Candy Crush

Candy crush is not just an addicting game, but something my kids came down with over Easter weekend. On Friday we joined Vanessa, Sarah, and their kids at CSI for an egg hunt / activities. Kendal had fun sprinting across the lawn while Peter watched everyone and I helped him pick up a few eggs. The kids played a few games and then we left so we could go see Grandma and Grandpa D. The kids love their Grandparents and love sleeping over at their Grandparents.
On Saturday morning I had Casey take the kids to ride the tractor with Grandpa. Kendal was scared to see such a big thing coming at her. But loved riding in it and playing around with Grandpa. Peter took it all in and enjoyed himself.

After the tractor ride family trickled in. We got to meet and snuggle with the newest little sweetheart in the family, Ashley. Kendal wanted to hold her, talk to her, and be right in her face : /. She must not remember Peter as a baby because she had so many questions and wanted to know when the baby would play and do stuff.

At noon we went to the Webb family Easter party. It's apparently the 32nd year this party has gone on and we had a pretty good turn out (60 +). It was a beautiful day full of sunshine and lacking bitter wind that Raft River often brings. The kids were spoiled with loads of goodies (including a lot of melted chocolate). Kendal collected anything she saw while I pulled Peter along and put stuff in his basket while he tried to stuff his mouth with whatever he picked up. The kids loved playing in the sand, the trampoline, and on the swing set.

We spent the rest of the day back at Grandma and Grandpa D's. The kids are at a great age where they can go off and play with minimal squabbles, and loads of fun. We dyed eggs and spent some good quality time together.
We got to stay into Sunday (I was finally released from my chorister Job; five months later ). With so much sugar and no real meals getting consumed, my kids were on one Easter morning. I tried my best to get a decent breakfast in before we let them hunt for their baskets. Peter got an Easter shirt, some cars, and some treats. Kendal got a I can read coloring book, sandals, chap stick, and treats. Peter was sneaking candy the whole weekend and loving every minute of it. Kendal was on a sugar kick, played hard with her cousins, and needed a bit more sleep. We went to church with Grandma and Grandpa and heard some wonderful Easter messages.

Gethsemane

For the past month or so in Primary we've been learning a song called Gethsemane.
 Here are the words -
Jesus climbed the hill to the garden still, His steps were heavy and slow. Love and a prayer took him there, to a place only he could go.
(CH) Gethsemane, Jesus loves me, so He went willingly to Gethsemane.
He felt all that was sad, wicked, or bad, all the pains we would ever know. While his friends were asleep, He fought to keep His promise made long ago.
(CH) Gethsemane, Jesus loves me, so He went willingly to Gethsemane.
The hardest thing that ever was done, the greatest pain that ever was known, the biggest battle that ever was won. This was done by Jesus. The fight was won by Jesus.
Gethsemane, Jesus loves me, so He gave his gift to me in Gethsemane.
Gethsemane, Jesus loves me, so He gives his gift to me from Gethsemane.

So simple and so true. I love the story this song shares. Because of Jesus Christ everything I have in this life and my life to come is possible. I am eternally grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ, his life, and his great atoning sacrifice.

