First camping of the year.

This week the children are on their spring break, so we took advantage of Chris having mid-week days off from work and went camping. On Tuesday morning, when we had planned to leave, we woke up to several fresh inches of snow, but we decided to go ahead with our plans. The campground is only about 30 miles away, so we figured if it was too terrible, we could just come home. Thankfully the snow had melted at the campground, and the sun did show itself a few times (the kids even got a little sunburn on their faces), but it was very windy and still cold. It was lots of fun, though, and the kids had a great time climbing rocks, going on hikes, riding their bikes and scooters, and just running around. It felt good to be outdoors and spending time together as a family. I was able to keep my training runs the same as on my schedule, so this morning I did a 4 mile run on a trail that actually took me along the Snake River and to a monument dedicated to the pioneers of the Oregon Trail. On my way back to the campground, at one point I was running up a slight hill when I turned a bend in the road and encountered a coyote right in front of me. Pretty much scared the crap out of me! Good thing they're skittish and when I yelled at it and clapped my hands a few times, it took off running. I was just so glad it wasn't a mountain lion. I have an honest fear of being attacked by one of those sneaky suckers!

My heart and mind are still with my family members in Michigan who are dealing with so many hardships right now, and though not a total distraction, we had a good time, the kids were mostly well-behaved and it was nice to get out of the house for a few days. Here are some pictures: (I've also posted a few additional pictures on my Facebook page, for those who are interested...http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?ref=profile&id=1215145985

Easter morning.

The kids' Easter baskets.
I love how I caught Noah and Sam in action, hunting down those eggs!
Nicolas and Sophia posing in their new rainboots.
Sam took a break from playing Conference Bingo to play with Zipper. That game was seriously the best thing to get the kids to pay attention to Conference.

I'm sad.

Easter weekend is always fun: the kids' excitement about getting their baskets filled, coloring eggs, we've already watched "The Easter Dream", and this year had the added bonus of having General Conference of the LDS church to watch on TV. All these fun memories have been overshadowed by sadness, for me at least, as I received word today that my beloved uncle, who lives on the other side of the country with the rest of my family, has had a massive stroke. He is alive, though I will not say thankfully, since he is in critical condition and his prognosis does not look good. My extended family is relatively small, and when I was little, my uncle Kevin always treated me and my brother like we were his own, as he and his wife had no children of their own. It's always heartbreaking to me when it seems like certain individuals get dealt more than their share of difficulties in life. He lost his wife about 15 years ago, and just a year ago he also lost his dad (my grandfather), who was basically his best friend through the years. He is a good man, with a generous and kind heart, and right now my thoughts and prayers are with him, with hopes that his suffering will be minimized and mercy will be on his side.

I was 5 years old in this photo, and it's always been one of my favorites.

Here he is in uniform. He spent his entire grown life in service as a law enforcement officer, working his way up in the ranks.

This photo was taken in June of 2008, when our family made a trip to Michigan, the first for our kids.

It's an Easter miracle!

Last year my friend blogged about using a game to keep her kids interested in watching General Conference, and this time I decided to give it a try as well. I printed out Conference Bingo cards, and gave the kids each a bowl of jelly beans, and every time they heard a key word mentioned or talked about during Conference, they could put a jelly bean on that box on their card. Every time they got a Bingo, I gave them a mini-3 Musketeers. And guess what? It worked! My kids have never sat that well through the two hours, ever. They would even "shush" each other if there was talking! So far they still have enthusiasm for playing again this afternoon, and here's to hoping it works tomorrow, too!
Here's a link to where I got the Bingo cards, if any of you are interested in giving it a try:
http://lds.about.com/od/familyhomeeveninggames/a/fheg_bingo.htm

Seriously?!

As of yesterday, all the snow from last week's storm had melted away, then last night another big storm blew in. It just kept coming down, and the wind was blowing like mad. I was awake at 2am, expecting Chris to be coming home from work soon. When his shift was supposed to end he was pulling into his parking spot at our house but his patrol car got stuck in the snow in our driveway. He had the local tow truck come pull him out, since he was already out pulling other people out of the snow. Then Chris came inside for the night, and not 10 minutes later, he was called out to work again because someone had slid off the road. He didn't get back home until after 4am.
I really hope things warm up soon! We had planned to go camping this coming week while the kids are on spring break...:(

It's that time again...

Today was the last day of school before the kids started their spring break, so we decided to color some Easter eggs. Now they're all playing together with their Easter baskets and the plastic eggs we let them put out to be filled and hidden by the bunny on Easter morning. ;)


Sophie, waiting for the finished eggs to dry.

Did you get that?

Sophie brought me her homework the other day and said: "Can you help me? I'm not sure how to do this last one." Hmmm...I think these instructions ARE a little confusing, and not just for a first grader! It made me laugh how she interpreted what she was supposed to do.