Chicks and Easter

A couple days after my sister left last week, our family went to IFA to buy some chicks.  Matt is working on building a chicken coop for them in our backyard.  He's been so busy and the weather hasn't been cooperating with him, but I'm sure it will be done by the time the chicks are six weeks old.  By late summer we should start getting some eggs.  I am really looking forward to fresh eggs.  They taste so good.

For the last couple of years, Matt has been suggesting that we get some chickens, and I have been hesitant to do it until our neighbors asked me to take care of their chickens while they were out of town last summer.  The Copes have been so generous with us that I would do anything for them--even put their chickens in the coop for the night.  The girls and I had so much fun putting them in the coop and collecting the eggs.  After scrambling some of the eggs, I knew that I would love having chickens of our own.  Fresh eggs are so yummy!

We bought six chicks.  Four of them are Americaunas and two of them are Red Stars.  Tomorrow they will be two weeks old, and they have grown a lot since I took these pictures.  In fact, they have nearly outgrown their brooder.  So we will have to re-purpose Porter's dog kennel until they are old enough to live outside in the coop.

 

Reagan loving the new chicks

Reagan, Kirsten, Porter, and Daddy with the chicks

They were so little!

The Sunday before Easter I taught Kirsten how to take pictures with my phone.  She took hundreds of pictures within the space of an hour.  It made her feel so grown up and independent to get to take pictures of whatever she thought was worth taking a picture of.  These are a couple of my favorites.

She took a picture of me playing the piano, which is a sight that I rarely get to see, if you can imagine.

Here's a picture of Reagan cuddling with Porter.

Last Monday we had our friends over and got to share our chicks with them.  Kirsten took this picture, too.

On Tuesday my parents flew in from Tennessee.  They are planning on moving here this summer.  So they came out to visit and to get a feel for the housing market.  The market isn't great, but I guess it's good they haven't found the perfect home yet because they aren't quite ready to buy yet.  They still need to sell their home in Tennessee!

Nana cuddling with Kirsten and Reagan.

On Thursday we went to the mall to play.

This is Kirsten at the mall.  I told her to look tough for the picture.  What a cutie!

That evening we dyed Easter eggs.  Reagan nearly sat on this chair full of hard-boiled eggs.

Nana brought Easter stickers, and Kirsten spent a lot of time decorating with them.

 
On Friday we went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point.  It was an incredible play place for children.

There was a Rainforest room with rope bridges that led up to a biplane.

There was the water works room where the girls got soaking wet and learned about pipes, etc.

In fact, the museum was so large and fun that I can't even begin to describe it all, but we definitely had a blast.  We spent six hours there!  On the downside, Reagan was utterly and entirely exhausted from the day's events and developed a really bad cough.  Of course, she didn't get sick from the museum, but I don't think playing that hard and skipping her nap helped much.  Poor girl.

That evening we got the girls a babysitter and went on a triple date with my parents and Brian and Norma.  We ate at the India Palace in downtown Provo, and afterward we went to the Rec Center to talk in the lounge and play ping pong.  Apparently, my dad whooped Matt at ping pong, which got him feeling competitive.  Then Matt beat me pretty bad.  Usually Matt and I play pretty comparable games, but apparently, losing to my dad three times made him want to step it up.  I, on the other hand, wanted to give up when I lost :)

On Sunday my parents and Brian and Norma came to our ward to watch me lead the choir.  That meant a lot to me.  I really enjoy leading the choir, and I felt really pleased with how well they sang for Easter.  We sang an arrangement of "I Believe in Christ" that I found online at freeldssheetmusic.org.  Every time I pick a piece of music from the free website it is an act of faith.  The music editing isn't always the best, so I get to do some of it with help from the choir.  But this arrangement was really uniquely beautiful.

After nap time we went to Brian and Norma's house for Easter dinner and an egg hunt.  Sierra helped me hide the eggs for Kirsten and Reagan to look for, and then Matt and I hid the eggs for Sierra and
William to look for.  We found some really tough hiding spots for those older kids.

Kirsten, William, Reagan, and Sierra after their egg hunts

Papa and Beth sent these wooden dolls for Easter.  The girls have been busily decorating them.  What fun!

My Half Marathon

For the past year or so I've been preparing to run a half marathon.  Apparently, when I spoke to the girls about it, I would tell them about how I was going to run "my half marathon."  Kirsten picked up on how I always said "my" and started telling people this week that on Saturday Mommy was going to run "my" half marathon.  I think it's really cute that she was so proud of me.

On Thursday my sister Emily came to town to run a half marathon with me, my brother Brian, and his wife Norma.  The girls and I drove to the airport to pick her up, and then we stopped in Draper to have lunch with Matt before heading back to Springville.  We stuffed ourselves at Goodwood Barbecue.  It was yummy food.

