Everything about moving will be an adventure.  I'm trying to look at everything in a positive light.  But I do love my kitchen now.  The cabinets are big and spacious.  My stove, which I have sweat over cleaning, works great.  Love the dishwasher and the microwave.

The kitchen is where I have spent loving time and care cooking for my family and preparing their meals and food.

Out of everything in my kitchen, my fridge is what I'm gonna miss the most.  I have loved that my kids were able to get their own drinks from the fridge, and that the fridge had filtered water and an ice maker.

We will survive, but I enjoyed this fridge.

Miriam is one of Joyanne's close friends who came to Joyanne's birthday party yesterday.  These two silly girls have a lot of fun together.

Well, on to more packing.  Food storage room is all cleaned out.  Wohoo!!!

Starting to Say Goodbye

I have had a lot of people ask me if I'm sad to move.  I am very sad to move and leave the friends we have met behind.  This area is truly a piece of heaven.  We wouldn't leave it if we didn't have too.  I am grateful Jade has a good job now and am anxious to move only so I can be with him.

I've been so busy lately with packing that I haven't taken much time to think about all I'm leaving behind.  In talking with Laurie, our librarian, I realize people are truly more important than things, and I will be happy wherever I live as long as my family is with me.  But I would like to remember the important people and places where we have made memories.  So my next few posts will be dedicated to the home I live in and the people who surround us with love.

Today was one of the last times we got to go to library reading time. 

Laurie has done such a great job and we will miss her and the close, country feel of the library.

She always read good books and had interactive songs and poems for the kids. 

 Here they were dancing to a chicken song with plastic eggs filled with dry rice that they can shake.  With the song they shook the eggs fast, slow, and all around.  The kids loved it!

I have absolutely LOVED having such a big backyard.  The trampoline is also a plus and I'm grateful we get to take that with us when we move.  The dogs have loved running around our big yard.  We get to take our dogs and rabbit with us, and I have found a home for our 3 cats.

.

Packing Away!

My life, today, consisted of packing, and then packing some more, and then packing some more.  Heavenly Father has sure blessed me with an extra amount of energy to take care of my kids and pack our house.  I can do this with His help!



Jaden loves his teddy bears.  The first Teddy on the left is Teddy.  Then we have the teddy bear backpack whose Teddy's Dad, then Teddy's mommy.



Kids are off to school.  Such happy, good kids!



HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY, JOYANNE!!!

 Happy Birthday to our sweet Joyanne!

I can't believe she is 11 years old.  She is our only girl and the oldest, so she gets spoiled a lot.  But she deserves everything she gets because she is such a good girl and a great helper.

We like to hide the presents and the kids have to find them.  Joyanne's presents were in some pretty tricky spots; like the sleeves of a coat, inside a light fixture, between a pile of blankets, under couch cushions, and between couches.

Joyanne was born 5 days late.  On the day she was due I went to my bowling class in college and my professor said, "What are you doing here.  You should be having that baby."  I bowled well that day in class.

Joyanne was named after her grandmother, Joyanne Fife Bills.  I never knew her because she died from being hit by a car when Daddy was 17.  But I do know she liked music, helping others, and art.  Our daughter, Joyanne, likes a lot of the same things.  Daddy and I feel priviledged to have such a wonderful daughter. 

Gratitude for Good Family

 My sister-in-law was such a gracious host to have us at her house this weekend.  We had a wonderful time and ate such yummy food.  She has a way to make you feel valued and loved.  My kids love to get snuggles and hugs from her.

She also has an amazing amount of knowledge and good books to read.  We all have fun at her home.

I caught my oldest brother by surprise with this picture.  I sure look up to him, and he is a great example for our family.  I admire how he helps and serves his wife and family in such a calm way.  Thanks again for letting us stay at your home.

Daddy was so great to be with this weekend.  The kids couldn't get enough of him.  I sure couldn't get enough of him either.  He is a fun, loving guy to be around.  He was great to help out my dad as well. 

Daddy was showing Daniel some video clips of all the missionaries from their High School.  There are about 250 of them.  It's great to know so many young people are out serving the Lord.

