He Lives!

Happy Easter!

I believe in our Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.  I know that He is the Son of God, that He did atone for our sins and for the pains of this world, that He did die on the cross, that his Atonement is infinite and available to all that desire to Come Unto Him.  He Lives!

I vote ....

 YES for MORE vacations!!

4 days at Disney World

+1 1/2 days at Universal Studios

+1/2 at the beach

+brothers and sisters (aka uncles and aunts)

+cousins

+family time

+yummy, yummy food!

-2 little kids (home with awesome grandparents)

=ONE AWESOME VACATION

Magic Kingdom

 D was obsessed with taking video clips with our new water proof, HD, small video camera.  Here is one of my favorites of G on the Jurassic Park ride:

After the ride!

sister A, and nephew W

A is pregnant with #4, a boy, and I love a pregnant belly...and I look horrible, wet from the rain, and rides!

W is a sweet kid, and we were happy they joined us for a day at Magic Kingdom!

love this pic!  the boys with the other cousin W

E playing drums at Epcot

Rock-n-Roll coaster with F &R&W...it was a blast hanging with these people!

Hollywood Studios...I like how even the road looks real...cracks and all!

The Tree of Life...Animal Kingdom

Hogwarts

The Magic Wand

Butter Beer and lunch at The Three Broomsticks

And, of course, THE BEACH

 

D loves to read at the beach, he did play plenty with the boys in the deep waves as well!

Five Years of Book Club

Just giving a much deserved shout-out to the book club I belong to.  Wow, what an incredible group of women!  We have been going five years strong.  Last night we celebrated our Five Year Anniversary. We even sang happy birthday to ourselves.  


Our Five Year List:

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

Peacegiver by James Ferrell

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

*1776 by David McCullough

A Mormon Mother by Annie Clark

*Wild Swans, Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

Death Comes to the Archbishop by Willa Cather

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

The Wedding Dress by Carrie Young

Left to Tell Immaculee Ilibagiza

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

*Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards

Austenland by Shannon Hale

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

*Miriam's Kitchen by Elizabeth Ehrlich

Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross

A Long Way Gone:  Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmeal Beah

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas

The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creed

*Anna Karinena by Leo Tolsky

Persnal History by Katharine Graham

*The Color of Water by James McBride

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

The Worst Hard Time

The Year of Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs

The Two Old Women-An Alaskan Legend by V. Wells

*The Guernsey & Potatoe Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

*The Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland

Don Quixote by Cervantes

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

My Life in France by Julie Child

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frank

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Distant Land of My Fathers by Bo Caldwell or Chinese Cinerella and Falling Leaves by Aldeline

*The Help by Kathryn Stockett

~Halloween Books-Scary book of choice.  Some favorites included      *Dracula, Frankenstein, Shorts Stories by Edgar Allen Poe,   and   Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Uglies by Scott Westerfield

A Reporter’s Life by Walter Cronkite

The Necklace by Cheryl Jarvis

Why must they grow up....

 If I had one super power, it would be the ability to SLOW DOWN TIME.  It is sort of a dirty trick, time.  I mean, you want your kids to grow-up, but you kind of don't either.  I simply can't believe it has been two years since Miss E entered the world.  I'm pretty sure she must be one of the most loved and doted on little girls alive.  I often wonder what life will hold for her with obsessed parents and even more obsessed brothers...Lucky Girl!

good morning birthday girl

Her very active, busy feet.

Happiness is contagious...

What do you do on a SNOW DAY?!?

I....

Send the kiddos out to play in the snow

I love this picture...seems like it should be a painting or something.

Have LITTLE kiddos over to play

E's play group....man, they must be some of the most mellow, cutest kids I have ever met...

and, MAKE VALENTINE'S DECORATIONS...

I saw this subway-print art project online, and thought...hey I can do that...so, I did.  It is now framed, and hangs on my wall, and I smile at it everytime I walk past.

So Wicked

WICKED

OPENING NIGHT:

Hopefully, we are instilling a love for the arts  in these two boys.

Intermission...sneaking a kiss, love Gabe's look in the background.

Oh yes I did, had to wear my most red, sparkly shoes.  

I have to say, I wasn't sure if Wicked would be as good the second time around, especially since I saw it on Broadway last time.  However, I was pleased.  We all had a good time.

This is how I found my daughter this morning:

*Lavendar Hat (that she adores)

*Squirt Gun

*Nice, purple goose egg on forehead

That, my friends, pretty much sums up E's personality!!