April

Have I mentioned that I'm glad I take a lot of pictures? I think I have. Probably every month. I didn't remember April being very busy, but looking back at pictures, I realized it was a really great month. 

April started off with Conference weekend. We had aebleskivers for breakfast, I bought way too many snacks, we met friends for lunch and water fun in between Saturday sessions, we spent time as a family and made forts. I love conference weekend.  

That afternoon I went shopping and didn't get home before Jason had to go to the Priesthood session, so Lilly watched my girls for a minute and they got a lot of swinging in.

≡ The girls think they are hilarious for eating wheat grass, which they actually both like

≡ Hazel fell and bumped her lip on the wall (I think). Her teeth went into her lips and I about passed out from the blood. She recovered much sooner than I

≡ Pretty roses from our neglected rose bushes

≡ Pretty sky

≡ Pretty wheat grass, flowers and plants

≡ Swinging - a favorite past time

≡ The girls and I hung out with Jason's family while he went to the Priesthood session and Mason held Hazel's hand and carried her chair as we crossed the street to the park. Kids are naturally so loving and kind

≡ Awesome static hair

≡ Jason went backpacking with my brother Ryan and Brian Mills for two nights

Clara is still obsessed with using Hazel as her "prop" for FHE. It's pretty darling.

Dinner night at Angela's + big yard + gorgeous weather = lots of fun

I was pretty busy on April 15th wrapping up tax returns and extensions. Hazel kept herself busy by getting into things. First, she had some fun with the cornstarch. Do kids know what the messiest things are and have a natural draw to them? I think so. She also put her boots on and that headband all by herself. Also note her shrugged shoulders in the bottom right picture. Life is rough. 

After I drug Clara, Hazel and Clara's friend Brighton to KS and then the post office (on April 15th!), I let them pick where we went to eat. McDonald's. Of course. I kind of feel the same way about Tax Day as I do McDonald's, so I guess it was fitting.

≡ I love the temple, especially when I'm preparing a lesson for Relief Society

≡ My friend brought me lilies for Easter - they smelled so good

≡ I sauteed bell peppers, onions, mushrooms and sausage and we ate it with rice and it was delicious - sometimes the simplest meals are the best

≡ Jason woke up one morning to a flooded yard from the sprinklers never turning off - whoops

≡ Just me and Hazel

≡ I tried to make fruit leather for the first time and over cooked it. It was edible, but Hazel called it strawberry bacon - ha!

≡ We picked up Jordyn from school a handful of times and loved having her in our house

≡ Did you know weeds look super awesome before they bloom?

≡ Clara got to use a sharp knife for the first time

≡ James went to prom with a darling girl and he won Prom Prince - I told him I guess it took our parents 7 tries before they got a prince :)

≡ Clara putting money on my head thinking I wouldn't notice

≡ Irrigation fun

On April 20th, I went to my Great Uncle Dean Smith's funeral. It was about an hour away so Ryan, Lilly and I drove with my parents. It was kind of fun to be with a few of my siblings and my parents. That doesn't happen often. Anyway, I love to hear more about the great people I'm related to. My dad's two brothers were there which means I'm going to take a picture of the three stooges.  

Look, a cute little family of five. 

One day Debbie's kids and Margo came over. I decided having six kids isn't so bad... for a few hours... with popsicles.

In addition to popsicles, William and Clara played batman, Hazel and Jo practiced their prom pose and the kids played with chalk which my kids later rolled in.

On hot days, if we were early to pick Clara up from school, we'd sit in the car for a few minutes. Hazel says, "Sit with you.", which means she wants to get out of her seat and play with the buttons. One day she figured out how to turn the A/C super high and stuck her face really close to the vent. She was so entertained.

One afternoon I dipped strawberries in chocolate and I gave Hazel some strawberries and chocolate  to keep her busy while I dipped. She loved the chocolate so much she somehow managed to get it all over her entire body. I don't know if you can tell in the picture on the right, but she even has it smeared on her legs.

Clara in April:
≡ I could not find her and realized she'd crawled into a cupboard - just like old times
≡ Curlers
≡ Just her spunky little self
≡ She helped me top pizza
≡ Helps me vacuum
≡ Helps Jason in the yard
≡ And was silly

Hazel in April:
≡ Models a headband I returned
≡ Sat an played with Polly Pockets for 30 minutes - a record
≡ Is cute
≡ Let Kathryn put pigtails in her hair and left them in for about 30 seconds in the car
≡ Got put in a box on the porch for acting like an animal and loved every second of it
≡ Snuck leftover green smoothies every chance she got
≡ Got to hold Shawna's new baby and did NOT want to give her back to my mom
≡ Plays in the water/sink every morning while I clean or work. This morning, she decided to go ahead and climb in the sink to reach the soap.
≡ Licking a spatula at Grandma's
≡ Sat in this little box reading while I worked on taxes on the floor next to her
≡ Loves to "make popcorn" which apparently requires that she pull everything out of the cupboard
≡ Sleeps with her legs out sometimes - glad I got a picture before she grows out of it

My kids are awesome - note their faces and poses from picture to picture

Hazel was so proud of herself for climbing into the dryer while I was trying to take the clothes out after realizing my dryer was broken. I told her to get out and she said, "I can't. I'm not dry yet."

