Spring

Spring! I can't believe it has been 3 weeks since I have updated my blog. Where to even begin?

We'll start with Eli's four wheeling.

The Saturday befored Easter, Eli went over to Uncle Bill's shop and got to go four wheeling with his cousins. He was very excited to get to go. He even has his own helmet to use, compliments of Uncle Bill.

I got a call before I made it over to see him from Uncle Bill. He told me that Eli had already ran into a tree and almost fell off! Well, I came on over to see for myself, and he was riding fine. He just had to have a little bit of practice and stay away from the trees.

That evening, the girls all took a bath together. I put Laura Lynn into the Bumbo and she sat with the older two. They enjoyed having her in the tub with them.

Easter morning was very nice. Jamie was off and so we were able to wake up and make our "Resurrection Rolls." The kids really enjoyed making them this year. They are cinnamon sugar and butter covered crescent rolls with a marshmallow in the middle. When you bake them, the marshmallow melts into the roll and leaves a hollow middle. This represents the empty tomb. Eli enjoyed telling the Easter story to Papa while sharing his rolls.

Of course, there were Easter baskets waiting for them when they woke up. They got great chocolate candy as well as some movies and CDs. Ginny got The Princess and the Frog, Eli got Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel, and Katie got 2 Justin Bieber CDs. Laura Lynn got a cute rattle and some new socks.

It was a very beautiful morning. I love looking out on Easter and seeing the dogwoods in full bloom. We took advantage of it being General Conference weekend by sleeping in a little and then going outside for a nice little photo shoot. (Well, all parts of it weren't nice. It's really hard getting four children to all look at the camera at once without one of them being goofy.) Here are some of our best pictures.

After a great session of General Conference, we had a great Easter meal with my family. Yummy as usual! We then got our stuff packed up and headed to Maggie Valley. We met Jamie's mom and nice, Olivia on the interstate on the way there and had a nice few days in the mountains. I'm sorry to say I didn't take one picture. It was just nice to be away from home and truly relax. We cooked our meals and the kids played on the horse swing the whole time we were there. It was lovely weather. They even walked down the hill and were able to walk in the creek. While they were there, they even saw a man catch 2 trout using his fly fishing rod. We sure enjoyed our time with Nana and Olivia.

The kids were on spring break the week after Easter, so after our mountain trip, we just relaxed at home. I did have to work each morning, but our afternoons were easy and carefree.

The last two weeks have been busy trying to organize the kids rooms. Since Laura Lynn is rolling over very good now, she couldn't stay in the cradle any longer. So, I had to get the crib set up. We have changed Eli's room around a good bit. He now has a twin bed in there and the crib is against the wall so that I can get the baby out quick when she cries in the middle of the night. She is doing so well sleeping in her crib. I can put her down between 8 and 9 each night and she sleeps until about 3:00. I then get her, feed her, and put her back and she sleeps until about 6:30 or 7:00. She has even been taking naps in the crib lately. I can put her down awake, and she doesn't fuss, but goes right to sleep. I do swaddle her pretty tight with a blanket which helps her go on to sleep.

In the girls' room, we are redoing it with a new full size bed for Katie and Ginny to share and a new dresser for all of their clothes. When all is said and done, I may take some pictures. It's been a chore because along with redoing their rooms, I have been switching out seasonal clothes. What a task!

Jamie and his mom were supposed to go to France this past Wednesday, but due to the volcano in Iceland, their trip was cancelled. I do hope that they will go another time because I know they were both looking forward to being there. Who would have ever thought a volcano in Iceland of all places would have caused such craziness with flights being cancelled all over!