We had conference on Easter Sunday and I loved listening to it.  It is such a great refresher and just makes me feel so good every time I get to listen to it.  I can't say I had a favorite talk this time because they were all so great.  I was reading my moms blog and I loved what she wrote about conference and what she got from it and so I had to copy it and share.

Highlights from Conference (some of the things I caught)

·        There are so many blessing from paying a fast offering; righteousness and closeness to the Lord, receive inspiration, and resist temptation.  Can change our nature, to serve and help others.

·        The Atonement is individual; accept the Atonement and our pains can be lessened.

·        Fatherhood is the most important call for a man.  We should rejoice in the successes of our companion.  We can strengthen our marriage by praising; praying for each other, stop hurtful things, apologize for hurts and chose to be happy.

·        Look at the ‘big’ picture, don’t use the keyhole view.  Don’t be a ‘gifted pickle sucker’.  Don’t be material and set our hearts upon riches.  Don’t have a fear of the future, have faith.  Align our actions and have hope, not doubt. Each day is our test, choose to believe and follow, don’t give up!

·        Our families can be forever, we continue through eternity.  Strengthen the family, it is God ordained.  

·        Faith in Christ takes away fear; Jesus is the source of enduring peace.  Trust leads to hope.  Look to Christ in everything, build upon the foundation of Christ, and press forward.  Godly fear is a reverence, respect, awe, submitting and being accountable in loving and trusting Him.  Christ compensates for all our losses!

·        We need to keep our lives on the right frequency to hear the music of the gospel and not get out of tune, dance in our homes in love, kindness, meekness, patience, and keep practicing!

·        A saint is a sinner who keeps on trying.  No failure ever needs to be final.  We are becoming who we can be, not who we used to be.

·        The Temple is a sacred place of peace and sanctuary; it will help us with temptations and trials.

·        Four cornerstones to religion freedom or liberty:

1.      Freedom to believe

2.      Freedom to share faith with others

3.      Freedom to form a religious organization

4.      Freedom to live our faith; safeguard for ourselves and posterity

·        We must endure to the end.  Rules to enduring:  Don’t forget to pray, come to Christ and be perfected in Him, Press forward  with faith, Read the Book of Mormon, cling to truth and don’t let trials blind us, Don’t be distracted or deceived, Stay by the TREE!

·        Average is the enemy of excellence!

·        We have responsibilities as members of the Church

1.      Learn our duty, accept and live

2.      Make a decision, choose good

3.      Act accordingly

4.      Accept Father’s will

I love reading my parents blog each week and seeing the things they are learning, doing and feeling.  They are so in touch with the spirit and are such great examples to me and my family.  I know what they are doing is the most important thing they could be doing right now.  Even though I miss them so much, I know that it will go fast and I know that my family is already seeing the blessings from their service.  I have an amazing family, and I belong to an amazing Church.  I am so thankful for both in my life and know that they are the things that bring me the most happiness.

Easter Sunday

We had a nice Easter and enjoyed listening to conference and then going to Grandma and grandpa's house for dinner and a Easter Egg hunt.  The kids all had so much fun and the hunt was fast because it was freezing cold.  It is crazy how fast time goes.  All the kids are growing up so fast and now we have a whole bunch of grandkids running around.  It doesn't feel like that long ago that it was just Alexis and Rett.   It is so fun to have cousins for each of the kids to hang out with and be friends with.  They all love each other so much and have so much fun together. 

Spring break

We went to St. George for spring break!  It was so much fun and I am so glad we went.  The weather was awesome and the kids all had so much fun.  

Max did great on the car ride there and back.  It is so nice that he can face forward and watch the tv now.  

As soon as we woke up the kids all couldn't wait to get in the pool.  We were all asleep and it was only 7 and Cache came in to put on his swim suit.  Annette told him no and to wait for a little while and the next thing we heard was "splash"  he just ran and jumped in in his clothes.  Annette wasn't very happy about it, but it was kinda funny.  The kids swam 90% of the time we were there.  They had so much fun with each other and came home with some great sun tans.  

The kids love playing in the wash.  They found a ton of snails this time and they were so gross.  

Max loved the water and had so much fun swimming.  

This picture looks like they are flying. 

Max swam enough that he finally got the hang of the floaty.  He could swim great but every once and a while he would tip over so you had to have him right by your side.  

We went to Brad and Sara's new subdivision pool two times and that was a lot of fun.  It is a beautiful pool and it has a fun slide and two great pools and a hot tub.  

