I want to join this ward, the bishop is HILARIOUS!

Ok I found this blog on another friends blog. It is seriously funny!
Thanks Molly for finding this and sharing.

Enjoy,

http://bishophiggins.blogspot.com

Relay for Life in honor of Grammie Marilyn

Taylor and Hunter's school is supporting Relay for Life this year. The students were given the opportunity to get an illumination bag to decorate in honor of a loved one or someone they knew who was affected by cancer. We decided that Taylor and Hunter could get a bag and decorate it in honor of Grammie Marilyn who lost her battle with cancer this year. Grammie Marilyn isn't really our gramma. She is my brother's mother in law who had a VERY kind heart and she LOVED being a gramma. Whenever we got together with my brother and his family and Grammie Marilyn was there she always treated my kids like they were her grand kids. We have fun memories of her at my brothers house and also at Disneyland. Hunter still remembers about how he got to ride on her lap in the wheelchair at Disney. She was a WONDERFUL person who LOVED to smile and laugh. In fact that is how I will always remember her, laughing. I'm pretty sure she is in heaven right now looking down on us and laughing. It was a privilege to know her and I'm grateful that she is part of our family.
You are missed Grammie Marilyn!

Taylors side of the bag


Hunter showing his side of the bag

Reading before school

As we were getting ready for school Monday, Hunter remembered he needed to read his AR book so he could take a test on it. I was trying to finish up lunches, get backpacks packed and notebooks signed when I looked over and saw Hunter perched on the window sill wearing Jake's hat reading. Glad I was able to get a picture. So sweet!

Here comes Peter Cotton tail...

Yes, I know Easter was several weeks ago. I told you I was WAAAAYYYYY behind in my postings.
But since I'm using this as a journal of sorts, I'm going to include it. Plus there are some pretty cute pictures.


Getting ready to dye the eggs.


These WAY COOL plastic cups came with the kit!

Putting in the first eggs

All done.


The finished product

Look what the Easter Bunny brought....YUMMY!!! CANDY!!!




Every year since Amber was a little girl we have had an Easter egg hunt for the kids on Easter. This year Amber and Jake complained about it. They said they didn't want to do it. Jake wanted us to ONLY hide the eggs in the back yard in case anyone he knew drove by and he be embarrassed. Well DUH!! Don't tell you parents that because of COURSE we are going to hide them in the front yard silly boy. Secretly they LOVED it as much as the little kids did. And who wouldn't? The eggs are filled with candy!


Thank goodness I was back some or I would have been run over! Even Sadie wanted in on the action.


Hunter was a good finder.


Always a pose!


Taylor wasn't shy about going in the front at all. There were eggs to be found!


Not sure if he wants to venture out into the side/front. Hey pull up your pants!

They worked hard for the money.....

The youth of our ward are taking a trip this summer to Nauvoo, Il to see and experience some of the history of the church. So the youth are doing things to earn money for the trip. They have already done trash pick up which they were NOT thrilled about but, they were troopers and made it fun.


The boys got to pick up all the yucky trash along the main road....


and the girls got to walk around the subdivision. As you can see they had it much easier.

For another way for the youth to earn money the bishop decided since he was redoing his backyard he would enlist the youth to help them with earning money. It was hard work! And they did a great job. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the older boys working, but I do have some of Dave and Hunter helping lay the flagstone. Hunter did a GREAT job and had fun working with his dad.

Blue Bonnets....a Texas tradition

The state flower of Texas is the Blue Bonnet. They grow along side the freeways, service roads, open fields and the medians. This time of year they are everywhere. Cities actually pay to have the road sides seeded with blue bonnet and other wildflower seeds. This was started by Lady Bird Johnson when she returned to Texas from Washington DC. Each spring her legacy lives on here in Texas as they bloom. Texans LOVE their blue bonnets about as much as they love their state. It is a tradition each spring when the blue bonnets bloom to take pictures in them. Taylor was the only one who was game for this. In fact she specifically asked me to take her out and take her picture in them. Luckily there is an area by our house that is a popular picture taking spot. She had a lot of fun laying in them...till she saw the bees. Thankfully the bees didn't bother us.




Just a few of my favorite shots.

It's official....Amber is licensed in the state of Texas!

