Easter Practice

We did an our-family Easter egg hunt the day before Easter. I hid close to 100 eggs and the kids found almost all of them in just a couple minutes. Of course we found the last few sporadically over the last few weeks...I hid them well

Look at our pretty tree and my lovely daffodils!  I LOVE Spring!

Big News

The day we moved into this house (you know, the one we bought in December) Roy got an email from UNC Chapel Hill inviting him to do a phone interview for a job he had applied for earlier in the fall, right about the same time we found said house. Fast forward to the last week of March and through an in-person and separate phone presentation/interview and you see a huge career and family decision has been made...Lydia is mailing Roy's acceptance letter. I'm so proud of him for all his hard work to get to this point. Not only has he worked hard at BIO but he is 7/8 of the way through completing a certificate from Stanford, which he has worked on over many nights and weekends over the past 15 months. Let's keep in mind that he did this while serving in a very busy church calling, coaching several soccer seasons, doing the dishes each night and cooking Saturday dinners, and with 4 kids and me. So to say I am proud is an understatement. Roy will be awesome at this job and we are excited and nervous and terrified and relieved the interview process is complete and ready and anxious for the move to North Carolina.  There are lots of feelings, but have the overwhelming feeling of this being the right thing for our family at this time (even when it makes no sense because we just moved and just bought this house).  Even with the craziness of the last few months and the next few coming up, we absolutely know this is the right path for all of us.

Silly Faces

Sometimes when we have sad times its best to go outside, eat Popsicles, and be silly 😀

Abby Lately

My biggest baby is growing up.  Good thing is is more exciting and wonderful than it is scary and sad. Abby has had a great year full of excitement so far. She won first in the division for a story she wrote and got a medal and a certificate. It was fun to go honor her achievement. 

Abby loves going to Activity Day Girls and being exposed to more people and fun things to learn. She is very proud of the tshirt bag she made a few weeks ago:

She and I had a great mother-daughter date to the LDS General Women's Broadcast in March. We had milkshakes and sat with cousins. This girl can turn anything into a fun time:

Funeral Vacation

My Mor Mor and the kids' Bedstemor (my mom's mom) passed away on Easter morning. In a way, I think that she chose that day to help all of us keep perspective and to find more beauty in that day. We were blessed to travel to California for the funeral and be with nearly all of her descendents. Mor Mor is an incredibly special lady to all of us so it was fitting that so many traveled to be with family and honor her. I'm grateful my kids were able to experience a funeral that truly celebrated a wonderful life of faith. 

Sam and I had to send proof to my family that we really were on the plane. 

My kids wore their Easter dresses for the funeral. Here's the fountain at the cemetery. I have a lot of memories of standing at that fountain when we would visit my Far Far. 

There are 6 6-year-old boys that are great-grandchildren. Seeing them play golf, race from jacuzzi to pool, and throw themselves off the diving board was hilarious. 

We stayed for a few days after the funeral  to have fun with family. 

Sam got to be a part of a magic show. I recorded it. He loved it. 

Storm trooper underpants. Oh, his brain...

My little brother Steven is so cool and let the kids ride on him while he goofed off rolling around in a random wheelchair he found at church.

We got to hang out with cousins at the park:

The kids loved the trundle bed!

Sam waiting in Dallas for our layover:

Because the kids missed school they had to do homework while we were gone. Here's Sam's story. I think he did a great job capturing the highlights:

I went in a swimming pool and a jacuzzi 

I went to vacation because my great grandma is dead. (He drew us waving our white handkerchiefs at the graveside..a family tradition)

I went to a park and I went to California and I saw lots of bugs. 

Wow! I am going back to America. The end!

Sam is 6!

We had a cousin birthday celebration for Sam's 6th birthday. He wanted a Minecraft party so we played Pin the Tail on the Pag, a round of Minecraft Bingo, created Minecraft pictures out of colored squares, and had an obstacle course. Sam and the cousins were happy so I would say mission accomplished for a fun party 😁

Animal Kingdom

We started out Monday on an African Safari at Animal Kingdom. It was awesome!  We got to see giraffes and alligators so we had some very happy kids. Grandma was the official photographer and enjoyed Sam as her boss (haha...dictator).

Then we had some lunch and went to the Finding Nemo musical. So much fun! We are still singing the songs 😀

Our next stop was the Kali River Rapids ride. Abby, Andrew, and I hung out on the observation bridge and watched the monkeys while we waited. Then Abby and I went on the ride where she proceeded to squeeze all blood out of my hand, cry, and declare she knew she would be the one person to get soaked in the boat. And then the ride started and she went from excited to nervous and back again. And she and I were the only ones who walked off the boat dripping wet. 

They have a cool Dino area and we had so much fun. Abby and Sam even did the big Dino ride twice!  Before doing the Dino ride with me, Sam told me the ride was a little scary the first time and that tears came to his eyes. Lydia hung out doing the smaller sink ride and Andrew slept for a while and then joined in on the smaller ride. 

It was a fabulous day and we were all hungry and tired and happy 😀