May Day

We've always celebrated May Day in my family, even when I was a little kid. Maybe it's because my mom's from Hawaii and they used to give each other leis on May Day and she continued the tradition with us as kids, as I have with my kids. The past few years we've let each of the kids pick someone they wanted to take flowers or a plant to. It's usually been a friend or teacher. The night before, we were discussing who the kids wanted to take them to as Matt teased me about the holiday, not realizing I had actually done this each year. Later that night and through the next day I got so sick (along with some of the kids) and could hardly sit up. In the back of my mind I was sad about breaking the tradition, knowing there was no way I was going to make it to the store and decided not to even remind my kids it was May Day. To my surprise, my wonderful husband came home with these beautiful flowers for me, continuing a tradition that he himself didn't care much for, but meant a lot to me. Thanks, Matty!

Swimming Lessons

We put the kids in swimming lessons again. It was Jack's first time and he was a little shy the first day. I had to get in half way with him the next day and then he was fine and did really well. On the last day they all got to go down the slide. Here's how Jack felt about going down head first and by himself...

Above is Nate in a back float and below in a dive. He had a great instructor and tried really hard to do just what she was teaching them.

Somehow we didn't get any pictures of Bailey swimming. She had a silly teacher who just wanted to play the whole time, which was just fine with Bailey. Here she is in her new suit and swim hair on the first day of lessons.

Ward Camp Out

Although our ward camp out was not highly attended this year, we had a great time at the Estrella Mountain Park with our kiddos and the families that were there. Sadly, my camera died and I only got these pictures of Riley, but I was glad I did because this is the first time we've camped with Ry as a big girl. She loved it and so did the other kids. Nate spent the whole outing in a tree. Good times!

Easter Sunday

Is it that hard to get a good picture of 4 kids looking and smiling? These really are the best of a ton of pictures. Here they are anyway...

Thanks Aunt Amanda for the cute Easter dresses and Grandma Smith for the boys' shorts!

The Egg Hunt

The kids were super excited about the egg hunt (especially since we missed the one the day before due to the rain). For unknown reasons, Jack burst into tears before we could start, but as soon as he calmed down, they were off!

Matt and Jack got matching injuries during the egg hunt.

Jammies

Matt's parents brought the kids these cute PJs. Riley would have worn them all day if we had let her.

Remembering Grandma Wadsworth

Today is my Great Grandma Wadsworth's birthday. She died almost 5 years ago at the age of 101. I always think of her through the whole month of April because her birthdays were so much fun to look forward to. She had a huge party at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake for her 100th birthday and our whole family was there. We lived in Utah with her the last five years of her life and spent a lot of time with her. Nate and Bailey loved to visit her at Grandpa and Grandma Warne's house in South Jordan and I remember all the good times we had visiting her in Danville, CA when I was a kid. Although we dreaded her pea soup as young kids, there was always a yummy treat that followed and we loved looking for deer around her home. My mom would remind us (we were 4 wild kids close in age just like my family) each time we went to see her that we better be on our best behavior because it might be the last time we saw her because she was very old. I'm glad we didn't know at the time that Grandma was going to live to meet our children 15-20 years later (I'm sure we were bad enough as it was)! She lived alone in to her 90's and then moved to Utah with my grandparents. I loved her stories of living in the Philippines and Hawaii, meeting famous people, and I admire her for the wonderful life she lived. She spent 3 years as a P.O.W. and managed to stay really positive for her young daughter (my grandma). She was a wonderful Mother, Grandma, Great Grandma, and Great Great Grandma, the kind that made everyone think they were her favorite. We miss her and think of her often, especially on her birthday. Riley is so lucky to share a middle name with her and we look forward to telling her stories about her Great Great Grandma Violet Emeline.

Chocolate Fountain

After dying eggs we busted out the chocolate fountain. This was the event my kids had been waiting for. Nate called Grandma and asked her if she would bring it with her, so he got to turn it on. They were mesmerized.

We dipped pretzels, Nilla Wafers, cinnamon bears, marshmallows, strawberries, bananas, and pineapple.

The kids ate until they were sick and all looked like this. After Nate was done licking his plate clean, he announced that he was thirsty and then asked if he could have a glass of chocolate milk. Can you imagine? It was super fun, Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Dying Easter Eggs

I love the holidays so much more now that I have kids. It's just so neat to enjoy each holiday through watching your kids experience it. And since mine are still young, every time they do something it's like they are doing it for the first time. I love it. Dying eggs was great this year. We always laugh about how many eggs we are boiling, and then as they start coloring them, there are never enough eggs. They could have done this all night. That's why it was great that we had an even better follow up activity...
(and yes, I realize that you'll read the top post first and that you already know what it is!)

Fun at the Park

We went to the park a couple times while Matt's parents were here and played a little baseball. The boys had a great time and Bay even got a few hits. Riley mostly walked around with her Easter basket posing for pictures.