Violins

The girls had their first formal violin recital this past weekend. They did great!! Aaron has done a great job in teaching them. We will miss him next year. The girls didn't even seem nervous. I remember the moments before piano recitals, heart racing, fingers freezing, mind going over and over different parts...we had attended sacrament meeting just before the recital...they were their typical selves, messing around...in the car ride over-laughing and telling jokes...

They had several trios and quartets playing, some sets were sisters (piano, violin & viola)...some friends....this is what I want for my girls. To play together and make beautiful music--whether on the piano or on their violins...

Thanks to those who were able to come and support them!!

UUUUHHHHGGGG!!!

Yes, I knew Mike's truck was there. Yes, I obviously forgot. No, I wasn't going fast...very slow, my foot was off the brake, I was backing out of the center garage. Yes, I was discussing with Mikenna the benefits of pooping everyday. No, I don't want to pay $1200 to have it fixed.

Dashing through the snow....

I'm not sure where they came up with this...but they had fun doing it over and over and over.

computer savy...

No Dogs Allowed...

We dog sat Ted & Stacy's pup, Parker, for a few days. It was a lot of fun while it lasted, but I was glad to have him go home. The girls thoroughly enjoyed having him around. Kaylee was up early to take care of him, and once she and Kiera were home, they happily went out to play with him. Mikenna gradually grew to like him as well, and put on her "brave" face to play with him. Kassi loved leading him around on the leash. Mike had fun bathing Parker several times, quite the drowned rat when he is all wet.

My cousin Mike and his family came down for a quick visit. We apent a very fun and relaxing afternoon at the park with them. Austin, their son, gave us quite a scare when he took off, he was finally found, way on the otherside by the concessions (big lacrosse tournement going on). My Mike had fun playing with him.

Looking for a belly button.

love story + viva la vida

Heard this on Ali's sis' blog...LOVE IT!!

Gladly....

Kaylee is slowly getting used to these contacts...On Easter day, she wore them for almost 8 hours!! It's still a "shocker" when we first get them in, but with eye drops she is fine for the rest of the day! This picture is her showing her dad and Uncle Aaron that she can almost take them out on her own. Plus, Uncle Aaron is a trusted former gas perm wearer (is that a word?) She wants to learn to put them in now, and possibly wear them to school...I'm worried that they'll accidentally pop out...She looks so pretty without her glasses....

Clot Trot Fun Run!

It was a very chilly night, but we had fun attending a fun run sponsored by the Smiths in our ward. Their son started this fun run last year for his Eagle project to raise awareness of a condition called Hemophilia. We choose to run the 1m, didn't think my Kassi's little legs could handle 3miles. She did great tho! Our finishing time was 15 min. Maybe next time we'll try the 5k.

It had rained and sprinkled off and on through the day, cleared up for the run, and then on our drive home dumped buckets. There were some beautiful rainbows...Thanks to Jenny some of these pics...I was able to grab them from her blog.

The Hunt...

We had gobs of eggs to hide, and the kiddos were excited to find their allotted number. The yard looked so colorful with eggs speckled all over. So, despite it being a bit drizzly and overcast, the hunt was on!! Mikenna was so excited to "find" her eggs, the little ones were cute rushing to pick up eggs...the older kids just zipped all over grabbing the more "difficult" to find eggs. The dads gladly stood and "monitored" the collecting, while we moms' snapped photos. We finished just as it started to drip a bit more...

Pruning...again...

Every year, same thing...prune the fruit trees...
Every year, same exclamations..."WOAH!! Is any of the tree going to be left?"
Every year, same questions..."are you pruning too much off?"
Every year, same answer (posed as a question)..."Do we get any fruit?"

Still, it is amazing how much gets chopped off. In fact, the cherry trees were the most pruned because some of their limbs are hanging over the neighbors fence or hanging over other trees. The asian peach trees were fiercely trimmed, and the others...it is a crazy process...looking forward to the harvest in the fall tho!!

Here's a question: each blossom if fertilized becomes fruit...right?

The last 3 pics were an experiment. I tried taking a few pics and then "fixing" them. I don't know that I did very well...I really want a camera that I can do the cool focus thing. Julia knows what I am talking about.

Mikenna wanted me to take a pic of the dandelion. I was out spraying ours the other day. Mikenna asked why, and I explained that we don't like them and we needed to kill them. She was a bit exasperated, "But mom!! They are beautiful!! We should grow MORE of them!! See!!" (She pointed to the neighbors across the street who had a lovely lush lawn with beautiful yellow dandelions ALL over.)

The food...

The food was so YUMMY!! Stacy suggest ribs for this years "main dish"...it was delish!! We all gathered at my parent's home-they have a nice big back yard, perfect for an Easter egg hunt. Everyone was able to come (those residing in Kennewick...Gales', Chans', Haffners', Edlers') and so we had PLENTY of sides to share!! We were all suffienctly stuffed! The cousins all placed themselves together at the dinner table in a very orderly fashion...I'm not sure where Mikenna gets her posing talents...she knew how to just tip her head enough and lean just right when people were snapping away. Except for the big group photo where she is obviously chomping on something.

Easter

Easter this year was low key. Instead of making new dresses, I figured we could go "shopping" in our closet! I've made so many dresses over the years, we've also bought plenty, plus, I just didn't feel like adding something else to my load. Besides, the dresses they have hanging in the closet are nice enough to wear again, I don't know where it's written that Easter means new dresses. Obviously it's nice, but definitely not needful. (Well, Kaylee got a new dress...we don't know anyone to provide hand-me-downs.) So here they are, on Easter afternoon, ready for church. I did take time to put rollers in the night before (a whole hour of rolling-thus the curlers in heads you saw in the egg decorating pics) and Mikenna (who didn't want rollers) got a fun updo!

I'm not sure where Kassi gets these poses from...and where did Kaylee get those socks?