April Happenings

April was full of busy fun and it flew by!  Before it gets too far way, I'll get some memories jotted down...

General Conference and Easter Weekend

We enjoyed Saturday conference and great snacks and then dyed Easter Eggs!

 Bright and Colorful!

Scott tried to do an experiment he found on Pinterest.  Let's just say it didn't go as planned and he and my kitchen got covered in egg bits when it EXPLODED!

Easter morning, the kids found that the Easter bunny left one giant basket this year for the family with super-sized items instead of filling individual baskets for a fun twist!  Audrey instantly caught on to the hunting eggs.  Then we enjoyed the Sunday sessions of General Conference and an Easter dinner.

Landon is always lining up blocks he calls "cannons" or parking cars in the "parking lot spaces" on the piano keys.  Alyse reading to Landon and Layla.

We made a quick weekend trip to Nampa and Weiser.  We helped my mom do some spring yard work and garage cleaning, then BBQ'd at Mike and Stacy's house.  Scott had an ear infection and was waiting for the antibiotics to start working and I fell at my mom's, pulling all my shoulder muscles trying not to fall off the a dumb unbalanced rock I was standing on but shouldn't have been.  But we made the most of it anyways!  Saturday we visited Scott's family, loaded up our bikes, grill, and some tubs we couldn't fit in when we moved, went to Idaho Pizza with all the family for dinner, and headed home early Sunday.

We celebrated getting to 100 days in a row of family scripture study with a "fancy" dinner as the kids like to call it.  We had Cafe Rio Salad- our favorite and extra special since we haven't had our grill for the last 8 months!  We had been doing good with getting scripture reading done on week days but not on weekends and so I challenged us to start a reading streak to see how many days we could go with out missing a day.  Every 100 days we'll do something special.  It's been hard on the unusual days like when we get home from Utah at 11:30 p.m. (two Saturdays in a row) and just want to fall in bed, but we did read first!

Alyse got braces on!

She doesn't have permanent lateral incisors.  We have known this since she was 6 or 7 and has been followed by an orthodontist since then.  There are two different ways to go for treatment.  It's complicated, so this is the simple version- implants or substitution.  Neither way is ideal or easy.  It has been really really really hard to decide.  We came here pretty set on implants and then switched to substitution.  I really think that is one of the many blessings that we have received in moving to Pocatello.  She still has one permanent canine tooth not wanting to come out and showing signs of not ever erupting on its own.  We are giving it some more time and hoping and praying and pleading it will, otherwise an oral surgery will be needed to go and "get it"- meaning they go up into the gums, attach a bracket to it (up in the gums) and force it out over time.  

She had a few sore days and eating definitely takes longer, but she has done great!  Now her sister can't wait to get braces!   Alyse said she will be Landon's buddy when the rest of the kids eat pop corn, which is a favorite around here!  We'll probably have someone around here in braces for the next 12 years.

 Audrey and Landon had a very oddly uncharacteristic morning of sleeping.  Audrey woke up, climbed out of her crib and then fell back asleep on Scott and then later on the floor.   Landon also got up but fell asleep on the floor in his room and then woke up and fell asleep on floor before breakfast.  My mommy senses were tingling that something wasn't right and sure enough, after Landon ate breakfast he threw up.  They both seemed better by noon and no one else has gotten it, so it was short and sweet :)

Landon had a very exciting day when an excavator came and dug up the road behind us.  He watched nearly non stop for hours and told us all play by play what the excavator was doing!  This BOY lives for tractors and excavators and trucks!

Scott and I celebrated our 14th Anniversary.  Since the 25th was busy with music competitions and a recital we went out to dinner the night before to celebrate, but then we ended up getting to go out again the night of too after the recital!  I have dated Scott for more than half of my life now.  

(pictures from 11/2014)

Layla got an early birthday present, a new bike!  (When we got our bikes from Weiser, she had out grown hers and Alaina hadn't outgrown hers to pass down yet)  Layla was past due to learn how to ride with out training wheels.  Her legs are bruised and scraped, but she can now ride a bike!  Daddy helped her the first day and then Lexi the rest.  It was the time of Layla's life to have Lexi dotting on her and encouraging her.  Lexi woke up at 6:30 the next morning and started her school work so she could go out to help Layla sooner :)  They had a great few days together and then on Saturday she biked a few miles with the rest of them- her dream come true!

We celebrated Scott's birthday early!  While he was on a bike ride with the big kids, Landon, Audrey, and I decorated and set out his presents.  When they got home from the bike ride we yelled, "surprise, it's your birthday!"  His new red mp3 player came out of the box hot pink, funny!  And after a year of him wearing very (extremely) holey tennis shoes, I talked him into going shopping for new ones.  For his lab classes he had to have shoes with toes and heels, but it didn't say anything about the sides... so he got by all year with shoes ripped out on the whole sides.  I am so thankful for this man who works so hard for us!  He goes to bed after me (staying up to get homework done) and gets up before me to head off to work or school and wears very holey tennis shoes and never complains.

We BBQ'd and ate an awesome ice cream cake.