It's here, it's here!!


Her new love! I must say I'm loving it too. At this point she is still willing to go to the store whenever I need her to.


Can't believe she is old enough to have a license. YIKES!

I can't believe how far behind I am!

Seriously I am so behind in my postings. I keep thinking each day after the kids get off to school that I will sit here and catch up. Obviously NOT! I can't think about it right now. Tomorrow, yes I'll do it tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day. (said with a thick southern drawl)

It tastes like chicken....

Isn't that what we tell our kids when we are trying to get our kids to eat some new meat product? Well the latest bbq we went to was one of those times. Our friends had gone hunting and got a hog. They bbq'd it like fajitas and honestly Jake goes "it tastes like chicken!"
I'm not too adventurous when it comes to trying stuff like this. I really don't think I could be one of those shoot your own dinner, live off the land kinda girls. I prefer that the meat I eat come on a Styrofoam try and have a UPC code. Well, I MUST say it was VERY yummy!



hog fijitas



Jakes girlfriend Abi and Taylor



Hunter loves to fish. (I love the reflection on the pond)

Does going to a Crawfish boil make us true Texans?

A week ago Friday we were invited to our first EVER Crawfish boil at our friends the Gilberts. I had never been to one and wasn't quite sure what to expect. What I remember about crawfish is a distant memory of being a little girl in Georgia, playing in the creek and seeing Crawfish, but we didn't eat them. And then last summer after some heavy rain we went to the pool and there were some in the pool. Don't know why they were in there, but it totally freaked us out. Anyway those are my two experiences with crawfish. Well we got to the Gilberts and they were already a boilin'! They had tons of them. (They look like little lobsters.) Two huge coolers full and the majority of them were still alive. The kids had a blast picking them up and playing with them. Of course they were VERY careful not to let the pincher's get them. I was definitely curious about this whole thing and felt very much like a tourist. I had to have someone show me how to eat them. You tear them in two and then you are suppose to suck the juice and stuff out of the bigger end and then pinch the tail part and suck out the meat. UM....YUCK!! I was NOT about to suck the juicy gut stuff out or suck out the meat part. I was too afraid there was going to be a poop vain like in shrimp so I painstakingly peeled the little tails to get to the crumb of meat that was in there. I will say that my Taylor was VERY brave and sucked out the juicy gut stuff! Hunter didn't feel the need to eat any of it and Jake and Amber were elsewhere that night. Honestly, they were REALLY tasty, but a lot of work for a teeny, tiny bit of meat. Thank goodness there were new potatoes and corn (that was super spicy, I thought my lips were going to fall off) because you would have to have eaten an entire cooler of them in order to get full. It was a SUPER fun night! The kids played in the canoe in the front yard pond, we had a bonfire and had hot, delicious, smores and visited with some great friends. It was a GREAT evening and now I know how to eat a crawfish! Does this officially make me a Texan?


hanging out in the cooler waiting their turn to boil


getting cooked


Bro. Boyles showing me how to eat them


Hunter with his new pet


Taylor was MUCH braver than me. She actually sucked all the juicy stuff out.....YUCK!


YUMMY!!


Dave had NO problem digging right in.


Hunter and Ben canoeing around the pond.


The aftermath!

On my honor....

Jake has gone back and forth with scouting. Our last ward, did scouting, but it wasn't very consistent. The scouting program here is strong in both our ward and stake. When we first got here Jake did scouts and then decided he didn't want to participate. I was bummed, because he has done quite a bit of stuff and they are always doing things to help these guys advance. Recently he came to us and said he wanted to try scouts again. I was happy, but must admit I know NOTHING about scouts and it is something that overwhelms me and I can't seem to remember anything about it. Thank goodness we have some GREAT leaders who love scouting! Tuesday, March 31st was a court of honor. Jake was in charge of the color guard and even though he didn't yell the commands like Dave wanted him too, he did do them with authority. He did a GREAT job and looked so handsome in his scout shirt! He received several awards that came with little pins for the moms and that he pinned on me. It was a VERY exciting night! Way to go Jake we are SUPER proud of you!!



Overseeing the younger scouts properly fold the flag. They also read what each fold meant. VERY INTERESTING!


Receiving his awards from Scoutmaster Jim