Alpacas

Scott's supervisor at work owns some alpacas and had invited us out to the Alpaca Farm to see them.  I had never heard of them before, so we loaded up the kids and went to see them.  The kids LOVED it and keep asking when we can go back to see them again.

Miss Mo giving the alpaca a treat.

Tyson was much more hesitant around them, but even he warmed up to them and fed them.

Cerise was totally at ease with the alpacas, as she is with most animals.

This guy apparently wanted a closer look at Morgan.

Isn't he cute?

Aunt Donette and Uncle Howie come to Visit!!

The week before Spring Break, Aunt Donette and Uncle Howie came to visit.  We did all sorts of fun stuff with them, most of which I forgot to take pictures of, or only used my phone and the pics aren't very good.  But I DID manage to take pictures of the egg-blowing/decorating.

Spring Break

For the first time ever we decided to actually go somewhere for Spring Break.  We stayed in one of our timehsares in Coeur D'Alene.  The plan was to drive into Spokane for at least one day, but we ended up just staying at the condo the whole time and playing in the pool/exploring/hiking.  It was totally fun, totally relaxing, and exactly what we all needed.

Tyson hiking up the trail.  He did great considering how little he is.
He made it about  a mile and a half up the mountain before he sat down on the trail proclaiming he was D-O-N-E.

The girls up ahead with Daddy.

About halfway up and still happy!

Taking a much needed break.

A cool cave we found along the way.

The timeshare sponsored an Easter egg hunt on the Saturday before Easter.  It was fun and well done.

Helping Daddy cook hamburgers

The Ugly Bush

The first time we drove up to this house to look at it, Scott and I looked at each other and said, "If we buy this house, that bush HAS to go!"  It was so ugly and overgrown and just awful.  FINALLY this spring we pulled it out.  I LOVE our front yard now!

House with the Ugly Bush

Pulling out the Ugly Bush

The HUGE pile of rocks that we sifted out of the dirt

All reshaped, sifted and ready to go!

Without the Ugly Bush (and with the wishing well planter we scored for free off the street corner)

Baptism Day!!!

At the beginning of March, Grandma and Grandpa were able come up for a visit and Cerise got baptized.  She was SOOOOO excited and ready to take this important step.  She chose to have Daddy baptize her and Grandpa confirm her.  I am so very proud of the big decisions that she has made and the way she prepared herself and studied and prayed to know that getting baptized was the right choice to make.  In her words, "The water was REALLY REALLY cold, but when Daddy baptized me, I felt warm in my heart and I knew that it was the Holy Ghost telling me that I had made the right decision."

Cerise and Daddy in their matching new clothes.

The whole family :)

Daddy, Cerise, and Grandpa

Cerise and the two boys who also got baptized that day.

In front of the Font.

It's Great to Be Eight!

In February Cerise turned eight!  I can't believe she's so old.  Her "big" gift this year was a pair of rollerblades.  She LOVES them and picked up how to use them very quickly.  She even motivated Mom and Dad to pull theirs out and try them out after YEARS of not being used.  Eight is another milestone birthday that gets a fun party somewhere, and Cerise chose to go to Chuck E. Cheese.  It was fun and easy.  And I DEFINITELY recommend going when they first open.  We had her party from 9:30-11:30 and it was perfect.  We were the only ones there for the first hour or so.

Soccer

When we signed Cerise up for basketball, Morgan asked when she would get to play a sport.  So, I signed her up for YMCA indoor soccer.  She was so excited for the 1st practice...and then she spent the whole time crying because she was in an unfamiliar place with people she didn't know, which, if you know my little girl, you know was WAY out of her comfort zone.  Unfortunately she also cried all the way through the 2nd practice, although that one she at least was out on the gym floor participating.  By the 3rd week, she was feeling much more secure and even smiled (and posed and pranced down the court).  In the end she said she liked it, but when I asked her if she wanted to sign up for a different soccer experience (that Cerise was begging to sign up for) she was quick to say that she was D-O-N-E playing soccer...for now anyway.

Ready and excited for the 1st day!

Finally feeling good about being there. 

Apparently waiting your turn to play is pretty boring :)