Irrigation

Monday we went over to my Mom's house to play, it had seemed like ages since the kids had played at Nana and Paco's house. It's a good thing we tote our swimsuits everywhere we go, because they had irrigation in their back yard. The kids had a great time running around in the water, and I enjoyed sitting on the porch soakin up the sun. (got to work on my tan)

Here's Kate and cousin Jack splashing in the water

Kate and Clark doing what they do best...

Of course Little Miss Sassy Pants had to get a picture all by herself!

Ryan's New Toy

Last week Ryan decided it was time for him to buy a new toy. I guess the insane work hours and stress has made him decide he needed something fun to do in his life besides work and take care of kids. He has wanted to get a "toy" car for along time and his brothers have all tried to convince him to get a camaro, like they all have. Ryan decided he wanted a 4X4 and started looking for 2 door Blazers. So last Tuesday he found this one in Idaho and started making plans to drive up and go get it. Friday afternoon about 2pm Ryan and his brother Jeff started the journey to Utah and then Idaho. They stopped in Utah for the night, looked at a few Blazers in Utah Saturday morning, then drove the rest of the way to Idaho where they found this one. It was love at first sight, and now we have a new addition to our family! He didn't make it home until 2:30am Sunday, slept a few hours, then went to all his Sunday meetings!

Here's Ryan Sunday morning showing the kids his new toy.

Kate and Clark LOVE the blazer. I think because it's Ryan's and it's new. The nice thing is that we can all fit in it, so even though it's Ryan's toy, it doubles as a second car. You probably won't see Ryan in his Okland truck anymore!

Toilets

I never really understood why people with kids always complained about the bathrooms being dirty. I guess I've just been around adults for so long, cleaning the toilet really hasn't been a big deal. Plus I have a husband who does a great job of keeping the toilet clean:).
So I have been appalled by how bad our kids bathroom gets. Seriously, Clark, can at least watch where you are going and try to get it in the toilet?! And Kate, do you have to get off the toilet to get the toilet paper to wipe your bum?! You'd think after they hear my rantings at least 5 times a day, it would sink in a little bit.
So I guess I am learning the ways of motherhood. My heart goes out to the moms who have multiple boys in the family. Oh goodness! At least I know I will start training them young about how to clean the toilets!

Swim Meet

When we moved back from Utah I decided not to renew my gym membership, but instead to start swimming on a Masters swim team. I have really enjoyed being back in the water, since I haven't consistantly swam since high school. My sister Nancy and I both swim and thought it'd be fun to take our husbands down to Tucson for a weekend and compete in the Masters State Meet. We drove down Friday afternoon, and Nancy and I both swam the 1000 yard freestyle. (That's 40 lengths of the pool). Then Saturday I swam 4 individual events and one relay. This video is the 50 yard butterfly. Not too shabby for an old lady who hasn't competed in 12 years!

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Easter

Ryan and I had a hard time with Easter this year. The more and more we thought about it, the less and less we wanted to do 'The Easter Bunny'. Life is too short for kids to think that Easter is about a Bunny and not about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I really want my kids to know and understand that Easter is the most glorious day we can celebrate because of what Christ's Resurrection means to all of us. SO, we still did the Easter Bunny and gave the kids baskets, but it was not that big of a deal. We talked more about Jesus getting a 'new body' than we did anything else. It worked out great that my Mom had a big Easter egg hunt so the kids got tons of candy, got to play with their cousins, and experience the candy part of Easter on Saturday instead of Sunday.

Here's Kate getting her eggs. I do have to do a little explanation about her outfit. She doesn't always look this homely. Earlier that day her Grandma(Ryan's Mom) gave her the skirt, which she had made for Kate for Easter. She had a plain white shirt on when we got to my Moms, but within 15 minutes had spilled strawberry soda on it. So she had to borrow one of her cousin Nolan's t- shirts.

Clark had a great time finding the eggs. Even with the huge strawberry soda mustache.

Opening their eggs

I hope you all had a great Easter filled with candy, family, and a love of the Savior for the precious gift He has given us.