Easter

The kids had a fun Easter with 3 Easter egg hunts. 1 with our neighborhood with 50 kids, the kids go around to each yard and pick an egg at each house. 1 with my great aunt Jeanette, she was so sweet to invite us along with all her grandchildren. and 1 with my preschool. I figured that was enough candy! We also had fun dying eggs with our Japanese friend Yuu who lives with us.
We had a wonderful Easter weekend watching conference and being reminded of the true meaning of Easter, the Resurrection of our Savior.
We also enjoyed visiting with Budd's childhood friend Noah, who rode his motorbike all the way from Phoenix and almost froze in the cold. Budd's Dad was also up for the weekend and we loved seeing him. The kids love when "faraway" Grandpa comes.

St George Continued

We went hiking and biking in Zion, ate at Pirate Pizza, Spent time with family, and played at the park. Brinlee's new favorite thing is the monkey bars. She can do it all by herself now and she is so excited about it. She is a little gymnast. We had such a great time, I did not want to come home.

Spring Break

We took a fun and needed break to St George a couple weeks ago. It is so nice to be able to go there and stay with my parents to get away from the craziness of life for a few days. It was so beautiful and we had a blast hiking, biking and playing outside. Budd and I were even able to get away on a couple dates. Thanks Mom for watching the kids.

My Mom took us on a beautiful hike to see some petroglyphs and into a slot canyon. Brinlee and Spencer made it the whole way(2 miles). They loved playing and discovering along the way. Alea had fun in the backpack.

Alea

Fun pics of Alea. She is such a great baby and brings so much joy to our home. Brinlee and Spencer adore her. Brinlee has to hold her all the time and she always say," she is just such a cutie" as she gives her kisses. Spencer loves to make her laugh. She is growing so fast. I cannot believe she is now 5 months.



The kids wanted to give Alea a bath in this little clear bin. It was kind of funny. They got a good laugh.

Some Fun Pics

Here are some fun pics we have taken over the past few months
The kids put this hat on backwards on Alea and she could see right through the holes. It was so funny.
Spencer wanted us to spike up his hair like Sonic the Hedgehog, so we used glue gel and blow dried it upside down. It actually stayed in all day.
All three kids. For St Patricks day we had hamburgers and used green buns. The kids got a real kick out of it.

January Continued

On the afternoon of Jan 5th Budd's Mom, Christine Keeler Passed away. She had been diagnosed with cancer 25 months earlier and only give 8 months to live. But she beat all odds and we were so grateful to have her with us much longer. We were also so grateful that we had just spent 10 days with her and the family.
She was such an amazing woman. I learned so many priceless lessons from her in the short 8 yrs I knew her. She was a woman of great faith. I am so grateful for the knowledge we have of the great plan of happiness that our Heavenly Father has created for us. We know that we are an eternal family and will see her again.
The following are some words that I wrote about her:

I am so happy that I can call Christine Keeler Mom. My mother in law is one of my most favorite people in the world. Even though I have only known her for 7 and a half years, I have felt a bond and connection with her from the first time I met her when I came to Phoenix while dating her son. We arrived late at night and she and John woke to greet us. She gave me a big hug and I instantly felt her love. I felt at home. I remember on that trip just hoping I would marry her son so I could become part of this family. I pictured myself in the frame on the wall that displayed all the other pictures of the Keeler children on their wedding day. She was the kind of mother in law people hope they will have. She was fun to be with, easy to talk to and always doing kind things for me. Every time I was with her I felt special, and knew she cared about me. Whenever she would come to visit us in Utah, she always took me on a special shopping trip and made sure to get me something I needed. I was especially grateful for the week she came to stay with us after the birth of my second child. I always felt that she was genuinely concerned about me and my family and her prayers were truly felt. I always asked for her prayers because I felt that her prayers made a difference. Her testimony and example of faith and endurance have always impressed me, and encouraged me to become better. She was truly wonderful!!

January

January was a bit of a hard month for us, with the passing of Budd's Mom and Budd loosing his job in the first week of the month.
But we also had reason to celebrate. We spent New Years in Arizona with Budd's family and had a great time shouting in the New Year. Two days after we arrived home, it was Spencer's 4th Birthday, on Jan 5th. What a great kid. He is such a fun boy and so caring about others. His new found favorite thing is playing with Lego's. He has made some really neat creations. He is so great with baby Alea and always wants help her be happy. Spencer also loves to snuggle. Every night when it is time for bed he says, "But I just want a little snuggle with you." It just melts my heart. But he is finally staying in his own bed all night. On his birthday he was so excited to wake up and find his presents. We always hide them and clap when they get close to where they are hidden. He is a kid that gets so excited about presents, no matter what it is. We love our little brown eyed boy and are so grateful to have him in our family.

Christmas Break Fun in AZ

I am on Spring Break and finally have a few minutes to go back and update our blog for the past few months. We spent a fun Christmas break in AZ with Budd's family. We did a lot of fun things with the kids and cousins. We went to a couple jumping places with many trampolines and fun blow up slides. The kids had a blast, and even the adults were able to join in the fun.



Pics: Kids at "Jump on it" Spencer and Ashlyn at Play place, Family on Christmas Sunday and
Baby Alea with cousin Claire, exactly 2 weeks apart.