Coloring Easter Eggs and Egg Hunt

Alyssa jumped right in!

Spencer was having a blast

 Caleb put one egg in a cup of dye, then decided to let the other kids decorate his eggs.  Parker did his eggs fast, so he could get back to his movie. 

This is how Caleb dyed eggs

Alyssa showing off her egg

We came out front Saturday evening, and found a bunch of Easter Eggs hidden all over the front yard. 

It's a race

 It didn't take long to find the eggs. 

Look at that smile!

 Although, when we got in the van for church on Sunday, Alyssa noticed one piece of candy balanced on the rear window wiper blade. 

Provo City Center Temple Open House

My sister and her family came to UT for the Provo City Center Temple Open house.  We went last Monday morning at 8 am, so they could get back home that day.   The temple was beautiful, and so fun to get to go with our cousins.  Keith was supposed to have the day off, but was scheduled for some training and missed coming with us.  I felt like we ran through the temple.  Spencer loved climbing the stairs two at a time, and they were tall stairs.  Once we stopped for a moment and were urged to keep moving.  We'll have to go back another time when we can more fully appreciate the beauty and serenity.  I was impressed that Parker noticed the oxen are a dark color, and asked me why because he remembered them being lighter colored at the other temple open houses we've gone to.  Honestly, I didn't even remember seeing them while we were in the temple because I was trying to keep an eye on Spencer.  One detail I did notice is the beautiful door hinges, I've never seen such lovely hinges. 

Happy Pioneer Day

We celebrated Pioneer Day and our neighbor's birthday with Flag Cake.  Caleb saw the recipe in the Romney family cookbook and wanted it.  We used cream cheese frosting, instead of vanilla frosting which was an awesome substitution!  Spencer and Alyssa helped decorate the cake.  Some of us went up the street to watch the neighbor's fireworks.  Good times!

Easter

My friend put together a packet about having a Christ-centered Easter.  She showed us at our last Relief Society Meeting a few of the things she does during the week before Easter to put the focus on Christ.  We used a few of her ideas, and enjoyed thinking of Jesus Christ's life, Atonement, and Resurrection. 

We colored eggs Friday night and had an egg hunt on Saturday morning.  Here are the kids showing off their finds. 

Halloween 2014

Alyssa got to wear her costume to dance a week before Halloween.  The Saturday before Halloween Alyssa went to a birthday party, and Keith took the boys to a Trunk or Treat at church. Alyssa and I came after her friend's birthday party.  Spencer dressed up as Bob the Builder for the first party.  Then the next week I found the knight costume he is wearing in these photos.  Nearly every day at some point in the day he would change into his Mike the Knight costume, and would greet Keith after work in his knight costume. Thursday night the school had a Monster Mash dance, that I went to with Alyssa and Spencer. 

Caleb dressed at Snake Eyes from GI Joe, Parker was a ninja, Alyssa was a ladybug, and Spencer was Mike the Knight. 

My neighbor took Caleb and Parker trick-or-treating with her boys.  They had a great time, and even got to spend the night with their friends as well.  I took Spencer and Alyssa around the block to trick-or treat while Keith passed out candy.

 

Once we got home, Spencer and Alyssa took over passing out the candy.  They sat by the window and watched for trick-or-treaters to come.  They got so excited to hand out candy. Spencer said it was his favorite part of Halloween. 

Summer - Fourth of July

 At the beginning of summer we asked our kids what things they wanted to do this summer.  Alyssa wanted to go to the beach.  We found a "beach" about 25 minutes away and decided to go there the morning of July 4th.  We arrived early enough that it wasn't too crowded so our kids could build their sandcastles. 

 I think the kids all had a great time playing in the sand and water.  We didn't stay too long because we wanted to go to a parade at noon. 

In the evening I took the kids to a high school football field to watch fireworks.  Keith was on call, and had to stay home and work.  It was close enough to see the fireworks, but far enough away that it was not too crowded.  The kids had fun running around the track and field before the fireworks started.  We also played UNO while we waited.  By the time the fireworks at 10 pm, Spencer was done.  He started crying that he wanted to go home to bed, so we headed home shortly after they started. 

Easter Egg Hunt

 We had an Easter Egg Hunt the day before Easter in our backyard with a couple of friends.  The kids all had fun finding eggs, but one was very upset when we had to divide the eggs evenly after the hunt. 

Christmas 2013

Opening stockings

Spencer caught on more this year

and enjoyed unwrapping presents

She loved to pose with all her gifts

Ready for a Nerf war?

 

Yeah!  A hammock for camping!

This is the face he makes when I ask him to smile

This is the face Spencer makes when I tell him not to smile

To defend himself

Against his brother

She loves crafts!

Do you recognize him?

He was excited for the jar of change

Go Cougars!

One of my favorite pictures of him

Ninja pose, in case you didn't know what they were doing

Another Cougar Fan

Found this idea on Pinterest for displaying Christmas cards

This present was from Alyssa, so he had to take it up to her room so she could see him open it. 

Arlene came over for dinner, and Spencer was thrilled to have her read a story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween Fun

Our Halloween celebrations lasted nearly a week this year.  Last Friday I took Alyssa and Spencer to the Monster Mash dance at school.  It is always a fun event, I might even like it more than the kids.  Alyssa had wanted to wear our ladybug costume, size 2T, but decided it might be a little too small.  Instead she decided to go as Black Spiderman.  Alyssa had fun dancing.  I think Spencer was overwhelmed by the huge crowd and wanted to be held, except when he was eating his cookie. 

Ready to dance

 The next day, Alyssa decided to dress as a cowgirl.  Parker wanted to be Captain Rex, from Star Wars, for a few weeks before Halloween.  After I got home from the dance Friday night he informed me he wanted to be a police officer.  We didn't have time to find the police officer outfit in time for the party on Saturday, so he got decked out in his camouflage.  Thank goodness for our tote of costumes!

 Saturday the kids and I went to a Halloween Party at church.  Caleb and Parker loved the obstacle course at one end of the gym that was mostly made of tables.  They raced through it over and over.  Spencer came, he just did not want to pose for this photo. 

Ready to get some candy!

 Keith took the kids out tonight for trick or treating.  I stayed home and handed out candy. 

Our cowgirl

Officer Parker

The kids also had parties in their classes this year during the last hour of school today.  I think they all had a fun day.  It is fun to see them all get excited. 

Easter

 We had an egg hunt on Saturday with the kids.  They had a great time finding eggs. 

Spencer shook his egg until it opened.  He was content to eat the contents. 

Checking their eggs

We also colored eggs, but I forgot to take pictures of them.