April Assortment

Hi. I just love spring! My wonderful flowers keep blooming... Other people's flowers keep blooming... My crocuses have croaked by now, but I enjoyed them while they lasted. My tulips are getting set to show off their pretty petals. A few of them have already, and the rest are nearly open. I can see their colors peeking through the cracks of green. The shrubs by our mailbox now have a sprinkling of tiny white blossoms. It's been sunnier and warmer when it's not raining, more and more like springtime. I love it.

I'm so crazy about these daffodils! So CRAZY! I know I've mentioned this before, but I think flowers are some of the most miraculous things ever. The way they grow up out of the dirt to display their intricate beauty.



-The day after April Fools' Day, I found out that Renee and her family are moving to Florida this summer. I'd hoped it was a day-late joke, but no. Her husband was recommended for a job at a more stable company than the one he currently works for. Maria and I (and a likely load of other locals) are not looking forward to this fun family's departure. We're hoping it's not a long-term situation, and we're sure they'll be treasured there in Florida, but they need to know that Boise will be lonesome while they're gone.

-Now for some good news. Becky's parents are moving to Boise from their home in St. Helens. Yay! They came to town this weekend to look at houses and they already found one they love. They made an offer and it was accepted. Wow, that was fast! Reminds me of when Becky was house-hunting. Like mother, like daughter... =) Marsha (Becky's mom) and I have been emailing regularly since Becky isn't here to talk to. =( We've gotten to be good friends.

-The day before Easter, little Ruby had her first birthday party. Ruby belongs to Gavin (my brother) and Maren.
Maren decided on a cupcake theme. =) Here's the cute cupcake cake she made.

Yes, it tasted as good as it looks!

The sweet birthday girl.

The entire rest of this day I spent painting our front room. I like how it turned out. Photos to come very shortly. =)


-Easter was lovely. I neglected to take any pictures of the kids' baskets, tried and failed to get any good shots of the egg hunt, and totally screwed up my attempt at pianoing the closing hymn in Relief Society.

But Easter was still lovely. Because it always is. So what if I could have won a "worst hair in the world" award that day. So what if my girls' hair wasn't in perfect ringlets, or even curled at all. We made it to church *almost* on time at 9:00, the ward choir ("starring" me) presented a beautiful song, and that afternoon I crafted a cake that would be consumed after a tasty turkey dinner at my parents'. Working with sugar makes me happy, and somehow it's extra sweet on Easter.

Here's the one picture I took from the hunt that was even worth sharing. The kids just hop around too fast.


I happen to embrace the tradition of Peeps. I know there are a lot of fierce haters out there. Peeps look so cute and innocent. Why do people harbor such hostility for these limbless sugar-coated figures?

-The first half of this month has been almost a total loss concerning my personal goals. I'm blaming it on the fact that Maria, Renee and I have not met up to discuss and make our aspirations official. But last month I did a rather good job. I only missed one day of reading scriptures, missed 5 days in a row of exercising (due to illness), but I made it up the next week by working out 5 consecutive days for 40 minutes instead of the original 20 min./day goal. I was proud of myself for meeting my 11:30 bedtime goal, and I only missed it by a few minutes a few times for pretty good reasons. (Ha, at first I accidentally typed "food" instead of "good".)

I'll talk about some more stuff soon, but for now I fear my blog runneth over. And I'm hungry.