Mom, Chrissy and baby Cameron came to visit

We were so excited to have had my mom and sister Chrissy come out to visit us. Cameron Chrissy's youngest came out too since he was free on the plane.We were able to see lots of fun stuff and do some family history work too. We even made sugar cookies. It was a fast trip but we made the most of our time together and packed as much fun in as we could!!

Our final Day

It all had to end at some point and here we are enjoying the final hours with our friends!!

The Temple Open House

We went to Kansas to see out best friends but we also went to see the new Temple. It is a Temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We were so excited to take the tour and see the inside before it was dedicated and only worthy adults and youth (ages 12 and up) of the church could enter it. This is the one and only Temple Elsie has been able to be inside. I have been in many of them but I really wanted Elsie to feel the peace and the sweet spirit that abide there. It was so wonderful. Elsie loved seeing the beautiful rooms and the pretty decorations from chandeliers to carver carpet to paintings of Jesus. When we went into the Celestial room she said in awe to me, in a quiet whisper "It's beautiful". And it was.

Easter 2012

Easter Sunday was a lot of fun. We got up early to get ready for church and find what the Easter bunny had left for the kids. When we went down stairs and saw that the baskets where in front of the fire place Elsie said "it's not tricky to find it". I guess she remembers last year having to hunt for her basket. After looking at the baskets and all the fun things inside we got in the car and went to church. When we got home from church we had dinner and then after that was an Easter egg hunt in the back yard. Our friend we stayed with had her parents and siblings over for dinner so that was fun too. We missed daddy but over all it was a fun time.

Our trip to Kansas

Elsie and I were lucky enough to go to Kansas again this spring. We had a great time with friends and were sad to go. We went to lunch a few times and to the local children's farm. We also spent Easter there. We had lots of fun and have tons of photos to share.

Easter eggs

This year Elsie and I were going on a trip for her spring break and so we hurried up and dyed Easter eggs the night before we left. Elsie had picked out a glitter egg dyeing kit at the store. We were happy that daddy could get home to do a little too.

Making cookies

We love to make cookies. This batch was sugar cookies which are especially fun because we get to roll them out and cut them into shapes. Elsie makes a huge mess with the flour. These photos are from the end of March because we were making Easter cookies. Elsie decided to use the flour to make a cookie. She took a cookie cutter and filled it with flour and called it a flour cookie and moved the cookie cutter away and there was her shape! It was fun but it made a huge mess!

Ant Farm

Uncle Lucky gave Elsie an ant farm for Christmas. Daddy surprised us with the ants, which come in the mail, about a month ago. Here are the photos of them just starting out and then at their peak. They dug a lot of tunnels and pretty quickly too. But now they are not doing so well. There are only around 4 alive and they are not building anything else. I think the end is in sight and it is due to several things too much food, not enough water and too much sun! But it has been fun while it has lasted.

A necklace for grandma

Elsie got in into her mind that grandma needed a necklace for her birthday. So her dad suggested we make grandma one. Elsie picked out the beads and I added a clasp to some wire and we got to work. Grandma loved it!

Chore Chart

Here is the chore chart that Elsie and I sat down and made together. She enjoyed picking the colors to draw the lines with. She has helped a little but I think we might need to start encouraging her a little more. 

Baskets

A while back I went to a friends home and looked around and thought how cute. She had a few things above the cupboards and other things around and I thought I should do something with our space. I have never really decorated just hung pictures on the wall. So this was a big step to take. I looked on the internet and Pinterest to see if I could find something cute and I came across baskets.  The space was empty to start with and I threw a few baskets up to see how I liked it. I thought it was interesting but I could not tell how I liked it without more baskets. So after picking up Elsie from preschool we went to the local thrift store and picked up the rest of the baskets. The prices were great I only spent $3 on the largest ones. I did this all without Wills input so I was a little worried he might not like it but I just could not stop myself. Plus I hardly spent any money so how could he object. I like the way it turned out in the end and have since worked on the shorter space above the other cupboards.

Drawing?

Elsie is a scribbler. She does not draw an image very often so when what she draws is similar to anything I get excited! Here is an example of a spontaneous drawing of the grass, sky, and the sun. She drew a few things in Kansas when we went but I don't think we took any pictures.

Making a crown

We are going to have a royal party for Elsie for her birthday this year. Elsie talks about it all the time. It will be her first friends birthday party as she has only had family ones so far. We are trying to figure out who to invite which might be hard but we will narrow it down eventually. For now since it is a long way off we are just trying to figure out what to do. So far we are going to decorate crowns with sequins. Maybe we will play musical chairs or something else but like I said we have time.