Easter

Easter....and I'm a little behind since it's August and school's about to start.  But first, Easter.  I have decided to drastically reduce the amount of sugar that my family consumes.  I'm not extreme and feel like a treat now and again is fine and if we're at a friend's house, or school, or a birthday party or something like then it's no big deal to throw down some cake or treats, but I just think we have too much of it in our regular day-to-day lives.  So I've axed sugar.  I don't buy it for home consumption any more.  So come Easter time I felt like they got so much candy and treats from church and school and just being a holiday that I asked the Easter Bunny to bring other fun things for my kids that did not include sugar and candy.  Quite the revolutionist.  But, that being said my kids loved Easter and were extremely happy with their Easter baskets.  They got some Legos, shoes, puzzles, monster trucks, and a couple other small things.  It was plenty.  

Braden showing off his Lego tractor the Easter Bunny brought him.

Dalin got a Lego train.  They just love Legos and have fun putting them together.

Landon got a monster truck, which we all know he is obsessed about.

Then we went outside and had an Easter egg hunt.  Dan did bring home a bag of jelly beans from work that I filled the eggs with for our little hunt so they did get a small treat.  The truth is they weren't really interested in the candy and we ended up putting most of them in cups of water to see what would happen.  

Then it was time to line up our loot.

Dalin did get a chocolate Easter bunny from Grandma Anne.  They shared it and I think more of it got on their clothes than in their mouths.

Since we have church at 1:00 we took time to color some Easter eggs.  Who doesn't love doing that?  It was so fun to watch them experiment with colors.  They got a dozen eggs each, which I thought was tons, but they could've done a hundred more.

Such pretty colors.

Can you tell he's been eating some?  Much better than candy any day.

Apparently my child is also evil.

See the bandaids on Braden's shoulders?  He had worn a sleeveless shirt the day before and got a little sunburned.  He insisted the bandaids would make them stop hurting.  

Happy Easter everyone!

Bugs and Basketball

 Around our house we do manly things.  At least that what Dalin says.  We are positively obsessed with bugs and search high and low for them.  Once we find them they are immediately brought in the house as pets and then immediately removed by the one person in the house that isn't manly (that's me). Landon found this lovely Lady and brought her in to show me.  

Another manly thing we love in our house is basketball.  This is one area where I can be glad I played myself.  I love to shoot hoops with my boys.  I remember shooting hoops with little Dalin in Montana when he was two.  Now we have a full size hoop.  Thanks for the awesome birthday present grandpa Roper.  Dalin is playing some sort of stats game similar to what my brothers used to constantly do (and probably still do).  We love our manly games!  Landon's little friend Jackson is playing too, although he was getting a little frustrated when he didn't make a basket as you can tell from the video.

How Was Your Day?

When Dan comes home from work he usually asks, "How was your day?" I usually reply with "fine, how was yours?"  But what I really want to say is completely different.

Today has been a lifetime.  There were moments when my heart was so full, I thought I might explode, and there were other moments when my senses were under such intense assault that I was certain I'd explode. I was both lonely and desperate to be alone.  I was simultaneously bored out of my skull and overwhelmed with so much to do.  Today was too much and not enough.  It was loud and silent.  It was brutal and beautiful.  I was at my very best today and then, a moment later, at my very worst.  When your day is totally dependent on the moods and needs and schedules of tiny, messy, beautiful rug rats, your day is all of these things, sometimes within the same three-minute period.  But this is not a complaint.  Don't try to fix it.  I wouldn't have my day any other way.

Baptised

Dalin turned eight and decided he wanted to be baptized.  I am one proud momma!  He was so handsome in his new suit.  Since we had several family members who were not going to be able to make it down to Vernal for health reasons we decided maybe it would be best to have the baptism at my parents ward so we were in a more central location and people wouldn't have to travel all the way to Vernal.  It worked out and I think Dalin was able to have more of his family come.  It was a very special day for him and us.  I am so grateful for the love and support our families gave us.  Thank you to everyone!  

He was so patient with all the pictures I made him pose for.  He was very excited to head over to the church in his new suit.

I get teary-eyed just thinking about it.  He was so ready for this.  

Just relaxing with his dad while he waited.  The day was so special and precious and I am so grateful Dalin made this choice.  He is a great example for his little brothers.  

After the baptism we went out in front of the church to take pictures and all the kids ran, rolled, and crawled up and down the hill. So fun to see.

I had to try really hard not to think about the possibility of grass stains on his new suit and let him have fun with his cousins and build those memories.  Fortunately no grass stains on his suit.

Here is Dalin with his great-grandparents.  These are my mom's parents, Grandma Janet and Grandpa Dan.

Here we are with all the great-grandparents.  Dalin is very blessed to have so many grandparents in his life. 

These are Dan's grandparents, Rex and Adele.  Dalin calls them his great grandma and grandpa Roper.  

And here we have super-grandma.  This is my grandma on my dad's side.  We love her and I know that my grandpa was there in spirit.  

Now to the grandparents.  Here's Dan's dad and Charlene, Dalin's grandma and grandpa Roper.

My parents, grandma Sylvia and grandpa Randy.

Dan's mom and Ron, grandma Anne and grandpa Ron.

Dalin and his cousin Bailey.  They are the same age and she just recently got baptized.

Here's the whole gang.  Thank you everyone for supporting Dalin!

Dalin with cousins Makayla and Daxton.  These are my sister Leslee and Devin's kids.

This is Dalin with Kyla.  She is Braden's age, but the two of them are great friends.  They just love to play together and click really well.  

All the cousins.  Left to right: Bailey holding Linkin, Leah, Dalin, Landon, Kyla, Makayla, Daxton, Braden, Aubrey, and Korbin.

Dalin with my Brother Ryan's family.  Ryan, Linkin, Bailey, Leah, Kyla, and Rachel.

Dalin with Bailey and Kyla,  They are good little buddies.  

My side of the family.  Cute bunch of people!  Unfortunately Dan's side of the family had started dispersing so we didn't get a full Roper side picture.  We had been taking pictures for a long while and people were getting hungry.  

Sheeesh, what handsome boys I live with.

Big thank yous to everyone who got Dalin a gift.  

Dan and I got him a new set of scriptures with his name inscribed.  So glad we did.  He is one special kid and we love him to pieces.