EASTER

The Beautiful Easter Table~~~ Patsy made a wonderful breakfast, waffles, an egg dish, fruit, applesauce, orange juice and Angie set the table so beautifully with awesome place cards that she made..."He is Risen!"

Angie's family had the tradition of hiding the kids Easter baskets somewhere in the house and as soon as the they woke up they would start looking. Angie said that once she hunted all day, right up til bedtime! Allen hid a basket for each of the kids. The older girls baskets were hid in very tricky places! Below Carolina has just found her basket!

Decorating Eggs...When did there become such amazingly creative ways to make an egg look so beautiful? What happened to the basic colors? When did things become so complicated? I am feeling old!

Sara and Family came over to Patsy and Allens for the Easter Egg Hunt. Fun to get the kids together. It was fun for my kids to be with Megan and Seth and for all of us to hold and enjoy baby Kate who is 5 months old, an angel baby!

Uncle Allen made an awesome treasure hunt that took the kids all over the farm, typed to rhyme and cleverly written!

The Hunt Begins.....

Preparing for the Party

The kids thought it would be fun to make a big banner for the penny carnival party we had planned for Lizzy and Mary's birthdays. All worked together and Lizzy added the finishing touch as she painted a giant penny. Invitions were made, designed by Elizabeth with moms help! Envelopes by Katherine. We had so much fun together working on things for the party. The three older girls and I checked out the ever faithful pinterest for ideas for the big day! Pictures of the actual party to follow.

Carolina....Sweet Little Thing

A quote from Carolina..."IS THE DAY BEFORE TOMORROW TODAY?" I have to admit, I had to think about that one! Is she really smart or does she make the obvious complicated?
No matter what, she made me laugh....a lot! This precious little one is a character, full of life, sensitive, a total joy...LOVE HER!

Who Has Had a Birthday?

It is always the same when one of the kids has a birthday, amazement at how fast they change and grow. Since memories of Mary and Elizabeth as babes in my arms are vivid in my mind, I can hardly believe they are 7 and 9! They are so different, night and day, salt and pepper. Mary is competive, passionate, quick-tempered, loves nature especially birds, can find anything that is lost, sensitive, forthright with her feelings. Lizzy is sensitive as well, tender-hearted, creative, driven in ways that may not be evident, happy to let others be in the spotlight, happy to let others win, weeps easily, keenly aware of how others might feel, notices the details of life around her, avid reader, lover of nature especially flowers. I love these two girls so much, they both have a special place in my heart....always have and always will!

Sabbath the Benders came over for lunch. Lizzy monogrammed party hats for everyone, even Wanda....who I must say was a very good sport about it! Baby Carson is walking and gets around pretty well too!

Doesn't Wanda look like she is smiling and digging the hat?








Mom carried on the tradition of 7 gifts from her on the kids 7th birthday. We enjoyed having mom on speaker phone while Mary slowly opened each one in order! Thanks mom for creating cool traditions for the kids to look forward too....(not sure what Mr Thomas is doing in this pic)

Of course with Mary's birthday on March 17 we are all wearing bits of green. I wore my new Green Crazy Earrings which cost a pretty penny at Old Navy!


We woke up on the morning of Lizzy's birthday to big flakes of snow falling. Their was shrieking and such from the kids and Lizzy exclaimed "It is actually snowing on my birthday, a wonderful present!" It didn't stick at our house but the snow was so beautiful on the hills around us. Since we couldn't have the girls Penny Carnival I took the three older girls and Gabby to see Lorax in 3D. We enjoyed the outing, but agreed afterward that we would all rather watch real people do real things!



Sweet Elizabeth Turns 9!!!!!! (wearing her new "9" sweatshirt)

Katherine played in the Honors Recital after her Certificate of Merit evaluation. She and Kara played a beautiful duet called Colorado River Rapids. I am so proud of Lizzy and Katherine who both did so well this year, despite the major changes and stresses in their lives.