April

We kicked the month off with a fun and service oriented tri-ward young women activity. The young women put together 60 meals in a bag for Vine Maple Place. They accomplished the task at hand way faster than expected so they ended up playing a few games too.

During our spring break, we used our Get Out Pass and went mini golfing at Family Fun Center. It was so much fun and Paige and Baylor both got holes in one and were so excited about it. McCall ended up not even using her club and was happy to use her foot to kick the ball where it needed to go. :)

We still had our arcade cards from the last time we went and still had points left to use and so the girls all played some games before going out. It was a really fun way to spend part of our day.

We have started having consistently warmer days and it has been glorious. I love little moments out in the sun where I'm walking with Nate, watching the girls play. drawing with chalk with this little girl, and all the fun moments in between.

We had our annual combined young women and activity day girl's activity, and it was so much fun. We decided on a fairy tale fashion show, and it was such a hit. I made a few of these decorations to add to the room and atmosphere. The activity day leader (my old counselor who is incredible with this kind of stuff) put together a bag of stuff that had 15-20 items in it. Some items were plastic tablecloths, fake flowers, streamers, tape, funny glasses, etc. The girls were divided into two groups and each group had a bag and had to use all the items in the bag to create their costumes. Then they had to come up with a 2-3 minute mixed up fairy tale to present. My favorite part was watching the young women take charge of their groups and really help the younger girls have fun and be included. The adults were pretty much hands off besides an occasional check in. They spent most of the time planning and preparing and then they presented their skits. We had some fun refreshments to end the evening.

One day we got up in the 70s so McCall and I met Celina, Matilda, and Jonah for a fun outing on the Sound. We met at Seahurst Beach and had a picnic lunch, and the kids loved playing in the sand and the water. The view of the water and the Olympics in the background was stunning. I left the house at 10 and got home at 2. It was such a wonderful day and I'm looking forward to more outdoor adventures.

McCall is so good at playing by herself during the day. I love listening to her imagination run wild as she is playing with cars, little people, Legos, or playdough. She loves to line things up when she is playing, and it is the cutest thing.

I went to a girl's night with ladies from our ward and it was such a nice night to just sit and visit. Anna had brought this puzzle, but we never got around to pulling it out. When I saw it, I knew I wanted to do it and we worked on it as a family. It was a fun one to do and see all the places we have been to in Washington. It makes me want to do more puzzles.

Then another week was another 70 degree day outing with Celina and her kids. This time we went to Lake Wilderness and the kids loved playing in the water.

Baylor had her Apex Fundraiser for school. The Apex team were at her school for two weeks teaching them leadership skills and she had so much support from family and friends. I got to volunteer for the glow run and mark shirts. She only had to run 36 laps and ended up running 58 laps!

Oh how I love these cute faces!

Today I was able to chaperone with Baylor's school and go on the 1st grade field trip to Woodland Park Zoo. We had lots of fun, did lots of walking, and saw lots of amazing animals. My favorites were giraffes and gorillas. Baylor's favorite was the flamingo because she wore flamingo earrings. We didn't have the time to see all the animals and we got drizzled on, but it was a fun day. It was fun to see Baylor interact with some of her friends.

And a silly one to end our day!

April went by SO fast! We are loving the warmer weather and looking forward to more!

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter that started with my ladies of the lake gathering where we made resurrection gardens. We had a fun time visiting as we put it all together. Margaret had made one with the girls years ago, but this was my first time making it and it was fun, and I love how it turned out.

Then Saturday we had a ward Easter breakfast and egg hunt. I filled most of the eggs (a little over 500!) and the kids had so much fun finding the eggs. Paige got to hold a little baby, and she was in baby heaven and even put her to sleep. Baylor was too fast for me so I didn't really get any pictures of her, but I loved McCall's little expressions every time she found an egg.

Then Saturday evening we went over to Nona and Pop's house to dye eggs. Paige tried out a tie dye kit that didn't work the greatest, but she had fun doing her own thing. Baylor loved the marker machine we have to color the eggs. And McCall was so fun to watch as she just loved to switch the eggs from dye to dye and was so expressive and her one hand was dyed for a few days. She had so much fun in the dye!

They turned out so pretty!

Then Easter morning the Easter bunny hid our Easter baskets and we got some candy and a fun new game to play.

The girls got some new Easter dresses, and we had a wonderful Easter church service. I sang with the young women and held it together until the end. We sang the song "Gethsemane" and it always makes me tear up and when I'm up there with girls that mean so much to me and I know the love I have for them is just a glimpse of what the Savior has for them.

Of course, with the girl's new Easter dresses, we had a Easter photo shoot and the girls are cute and gorgeous as always.

This girl and her faces! She is hard to get pictures of and struggles to look at the camera but is so silly and at such a fun age for holidays.

I love these three with all my heart!

