New Camera

My camera has been broken for quite some time and I finally was able to get a replacement! We bought a Nikon Coolpix L110, it's a step up from the regular point and shoot camera that we had before but not quite the price tag as an SLR. I am rather excited to play around with it and see how things go. It has 12 Megapixels and a 15x optical zoom plus a much better lens than I had previously. We'll see how things turn out...

Katelyn's 9th Birthday

My baby girl isn't a baby anymore!!! We celebrated Katelyn's 9th Birthday which was just crazy for me. She picked out polka dots and we went to town including a beautiful polka dot quilt I made for her room which included pillow cases and a valance to match! We invited the family over for cake and ice cream. It was a good get together for everyone! Katelyn seemed to be enjoying herself and was spoiled with gifts galore!

Katelyn is such a big helper in our house. People constantly ask if she likes having four younger brothers which she always responds that she would like a sister but who could go wrong with four crazy brothers!!! She is doing exceptionally well in piano, works hard at soccer and enjoys hanging out with her friends. She works hard in school and loves to read. She is very well behaved and always loves to play with Matthew who absolutely adores her. Katelyn keeps her little brothers in line and manages lots of creative play with them. She makes sure to give her mom a hug and kiss before she leaves every morning to school and has her dad wrapped around her little finger. She is an angel and is learning more each day. We love her to pieces and cherish the sweet spirit she brings to our home.

Activity Days: Each One of Us Is Unique

This idea came from sugardoodle.net by Stefani Neeley

We played a game with one girl in the center while the other girls are sitting in a circle around her in chairs. The girl in the center says something about herself, ex: I have brown eyes then everyone who also has that in common with the girl in the center has to stand up and change seats including the girl in the center. The girl left standing is it and she states something about herself and it continues. Next we read The Crayon Box That Talked by Shane DeRolf, it's about a box of crayons who cannot get along with each other because of their difference and then are shown how wonderful each one really is. We then talked about difference and similarities of the girls in our own group and how special each one of them is to us. Next everyone was given a snack size baggy full of one type of treat one girl had cereal, another chocolate chips and so on. On their own their still great but when we mixed everything together it was great! They all got their baggy refilled with the mix and enjoyed their treat!

HIking in Dixie

Since no one had school Monday morning we took the kids over to hike up on the hills. It was a rather windy morning but we beat the storm that poured down later in the day. The kids loved being able to climb and hike all over. It had a great view of Saint George from the top of the hills/mountains.

Easter Celebration

We started our Easter celebration with a family home evening lesson on the symbols of Easter. I had 12 plastic eggs with an item that symbolized different aspects of the resurrection and a scripture to go along with it. The kids liked opening each egg and learned a little on the way. We were spoiled with a 4-day weekend to celebrate Easter and General Conference. We're not accustom to so much time with Zack but loved every minute! Friday night we had a BBQ in our backyard with Jennifer and her family! It was lots of fun for the kids and cousins. Saturday morning we went to breakfast and then headed over to the Walmart Easter Egg Hunt. It was very busy and crowded!! We have several Easter Egg Hunts to choose from here and each one is so different. Next year we're going to the Vernon Worthin Park to see how that one goes. Later on the girls and kids played at my parents' home while all the men went to the Priesthood Session of General Conference.


Sunday morning the kids were mysteriously visited by the Easter bunny with a sand pail filled with treats! They loved it! Matthew decided that he liked Joshua's football more than the dump truck so we made a quick swap before Joshua even knew! He was sleeping in; a case of the snooze you loose?!? In all honesty Joshua loved the dump truck and filled it with all his candy. When there are four boys close enough in age sometimes deciding which items goes to which can be a toss up, fortunately Matthew cleared that up for the Easter bunny and it worked out nicely! It was fun to see how excited all their little faces were when they saw their treasures! We watched general conference, ate a big breakfast and munched on candy all morning. For the afternoon session of conference we headed over to my parents for a Easter party! We had a potluck dinner, Easter games and of course an Easter egg hunt. The kids enjoyed themselves and so did the adults. It seemed to work out really well!

Activity Days: Easter

We started out with a cute story about the true meaning of Easter. There were even cute felt board pictures to go with it. Then we took the girls out to the backyard for an Easter egg hunt. The eggs were filled with candy and a slip of paper that had an activity. We let each girl eat the candy and then take turns telling which activity to play. We had pin the tail on the bunny, an egg roll, Easter egg relays and a few others to do. After we finished up all our activities we headed back inside for Easter egg decorating. We used undiluted food coloring and q-tips for decorating. The colors were very vibrant and they could put more details on with the q-tips than normal dunking in the dye.