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!