After we got to Springville, my sister went for a run to help her get used to the altitude change.  Then we all walked over to Kirsten's preschool to look at the animals.  We particularly loved the kangaroo.

Porter and the kangaroo sniffing each other out

Kirsten and me petting the kangaroo

That evening we had dinner at Brian and Norma's house in Provo.  It was a grand old time.  Emily spent the night there, and then the girls and I went to pick her up Friday morning to drive down to Zions.  Matt, Brian, and Norma all had to work.  So, they drove down a bit later, but we were ladies of leisure.

When we got to Zions, we went to the race expo to get our shirts and race bibs.  This was my first road race ever.  So, I was glad to have my sister there to kind of lead the way.  Then we met up with Brian, Norma, and Matt.

Kirsten on a rock

Reagan getting ready to run

Reagan found some ants that she called her "ant friends"

I was hard pressed to get her to leave her "ant friends" behind.

 After we met up with Matt, we explored our hotel lobby and gift shop.  There was a little natural history museum attached to the lobby, and we enjoyed walking through.

Reagan and Kirsten both liked the arctic foxes the best.  They called them "baby polar bears."

Both poses in front of the baby polar bears make me laugh.  Such silly girls!

Matt's favorite was the moose being attacked by the wolves.

My favorite was the buffalo

 After looking at the animals, we met up with everyone else to eat dinner at Blondie's Diner.  All the runners ate big burgers to give us plenty of energy for the race.  I suppose a big pasta dinner would have been more ideal, but pasta didn't seem as readily available as bison burgers in Springdale, Utah.
That night I slept in a hotel room with my sister.  It was fun to have a little sleepover with her.  Matt and the girls had another hotel room not far from us, and I was glad not to have to worry about them the night before the race.  Brian and Norma also stayed at the hotel.

In the morning the runners got up bright and early.  It was raining, which was kind of lame.  On the bright side, I was chomping at the bit to start the race, and I'm pretty sure I started at a faster pace than I otherwise would have because I was so intent on warming up.  At mile ten I passed our hotel, and Matt and the girls cheered me on.  Their cheers gave me a burst of energy that stuck with me for the last three miles.  I finished the race in 2:16:51, and I was very proud of myself.  I ran an average pace of 10:27 per mile, which I thought was really quite good.

Immediately after I was done with the race, all I could think about was water.  I was very thirsty.  Then the cold started sinking in--and the hunger.  Finally, the sore muscles.  It was a blast!

Showing off our medals

 We ate lunch together at the hotel and got burgers again.  I was amazed by how quickly I ate my burger and salad, and I wasn't even stuffed to the brim like I usually would have been.

Emily and I showing off our medals at lunch

 After lunch, my little family went home.  Emily, Brian, and Norma stayed at Zions to explore the park a bit, but I was not interested in hiking.  I was interested in resting and sleeping.

On Sunday we woke up at nine o'clock because we had forgotten about the time change.  We rushed to get ready for church at ten and managed to arrive on time.  I was pretty stiff every time I stood to lead the music in Sacrament Meeting, but I managed to hide it--I think.

After Church, Matt's dad and brother Jake came to spend the day with us.  Marc had been in Idaho visiting his sister, who is sick, and even though an unfortunate reason brought him to our side of the country, it was still nice to see him.  We had a picnic at the duck pond park, and he gave the girls some awesome presents.  They each got a set of headbands with bows, ribbons, and gems to decorate them.  Kirsten got a set of mosaic art, and Reagan got some button art.  I could tell that Beth had been reading our blog to help Marc pick out the presents for the girls.  They love doing art and creating things.

Waiting to open their presents

Excited about their presents

Kirsten wearing one of her new headbands

Reagan and Papa reading together

Kirsten and Daddy doing mosaic art together

 Marc left to go back to Georgia just after the girls went to bed, and Emily came back from her trip in Southern Utah on Monday evening.  We ate dinner together at our house with Brian, Norma, William, and Sierra.  Then we stayed up and talked about our pets.  Dogs provide endless conversation.

Silly Reagan.  She's such a goof ball.

Family Pictures

I'm going to share our recent family pictures in a separate blog post today because I want you all to be able to look at them and decide which ones you would like me to print off for you.  If you don't want any, I won't be insulted.  I'll number each picture, so that you can indicate to me which picture you'd like.  Also, please tell me how many you'd like and what size you would like.  Then I can send them to you.  Or, if you'd prefer, you can download the pictures and order prints for yourselves. Either way is fine with me.

I love Jennie!  She takes great pictures, doesn't she?

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The advent of Spring

On Wednesday last week we went to the library for Music Time, and it was nice enough that we were able to walk.  I'm so happy that Spring weather has come!  The girls insisted on wearing their winter coats, but the coats didn't prove to be necessary.  Before Music Time started, we played next to Hobble Creek behind the library.  There is a small patch of "woods," and the girls really enjoyed playing in them.  It made me wish we had more woods to play in.