We went to the kids museum and Adison, Brytlee, and Josylnn could have stayed all day and loved it, but the older kids ran to everything as fast as they could and were done in no time.  They got sick of it and so we missed out on going to the top floor.  

This was one of our favorite stops.  It was so cute to see the little kids and the big ones shop and buy the food and then put it all away.  They did it over and over and over.   It was cute because Karsten kept saying "it would be so fun to build this in our house"  Annette and I were thinking the same thing.  

Adison was so happy to be Elsa and didn't want to give anyone else a turn and just sat there as long as she could.  

I couldn't believe how hard they were all playing and it showed.  Adison never ever takes a nap, and she kept falling asleep anytime we sat down.  At night she would just crash the second she held still.  

It was Mia and Jex's Birthday while we were there and it was like a week long party!  We had so much fun.  We went to fiesta fun and the kids had a blast.  They went bowling, played laser tag, drove the bumper boats, and the race cars, and played tons of games.  

The second we went back home they all jumped in the pool.  We put sun screen on the kids all the time, but on the very first day…. Alexis and Conner went to the wash really early and about noon I thought…. they don'g have any sunscreen on.  I went to find them and sure enough, they were fried.  I felt so bad.  Alexis was so sore on her shoulders and started to peel before we left.  

We had  a little easter egg hunt on Saturday with Sara's neighbors and it was cute.  

For Mia's birthday she got a fin fun mermaid tail.  They are so awesome and now all of my girls want one.  They work great and are easy to use.   They had so much fun swimming with the tails.  Ava also got one for a easter present so it was nice to have two of them to share.  

This picture mad me laugh out loud and still does.  Jex is so funny!

Adison keeps telling me that she needs to have another birthday party so she can get a tail.  She was in love with it.  WE had so much fun and it has been hard to come home to such cold and windy weather.  It was in the 80s when we left and when we got home it was only 40.  Blahhhh

Living it up

Adison got some new clothes for her birthday and she has been wanting to show them off anytime she puts them on.  She will tell me to take her picture.  Then when I say how cute she looks she will say, "I know"  I love that she has confidence.  

Alexis made this cool map of Africa for school.  She is such a hard worker and I love that she works hard and cares about her grades.  She asked me why some kids don't care about school or grades and I love that she picked it up on her own.  She is a smart girl and is so hard on herself.  I hope that she knows how awesome she is and amazing, smart, beautiful on the inside and out, and wonderful she is.  

This little boy loves to bath.  He is such a sweet little man.  I love this stage of baby life.  He is so fast and gets into everything and can make a mess like no other, but he is learning so much everyday and it is so fun to watch.  

It is so crazy how boys are just born different than girls.  He has always loved balls and cars and "boy toys"  It is so cute when he picks up a car or truck he will make the rrrrrrrr sounds and really get into driving them around.  We didn't teach him that… it is just natural to boys I guess.  

Adison and Max both got sick at the same time and had the flu.  It so hard to have little ones throwing up and they just don't understand that they can not eat.  It was a long two days.  

Brytlee brought in a tiny little egg that was the size of a quarter and really wanted to cook it and eat it.  When we cracked it open this is what it looked like.  It was so weird and they yolk was clear and see through so we didn't dare eat it.  

Our weather is so weird.  it goes for the 70's to this .  I love that brytlee didn't mind and just made the best of it.  It was pretty cute.  

I thought this was so cute.  We watched a movie as a family and Max sat alms the whole time.  He was so happy to be by his daddy and be like a big boy.  He is such a calm boy and just seems to enjoy observing everything going on around him.  

Max loves Karsten.  But who wouldn't love that boy, he is awesome.
I feel like I have been busy with a lot the past few weeks.  Ryan had his alumni tournament for basketball and he did great but they lost this year.  They have won the whole thing three times and they have a great group they play with.  Then the next weekend I went to spring fair with Cindy and Annette in Pocatello to sell at a both for the carmel tree.  It was a lot of fun and a lot of work.  We stayed at a hotel and worked each day from 9-10, or 12-9  each day had different hours.  the first night we were there Annette barfed all night long and so she went home the next day.  It was a little more work with her gone, but it made the time go faster having more to do.   Chis is doing so well and everyone is thrilled on how much better he is feeling.  It is like night and day from the way he has been for the past year.  It is such a blessing for all of us to see him on the right track to getting back to normal.
Alexis is now doing track and soccer.  She is one busy girl and is always gone somewhere for practice or games.  Brytlee is going to start soccer soon and Liz is going to do softball.  busy busy busy!