Happy Anniversary!

To These Two Love Birds!

Easter 2017

We had a very nice, quiet Easter weekend. On Saturday afternoon Charles and I were able to sneak away and go on a date while the kids played outside with their friends. When we got home it was time to dye Easter eggs. Sadly, my kids don't really need help anymore so I set them up and they did their thing!

We got to bed pretty late so 7:00 came early on Sunday. I was just grateful that it wasn't earlier. The kids were excited to check out their baskets.

Caleb

Jacob

Brooke

Brielle

Then it was time to hunt for all the eggs filled with candy!

Brooke found the first Golden Egg with a $20 bill and a $20 Disney gift card in the vacation jar. Once she had found it, all focus was on finding more of those.

Caleb found the second one taped under the counter.

Brielle found hers third under the bowls in the cupboard. So funny, she looked in that cupboard at least 20 times before seeing it.

By then Jacob was pretty stressed about not finding his. It was buried in a bucket of golf balls and was pretty hard to see so Charles helped him out a little. I somehow missed getting a picture of him. He was pretty relieved that there was one for him.

We spent the morning relaxing and working on Easter dinner. Grandpa Carlile came over after church and we had a nice ham dinner.

With strawberry shortcake for dessert.

After all the festivities were over, and things had calmed down a little bit, it was time for my favorite part of Easter. We were able to sit down with our little family of 6 and watch some movies about the Savior and talk about the resurrection and all of the blessing we have because of Christ's sacrifice for us. I am so grateful for the Easter season and for all of the blessings in my life.

Wednesday Nights!

Wednesday nights are always crazy around here. It's seems we always have so many things going on. Last night the boys both had scouts and me and the girls had a Pinewood Derby for mutual.

Caleb's group had a bonfire and colored some pictures.

Jacob's group had an ice cream party.

The girls and I had a blast at the Pinewood Derby. We were having so much fun I only took one picture. The Young Women totally killed it! They 1st and 3rd, along with some other class and personal awards.

On the left is the Young Women leader's Secret Weapon. It did awesome the first race, but then kind of fell off the map.

This is the Beehive car...and it took 1st Place! What?! The girls painted it at mutual a few weeks ago and then Charles helped Brooke and Brielle put the wheels and weights on. I was totally invested in this little Beehive car, even over both of our leader cars.

We had such an amazing night!!

Spring Break 2017, Part 4 Arches

After we left Canyonlands we went into Moab to gas the car and buy a drink, and then we went to Arches National Park.

Of course we stopped at the Visitor's Center first. We've had great success with the patches and tokens, but not so great with the baseballs and pocketknives, so Jacob switched to coins, and Caleb switched to pins. He is adding them to his lanyard from Disney World and is so excited about it!

3 parks in 2 days is a new record for us.

We were running a little short on time and we wanted to make sure the kids got to see Delicate Arch so we went straight there. The hike was awesome and everyone did a great job.

Taking a break...

Caleb hiked this whole hike right next to Grandma. She let him wear her fit bit and he was so excited that he got her to 16,000+ steps. She said he ran circles around her and talked her ear off the entire time. She is so patient with him. They had a nice hike together, it was pretty cute.

We made it! And it was as spectacular as ever. The wind up there was blowing like crazy which was a little nerve wracking.

We didn't stay at the top long due to the wind, and the kids wanted a picture in this little arch on the way out but the wind was blowing so hard that the sand was stinging their legs. So funny. They begged to go up there for a picture and then yelled at Charles to hurry the whole time.

We drove to a few more arches before heading out of the park. We stopped in Green River for a quick dinner and saw an amazing sunset on the way home.

Sunday morning we were up and on our way to Anne's house. Her baby Tobie was blessed and we were so glad we got to be there for it.

We spent a few minutes at her house afterwards and then headed home. We had an amazing Spring Break and everyone was so sad it was over.