Seriously, kids--and adults--can be so carefree in the woods.  Sometimes when we're out walking in our neighborhood, I get so annoyed with suburbia/capitalism/modern society/growing up/who-knows-whatever-other-influences that make me feel like I have to tell my kids to stop collecting rocks from other people's yards.  It makes no sense that all the rocks around us belong to someone, and they can't just bring a neat rock home with them.  I confess, sometimes I let them bring rocks home, but I know that if every kid who walked past a house picked up a rock from the neighbor's flowerbed, they wouldn't have any rocks left.  After all, we bought all our rocks, and Matt painstakingly laid them in our garden.  Ugh!  Well, that's why the woods behind the library were fun to play in last week.

After playing outside, we went into the library for Music Time and enjoyed ourselves quite a bit.  I volunteer to help with Music Time, which helps me feel like I am really part of the library.  We sing songs, shake egg shakers, dance, etc.  It's fun.

Reagan posing next to Hobble Creek

Kirsten posing next to Hobble Creek

Saturday we went to the Rec Center.  Kirsten did Zumba, Matt did P90X, Reagan went to the Kids' Club, and I ran six miles.  I'm getting geared up for my big half marathon on Saturday!

In the evening we went over to Costco and explored the store as a family.  We got a membership the week before, and we are very excited about it.  Matt and I have rearranged our entire kitchen to make room for more food.  It's amazing how poorly we were using the space before.  Now we have an entirely empty cupboard just waiting to be filled with the food we will buy from Costco!  For dinner we ate a Costco rotisserie chicken, and it was delicious.

All of you have something wildly exciting to anticipate.  On Sunday my friend Jennie, with her family, came over to eat dinner and take pictures of our family.  Matt and I wanted some professional pictures to post on our LinkedIn accounts, and of course, we got family pictures while we were at it.  Jennie is so talented, and I can't wait to see the final product.  Then I will share some of the pictures on my blog.  That's what you guys have to look forward to :)

Yesterday we spent the morning at home.  The girls wanted to have a tea party with water, which is an activity that I feel like needs to be supervised by a parent.  I used to let them do it by themselves, but then they started making HUGE messes.  For them a tea party is essentially like playing with a water table, which I think is great, but since we're inside on the carpet, I'm hesitant to let them go crazy.  At any rate, we had a fun tea party that ended with all the goldfish crackers being dumped into the water and eaten.  Well, more or less.

In the afternoon we went to their friend Amielee's birthday party at the Kangaroo Zoo bounce house in Pleasant Grove.  They were so brave and independent.  I was so surprised to find them climbing up and sliding down without any problems or fear.  When we go to bounce houses, I usually like to jump with them, mostly because I think it's fun, but also because I've always thought they kind of needed me to help them.  Well, it seems like they've grown up and could do it all by themselves this time around.  They jumped with the other kids for an hour and a half, and then we all went to Amielee's house to have cakes and open presents.  There was even a pinata!  My kids were in heaven, and it wasn't even either of their birthday parties.

We'd been planning on going to the Rec Center at five, but when we got home from the party at 4:15, I started to have my doubts.  When Kirsten burst into tears after getting back in the car to leave for the Rec Center, my doubts were confirmed.  I got the kids out of the car, and we spent the rest of the evening at home.

After Matt, who was going to meet us at the Rec Center from work, got home from the Rec Center, we had dinner and a fun Family Home Evening where we talked about Easter and the Resurrection.  We specifically talked about Christ's arrival in Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and how the multitude cried, "Hosanna!  Hosanna!  Blessed be the name of the Most High God!"  Then we made palm fronds in the shape of our hands out of green construction paper and popsicle sticks.  We waved them around and pretended we were welcoming Christ to Jerusalem.
 

The tea party before it got too messy

This morning I cut pictures of Christ out of some Church magazines and had the girls hang them up on the living room wall to decorate for Easter.  I had read some suggestions in The Friend, the children's magazine from the Church, about ways to make Easter more Christ-centered, and I found some really great ideas, including the palm fronds and decorating with pictures of Christ.  I admit that the girls were initially disappointed that I wasn't pulling out Easter bunnies and chicks, but it didn't take them long to get excited.  I told them that they could hang the pictures wherever they wanted to, but with time, all the pictures migrated to one wall.  The girls started calling it their "Jesus ladder."  They even had a good portion of the pictures in chronological order, and when I noticed that, I helped them get the rest in chronological order.  I find our "Jesus ladder" very inspiring, and I like that the bottom picture says, "Finding new life in Christ," because I really do believe that Christ's life, Atonement, Crucifixion, and Resurrection are the only way for us to find spiritual and physical rebirth.

Maybe tomorrow we'll go get some Easter bunnies and chicks because it's fun to decorate with them, too.

The "Jesus ladder"