Easter Weekend

I really enjoyed our Easter Weekend which we spent with my family in Salt Lake. The best part was that LaVell actually came with us this time! On Thursday night we dyed eggs and played Ticket to Ride with my brothers and sis-in-law. Congrats to T for winning! Friday was spent running errands and doing a little shopping before a game with Grams and Papa. Alison was super excited cuz she got to spend the day with her friends AnnMarie and EmmaLyn. Friday night I got to go see one of my favorite musicals of all time - She Loves Me - in Orem with a bunch of my cousins, aunts, uncles, and Ali. We had a blast! If you haven't seen this lesser known musical comedy you really should - it is a gem! It is playing at HCT Orem through April 9th.
Saturday the kids enjoyed hunting for eggs and the treasure hunt to find their baskets.

Then we went to So Cupcake for an outrageously priced cupcake with our cousins. $26 a dozen for regular sized cupcakes of $14 a dozen for mini cupcakes. Yikes!!! They were good, but at these rates I'm wondering why I didn't open this shop???



Saturday night was the highlight of the weekend when we went to see The Redeemer. It is a piece that my Grandpa composed that the TabChoir did as their Easter Concert. It was very uplifting, and was a wonderful time to sit quietly with no distractions and ponder on the life and teachings of the Savior.


It is mostly text from the Book of Mormon with a little from D&C and the Bible. My Grandpa composed it in 1977 and says it was a remarkable experience. He said as long as he prayed before he started working each day, the music would come with little problem. But whenever he forgot to start with prayer, nothing would come.
I think he is amazing and so talented and I love him very much!


It was also fun to have a lot of extended family there for the occasion - including some of my CA cousins - Alison, Missy, Jamie and Aunty Snitz



Sunday was nice - although we had to rush to church so I never did get pics of everyone in their new Easter clothes. (The boys had spilled on theirs before I got to the camera afterwards.) Oh well. We enjoyed the evening at Grammie and Boba's.
Unfortunately we had to come home early Monday morning so LaVell could work again, but the kids and I enjoyed a fun day with lunch at Pizza Hut and softball at the park - where we actually got sunburned in 60 degree weather. Scary!!!

A state of Torpor

So I learned yesterday just what my problem is with winter! Ann Cannon who writes for the Des News enlightened me with her article yesterday. Let me tell you about it. Turns out that some BYU biology students recently went on a field trip to collect data on bears. To do this, Mr. Ranger crawls into the Bear's cave and injects him with a tranquilizer. Then they all pull the bear out by his ankles to collect data. Then they write up their research. Long story short - Bears DO NOT hibernate! Who knew? They just go into a state of torpor - extreme sluggishness. stagnation, stupor, lethargy, languor, or lassitude.
Wait a minute, that sounds exactly like what I do every winter! Like Ann(who also suffers from torpor) and the bears, it's all I can do to lumber through my days, yawning and consuming mass amounts of carbs, while waiting until 4:30 in the afternoon so I can put on my pajamas and find a cave where I can sleep. Until spring!
Ann has a great idea though - LET'S NOT FIGHT TORPOR ANYMORE! Let's accept the fact that for a few months every year we feel all sluggish and in a stupor. That the ONLY things we want to do from January until the middle of March are eat, read silly LDS romance novels, watch TV, and eat some more. But seriously, where's the harm in that?
The good news is that Torpor won't last forever because spring always comes again - and hopefully that will be soon. ...Even in Vernal!

Stranger Danger

This morning Janice called to talk to Alison and get some details about something Taylor was telling her about. It was an incident that happened as the girls were on their way to school a couple of months ago. Basically when Taylor and Ali were walking to the bus stop one morning, a van with two men in it pulled up alongside them and asked where they were going and if they wanted a ride. Luckily Alison remembered what she had been taught and they said no and continued to the bus stop. After school that day she told me what happened. I thought of reporting it at the time, but didn't. I don't know why and I have no excuse. It definitely freaked me out! I was very bothered by the fact that Ali couldn't give me many details about it - like what kind of van it was and what the guys looked like. And that something like this was happening in quiet little Vernal. I feel like they were blessed to know what to do and to have been together.
I think there is a fine line between living in fear and teaching your children healthy fear of strangers. Although I am concerned that the situation happened, I don't think it would be healthy to not let my kids continue to ride the bus or to feel like I have to take them every day. They have been taught well and I have to have faith that they will be watched over and protected from the bad people and things that are out there.
Today I am feeling like a total heel for not calling Janice and making sure she knew about it. I didn't realize until this morning when she called and asked about it that I never had talked to her about it. I hope she will forgive me! I'm glad that Heavenly Father was watching out for them and kept them safe and protected. I hope you will all take a minute to remind your kids about stranger danger - not to freak them out, but to teach them a healthy fear.

Down on the "Farm"

We went out tonight for our usual Sunday drive and ran into Klee and Amanda. They invited the kids over to check out their animals - the newest of which is a baby calf born just three days ago. He was a twin and got stepped on by his mom and now has a bum leg. Klee and Amanda are hoping to nurse him back to good health. Ali decided his name should be "Oreo".



The kids also got to feed the baby goats and ride on the big sheep for as long as they could stay on - which wasn't long! It was a fun night (but very muddy) and we're glad that spring is just around the corner!

Dr. Suess Week at School

Ali and Scott have had a fun week at school as they celebrated Dr. Suess' birthday! The week culminated in a "dress as your favorite Dr. Suess Character" event today. Scott went as The Cat in the Hat and Ali as Cindy Lou Who. Poor Ali thought that it was such an original idea and ended up seeing at least 20 other Cindy Lou Who's. She was a bit sad. Oh well. They had fun. They have also enjoyed reading as many Dr. Suess books as possible this week - I think the final count was somewhere around thirty each.

Being Sick...ugh!

So I was talking on-line with Janni today and when I got done I went into the kitchen and I could hear Jake crying - well screaming really! I went in to get him and he was buried in his blankie. So I uncovered him and.......

YIKES!!! Biggest booger ever on his face - how sad! Poor kid.

Of course I have to include an "after shot" so that you won't be afraid to visit my blog again. There - much cuter, don't you think? I always look better in the "after" shot too!

I'm not gonna post pics of my other kiddies, so I have incentive to post again soon!

I finally did it! ....Again.....Maybe

My friends finally made me join in their "fun". At least that's what they call all this blogging business. So..... I guess my first post will be about chopping off my hair. Yep, my friend Janni did it for me and it is cute but it will definitely take me some getting used to! I'm not exactly adept at styling, so she may find me on her doorstep each morning for the next two weeks begging her to make it look cute again! (I'm sure she'll be so happy that she did it when this happens.)

Hopefully this time I will post again sooner than a year and a half later....we'll see.....