Poetry and Essays

Our school has four campuses, so each year they have grade-level competitions between all of the schools for poetry and essays. The kids have been entered before, but we've never won - Erin got a lot of Honorable Mentions. This year we had TWO winners!!! It was very exciting!!! Erin won 2nd Place for her poem, and Jamie won 1st Place for her Essay!!!!! The school does a nice dinner/reception for them and then presents them with a book of all the winners and a certificate - 1st place gets a medal. The first place also gets to read their writing to the group - so fun to hear the differences and the talent!

Song of below post - Beautiful!

Turn up your volume first......

Happy Easter!!!!!

We sang this in Choir last week and I just thought it was sooooo beautiful and so well expressed - I've wanted to put it on my blog since we started singing it. It's perfect for Easter and just..........wonderful.

Behold the wounds in Jesus’ Hands,
The marks upon His side.
Then ponder whom He meant to save
When on the cross He died.
We cannot see the love of God
Which saves us from the Fall,
Yet know that Christ from wood and nails
Built mansions for us all.

Behold the outstreched hands of Christ,
Our Lord, who came to save,
Whose love and grace redeem our souls
And lift us from the grave.
Though bruised and battered as we stray,
His guiding hands caress.
He washes and annoints with oil;
Then in His arms we rest.

Behold the wounds in Jesus’ hands.
Look to your Lord and live.
He yearns to bless you with
His loveAnd all your sins forgive.
Oh, empty is the heart of man
When it is filled with sin.
Come, open wide your broken heart
And let your Savior in!

Behold His wounded hands and feet!
Come touch, and see, and feel
The wounds and marks that you may know
His love for you is real.
Then as you fall to worship Him
And wash His feet in tears,
Your Savior takes you in his arms
And quiets all your fears.

Happy Easter!!!

The Easter Bunny visited our house! We always try to do some clothing and something "church" for Easter - and candy, of course.

Erin got a new scripture bag

Ethan got John Bytheway Collection 2 - we all like listening to these!
Jamie got a new scripture bag

Laura got a cute thing to hang in her room

Kelcie got a CD of Primary Songs for this year plus some

Talin got a couple of cute books - really cute...

Easter Eggs

First of all, here's our cute little Easter Bunny :) Lately, we've been getting Scamper out of his little cage and letting him enjoy the grass in an excercise pen - he loves it and we enjoy being able to interact with him more!
On to Easter Eggs!!! We love coloring eggs!!! Every year I get the 5 dozen from Sam's Club so they can each color LOTS - it's so fun and they were VERY creative this year! Here's Erin's blue one that she made light to dark - it's really cool in person.

Daddy helping Talin

Jamie and Talin

The finished product!!! They were so cool. I wish I could show you so many of them.

Jamie's Birthday!!!

Jamie turned 11!!!!!!! It's amazing how fast my kids are growing up!!! She was so lucky because her birthday was on Good Friday, so she didn't have any school! So, she had a slumber late-night that night and it was so fun - great group of girls!!! We gave her a watch, a hair straitener, 2 books, and a coupon for a kitten - we cannot find any kittens! (have you ever had that problem - we've never seen a shortage on kittens before!) I think she had a fun day, and we are so glad to have her happy spirit in our family!

Jamie's cake (and a few friends :) )

Watching "Princess Bride" (love that movie!)

Potty Training

We're potty-training at our house. This is one of my most unfavorite things - I'm always stressed and high anxiety. But, the diapers ran out, and he's three, so we're going for it. Monday was random wetness - all day long. Monday night I finally pleaded with him to give me just one sign - just one time where he stops it and runs to the potty......... he did! So...... hope. Yesterday, it seemed to click - I would hear "I gotta go potty" and he'd run. He did really good - and even did the bigger deed last night and got to call Daddy to tell him! Today, we're still working on it and trying to stay postitive, but he really is doing so good! The big deed - twice - yes! He even woke up in the middle of the night on his own to go potty - I was shocked! I don't know if that will work again, but I loved it. My sweet boy...............

Happy 3rd, Talin!!!

My "little" Talin is 3!!!!!!!!!!! Earlier this week, Talin had his birthday, and boy did he totally know what was going on! He knew he would be 3 and then he knew he was 3 - now he tells me he's still 3. He had a fun birthday - Sunday night with my family, and then Monday night for our presents.

RC Tracter from G&G Starr

His cake - this boy LOVES tractors

Blowing out his candles

He got Lincoln Logs! I LOVE Lincoln Logs and have wanted to get them for my kids forever, but they are SO expensive!!! So, right after Christmas I found this set at Sam's Club in their Clearance for an AWESOME price because it was the last one! YES! You should have heard my older kids when he opened it - OOOooooooooooooooooooo! Erin and Ethan were just as excited as Talin!

Zion National Park

Since we were in the area....... and it was Spring Break....... we decided to visit Zion National Park. It was really neat - would have been nice to see it all green, but it was really pretty to see the snow on the peaks, too.

Laura and Kelcie - eating lunch before our hike up the river.

Silly girls.....
HUGE rock

Thank goodness Talin held the rock up for us ..... :)

Hang on, Ethan! This rock was so fun for the kids to slide down....

Kelcie sliding down...

Jamie at the end - a little tired...

The end of the little hike - the beginning of the Narrows. Someday I'd REALLY like to hike the Narrows (as long as the weather is good - that scares me to death!)

We made it!

The Court of the Patriarchs

We had a great time - even if it was only a little tast of Zions. I wish I could have taken them through the tunnel and on the other side - another trip. I would love to camp in there and do a hike a day - there are some places I would really love to see. I better get in shape, first :)

50 years...

My parents will be married 50 years in May, so this last weekend we all returned to where they were married and had a celebration - we had SO MUCH FUN!!!!! Almost all of us were there - just a few cousins who couldn't get away. Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to put so many pictures in.

Mom and Dad - 50 years

All the siblings

The whole group

First great-grandchild

All the grandchildren (minus 4) on the steps of the Temple

Our family at the Temple

Talin "hiding" because he was mad - I was laughing so hard! Luckily I have a great zoom on my camera now, so I could get him hiding and he never knew.

Still mad - sitting in the windowsill of the Temple

Beautiful Temple through the blossoms of Spring

We also went to see the Tabernacle and I thought the white blossoms against the red stone was so pretty.

Presenting the cast.....

of Annie Jr.

They made it through the play!!! They were sooooooo great!!! 4 cousins in the same play - how cool is that??? Mikeum, Kaylee, Autumn, and Jamie. This is the last night of 6 performances - they were awesome!