Jerusalem Dinner

On March 31 we had a beautiful Young Women activity to celebrate Easter. It was called a Jerusalem Dinner and helped us to think about the Savior and the time in which he lived. We all sat on the floor and ate with "candlelight."

We also made a "names of Christ" garland with different names of the Savior and scripture references. Some names we shared were: the Prince of Peace, the Mediator, Good Shepherd, the Lamb of God, Redeemer, Bread of Life, and Counselor.We ate olives, fish, rice, melon, resurrection rolls, and grape juice.The priests in our ward were the most polite ans helpful waiters.

To end the evening we watched the video "To this End was I Born." Bishop Allen then spoke with us about the Savior's final week on the earth. It was a very spiritual evening and really set the tone for a beautiful Easter season.

Easter Run and Carnival

Last year Katelyn Kylie, and I went to the Easter Run and Fun in Lodi. We had so much fun there we decided to bring the whole family this year.Even the Easter Bunny comes out for the run. Lloyd and I both ran the 5K. I was glad to be running again after taking a break due to my plantar fasciitis. Kylie ran the quarter mile kids run. She was more than thrilled to have come in first out of around 30 kids. She's our competitive girl!

After the run we attended a carnival at a nearby church. We had an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast and played lots of games. We won five cakes at the cake walk.Conner and Cameron got to participate in the egg hunt. Kylie was disappointed because it was only ages 1-5.All the kids rode on the train before we left the carnival. It was another fun time. I think we'll be back again next year!

Being an Auntie in Arizona

My sister, Karen, and her husband were lucky enough to go on a cruise to the Bahamas. Karen has been such a fun and loving Auntie to my kids for many years. I have always been worried that I will be the old and boring Aunt to my nieces and nephews. With that being said, I couldn't resist the opportunity to help watch Karen's kids while she was away on her cruise. I got to spend four days (March 19-23) with these two cuties - Ethan, age three and a half, and Adelaide (Addie) age 2.

Ethan is such a handsome and bright boy. He began talking at a very young age and still speaks like a much older child. I told Karen I think he must be gifted! He was a great helper and so much fun to talk to.Addie is Karen's sweet little girl. She loves girly things and insists that anything pink is hers. She loved playing with the baby doll I brought her. She doesn't even cry when you put her to sleep in her crib, probably because that's the only time she gets her pacifier that she calls her "wa wa."

I thought it was sweet and cute that Addie kept calling me "Mama." I think I must have reminded her of Karen. Ethan called me "Aunt Kristi." I can only hope that he thought I was a fun and loving Aunt (like Karen was to my kids for so many years). Here I am with "eating up" these two sweetie pies.Katelyn joined me for the trip to Arizona. It was a great time for us to bond as mother and daughter. She also helped out a lot with the kids.

We had a lot of fun while we were there. We made cookies, went out for ice cream, played in the back yard, read books, played games, went to church, and went out to Cici's Pizza (I've seen so many commercials for it, I had to try it).

Karen came back from her cruise on our last day there. She took us out for a delicious lunch.
Then we went to the park. I was glad to see Karen and her cute kids. We wished they lived closer. We love you guys!

St. Patrick's Day

For St. Patrick's Day this year, we had a real feast - corned beef, cabbage, broccoli, green mashed potatoes, lime jello, Irish soda bread, limeade, and mint Oreo pie for dessert. The kids love our traditional March 17th meal. My mom always made the holidays fun and I love to carry on the traditions.

March..Already!

I can't believe it's already March. I think it's true the older you get, the more quickly time passes. January and February seemed to just zoom by. Again, I have neglected our blog due to other things that have taken our time and energy. I have been busy working on average of about 2-3 days a week. In February I subbed for someone for six days straight and didn't do any laundry for like ten days; it was pretty sad. We've also been busy with Girl Scout cookie sales. This is my ninth year selling GS cookies and I'm looking forward to hopefully only doing it for a few more years. I was also in charge of a big service project at church on February 26; I am so relieved it's over. Thankfully, we have all been healthy and happy. I sometimes feel sad my kids are growing up so fast. I try to cherish each day I have with them. We are doing our best to keep the commandments, but also realize we are far from perfect. We do feel the Lord's blessings in our life and feel so grateful for all that we have. Thirteen new posts from December, January, and February follow this one. Things seem to be slowing down a bit for now so hopefully we'll be able to stay more current with the blog. Hope all is well for you!