easter morning

all decked out in our easter duds

 these two were so funny.

he would climb in the drivers seat and this little lady would hop in the back and he would wheel her around.

let me say this to one and all

VISITORS ALWAYS WELCOME!

eggs!

these girls were beyond excited to color eggs. they kept asking and asking and asking, finally, they did it themselves.  so we called the smaller kids over and they had a great time.

 one morning, we had the older boys fill in some trenches and they also picked up 100 bales of straw to cover our yard with.

me and my bestie rachel.

this gal keeps me laughing. 

i met her a few months after  we first moved into new york.

we have camped together, shopped together, swapped stories, chatted on the phone, but mostly laughed. she keeps me young ;)

we have gone through similar trials and share similar heartbreak and hope.

she definitely made my buffalo days brighter.

thanks for the visit!

easter morning baskets.

easter weekend

our new york adopted family ;) came up and visited us in good ole pa.

first, they were shocked by the rolling hills and also by how countrified we have become.

we visited penns cave. pretty cool to see.

the kids loved looking at the massive rainbow trout in the water. my baby was so intent at looking at them, she stuck her head through the fence slats and got her head stuck. a few screams and tears later,  I got it out and all was fine.

the boat ride is pretty enjoyable although the natives seem to get restless the last 15 minutes of the tour but when you're on a boat, options are limited. i was ready to start rowing myself to get back to land.

we also visited the penn state creamery and of course chick fil a and trader joes. none disappointed.

we also visited reptile land. the best part was that all the kids were entertained. at least the older ones didn't complain ;)

 the kids got to pet this alligator and also a boa constrictor

 loved the butterfly gardens

 the boys favorite were these animaltronics sculptures of dinosaurs.

 the  two crazies were screaming/growling like dinos.

dc & dirt

i love this beautiful temple of ours.

we met some great friends down in dc a few weekends ago. 

we caught up, chatted, ate cafe rio, swam, visited the cannery, hit up costco and visited the temple.  

we met them in pa, the moved to va, and are now moving to florida. 

it was beautiful weather and a beautiful day to visit the dc temple grounds.

on a completely unrelated note.

dirt. 

we have a lot of it. 

it's in our house, on our shoes and dusting our clothes.

i'm sick and tired of it. i want lush green grass.

 the truly ironic part, as if we didn't have enough dirt- we had to buy dirt. 3 truck loads of dirt. 

needless to say,  now we have very expensive  dirt.

if i had a choice, i would stick with the free kind. ;0) 

spring fun

we have had some nice sunny days so we have been living it up.

 i made these little chick cupcakes.

my kids saw them and said OLAF! thank you frozen.

 this is how i found C the other morning.

now that its getting warmer, i can't keep gloves off of this girl. she puts her socks on her hands all the time. she sleeps with them on at night.
 she wouldn't keep gloves on her at all this past winter- how very ironic.

 this guy wanted a picture of himself after i took one of his younger sis. nice pose.

conference

we were ready for conference this year.

we talked about the prophets, played memory with them, learned interesting facts about them.

 G was drawing a pic of President Monson

 conference morning lineup;

early morning breakfast

cinnamon rolls

raspberry rolls

orange julius.

mmmm

i think my favorite talk was the sister who spoke about pornography and the many dangers associated with it. She also spoke about that family home evening, scriptures and prayers should be the top priority in our homes.

thank you sun!!!

thank you sun for coming to play.

we made it to the park

 got to put on new sparkle sandals 

 kicked the balls outside

 pumped up our bike tires

 went for a hike. most of the kids ran

 found creepy crawlers on the road

 we explored the beautiful outside

dear sun, please don't stay away this long ever again.

thank you! very happy children