Owen's Kindergarten Graduation

Well...he did it.  It was a long road, but Owen will officially be attending the first grade next year .  :)  We were a little worried when he brought home his third skunk note!  Owen is a great kid and had a fun kindergarten year.  Maybe even a little too much fun.  His teacher was Mrs. Patterson, her room was always full of excitement (this may or may not have something to do with the skunk notes, the jury is still out on that one.)

He did great at his performance.  I love his sly little grin.

Emmie and I thoroughly enjoyed the program as well, apparently.

 Owen getting his certificate from his teacher.

 The proud graduate and his family.

The Habitat

For weeks we (I mean Ainsley) worked on her big second grade project.  The habitat.  She chose to do the Arctic.  She did research on animals that lived there and on the climate and then we were to create a 12x18 (yes there were specifications) model of her chosen habitat.  John built the base out of wood.  I figured if we were going to have to make 2 more of these we might as well make a sturdy/reusable base.  She had to make her own animals out of clay.  After a lot of time (and waaay more money than any second grade project should cost) she had a beautiful Arctic habitat.  Never mind the fact that it will soon be gutted and stored until Owen is in 2nd grade!

First Love

I overheard a conversation in the car the other day as I was driving home kindergartners from school.  It was between Owen and his friend Clara.  It went a little something like this.

Owen: Clara, I love you.

Clara: (silence)

Owen:  I'm serious, I love you.

Clara :  What are you talking about?!

Owen then blows Clara a kiss....okay 3 kisses.

If we go back in time one day previous to this conversation we would see Owen and Clara playing the wii at our house.  Clara is pretty good at the wii.  Owen loves the wii.  This may or may not have something to do with his new found love.

Here is a picture of Clara.  John took their family pictures last year.  I love Clara because she is the most adorable little girl....but also the least photogenic person (possibly in the US.  I won't say the world because that might be taking it to far.)  I feel comfortable saying this because I've talked freely about it with her mother.  Who told me of a time when someone approached her and wanted to use Clara in a photo shoot.  She had to inform them that while her daughter was beautiful, they absolutely didn't want her to be in their photo shoot because the moment someone brings out a camera she immediately pulls her chin to her chest as she smiles.  But I think John got a pretty good picture of her :)

They would make a cute couple though, don't you think?

T-Ball

Owen is in playing t-ball this year with a couple of friends.  Should be a fun learning experience...for all of us!

Here he is in his ready stance.  Both of his hands are in the air whenever someone is at bat.  It's awesome.

An Interview

I've always had an interest in family history. And I've also always felt a sense of guilt surrounding family history. Because I know I should be doing it. And not just because every member of the church has been told they should be doing it, because I've been told specifically that I need to be doing it.

I've probably known this since I was about 10 though. I don't know many other 10 year old's who are fascinated by the past of their relatives. Who love to sit and listen to stories and figure out pedigrees at such a young age. Or maybe I'm wrong and all children are like that. Who can say for sure?

For years now I've felt the need to interview my grandparents and get a written history. I think I've felt guilty because all of them have past away now but one. My grandpa Welch.

On Saturday I put a portion of my guilt to rest. I drove to Twin Falls with my parents and had a little visit with my Grandpa. I now have almost 3 hours of recorded material and pages of notes. I knew very little of my Grandpa. We spent hours there and only talked about his life up to the point of when he started having a family. And it was nearly all new information to me. I. Loved. It.

I get a little emotional just thinking about it. More than anything I love the stories. The details that tell you more about the people that came before you and their day to day experiences. Saturday was a day I will never forget. I feel much closer to my grandpa now. And while I still need to go back and take another 3 hours to get the details on the rest of his life, I feel like I got a great start.

My only regret was that I forgot to get out the camera and take a still picture of him.....Ah well, next time.

I'm Back!

Did you even know I was missing?! We had some computer issues, and some crazy weeks, and now I'm up and running so I can report.

When I got home from Portland we dove into spring break. I'm not going to lie. I wasn't prepared for the week at all. It was rainy. And we had nothing to do. It wasn't the best week. It ended with conference, which was nice. But just more sitting around the house.
By the end I felt like this ......I'm never staying home for spring break again. Does anyone have any suggestions for next year!??

