Sprinkle

Friday night our little family began getting our garden plot ready - not an easy task, since the area hasn't been used as a garden for a couple of years and had lots of weeds and branches to get rid of. Anyway, we all worked hard and we decided to reward the girls by letting them run through the sprinklers. Check out these cute pics of Kasidee having fun!

Mother's Day

Quentin had meetings early Sunday morning. While his 4 girls slept in, he quietly got up and got ready. I didn't know until I walked into the kitchen what else he had been up to....



The girls were thrilled, and we gobbled up the pancakes before we met him at church!

Park

Last Friday, since the weather began - FINALLY - to feel like spring, the 3 of us took a leisurely walk to "our park." Kasidee drove her Barbie car and the girls had fun playing in the cold stream. Love it!

Ha ha ha

I know, I know. I post often about funny things my girls say. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks they are funny, but I want to be sure to post them so I can remember!

One night before bed Kiera was in a particularly inquisitive mood. She asked Quentin, "Daddy, where did dinosaurs come from?" Kasidee piped up and said, "The zoo!

That same night, Kiera asked when time began and when it will end. Tough question. As we tried to answer, she said, "Well, maybe there never was a beginning or an end. But, you know, even supercalifragilisticexpialidocious has an ending."

On Mother's Day, Kasidee came running out of her Sunbeam class, gave me a hug and said, "Thank you to take care of me!" Awww....

Opera!

Makenna's first grade class put on an opera today! They've been working on it all year - the whole class came up with the storyline and the words (which were put to music.) They all helped create the scenery and the costumes. It was so fun to see - Makenna was a mermaid, and it was fun to see how expressive she was. She just comes alive when the spotlight is on her! This was such a fun opportunity - Makenna's class was the only class in the school that was chosen by the Utah Festival Opera to do this. Fun!






After the opera, the class sang a few "Mother's Day" songs and then the kids presented their moms with a special package!

Kiera #9

Where has the time gone? My little Kiera turned 9 yesterday - in 9 more years she'll be 18!! She is just a joy - she's so tenderhearted and thoughtful and genuinely kind; so responsible and conscientious and dependable; so happy and smart and curious. She loves drawing and sewing and reading. She is just so fun to be around. We're so proud of her and love her sooooo much!!

Kiera had planned on having a few of her girl friends over for a "Teddy Bear Picnic" to help celebrate her birthday. She was so disappointed that it was snowy and cold - here's a picture of her by our popcorn trees with snow coming down. But we moved the picnic tables inside and had a grand ol' time anyway!


Kiera had 10 of her friends - and 10 of their bears - over for a picnic of mini pb&j sandwiches, strawberries, potato chips, Teddy Grahams, gummy bears and lemonade. Even the bears had tiny plates and cups for their picnic.



After the picnic, we played a game where all of the bears were put in a big bag and each girl was blindfolded and had 30 seconds to feel for their bear. They all did a good job! Then we played "Bear Musical Chairs," opened presents had and cake and ice cream. Kiera requested a green frosted cake with a little piece of fabric and a tiny bear on it. Very simple, but it turned out cute - and just the way she wanted.





Check out these cute "Teddy Bear Tea Party" badges I got online from the Girl Scouts.... The girls had fun pinning them on their shirts or their bears.


After the friend party, we went to The Old Spaghetti Factory with the grandmas - Granny, Nana, Grandma Stephens - and Aunt Shlenae.

Then - if that wasn't enough fun - we had some more cake and ice cream with family in the evening! It was a busy and fun day!

Easter

Easter, like every holiday involving kids, is not just celebrated on THE DAY. It's like a week-long (or at least weekend-long) celebration. I guess that's what's fun! On Saturday, we went to an Easter Egg Hunt and brunch at Corbin and Nikki's house....







Then on Sunday we woke up to Easter baskets filled, and we had a special family Easter lesson after church....




And then off to a Johnson Easter Egg hunt! What a great weekend!





(Adam dropped all of his eggs!)

A Little Frizz

The girls love jumping on their cousins trampoline. We were laughing at Kasidee and her cute, frizzy hair!

Easter Dresses

A few weeks ago, during Spring Break, we decided to take the girls to Temple Square to get pictures of them in their Easter dresses. We spent about an hour there and got over a hundred pictures (it's so nice being married to a good photographer!) Here are just a few of my fave pics:






The girls' dresses each came with a little dress for their dolls - they were thrilled!

Pretty

It's an annual tradition for our little family to color eggs for Easter. I'm not sure why we do it every year, because nobody in our family ever actually eats them. Quentin might eat a couple and the girls might try one (meaning they'll smoosh it and pretend to eat some), and I think eggs are gross. Makenna just wants to keep one as a "pet." Nevertheless, we color the eggs. It's fun.

"New" Bike

Last winter, Kasidee began begging Quentin to fix her "new" bike (which is the bike we bought Makenna several years ago for her birthday, which she has since outgrown.) He told her we would have to wait till Spring - and last Friday it was finally a good day to get it done. He had to fix the spokes, fix the chain, put training wheels on, switch the tires, and put streamers in the handlebars (per Kasidee's request!) After that, the bike - and Kasidee - was ready to go! (P.S. I know her helmet is huge and clunky. But that's the kind Quentin insists are more protective. I say it looks like Kasidee is riding a motorcycle instead of a bike!)

Friends

My BFF Kristin and I have known each other for 23 years. We've always been close, but since we've each gotten married and had kids, it has been harder to get together. There have been times where we've made an effort to get together - and it feels like no time has passed at all - but over the last few years getting together just simply didn't happen as often as we would have liked. A few months ago, an email from Kristin really touched me - I literally cried as I sat at my computer. She told me she really values our relationship and wants to make our friendship more of a priority. I totally agreed. So, even though we live over an hour apart, we have been getting together each month for the last few months. We take turns - we had pizza at their house, pasta and a movie at our house, then we met at a park near their house. Next will be our turn again. I can't tell you how much these visits mean to me - it feels good to catch up on life. Her husband is great too and the 4 of us get along well - and our kids just adore each other! I want to treasure these times we have together - her husband's job most likely will take them out of state in about 3 years.... :(

But check out how cute our kids are:

I Looked Out the Window...

Kasidee looked out our window the other day and practically yelled, "Mommy - look! There's popcorn on our trees!" So I had to grab the camera and I took a few pictures over the course of about a week. I love these trees - they're pretty every time of year, but I especially love them during their brief "popcorn time!"

#14

Today is Quentin's and my (is that how you say it?) 14th anniversary! I can't believe I'm so old, and I can't believe how fast the time has gone! We also met each other 17 years ago on this day - which means I've known Quentin almost exactly HALF of my life!

If you don't like cheese...then you can stop reading here. But I just have to document for future generations that
I
Love
My
Husband!

When we were dating and first married, of course I knew how very much we loved each other, and we looked forward to spending our lives (and eternity!) with each other. But I think I've realized through the years just how very lucky I really am. Quentin is so thoughtful, so genuine, so wise, so hard-working, so sentimental, so involved with our little family. He is just the best husband and daddy! My life is so blessed because of him, and I am so grateful for him. He's my best friend, the one I always want to be around, and he makes my life so happy and comfortable and sweet.

(Okay, the cheese is done.)

Funnies

The other day Kiera asked me why she has never seen a dust bunny. She wondered where they live and how big they are. I think she thought they were real bunnies.

Kasidee and I were looking at some of her baby pictures. We came across one of her with her sisters. She asked where Daddy was in the picture - I told her he wasn't there. She said, "Oh - he wasn't born yet?"