Christen is such fun for James.  He loves to play Rummikub with her and actually do anything with her.  James sat on her lap during church and just loves her sooooooo much!

Ice Skating

What fun we had iceskating today at the Olympic Oval in Kearns with cousins!  Thanks, Carol, for inviting us.  It was a wonderful experience. 



Jaden Skating with his bar to help him stay upright.




James did great with his bar at iceskating.  Fun day!



The iceskating rink had these bars for little kids to hold on to and push around.  Jaden and James cruised around the rink with their push bars and learned to iceskate pretty well.



They even had little iceskates for Grant, but he had a hard time staying up on them.  Daddy ending up skating around with Grant and he loved that.



Daddy-O and Grant-towa!



Noah had a blast with his cousin, Nathan.  They sure have a wild time together and do crazy, silly stuff.

Noah and his cousin, Nathan played together all weekend.

My wonderful Mother

My mom was so kind and invited us for dinner at her house.  I walked in the door and she said, "Wow! It's Julie Andrews."  She thinks my haircut looks like Julie Andrews.  She said she thinks it's the best haircut I've ever had.  She sure made my day.  I love my mom!

An Exciting Day

We've had fun visiting family in Utah today.  Someone else's home and toys are always fun.  A big THANK YOU to my sister-in-law, Susan, who watched my kids all day while we went house hunting in Vernal.



Joyanne and Nathan are playing store.



HJ and James are having fun with their cousin's toys.



Noah and Daddy got some cozy talking time in.




Jaden has his magical wand, ready to cast a spell.



And we did find a home in Maeser, which is just west of Vernal.  We signed papers to become renters.  It's been a long time since we have rented, but our landlords are very nice and easy going.  Now we get to rent out the house we currently live in.

A Good Kind of Busy

Thursdays are Joyanne's busiest days.  She gets up extra early to go to violin lessons at the school before school time.  Then it's off to PEP, which is an advanced class for the gifted and talented.  After school, Joyanne has one of the main rolls in the play and she stays for play practice.  Today is Joyanne's last day of violin.

This weekend will be busy, but a good kind of busy.  We hope to find a rental house in Utah.  We also get to visit family.  But the best part of the weekend will be getting to see Daddy!!!  It's been 3 weeks since we've seen him.  He passed his physical training test and his defensive tactics test and his written test today.   Glad finals are done for him!  Now he can enjoy the last bit of training left before his graduation, April 9th.  Way to go, Daddy-O!!! 

Books

On my fridge I have a magnet that quotes, "A room without books is like a body without a soul."  I LOVE BOOKS!!!  I love to read and enjoy it immensely. 

My sister taught each of her kids to read when they were young.  She said to me, "If you know how to read, you can teach yourself anything."

So, I have taught each of my kids to read by the time they were 3 years old.  Some learned a little earlier.  James is 4 years old and reading a Clifford book with me now.  The first book my kids have started out reading is the "Dick and Jane and Friends" book.

So it's not an unusual sight for my kids to see me lounging on the couch with a book in hand.  My latest read has been Agenda 21 by Glenn Beck.  Now as I wait for the computer to upload images I am reading, The Woman I was Born to Be: My Story by Susan Boyle.  These have been books from our book club we are reading.

                                      

So once I finished Agenda 21, I had a few days to wait to get the next book, and I was amazed with how much I was able to accomplish.  I cleaned my house and got projects done that were in need of getting done.  I realized that even books can be an addiction and I get very into and addicted to books.

I always used the excuse that I was doing something productive and not wasting time.  We all can see how t.v. or even the internet can suck time away and waste our time, but reading books, as much as I have recently, can do the same thing.  Sure I'm learning a lot of good things, but sometimes I lose touch of the real world and forget kids or my house, which both need attention.

So, to put it shortly, we need a good, firm balance in our lives; balance with our time, our money, our food, and everything!  A lesson I seem to keep learning over and over and over again.  So I think besides looking for the happy moments in life, my mantra is balance . . . . and consistency (but we'll talk more about my views on consistency in another blog post :).