I got my living room finished though. My red wall is no-longer. And everything is in place.

And I think the piano looks great. It's amazing how much the kids have been using it already. Digitals are definitely the way to go.

Ains also had a dance recital. She's been taking dance from a lady who teaches dance classes in her converted garage. I'm impressed with what Ainsley has learned over the past few months. Too bad her teacher is moving this month!

Her class was made up of first and second graders and they danced to "Wanna Be Like You" from the Jungle Book. Ains practiced a lot and was fantastic. She had the moves down and the personality to go along with it. It was fun to watch her do so well. We were proud parents!
Her cousin Bailey takes from the same teacher. They were both great that night.

Easter also came and went with no mention. We Eastered it up this year. We went with our friends to the annual Ball Easter Egg Hunt. The kids had fun despite the crazy wind :).

They each had a friend for the day so it was perfect.Emmie was to busy chewing on candy to smile for a picture, however.

We also got together with my family for a cousin Easter egg hunt. The kids had 125 eggs to find. it was off the hook! (Kudos to anyone who caught the Arrested Development reference).

And the evening ended with egg dyeing. Easter just wouldn't be Easter without multicolored eggs.

And we had a great Sunday as well. Ains and I sung in the ward choir for the Easter program. I think we sang 5 or 6 songs. The kids found their Easter baskets. And by this point were on serious candy overload. And the sad thing is that the candy is pretty much gone. Ains still has a bunch left. She's my little chipmunk....saving her food storage.

Emmie was adamant about having her Easter basket in her room. There was no compromising. She would not sleep unless it was with in her sight. So we let her sleep with it in her room. And this is what her pillow looked like in the morning. We're such good parents :)

John celebrated his 34th birthday last week. No offense John, but that sounds kind of old. I have a feeling we'll both be celebrating our 40th birthdays before we know it. Unfortunately John didn't have a fabulous birthday this year...but hopefully it was okay. He had a long day at work and even had to decline a lunch invitation because he was in court all day. He came home to a wife still had a thrown out back (although I gave in and went to the chiropractor that day...best decision ever....I'm now a HUGE fan of massage) and I was trying to get ready to head out of town the next morning. But we still managed a yummyy family dinner at Red Robin and I made awesome cupcakes. Emmie even said, "Wow!" and clapped when we were making them. But then again, how could any food item that contains chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, chocolate frosting, snickers, and chocolate ganache not be awesome? I don't know how either.

And my favorite pictures of the night were of Emmie and John blowing out the candles. Emmie is under the impression that every time a birthday is celebrated it's her birthday, which somehow makes these pictures even better.

And the very next morning I left on a girls trip to Portland to see Wicked. I have an awesome husband who is always supportive of me getting out of the house...even if it means he has to stay behind with the kids.

We spent Thursday driving to Portland, checked in at our hotel, got some delicious Thai food for dinner and then headed to the theater. Unfortunately, the moment we got on the freeway we were in stand still traffic. We were all a little sick inside and ended up missing the first 20 minutes of the play. Luckily we had all seen it before. And it was still amazing!

Afterward we went to VooDoo donuts for dessert. It definitely didn't disappoint. It's in a kind of scary part of town. The line was long even at midnight. But we had a great time with the homeless people! My favorite doughnut was a plain doughnut covered with marshmallow, chocolate, oreos, and peanut butter. It was amazing! They had all sorts of funky doughnuts covered in cereal, bacon, and other delicacies. If I ever go to Portland again I will definitely be going back.

The next day we caught a morning showing of Hunger Games (which I really liked and cried a lot during) did some shopping, ate food. And then spent about 6 hours on the couch in our hotel room talking and eating. We were so tired and perfectly happy to sit and do nothing.

Saturday morning we went to the Portland market on the waterfront. It was huge! We spent hours there and had fun shopping and eating. I had my first gyro. How have I never had one of those!On our drive home we stopped at a waterfall and walked around for a bit. It would be fun to go back there with the kids one day and hike to the top.We enjoyed the drive home (because lets face it, any car ride without children is enjoyable:) and got back late Saturday night. It was a fabulous little break and I came home refreshed. And then reality hit quite early Sunday morning! Ahhh, motherhood. It's these little breaks that make it even more enjoyable!