Scrabble

Kevin and I played Scrabble the other night and we used every tile! Kevin made me take a picture.

Uncle Roger and Aunt Carolyn

Visitors! My Uncle Roger and Aunt Carolyn have stopped by our home so many times and we have not been home. Finally this time we were there and they came! We had fun visiting and learning of their plans to move to our area.

Buster

This is Buster. He was brought down from the farm to help eat our overgrown pasture. He is a really great horse and the kids love to ride him. Samantha and Derrick can catch him and wait for Kevin to saddle him. And they both can climb on by themselves. We really think it is special to have a horse in our backyard!

Silly Sleeping Dog

3 Musicans

All three kids did Let's Play Music this year. Samantha and Derrick finished and KayDee started. Next year Samantha and Derrick will take private piano lessons from me (we'll see how that goes). KayDee will continue the program and will start playing the piano as part of the second year. I am so grateful for this opportunity for my children to learn music and make it a part of them. It is something they can use throughout their life. It is something that is important to me and I'm glad I can pass that on to them.

Samantha's Recital

 Samantha has completed 3 years of Let's Play Music and played a piece she composed for the recital too.

 Miss Laura congratulating and presenting her with her trophy for completing the Let's Play Music program.

 

She played her piece memorized and did a fantastic job. Well done Samantha!

Derrick's Recital

 Derrick did such a good job with his recital. He has been in Let's Play Music for 3 years and played a piece that he composed for the recital. He had to introduce himself and his song.

 His bow after was very sophisticated.

 Miss Laura congratulating and presenting his trophy for completing the Let's Play Music program.

He told us he could be famous now since he is a composer!

KayDee's 1st Recital

 KayDee had her recital after taking a full year of music class of Let's Play Music. She got to learn how to play the bells, sing and recognize 3 basic cords among other foundational music skills.

 This is her during the puppet show. She has loved these since the older kids were in the class when she was two.

 Receiving her award from Miss Laura, her teacher.

Good job KayDee!

Drawing

Kevin took a quick picture of me drawing. I am illustrating a book for my sister Diane. I've never done it before and it is hard to find time to do it. There are 41 pictures for the first book and I've only made it through the first couple chapters! It is fun to share in something like this with my sister. The stories are really good too. I'll keep drawing!

Hiking to the Bowl

 Yes, I hike with old people from my ward. They are the people that are retired, and I can do stuff with them during the day and with KayDee too! I love it and they are such great people!

 We hiked to the bowl and KayDee said that these puddles looked like tracks which reminded one person that they were actually dinosaur tracks. So the whole way down we saw several, these are the most defined. Pretty cool and great observation little 4 year old!

 KayDee was fun to take pictures of. I didn't even bring my camera but those grandparents couldn't help themselves.

Someone got her started on carens that mark the trails (the rock stacks, not sure how to spell). After that we had to stop every 5 feet to allow another one to be made... We did make it through the hike-eventually!
KayDee and I have gone on some of these Monday hikes and it has really been fun to do something with other people. I tend not to go since I don't think it is safe for me to hike by myself with a young child. I am grateful for the opportunity and the friends that go with us!

Lizard

Derrick caught a lizard at our house. We believe it lives under our shed because we see it around all the time. I make Derrick let them go after he catches them and I've seen Daisy chasing it from time to time. This lizard is actually pretty big. The other ones are quite a bit smaller. Good catch Derrick!

Owen's Loop

 The kids had Monday off from school and so I took them all on the next hike. We went on Owens Loop in St. George and we hiked to "The Lamb of God" with "God's Hands". The history on it is: When the pioneers settled St. George the children went hiking around and found Indian burial sites and took bones and skulls home. The bones were just laid in crevasses in the rock like the one the kids are in above. And then they were covered by more rocks to keep animals out.

 I did expect it to be bigger but it really is interesting.

 They took the bones out and buried them somewhere else and dedicated the site and the pioneers put a petro glyph of a lamb and hands to show respect.

It was a good hike and it was interesting to hear the story behind what happened and why the pioneers made a petro glyph.

Old Toys

Here's our boys playing with some pretty old toys. These are Kevin's old toys that are in mint condition. He brought home a bunch from his parents house a while ago and the kids helped wash them off and then Kevin separated them. Some the kids can just play with but others they have to ask. Derrick asks to play with this set quite often. It is an airplane that holds mini tanks, cars, airplanes, etc. It really is cool. Kevin has a hard time sharing sometimes but he enjoyed showing Derrick (and the girls) these and teaching them how to take good care of them.

Real Eggs

There aren't many egg hunts that actually involve real boiled eggs. It's a tradition that I really love. Dying eggs and coloring them with crayons and making different pictures is fun! We count the eggs before we start the hunt to make sure there aren't any left out to spoil. We also hide one present for each kid.

 And they're off!

 KayDee found her's first! Princess puzzles!

 Derrick was next and he got toy story puzzles.

 Samantha had a rough time finding her especially since it was so small. We had to give hints. We have always wanted to put an egg on the irrigation pipe, see behind her, but they're too small. So, we put her egg full of earrings on it.

 The end result: 6 eggs plus a present equal smiles!

 Two extra eggs for us. Now we can make deviled eggs!

Helicopter

Derrick manages to find more ways to make a helicopter. He's made one out of pretzels, noodles, drawn them, and now with magnets. I think that's pretty neat.

Family Temple Trip

Kevin's youngest sibling Mandy decided to go through the temple. This picture really is great since all the siblings are there and just two spouses are missing (Jason and Whitney). It was fun to sit by so many family members during the session. This was a great day and congrats to Mandy!

Easter

 Kevin's mom and sister Suzy with her son Jaxon came to our town Easter Egg Hunt. It is perfect for little kids since there is a better proportion of eggs to children. The baskets are full when they are done!

 Here's the photographers.

 Derrick

 Samantha

KayDee

Escalante Kite Festival

 We spent Saturday morning in town to go on a bike ride and get some kites. I have been wanting to take the kids on some bike trails in town since KayDee really needs experience. Our road doesn't have sidewalks and is super intimidating for her. Kevin had to work so we all got in the car and he dropped us off along the way so we could ride our bikes about 3 miles to his work. KayDee was not thrilled but she did amazing. When we figured out all we had to do was make her the leader she actually pedaled her bike! She got scared going down a steep hill but then we talked about how to brake slowly. It was a fun time. I knew it would be a difficult bike ride and was prepared for several things. The one thing I didn't plan for was a bathroom break! Fortunately there was a club house that people were going in and so we used those facilities. It was a total success!

Every year Escalante Power gives kids a chance to read every day for almost 3 months to earn a kite or a book. KayDee's preschool class was allowed to do it this year so all three received a kite or book.

 When we went to the golf course to retrieve the earned items, there was a new fire truck there for the kids to look inside. Of course my kids enjoyed this immensely.

 "Stand in line." "Don't push." "There's room for everyone to take a turn." These were the things coming out of my mouth.

 I got to hold 2 kites and one book while the kids found something extra to do. There were bounce houses, a climbing wall, a train ride, and other fun things to do or eat. I gave them a small amount of money (everything was so expensive!) so they could choose just one thing. 

 KayDee chose to do the princess bounce castle. Are we surprised? Not really. She loved it!

 Derrick really wanted a snow cone and was so pleased since his choice lasted by far the longest!

Samantha chose the alien laser tag. Pretty adventurous!
We had a great time and then we picked up their dad.