BUILDING BL(ayl)OCKS: Spring Break Part 2, Easter, and Birthday!

One of the best parts of spring break was being able to go to the temple! Katey was willing to do a kid swap with me so we could both do initiatory. I dropped the boys off at her house, then went up to the temple. It was peaceful, beautiful, and I was so grateful to be there. Having a few moments to myself, dedicated in service was healing. Once I finished, Katey went and I took the kids to a nearby park. This park is big and so fun! In our last ten minutes there, Jay got brave enough to climb up the big tower and go down the big slide! His face lit up with pride as he got to the bottom, and he was ready to go again! He also did amazing on the zipline. When we've gone in the past, he wasn't focused enough to hold onto the rope and not fall off. He loved it, and did pretty good waiting in line. Trying to keep eyes on all five kids, Kade, Abby, Hope, Jay, and Hugh was tricky at such a big park. Hugh stayed in the stroller for a while, and that helped. Kade and Abby mostly stayed together, but Jay, Hope, and Hugh were almost always going in different directions. Once the park became more crowded, I rounded up the kids...which took at least 10 minutes! I was very relieved when Katey called and said she was on her way. Extra eyes and hands were needed! We had a great picnic lunch, played a little more, and headed home.

Can you see him climbing up there? Being so brave, go Jay!

So much happiness!

Hugh, embracing getting dirty and loving being outside. He loves the outdoors as much as Jay!

Friday I had part II of watching the little boy and girl I watched earlier in the week. Luckily, I just had the little girl in the morning and then we went and got Owen from school. We played at the park until their Grandpa came and picked them up. I prayed for the good weather so we wouldn't have to spend any time at home. Jay's highlight of the day was when Uncle (our contractor and Jay's primary teacher) came with his truck with more lumber for the basement. Jay was fascinated. He would run to the truck, watch Uncle unload, then run back and watch him dump it in the window well, run back to the truck saying, "more, more!" Once Uncle was all done unloading, he was nice enough to let Jay play in the truck bed, opening and closing the cover. Uncle then let him ride in the front seat as he parked on the street. I can vouch for Jay that he loved every second of it.

Saturday we were able to watch Elisse's baptism on zoom. Elisse was so aware of Jay when we visited OK over Thanksgiving. She's a sweet girl, and we're proud of her for choosing to follow Jesus! Jay helped me make our treats for Easter dinner, they turned out so well! And, Hugh is now a master of stairs. He does so well going up and down, and I am very grateful!

Bunny rice krispy treats!

Our stair master at work

Sunday was Easter! For my whole life I thought my eighth birthday was on Easter, but this year I actually looked it up, and my birthday has never been on Easter. Either way, I love Easter! Springtime is my favorite, it leads into summer and there are so many good days. Spring brings new life, and so does our celebration of Jesus's Resurrection! He lives again, and I loved celebrating Him this year. The church put out a study guide that really helped me every day think about the Savior a little more. The Savior's resurrection was critical in God's plan, as was the Savior's atoning sacrifice made in Gethsemane and on the cross. I know Jesus died for me, suffered for me, and lives again for me. Because of Him, I can have strength, power, light, joy, and eternal life with my family. We did a little Easter lesson during lunch, and Jay and Hugh did a great job listening. Church was beautiful, and Jay went up with the primary children to sing and he did a great job not touching anyone and standing reverently. Jay was all about the egg hunting this year, he thought the baskets were fun, but really the magic was in the egg hunting. He found some very well hidden eggs in the beginning of his search. We enjoyed an egg hunt again at Andrew and Jessica's and Jay was tickled. We had a wonderful Easter dinner with Andrew, Jessica, Steph, Ken, and their families.

This was pretty much Hugh's first experience with candy, and he couldn't get enough!

Here are some pictures Ken took of the boys during the hunt and dinner:

It took all my efforts to get Jay to smile for photos and look at the camera. I finally started to get some smiles when I asked him about his girlfriend. He quickly informed me it was Amy and "Amy cute." Then, I asked him about Kenna, and he said, "Kenna hot." I laughed and laughed, he continued to say Kenna hot, or Amy hot all day long. Usually it was Kenna, and we've been working on teaching him to only say cute, but it was so funny! We caught it on video in the car on the way down to Highlands Ranch, such an innocent little boy and so funny!

Monday the Armstrongs came to visit. We played pickleball and went to the chiropractor, and then got to play with cousins for a couple hours at our house. It rained Sunday evening, but mid-day on Monday it was mostly sunny and we sat outside, picnicked, and enjoyed visiting. The kids loved playing on the train track, driving bikes, playing on the swings, and drawing everywhere with chalk. I was very happy Steph was willing to drive up and spend a couple hours with us! Someday Henry and Jay are going to be buds, and they'll run around making mischief and it'll be fun to see!

Happy 32 to me! For some reason 32 sounds a lot older than 31, but the good thing is Katey and Kara don't seem that old and we're all 32, 33, and 34 right now. Matthew has been very busy with work, so I struggled a bit when thinking about celebrating my birthday. The past couple years it's been on a weekend or very close to a weekend, so he's been able to make my cake, cook dinner, and do all the things to help make it a very special day. I knew this one would look different, and it was hard for me to feel happy about it and want to celebrate. I eventually decided I still wanted it to be a very happy day, so I looked up all the places I could go and get free treats and food for birthdays. I determined I'd make my own traditional double layer chocolate cake, and Matthew agreed he could do the decor on top. He made a windmill on top, signifying, energy I give to him and our boys, adventure because of my love for adventure, and because Germany might have windmills and this summer will certainly be a memorable one spent there. My cake overflowed in the oven, and made my house smell like burnt cake, but it still tasted fabulous. Matthew came home a little earlier from work, worked from home, and then we went to dinner at Wholly Stromboli. It was so yummy and I got so full! I could only eat a small slice of cake, there wasn't room for any more than that. I got an ice cream maker (woohoo!!), a cross-body bag, canning supplies, and a new spoontula. All of these I am so excited about, and feel very spoiled! What also made my birthday great was being able to talk to several of my most favorite people. It helped me feel like I wasn't quite alone, and I got to share the day with loved ones. My birthday was also Jay's first day back to school. He had a very rough day. I thought he would struggle, but it was even worse than I anticipated. I am grateful for his teacher's patience and willingness to help him improve.

Jay and Hugh with me as I opened presents.

Hugh climbing and learning new skills, a great present for me :)

M diligently decorating, after dinner before he returned to work. He said it was the best part of his day, I love him!

Amazing, right?!

We put the kids to bed before cake so we could enjoy a few minutes of 1:1 time before M had to go back to work.

Today was our first day back playing pickleball outside! It was gorgeous, such a beautiful morning, full of sunshine and happiness. It was good for my soul, mind, and heart to be outside, and I think it was good for Hugh too! We played again at the park after school so Jay could enjoy the good weather too. I brought my birthday cake to share with my friends. I had told them about this cake a while ago, so I was excited to share a bit with them. They LOVED it, said it was the best chocolate cake they've ever had....which of course is true. That evening we got to watch Tia perform in her school talent show! She did amazing! She had her piano piece memorized and did a beautiful job performing. She didn't even seem nervous! The boys got restless and Hugh bonked his nose on the platform in front of us and got a bloody nose, so we didn't last the whole show. We enjoyed dinner at Katey's and drove home to sleep here.