GNO

I just had the most splendid Girls Night Out...really, girls weekends trip. I went with two of my closest friends to Utah for a fun two days of shopping. We ate great food, shopped until we dropped and laughed enough for a decade. We stayed at Heathers parents house and it was perfect. We all cozied up on a king size bed and stayed up until 2:30 in the morning just gabbing away like school girls. I love these mamas more than anything. 

I'm so lucky to call them friends. 

What a Weekend

We had such a great weekend! On Friday evening we went to the Idaho Falls Temple open house. It was very special sharing our hometown temple with my sons. They loved being able to see the inside of the temple that we see so often from the outside. We went out for ice cream with Grandma and Grandpa Mennear afterwards and went to bed entirely too late. 

The next morning the kids woke up earlier than I had hoped. They were a bit cranky and I figured we had two options--either stay home and endure the madness or get out and do something fun. We decided on the latter. We took the kids to Bear World and enjoyed a morning outside among the bears and a thousand other people. My favorite memory was riding on the spinning bears. Our whole family loaded in a bear and Scott spun us faster than I would have liked...but we laughed and laughed. Oh, how we laughed. It was awesome! 

The rest of the day was spent outside doing work and playing hard. Sleep was sparse, but the fun and joy was abundant. It was a great weekend!! 

Bloopers

My kids have been saying funny things lately and I keep telling myself to write them down before I forget them. So real quick today, while I have a quiet minute, here are some funny quotes!

Tayden:
While standing by my parents new fire place, "This is so warm! Its evaporating all the swimming water from my ears. Finally! I can hear again!!" Mind you, swimming lessons was three days earlier.

Beckett:
After watching Star Wars he told me he didn't like "Princess Slaya". I explained to him her name was Princess Leia. He said, "No. Its Princess Slaya, because she slays everyone!"

Cache:
We were eating suckers in the car and Beckett kept chewing him. I said, "Beckett, they are called suckers, not biters. They are to suck, not bite". A few minutes later Cache said, "They aren't lickers either, Tayden!" Tayden had been licking his and Cache was not having it.

Stage two: Cement

Finally!! After weeks of rain, draining problems to be solved and scheduling conflicts, we finally have cement! I'm so excited. I guess that means I've arrived to adulthood....being excited about cement. But honestly, it looks so good. The people that did it were awesome and did a great job. 

This square is for our basketball hoop. The kids had fun putting their handprints in the cement and making their mark.

This was a big undertaking and I'm happy to have it done. Now onto the next step...basketball hoop and shed. 

Easter

Easter this year was great. Long, tiring and completely great. We woke up early, did baskets real quick and got ready to leave. We spent the morning at church with my parents, then had brunch with an egg hunt. Then another and another as the boys are hid their eggs over and over for the adults to find.  My mom and dad just finished building their new house, so we really enjoyed hanging out at their place. The kids loved all the space and playing outside. 

After my parents, we headed down to Inkom for dinner with Scott's family. Cheryl made a delicious dinner and then we had our second (official) egg hunt of the day. The boys loved playing their aunts, uncles and cousins. We are so lucky to be so close to family. 

We were gone all day long. Seriously. All day. All the running and jumping and playing. I thought for sure the kiddos would crash on the way home. We even brought pillows for them. But the only one that fell asleep on the way home was Luna. Which ended being a perfect drawing table for Tayden. 

Poor Becketts asthma and allergies have been acting up. All the outside play and running around caught up with him and he needed a breathing treatment before bed. Two minutes into it and he was completely out. It was such a long day. 

The older I get and the bigger my clan grows, the more the resurrection means to me. I'm learning the truth behind Jesus Christ rising and how it applies to me directly. And even though my understand is far from full, my gratitude is overflowing. He has shown us the greatest love by giving us our beautiful families and providing a way to keep them eternally. And there is no better way to show out love for Him than to follow his commands and honor his life and Resurrection. How blessed we are.