April

We started April off with an awesome General Conference weekend. It's the best!  In between sessions on Saturday, we got out for some sunshine and exercise.  And to enjoy the wildflowers! 

With all the rain we have had this year, spring has been extra green and LOTS of flowers out. It has made it really pretty!

We had a great walk.

And we spotted an owl, nesting in a cactus!

Sierra got a lift, to see it a little better--

It was a beautiful day.

Ryah and Grandma in deep conversation--

Love the splashes of color--

Our poster of the talks from General Conference, which we all added to and wrote notes on:

The kids made this Easter decoration in school--it's pretty cute.

For Janson's seminary class, they wrote in chalk some General Conference quotes in the church parking lot.  Here is Janson with his: "The Book of Mormon shares the greatest Easter story that's ever been told." It's by Elder Stevenson.

We had a wonderful Easter.  We tried to do more to increase our focus on the Savior, and we loved it.  Colton has really developed his artistic drawing skills recently....and he drew this picture of Jesus. I love it!  He does such a good job of capturing a look and a feeling of Him.

  We had our annual tradition of the candy egg hunt on Saturday, and the spiritual "golden egg hunt" on Sunday.  The younger kids looking for eggs on Saturday--

Sierra tuckered out on Saturday night--

We had a wonderful discussion with the "golden egg hunt" on Sunday.  Scriptures and symbols from each egg, telling about the last week of the Savior's mortal life.  It's always a special experience.

Sierra loved all the egg hunting, so she took a bunch of the empty eggs and hid them in the house, and had the kids go looking for them, again.  They are such good sports! She was delighted.

Our Easter dinner--

Grandma made a trifle for our Easter dessert! Yummy!

(and we watched an episode of The Chosen)--

A couple of days after Easter, it was the 4 year anniversary of my Dad being in heaven....

I think perhaps celebrating Easter near that date helps us keep things in perspective. We know we will be with him again. But, we miss him a lot.

With Grandma living with us, the kids were extra thoughtful of her.  Colton worked continuously on drawing Grandpa! He is really getting GOOD--again, he has a knack for capturing the personality and look of a person.  He sure did a great job with my Dad!

Here is one:

(he referred to this picture my brother drew of him):

And here's another....this one was part of a card he wrote for Grandma--

(and he referred to this picture for that one):

And that card had a note inside, and a picture of Jesus....

Such a beautiful job, and very, very sweet.

("Dear Grandma, I hope you know that I am thinking of you on this anniversary and that we can see Grandpa again. And I want you to know that you are loved!")

Sierra drew this picture. It's of a painting I have hanging up in our home, one that my brother painted when we were growing up and it was in our home.  My parents' initials are "carved" on the tree trunk.

She did such a great job!

("Dear Grandma, I love you. And I love Grandpa.  I am excited to see Grandpa again.")

We made homemade ice cream (of course!) for the occasion...a tradition that Grandpa started!  Sierra wanted to help, and she decided that her "Grandpa pillow" would be good to have with us... :)

We also watched the video of the when I interviewed them years ago, for their 50th wedding anniversary.  I love hearing his voice and his laugh, and that it helps my kids remember and know him.

I may have shed a few tears, but that's just because I love and miss him so much!

We have been busy and learning lots.

This was potentially the most amazing Jenga game I've ever seen played! Colton and Daxton both have some amazing skills!  We couldn't believe how long they lasted, keeping it balanced.  Awesome!

During lesson time with Daxton, I got some positive strokes on my cooking. Sweet guy!

We learned about Charles the Great (Charlemagne) and the kids made their own crowns.

Sierra is LOVING school! It's crazy that she wouldn't even be in Kindergarten if we were doing public school (because of the age cut-off and she's a September birthday).....this girl is a delight!  And so ready to learn and grow!

Working on her writing--she loves writing and making up stories!

She practiced her printing and then drew a picture for each letter of the alphabet!