So our dryer stopped working. After 2-3 weeks of waiting, Jason finally had a chance to pull it out. He tested everything on it. Just before he was about to give up, he tried starting it and it worked just fine. He pushed it back against the wall and it wouldn't work. We laughed and fortunately, he discovered the door closing mechanism was broken off so if we shut the door carefully and didn't let it slam, it worked.

Clara had her recital for Let's Play Music. She played her piano song from memory. It's been amazing to watch her develop. I really think she has a talent for the piano. I guess time will tell. Afterwards we got a treat at Nielson's.

I got Clara some "super skinny" jeans from GAP. Apparently super skinny isn't skinny enough for Clara's tiny little waist. 

I bought 18 pounds of strawberries at the Ranch Market. When Hazel wasn't shoving them in her mouth two at a time, she would stick her finger down the middle and eat it off her finger.

That about sums up April. It was a busy, fun and good month.

Gilbert Riparian Reserve

In April Angela and I decided to visit the Gilbert Riparian Reserve. We both had been wanting to go so we met and had lunch there and then walked around. Neither of us were super impressed. I think I owe it another chance when the weather is nicer and perhaps the plants are greener. It was a little warm when we went and things were starting to die from the heat. However, I like to try to make the best of a situation, so we enjoyed our little visit and I especially liked some of the unique birds we saw on the water.

Snowflake/Taylor/Shumway

On Saturday, April 20, we drove up to Snowflake for Heather Penrod's farewell talk that was the following day. We stayed the night at Michelle's. We got there late and Hazel climbed out of the pack 'n play (first time ever) and was having a hard time going to sleep, which was keeping Clara up. I asked Hazel if I let her sleep with Clara if she'd go to sleep. She said yes, they went right to sleep and I went down to find them like this. So cute.

We went to church in Taylor Sunday morning and stopped at Jason's parent's to change. First, I made the girls let me take a picture. We don't get much sweater weather in Mesa, so I love to see my girls in cute little sweaters. Plus, Jordyn was with us and her dress matched Clara and Hazel's perfectly. It looks like it was all planned. Half a dozen girls in coordinating dresses sounds so fun! ;)

We headed to Shumway for lunch at Janet's. Here are the Penrod girls. I don't think any of them know how much I love them. They are the most selfless, thoughtful, helpful people I know. When we had our reception in Snowflake, they were all there, with their mother, helping without complaint. Even now, at get togethers and reunions, they are always the first to volunteer to help. I could sure learn a lot from them.

We ate and hung out and enjoyed the beautiful, nearly wind-free, weather

The big kids played a card game together and it was hilarious how intense it got.

Before leaving, we went on a walk across the street to check out the sheep. The sheep farmer was out and caught a sheep that he let Clara pet. She was in heaven, again. I love that she loves animals so much. I think it's because I know it's something we definitely didn't teach her, but that her sweet little spirit was born with. As we were walking back, we were surprised by a snake that slithered across our path (see bottom right).

These experiences make me want to a.) move to a farm or b.) become a millionaire so I can buy a farm and pay someone to take care of it and visit whenever I'd like (think: all summer long). Since it's more likely that neither of those will happen, we'll enjoy little opportunities like this. 

Boat Ride

At the beginning of April, April 9th to be exact, Lily and my mom decided to rent a boat on Tempe Town Lake. We went and Kathryn and her girls went along for the ride. We all had a good laugh learning how to steer the boat and attempting to drive it back into the right spot was even funnier. It was a bit windy, but the lake was absolutely beautiful at sunset. The girls loved it, which wasn't surprising. I'm not sure why I've never done this before, but I definitely want to do it again.

Goat Farm: Take Two

When we were up in Pine in March, we visited the Fossil Creek Creamery in Strawberry, which we call the goat farm. We were told that in three weeks or so, the goats would have their babies and visitors would be allowed to help feed the babies. I knew Clara would love it, so I planned on going on our way to Snowflake on Friday the 19th of April for Heather Penrod's missionary farewell talk that following Sunday. Then, my great uncle passed away and the funeral was that Saturday afternoon, so that wasn't going to work out. I decided to forget being practical and just make a special trip up there on Friday afternoon. Angela, Clint and Margo came with us. Little Miss Clara had a grand time. Hazel had fun too, but she's not quite as hands on with animals like Clara is. Hazel prefers to watch them from afar, as is evidenced by these pictures.

Clara couldn't get enough of the goats. She kept walking around feeding them and loved picking them up, despite them trying to eat her shirt. I really need to find out how to get her more regular access to some goats.

There were some pesky goats that wanted to eat anything their size, including Hazel and Margo. As I looked at the pictures, I realized I'm pretty sure it was the same goat that kept nibbling them.

I told Angela she needs at least two more kids and a goat because this picture is so cute.

Margo loved to touch a goat, then suck on her fingers. Touch a goat, suck on her fingers. Mmmm, bet that was good. I'm pretty sure she also wanted the goat's bottles.

There were also llamas. Llamas are kind of funny animals. I learned some pretty interesting things about them. Not sure why Angela is not looking at the camera. Also notice Clara attempting to show her teeth like a llama.

When we were done, we bought some goat milk fudge and fresh goat cheese and headed home. I love doing stuff like this, even if it's kind of impractical.

Margo hung out with us for a little bit after we got home. Clara got to hold her and help feed her. Holding and feeding both a baby goat and a baby human in the same day made for a near perfect day for Clara.