High Time

Because I haven’t been well enough to fly, we hadn’t been to Florida to visit with Shanna and the twins since September, so it was high time for a trip to spend time with them! Highlights of the long weekend for all of us were:

• Celebrating the twin’s fifth birthday and watching them share their new toys.
• Floating down the “lady” (lazy) river…as Abbie called it.

• Watching Liam and Abbie slide down the waterslide. (Liam kept telling Abbie that he would catch her when she came down the slide, which he could barely stay afloat himself. It was so cute!)
• A trip to Target to buy “fast” shoes for the twins.

• Watching Mommy train, running into firemen who were also working out, and getting to “drive” the truck and honk the horn—so cool!

• Snuggling in the morning and read books together.
• Long and late night chats with Shanna.

It was so hard to say goodbye! I’m grateful for FaceTime and the gap it fills during our time apart. It was a wonderful weekend and did my heart good!

Building Things

Jon celebrated his birthday recently, and this is what my artist created for his packaging. Handy with all kinds of tools, he just finished a bathroom in their home, but what he’s really good at building is cool industrial furniture! Jon’s also excellent at building relationships—one of the reasons we love him and are so glad he’s part of our family!

Happy Easter

We like to give a book at Eastertime to our girls’ families, and this year I found two worth sharing—one for the younger children and one more for the older children and adults—both about the true meaning of Easter. Of course, they had to be tied off with an adorable tag and a bag of Cadbury mini eggs!

Between reading the smaller book and watching the Prince of Peace video on lds.org, this Easter season has been especially meaningful for me. I am eternally grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know He lives, and this knowledge brings me peace every day! Happy Easter!

Good Ride and Good Reading

Sterling and two of our friends competed at their first ride of the season at Antelope Island. We woke up at 4:00, and by the time we left the house, it was pouring rain. As I kept encouraging Sterling, all I could think of was how warm I would be in the truck, reading and napping, while everyone else froze in the 40-degree windy and rainy weather. Crazy people!

You’ll notice them tacking up and gearing up in the rain…yes, while I took photos from the inside of the truck.

Returning from a 25-mile ride in the top ten—safe and happy!

As it happened, it rained until the three riders took off on their horses, then it stopped, and didn’t start raining again until we were leaving ride camp. How lucky is that!? After watching the weather all week, knowing the chance of rain was high and wondering if he should ride, Sterling said he’s happy he went, and it was a good ride. I’m happy I went too—two naps and some good reading, as well as time with Sterling…a great way to spend the day!

Cousin Time

Since Shalae is sleep training little Owen and Sara’s in Europe, I decided to take the three older Brown kids and the three younger Douglass kids for a couple of days during spring break and do some fun things together. The first day, we walked through the Ashton Gardens, went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity, and met up with Grandpa for dinner at Chili’s, where each child ordered a Mini Chocolate Molten…to die for!

The next day, we went to lunch and a matinee, where we sat in recliners—a first, and we will all be forever ruined! It was the most comfortable way to watch a movie in a theatre. Then we decorated and filled SU! Mini Egg Cartons for the long-distance cousins and finished our time together with swimming.

When I asked them how they would describe the two days, they used words like awesome, best, and fun! It was great cousin time, and I was glad to tag along!