It is Done

We finished it!  It only took us 4+ months!  Welcome to the new playroom!  It started out as bare studs and a plywood floor.  We ran the electrical, added lights, insulated, drywalled (thanks for the Christmas gift Grandma and Grandpa G), mudded, textured, painted, installed the floor and put in moulding.  We also built all the toy chests which have made a HUGE difference in how many toys come out.  The kids had a tendency to dump out the bins the toys were kept in; now they can't!  It's wonderful and the toys stay where they belong!  The rest of our house is staying so much cleaner.  The den now houses the computers and the craft stuff so that mess stays in there!!!

I am so grateful to have a husband willing to take on these projects and to my dad and father-in-law for helping us learn all these skills at on our first house.  I never thought building would become such a passion of mine.  I love it.  I wouldn't be able to do it if my dad hadn't gotten me comfortable with tools from a young age!

Northwest Trek

Again... phone pictures.  Today was the first day of spring break.  I decided to take the kids to NW trek.  They haven't been there since before Carson was born.  Dillon was still drinking bottles and we had to improvise with Kayda's sippy cup because I forgot to bring one.  Anyway.  It turned out to be a nice, if cold, day.  We just bundled up and packed lunch and umbrellas!

 The kids had a great time on the tram... for a while.  By 45 minutes in they were ready to be done.  We saw more animals than I remember ever seeing before though.  Bison, black tailed deer, big horn sheep, elk, moose, mountain goats, swans, geese, several types of ducks... The only thing we didn't see out there were the Caribou.

 Literally every animal in the exhibits were visible!  Some were sleeping but we got to see every animal!

Back in March...

Back in March Grandma H invited Kayda and I to go see a theatre ballet put on by BYu up in Kent.  So that evening Kayda and I ran up there to see that with Grandma and Ella.  

 We snagged some taco bell before hand, we had just enough time to eat and get over there in time for "meet the cast".

At intermission the girls actually go to go on stage and dance with some of the dancers.  I think the girls had a great time and got quite a kick out of some of the dances.  Kayda was absolutely in awe of how they were able to move.  My personal favorite was the only male dancer.  Not because he was male but because he could practically fly!  He would jump, end up WAY in the air and just kind of hang there for a seemingly impossible amount of times.  The women looked clompy and weak compared to these jumps!    Kayda has a new interest in going to see new things!

* Sorry for the crappy pictures.  Next time I get a phone I am getting one with a good camera and a camera on the screen side!  Somethings are NOT better because they are free!*

Easter!

Easter was wonderful.  Flat out awesome.  We started our Easter activities on Saturday so we could get the eggs colored and everything.  

 We decided to make sugar cookies (a rarity for sure).  The kids were smelling the dough, it was quite animated and entertaining.

 And of course dying Easter eggs!  This was definitely more taxing than any previous year.  The dye really wasn't working so we had to stop, feed our children, and buy vinegar and new dye tablets before we could finish.

Easter Morning!  Of course the Easter bunny came for a visit.  You ask the kids what they would like the Easter bunny to bring and it's all kinds of toys.  No kids, this is not Christmas.  The Easter bunny likes to encourage spring and being outside.  So the kids ended up with bubble guns, birdhouses with paint and sunflower seeds and bug observation cases.  

 The Easter bunny was tougher with the hiding this year.  The kids had to find the eggs with THEIR first initial on them.  Combined with the fact that the hiding was just hared in general... it took 15 minutes instead of the usual five and the kids were so proud whenever they found one!  I think it's hilarious.  You can see a blue egg in the pink shoes just under the sign.  Kayda and Dillon both looked in the "trough" on top and completely missed that blue egg!  It was Carson's anyway but it was hilarious to watch.

 The Easter bunny even hid an egg for Daddy this year!  That Easter bunny must have little paws because Daddy had a tough time getting it out!

 Bubble time!  We were so lucky it ended up being a beautiful day!

 Painting their birdhouses.  All the bird houses got attached to a board and posted in the kids' gardens.

 We planted the sunflower seeds.  There were many more than expected so if they all grow we will have a HUGE number of them... All along the fence, along the side of the house and a few in other gardens as well.  Of course the kids wanted to plant ALL of them too.

 My little helper.  She loves to help peel potatoes and chop up fruit. She had a great time watching the bread dough rise also.

 We took a trip to the river and the kids got themselves soaked.  We would have stayed much longer but it started raining, big fat drops, and the sun was hidden so it got cold quick!