Happy Birthday, Elizabeth

Someone turned 9 years old today!  Ryan brought Emma and Elizabeth home from school a little early.  First we had some chocolate cake for snack.

 Then the birthday girl got to open her presents.

 Woo hoo!  A new bike!  One that fits!

Afterwards, we took a trip to get Elizabeth's ears pierced (I'm lame and didn't get pictures of that), followed by dinner out.  Annie decided that she never wants to get her ears pierced after watching Elizabeth get hers done.  Although, Elizabeth wasn't so sure about getting the 2nd ear done after the first.  But she persevered, and it got done!

Happy birthday, Elizabeth!

Celebrating Elizabeth

After the Easter festivities, we had a chance to celebrate Elizabeth's 9th birthday, which is tomorrow.  She got her first set of earrings (piercing to happen tomorrow).

 Grandpa likes to tease.

 Then we had those cupcakes I made.

 Yum yum!

Easter

We were invited to attend church with my in-laws this morning at 9 am.  But, as all the bedrooms were already being used, and it's a 80 minute drive to my in-laws, we opted to attend our own church meeting.  Sleep is precious.  Kim told us we could sleep on the living room floor, but..... like I said before, sleep is precious.

Here are the girls in their pretty (not new) dresses.

 After sacrament meeting (which was huge- seriously, the attendance was abnormally large), we came home to change clothes, frost cupcakes, and head to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

 I have super amazing frosting skills, don't I?  Practically professional.

Not.

The Easter Bunny had been by, and the kids were stoked to hunt for eggs.  They were let out of the house according to age, so Simon went first, and Emma went last.

 The cousins decided it was only worth picking up the plastic eggs filled with candy, so we came home with at least 4 dozen hard boiled eggs.  Luckily, there were some plastic eggs for my girls too.

Elizabeth and Emma were really nice big sisters, and shared eggs with their smaller sisters.

 And then ate, and ate, and ate.  It's not really Easter without no room for real food, am I right?

 Amy's face totally cracks me up.  Enough candy yet there Amy?

 "Do they see us?  Can we eat another piece?" -Simon

 Weird picture of me.

 Nicer picture of Ryan and me, and photo bombing Elizabeth.

 It was a pretty warm day.  By the time the kids got the chocolate, it had been in the sun for a while.  We tried eating some of those chocolate eggs out of the wrapper, but.... well...

Pre-Easter Festivities

Today we drove to my in-law's.  We brought 3 dozen eggs to dye, from our own chickens.  (Holy moly, do those chickens lay eggs....)  All of Ryan's siblings were there, plus Brynne's middle and high school friend Jana and her family.  It was a house full.  

 We used the Kool-Aid method for egg dying, which was new to me.  I was surprised at how well Kool-Aid dyes eggs.  Never underestimate the power of Kool-Aid.  (Note to self- it's probably a good thing we don't drink that stuff.)

 The eggs that are more "earthly" in their tones are the brown eggs we brought.

 Afterwards, we ate.  There were so many of us, the kids had their own table.

Flower Field Trip

Today the preschool kids took a field trip to Ryan's classroom to learn about plants.  The girls I babysit came along.

 Noah, Peyton, Annie, Avery, Maddie, Sean, Kennedy, and Jaxon.

I like to watch Ryan interact with the kids.  I think he could have made a good elementary teacher.  They watched part of an episode of The Magic School Bus.

 Talked about plants and seeds.

 Then went outside to plant some seeds of their own.

 And checked out the greenhouse full of flowering plants.

3rd Grade Concert

Tonight we were privileged to see the 2nd and 3rd grade concert.  But, first off, was the Marimba Club performance.  For a short period of the year, the 3rd graders are invited to participate so Elizabeth has been going with Emma.  

 She was rocking the maracas.

 Emma had her game face on.

 Then we got to watch the concert.  Elizabeth seriously gets into the performances.  She's so fun to watch.

At least she was in the front row.  (And if you look 3 kids to the left, you can see Elijah in the green plaid shirt.)

Jane came to watch Ella C. and ended up sitting by us.

Student of the Month

Elizabeth was chosen to be student of the month, and we are so proud of her!  Unfortunately, the 3rd grade assembly was at kind of an awkward time, so Annie and Maddie missed the first part of their speech therapy session, and Ryan wasn't able to join us.  I'm just glad I was able to go and cheer her on.

She was presented her certificate by the principal, Mrs. D.

Spring Wedding

This weekend we traveled over for my cousin Melissa's wedding.  We spent Thursday night at my Grandma's house.  Ryan had the coveted job of watching all the girls while I attended with Grandma to watch the ceremony on Friday.  Luckily, it was a nice day.

We walked around the temple afterwards while waiting for the newlyweds to emerge from the temple.

 Then in the evening, we all attended the reception.  I pulled this picture off Facebook as proof that we were there:

 (The kids were elsewhere at this time- probably raiding the refreshments.)

The big family picture, except for John, who is currently serving his mission.

Deception Pass

It would not be a complete trip without seeing Deception Pass on Whidby Island.

 Ryan likes throwing sticks.

I brought a quart sized baggie for each of the kids, and told them they only had this much space to keep their keepsakes.  Elizabeth found a rock she could not leave in addition to the baggie full of rocks and shells.  It came with us too.

Spring Break

We were a little bit early for the Skagit Valley Tulip festival, so we got to mostly just enjoy the daffodils.  They were beautiful all the same.  We arrived in the evening.

We had to check out Roosengaarde, to see what few tulips were blooming.  It was late, so we just walked the outside.