I'm so grateful for my Savior and that He went through what He did for me and for everyone. The fact that He died and lived again gives me the promise that I can do the same. This life isn't the end, and I get to live with this sweet family of mine for eternity. I can't imagine it any other way.

Happy Easter!

Getaway on the Sound

This was the first spring break that we didn't have any plans or adventures planned. So, we decided to go at the end of our spring break, so Nate didn't miss too much work and went and stayed in a fun A-frame cabin in Longbranch, WA right on the Puget Sound. It was such a fun little getaway, and we loved all the beach combing we did and fun adventures we went on. We stayed Thursday to Saturday and though the weather wasn't the greatest most of the time we were indoors when it was raining and soaked up the sun when we could.

We arrived Thursday right at our check-in time and we loved our little cabin. There were two beds in the loft for Baylor and Paige and a room downstairs for Nate and I and McCall was in our room in the pack-n-play. We got everything set up and explored our new home for the next few nights. It had a wood burning stove and was pretty cold in the house when we arrived, and Nate loved keeping the firewood pile stocked and the fire burning. The girls had fun helping him and Paige even made the fire on her own one evening. McCall and Baylor loved the telescope and binoculars they had to look out on the pond in front of our house and all the bird watching. The house had an amazing deck with a gorgeous view. I made some dinner while we listened to Bob Marley on the record player. It was a super rainy evening, and it was nice to be in this cozy cabin with the fire burning. We watched Survivor and just relaxed before going to bed.

The first thing on the agenda on Friday morning was building a fire and making some breakfast.

We then drove 3 minutes to Joemma State Park right on the Sound. The tide was pretty low, which was good for beach combing. The sun came out and it was glorious to lounge out on the beach and soak up all the sun rays. Nate and the girls loved finding white rocks, flipping over rocks to find some crabs, climbing on the driftwood, and just enjoying time out in nature.

This cute girl lost her shoes and kept entertained by the little rocks and sand. She got a big clam shell from Nate and loved filling it with little rocks and then dumping it out and doing it all over again and again. 

We watched the storm clouds come our way and headed out to walk on the pier. It started raining as we got to the end of the pier. (If you look at the bottom left picture, you can see the beautiful blue sky on one side and the darker sky on the other.)

We went to the local grocery store for a few snacks and then drove back to our little home away from home for lunch. We found an eagle to watch and just relaxed at the house while it rained. 

McCall's point of view (I spy a cute little foot peeking in the picture:).

I saw a Christian church camp (Sound View Camp and Retreat Center) near us the bottom of the peninsula and I wasn't sure if they had day use things and so I called and the guy that I talked to was super nice and said even though they just barely open for the season, and no one was really there that we could come and tour the property and see what was there. We first got to see their little farm which the girls loved. Paige was brave enough to feed the alpacas. 

Then we got to go in the animal pen and pet sheep, goats, and chickens. Paige even got to hold one of the chickens and it even fell asleep in her arms.

Then we walked around the property and looked inside the cabins they have available to rent and then we walked down to the waterfront. They have an amazing view and swimming area. They had kayaks and fun stuff that you could use when you camp there. They have a long pier, and we spent quite a bit of time down there just enjoying the Sound. The girls had fun throwing rocks in the water, Nate was skipping rocks like a champ like always, and we also come up with fun little games to keep the girls busy while playing near the water. It was such a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

Then we walked back on a gorgeous trail back up to the car.

The girls found a bird that had a hurt wing and they loved holding it and wanted to take it home.

It was a little tender mercy that the rain stopped before we got to the camp and then as we were driving back to our house for the evening the rain started up again. We spent the evening making dinner and enjoying our last night in our little cabin. 

Saturday morning was breakfast, packing, and cleaning up. Nate got some pictures of the house before we checked out and it was such a fun place to stay. It was cool to see the tide go in and out on the pond and I loved just sitting on the porch enjoying the view. I would totally stay here again!

We then drove to Penrose State Park and to enjoy some beach time before heading home. We went here a few years ago when we had a reunion over this way and there was hardly anyone there, even in August. This time we went, and the parking lot was almost full and we were curious what was going on. I guess the clam season was open and there were SO many people out with their shovels and buckets. They even had a weigh station and park rangers counting how many clams people got so there was a limit. It was crazy and pretty entertaining to watch. The tide was really low which helped with the clamming.

We loved walking around and enjoying the gorgeous view. There were quite a few large rocks to flip over which so many little crabs and a few eels. The girls had fun exploring and it was such a nice way to end our little getaway.

We then went to the Snack Shack for lunch which was delicious and they even had fry sauce (which is kind of a big deal for here and it makes the Idaho in me so happy!). I would go there again to enjoy a meal.

We then drove to Gig Harbor and went to the Harbor History Museum since it was free (donations were accepted). It was a really cool museum with all sorts of fun artifacts and information about that area. 

It was such a fun way to end our spring break!