Soccer

Ashley had a game today. It has been hard on her since she was moved down to U10 but after today I think it was worth it. She is building her foot work and not just her goalie skills. The coaches are a definite plus to the move. It was fun watching her play the field today.

Easter

After the fun few days with the Poormans we all headed to Kimberly to celebrate Easter at Nana and Grandpa's house. We love holidays because it involves family. We don't spend every holiday with extended family but we do spend more with than without. I love that the girls enjoy time with family and have built up relationships with our family. I love it when it is just the five of us but it is even better when more family is around. We begin and end with family.

It has been a while since the girls have had Easter dresses. I wish I could say it was fun getting these outfits but I would be lying. Shopping with children is not always easy.

Service Group

Last fall Allison was ask by a friend in the ward if she wanted to join a service group. Once a month one girl from the group plans a service project for them all to participate in. Allison thought it was a great idea and since she needed service hours for NJHS it helped out with that so she joined. They have done a lot of fun things. This month was our turn to plan it. I found some Easter Egg Hunts that we could help out with but then a friend told me about on that was for children with Down Syndrome. I told Allison about my ideas knowing which one she would pick and she didn't disappoint. She has a special place in her heart for people with special needs and jumps at any chance to love and serve them.
Before the kids arrived this morning the girls helped set up by laying out the snacks and getting the eggs ready for them to find.

Once the kids arrived the girls helped at the face painting booth or directing people to the different activities and snacks.

Some of the girls were nervous to do the face painting but Allison wasn't. She was excited to be able to talk to each kid that came to her and knew they were just excited to get their face painted and didn't care if it looked professional.

It was a great morning and I am so grateful that Allison has been apart of this group.

Poormans Visit

Aunt Jill thought it might be fun to explore some places in Boise so they came to visit this week. They were going to the Capital and the Old Idaho Penitentiary and not all of us had gone to those so we tagged along with them. First we visited the Capital. When we walked in we just happened on another family that was on a guided tour and they didn't mind if we followed along so we got a guided tour something we didn't expect. Ashley and Kylie are studying Idaho history in school this year so it was the perfect to do this. Everyone enjoyed seeing the different offices and parts of the Capital and hearing some stories about it.

I worried about Madison since she has only been walking on her knee for a few days but she seemed to do fine, just had to take it a little slower.
After the capital we found a place for lunch before we headed to the penitentiary. We walked around the penitentiary and explored all the buildings. While we were in the maximum security and death row building I noticed that Ashley got really quiet and looked upset. I casually gravitated to her and started talking to her to see if she was okay. At first she wouldn't talk to me but eventually told me that she had an awful feeling wanted to leave. I told her that we would walk ahead and not go in anywhere that made her uncomfortable. I could feel a bad spirit there too. She has always been sensitive to the spirit in that way and I didn't think about it before we went. I felt bad but she did fine the rest of the time. Kevin or I was always by her side and she did not do anything that she was not comfortable with. We came across these signs people could put their faces through and Kevin thought he could cheer her up by being silly and doing it with her.

She tried hard not to let it cheer her up but a smile did try to poke out. It was a fun day and I am glad that the Poormans let us tag along.

Walking

Madison had her six week check up today and she was cleared to start walking on her knee. He told her it might be good to take it slow and go down to one crutch and then none. She had a different idea and walked right out of the office. She used to think it was cool to be on crutches but not so much anymore. After two times on crutches for 6 weeks in the last year in half she is so over them now.

When we got to the car she told me that she almost fell when she took her first step but didn't want to show weakness so she steadied herself and kept walking. I think she will use one crutch for a few days because she can feel how week her leg is.

Today I also became an aunt again times two. Rachel had two beautiful little boys and they are just adorable.

They all are doing great and we all can't wait till we can go visit them.

Working hard

Every since we bought our first house in 2001 I have wanted to have a bounteous garden. In 2002 we planted this huge garden that we got stuff out of but I realized that it was a lot harder then I imagined to have a garden. We tried smaller gardens a few other times but because of different circumstances I didn't have the time to put into it. Madison did do a little garden once for personal progress and it turned out ok. When we moved into this house I was determined that we were going to have a garden so we left an area for it in the yard. I had seen many people be successful with raised bed gardens that were in planter boxes so I decided this is what I wanted to do. Kevin told me that he would support me in whatever I wanted to do but it was my project to tackle so I was in charge of the planter boxes. I looked at ones that we could build but really didn't have the time to do it. I also looked at kits that I could buy and put together but they were pricey. A few months ago I came across this local man that is retired and builds cedar garden boxes for next to nothing. I got in contact with him and Kevin looked at his work online and we decided this was our solution. We picked them up yesterday and just needed to sand them. I was busy working a fundraiser for Madison's choir account so Kevin and Ashley worked on it today. Ashley is always so excited to help Kevin with any project that he has. They worked on staining them and putting weed block down around them all day. Allison was enlisted to help move them because they were too heavy for Ashley and Madison is still a crippled.

I am so excited to have a garden this year.

St. Patricks Day

The kids loved the St. Patrick's stuff that I did last year so we did it again. I was surprised that they liked the Corn Beef and Cabbage. I only tried it to say that we had and never expected them to actually like it. While I was out shopping I also thought it might be fun to have green plates and it makes clean up easier.

These girls love traditions so I guess we started new one.