While I was away....

Peter was so good about staying home with the kids while I went away to play with my mom and sisters. He did a little work from home but otherwise spent the time doing things around the house and spending some quality time with the kids.

Some of his activities included: the zoo with the littlest girls and our friends the Ostermillers, 

taking care of household chores, a Rough Rider baseball game including all you can eat hot dogs, making some of the kids favorite treats, and fixing up the go-cart!

This is the wagon we got for Samantha's birthday! We are loving it so far. 

I am thankful that Peter did so many great things for the kids while I was away- he is a great man!

Time Out For Women 2015

My mom and 2 of my sisters (Carla and Jana) met in San Antonio and spent a few days shopping, playing, eating, attending Time Out for Women and eating some more. It was so much fun! I missed my kids but I laughed and laughed and was spiritually fed. 

I have a lot of pictures of food but it was authentic and delicious!

Two decent selfies- crazy!

The  temple was closed for maintenance but we still drove by it. 

I reserved a full size car. When we got to the rental place the man says just go over to the sign with the P and F on it and you can take any of those cars. He walked with us over there and there were no cars. But, at the end of the row of empty stalls sat this van so he says "just take the van". Well, that seemed like an upgrade- that might be a stretch for this van. It sounded like I was driving a manual transmission but did not know how to shift. The check engine light came on the last day. The low tire signal came on the first day. At one point, the sliding passenger door window slipped down part way but came back up with the control. The front passenger seat felt like you were getting a massage due to the vibrations (at least that is what I was told). It was a gem and we laughed a lot, I mean a lot about this van. 

The Alamo in the rain

The Riverwalk was beautiful and since it was raining we were some of the only people on it. 

What- another decent selfie!

More authentic Mexican food!

I love these ladies and I am so thankful they made the trip to San Antonio. I look forward to doing this again and maybe someday we can bring our girls to it too!

Happy Easter 2015!

The Easter Bunny at our house does not just leave baskets lying around to be found (unless church is at 8:30 and then he is smart and just leaves them on the table). 

Jon, had been begging that I let the Easter Bunny know that he would really like a string maze this year. That is when each child has a color of yarn that is wound all over the house and eventually leads them to their basket. 

Well the Bunny had something even better (per Jon after it was over) in store... a scavenger hunt.

Each child had a plastic egg waiting for them outside their door. They each had a color and there were as many clues as their age until they would find their basket. 

 Some clues were tricky and led the kids up and down the stairs multiple times.

The fireplace clue had the boys hung up for several minutes but they perservered. 

 Lily had no problem figuring out the toaster heats up her waffles. 

 Of course it rained, alot as you can see but Arabella bravely went out to the swamp (aka backyard) to retrieve one of her clues. 

 There were even clues in the garage and mailbox. 

 Jon was so fast with this one that he was a blur. 

 Samantha slep through most of the hula baloo but she did get a basket with a new stuffed bunny. 

I love conference Easter Sundays. We were blessed to have the missionaries over for the afternoon session and for dinner. Dessert was cupcakes with chocolate mousse filling- Samantha proved to us she would have no problem with her birthday cake! 

I am so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice. I know that in my most trying of times the only source of peace I have found was my Savior. I am thankful for his perfect example and I am trying each day to be more like him. I pray that I can serve him more diligently to show my love for him. 

Ouick Get Away- Oklahoma City

The kids had a long weekend due to the end of term and Good Friday.

I convinced Peter to let me take the kids to Oklahoma City for the two days.

He had to stay home and work which was sad but we had so much fun the kids have asked when we will get to go back.  I hope sooner rather than later because there was a lot to do.

 We left early on Thursday morning and drove to a train museum first.

Joseph will always love trains and due to that, I will too. 

It is like he is a little boy spouting all of the Thomas names and types of engines to me all over again. 

 Then we went to the Oklahoma City Zoo.

At first, it reminded me of the old Hogle Zoo, with exhibits that reminded me of my childhood.

Then as we traveled further/deeper into the zoo we found some amazing habitats. 

This zoo was impressive. And they had a baby elephant that was absolutely adorable- like the baby girl below!

 Memories anyone?!

 It was a beautifully warm day almost hot!

After the zoo, we hit Sonic for a drink, a little swimming in the pool and then dinner at Cici's pizza.

 Friday morning, we played at the Children's Science Museum and it was awesome!

 There were so, so many hands one exhibits that even though there were a lot of school kids there my kids still had a chance to get in on the action. 

 Imagine brushing those bad boys?!

 The space section was really neat but proved a bit much for Samantha. 

 We lost Lily just before this photo and gratefully a worker found her though the boys went one way and me and the other girls went the other.  The worker was impressed that Lily knew my name and what I was wearing. 

 More trains at the museum. 

 We ended our visit to Oklahoma City by visiting the memorial of the Oklahoma City bombing. 

It is a beautiful monument and it was just the 20th anniversary of the bombing last weekend (April 19th). I still remember this happening; such a tragedy. 

For the kids the trip was made complete by a stop at a Braum's for ice cream on the way home. 

Oklahoma City we had a great time and will certainly be visiting again.