Creativity or just Crazy

We had preschool at our house this week. The theme was imagination and creativity.
Tuesday the kids could come dressed up or I could provide dress up. I figured if I let the kids come dressed up I would most likely get superheroes. I have nothing against superheros, but when you put kids together things can get crazy, then you add superheros that fight, kick, yell, etc. it can be chaos. The dress up at my house is very geared towards girls so I decided to play town. I put town and the town people together and gave each an activity. Kendal got to be the Teacher (just like daddy : ), she was in charge of a worksheet that taught the kids counting. David was a Coach, he was in charge of Simon says. Noah was the Vet, the kids brought him animals with owies and he fixed them. Guy was the car man, the kids washed cars and he fixed them. Amaya was the Chef, she got to help with snack. Kayson and Peter just participated. The kids loved playing town, and it only took a bit of persuasion to convince them real people could be just as fun as being Megatron. After snack we talked about how we used our imaginations to play town. I told the story of The Little Red Hen. We were supposed to act out the story, but that quickly went bust. After a couple of more songs, a coloring activity, and shape play the kids had free play time with town where they did each others occupation, and added post office play where they wrote letters and mailed them off.
Today (Thursday) there were nine kids here. I guess I like to bring on the crazy cause we ended up with the five preschoolers, two of their little sisters  (Becca, Stella), Kayson, and Peter. Surprisingly we were able to do a good deal of what I planned. The kids started out with free play making shape pictures, fishing, and matching animals. After that we talked about imaginations again. I read the kids a couple of fairy tales, and opted out of trying to get them to act out the stories. Next we had egg races where the kids tried to balance an egg (plastic) on a spoon around obstacles. It was funny to see which kids tried in ernest, which cheated their way along, and which were quite young to try but still gave an effort. I had the kids make rice crispe treat eggs for snack. Most didn't want to get sticky so their help was putting a finger on the egg while I did the rest. We did a worksheet with the letter U and the little kids just colored. The next activity was making animal masks. I split the kids up and made masks with some while the others played then rotated the kids around. All of the girls choose cats. The boys choose a bear, monkey, cow, and dog. This was definitely the crazy party of the day. Pausing to help kids in the potty, pulling my son and anothert little one out of the bathroom cause they were dumping stuff in the toilet, and trying to keep the noise level down a notch or two since my neighbors already hate the noise just my kids make. I was done after this so I scraped the last two activities and let the kids play outside.
Call me crazy (cause I am), but it was a good week of preschool full of imagination, creativity, and loads of crazy.

Confrence Weekend

My Moms birthday usually around conference weekend. We went to Logan Friday night to celebrate my Moms birthday and spend the weekend. I love my Mom and appreciate, respect, and look up to her more than words can say.
Saturday morning Andy wanted to take the kids to Baby Animal Days out at the American West Heritage center. We joined my Cousin Amber and her cute / shy daughter Mckenna, my cousin Wendy who was visiting Logan also and my uncle Tony who can't resist kid time.

 We went when it opened and headed straight for the baby bears. Yellowstone had loaned out six baby bears (born in January) for the weekend. The kids loved watching the bears wrestle and climb everything in their enclosure. Wendy kept saying how much our kids looked like us so Kendal and I took a side by side with the bear size chart. We left the bear house and saw the line had grown like crazy; we were grateful to escape the longest line of the day.

Next we went and saw baby turtles. There were about six or so turtles that were the size of the kid's palms. Kendal wanted to pet / hold every turtle and was sad to have to move on.

We went for a wagon ride and enjoyed the scenery. I pointed out to the kids where Nana and Papa Loosle used to live near the Wellsville mountains.

Rexton wanted to ride the mechanical bull and Andy decided to join him. (Wendy had the man running the ride crank up the intensity for Andy so he was pretty sore after, but it was fun to watch : )

We found the pony ride and the kids got to ride. Kendal was delighted to be ridding the pony and loved talking to it and petting it.

Next we went over the the rest of the baby animals. They had baby goats, cows, chicks, horses, buffalo, ducklings, and bunnies. The lines were long to see them all so Kendal looked at them all and we waited so the kids could hold ducks and bunnies. Kendal and Pete took turns holding / squeezing the bunnies.

Next we took the kids to the train ride. Kendal got impatient waiting for our turn, but loved it when the time came. The kids rode in an enclosed caboose so I didn't get a good picture of them.

Peter was pretty calm all day, taking in the sites and enjoying the animals. He loved Rexton and wanted to follow him around the whole weekend. (He just doesn't have his name down yet.) I could tell he was a bit tired but he was a trooper and did well. He warmed up to Wendy when he saw she had some food.
We got some lunch and as we sat down a cold wind came in. We shivered through lunch and decided to call it a day.
Saturday afternoon Pete took a much needed nap, Kendal played play doh with Katherine and we enjoyed some conference. The rest of the family showed up and we played then ate before the boys went to Priesthood. We let the kids play outside, made some glazed popcorn and let the kids watch a show.
 Sunday we had a big breakfast at my parents and spent the day together watching conference. (I will definitely be going back and listening to talks I missed and didn't get all of because of the kids.) As always it was awesome to see family, and it's never enough time together. A lack of nap and a deep love for family made Kendal burst into tears when we had to leave yesterday. This little girl loves her family so much, as do I.