Keep Going!

 "No matter what challenge you are currently facing, remember: 

“I did not come this far only to come this far.” 

Keep going. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. 

Keep growing. As I have said before, 

Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever."

~Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Poppin' By

Teague's teacher popped by to tell him she missed him and to give him some popcorn.

As you can see, he enjoyed it!

Teague's #12

Teague celebrated his 12th birthday on a Wednesday.  As it was his second in quarantine, we had him, his siblings, and Leonard play hooky from school and work to play all day.

He chose the menu for the day starting with a Grand Slam breakfast of French toast, hash browns, bacon, yogurt, and orange juice.

We had tortilla chips with salsa con queso for lunch, while we watched Alvin and The Chipmunks.

(We then watched the 3 sequels the next 3 nights in a row.)

Teague could only think of one gift he wanted for his birthday- Ready, Freddy books.  When shopping online (since we're in major lockdown and I can't visit a bookstore), I was finding the new books for $20 a piece on Amazon. ca, um no thank you.  I found a used book store that sold them for $4 each, that's more like it.  At that price we went through every title and ordered every one we didn't already have- 22!  Unfortunately, only 3 arrived for his birthday, but when the others arrive it makes his birthday last longer!

We also played the White Elephant game with 7 different chocolate bars.  It was fun to watch the kids (and maybe the parents too) stealing their favorite ones from each other.  We face-timed with Noé, and Teague spoke to both of his sets of grandparents.  Mother Nature also gave him a gift- snow!  We woke up with the neighborhood sprinkled in it (and the next day too), but it didn't take long for it to melt off.

For dinner he requested double-decker tacos, yum!

For his birthday dessert, he requested donuts from Suzy Q.

Happy Birthday to you!

Teague has two girlfriends, ha ha!

He chose well and we were all excited to share this dessert with him.

Happy Birthday Teague!  We love the wonderful young man that you are and we hope you have a terrific new year being 12!

More Bows

I love it when this girls sits criss-cross applesauce.

I also love it when she nibbles on her toes, ha ha!

She loves both of her big sisters so much.

I hope they will be best friends for life!

Farewell Noé

Sometimes my mama heart wishes I could bottle up my kids so they will stay young enough to live with me forever.  I know they have to leave the nest and create their own nests and when they do it will be wonderful.  I will still miss all of my birdies living in my nest though.

Noé finally got the green light to move to Hawaii for school.  We are so happy for her and wish we could have gone with her.

The farewells began Friday night, when she said goodbye to her bestie, Navy.

On Saturday, we ordered her favorite dinner from Mumbai Masala Grill and got cannoli from Delice Royal.

On Sunday we had to take some family pictures.

(Macy insisted she sit on the bench by herself with Noé and my arms snuggling her back, ha ha.)

Silly faces!

One more group shot.

And one more crazy shot!

Monday morning we got up at 3:00 to get her to the airport on time.  We didn't want to wake the kids, but Kaleb insisted on getting up to see his twin off.

(The other kids were so sad when they woke up and she was gone.  Ali came out of their room crying, and Macy just keeps saying, Noé, and doesn't understand that she's gone.  Noé wrote little love notes to each of us and taped them on our doors.  I think they'll stay up until she comes home again.)

She grew up.  And I'm so happy for her and the choices and opportunities she's made and been given.

But man, it hurts to see her go.

I had to get a shot of the mud room before her backpack disappeared.

Goodbye Canada!

Next stop Hawaii!

We can't wait to come and visit you sweet girl!!

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Queen Elizabeth II lost her husband on April 9th.  He was only 62 days short of reaching his 100th birthday.  I hope his family will be comforted in their time of mourning.

 

191st General Conference

Every April and October we gather as a world-wide church to listen to our prophet, apostles, and leaders to receive inspiration and guidance for our lives.  The Holy Spirit testifies to me the truths that are taught about our Heavenly Parents and our Savior, Jesus Christ.  (President Dallin H. Oaks, 1st Counselor in the First Presidency pictured.)

I love listening to the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square and I love watching the members that smile while they are singing.  Oh, I wish I could sing and lived in Utah, so I could be a part of it!

While we are feasting spiritually, we also feast physically.  We almost always have veggies and dip, fruit and dip, and baguettes, salami, and cheese, yum!

So grateful for these feasts!

Easter Weekend

We usually have the Easter Bunny come to our house on Saturday, Easter Eve.  So on Sunday we can devote our focus to Jesus Christ, and his glorious atonement, death, and resurrection.  However, this year General Conference weekend coincided with Easter weekend, so the Easter Bunny arrived at our house on Friday morning!

Their baskets were filled with

Chocolate Bunnies

Cadbury, Reese, Oreo, Cookies & Cream Eggs, and Reese's Pieces Carrots

Play Doh

Markers

Stuffies

Bunny Ears

and Board Books!

So grateful for these cute bunnies (even though Macy wouldn't wear her ears, ha ha!).

We also dyed eggs on Friday.

And I love the way the paper towels catch the dye drips almost as much as I love the eggs.

On Saturday and Sunday we watched the 191st Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

On Monday, the kids went on an Easter egg hunt around the house to find more eggs filled with Cadbury mini eggs, candy fruit slices (in lieu of jelly beans), and Peeps.

We also made our traditional Easter feast on Monday- ham, funeral potatoes, deviled eggs, green bean casserole, and for dessert we had a delicious key lime pie!

These 4 day Easter weekends are always my favorite!