She LOVES to read...it's so fun to see her enjoying it.

She reads the scriptures, National Geographic books, Calvin & Hobbes....anything she can get her hands on!  She has started reading chapter books (Magic Tree House).  She is now reading 2-3 Magic Tree House books a DAY!  She loves the stories and sharing parts with us.  I love that she is loving it!

She is growing so fast! She is so fun and delightful.

I'm having fun doing various styles with her pretty, long hair!

Crashed out, with her soccer gear on!

This is her rendition of a "human clock", ha ha!

She started "lessons" in school--Language Arts and Spelling.  She's just ready!, and she loves that she is "big" like Colton and Daxton.

These two....they can be SO cute and fun together!

Janson has some very cool eyes--they have changed and evolved over the years.  Sometimes, I haven't been sure what color to say they are.  We are settled on "green hazel"....for now? :)

I don't think this picture was taken too long ago....but Jonnie has it as his screensaver pic. So, we see it often!  It's a good one--shows how HAPPY I am! :)....I am really blessed!

Jonnie had an awesome plan for the driveway, to extend it and make more room for getting out of cars, now with my Mom's car and our car parked in the driveway.

The kids jumped on board and were great helpers!

Here is the man.  He's the best!

I love seeing him settle down and enjoy a book...

Ryah and Daxton matching--

They are cute and cuddly!

And Sierra and Colton matching--

Cute kids--

Jonnie and I had our 16th wedding anniversary on the 28th!  The weekend before, we got to have a quick little celebratory trip, just the two of us.

We went down to Tucson for a few days.  We started it off with a session at the Tucson Temple--

It was beautiful!

Then we went out for some awesome Mexican food--they made the guacamole RIGHT there in front of us. I mean, come on!...does it get any better?!? :)

We stayed at a fun, little Airbnb.  There was even a hot tub! So nice!

The next day, we slept in (oooh, nice!)--and then we went for a hike in Sabino Canyon.

Blossoming cactus--

Checking out the waterfall!

It was a great time.  That night, we went and treated ourselves to sushi! Oh, yummy. It was fabuloso!

That night, right near the place we were staying....we spotted a BUNCH of javelinas!  We see them up in Anthem, but we were surprised to find so many of them, just hanging out!

The next morning, before we left...Jonnie discovered a rattlesnake right outside, near the trash can.  It had it's rattler going, trying to scare us off.  We're going, we're going! Yikes-a-roni!

We loved our time together--relaxing and enjoying that we are best friends!  Happy 16 years to us!

At home, the kids found a cool lizard in the yard. And caught it, of course.

The LDS homeschool group of Northern Phoenix had a Field Day, so my Mom took the kids to that.  It was fun to see pictures from the group.  Our kids are pretty awesome.

Last Friday, Grandma headed out, to go and visit kids and grandkids in Vegas, Provo, Reno, and Meridian.  She will do some driving and some flying....but all the visiting will take about a month until she's back home.  We miss her but are glad she could go see so many loved ones.

That night, Jonnie and the boys all went to the Priesthood Campout with the ward.  That was super fun!

Dinner time!

Scoping out their sleeping spots.....JUST KIDDING!  Sure looks relaxing, though.

Out on a hike on Saturday--

At home, the girls and I had some time together.  Ryah and Sierra worked on a sewing project. So fun to see Ryah teaching Sierra a bit!

They made a little book bag for Sierra, so she can carry her Magic Tree House books in it! Perfect!

That night, Ryah had a babysitting gig around the corner....so it was Sierra and I for the movie night.  She chose to watch "Mulan" and we had a little pizza to share. So fun!

After Sierra went to bed, Ryah got home--and she and I stayed up to watch "One Fine Day" together., and have some ice cream.  I loved getting to have some one-on-one time with my girls!

Life is good.

I love when these kids all cuddle up close, hanging out together.  I love that they love each other!

Family is a blessing.