Maddie & Hudson

April 4, 2009
The "babies" are a year old!

Maddie didn't like being messy

Hudson crawled through his cake
exploring, tasting at every angle

Abbie's with these adorable little ones at least twice a week
She has become quite a "nanny"
Being the youngest child
It's especially good for her to be in a little people house
Besides the twins, there's two-year-old Gavin, equally adorable
We couldn't crop Maddie out of this picture even though she isn't quite "in it"
Just look at that adorable face!

This has become Abbie's second home
Sometimes it's even her first home
Their family has been an incredible blessing to her life

April 1, 2009
Missionary Training Center

Loading the suitcases with all the other incoming missionary suitcases
- so many of them!

This not-so-little girl will not be a girl at all in two years!

Here he is, he's really going in...he's waited SO long,
he's so ready~

That's my boy. I'm so proud of him!

Claire's in New York City!

March 26 - 30, 2009
The PHS Chamber Singers!
Some of the greatest people I know!

~ It's almost impossible to choose photos for this post. I've taken a small sampling. The friends, the places, the sights, all much more than I can possibly do justice to. Take this as an appetite wetter...to see it all you'll have to come visit :) ~

Holli & Claire, too cute for words :)

It was a red-eye flight and straight adrenalin for 5 days.
Great food, no more than three hours of sleep on any given day, a red-eye home.
Minds filled with priceless experiences and memories.

The Today Show (They were asked to sing the National Anthem during the weather forecast) ~ Lion King on Broadway ~ The Statue of Liberty ~ Cathedrals ~ Graveyards ~ George Washington's Pew ~ They were The Feature Choir in Carnegie Hall ~ Clinics with amazing directors ~Subways ~ Walking ~ More walking ~ More sightseeing ~ and did I mention great food?
I'm salivating as I type, yum!

Claire and Amanda, just hanging out,
waiting for something I'm sure!

Mr. Mendenhall and his beautiful wife, Aprel.
Aprel is the one behind all the travel arrangements. She is the queen of tours. It's an honor to sing in this choir. Mendie (as they call him) doesn't just teach proper technique, he teaches about life, real life.
He feeds your soul, the whole you.
How do you thank such people?
They're modest, say it's their pleasure to work with these young people.
Indeed it is.
Thank you for doing it so well, so lovingly, so completely.
You've changed their lives forever.
You are real teachers.
We love you!

Claire has been to New York before. She was eleven. She was elated to return.
She loves to travel, any where.
Give her a bus ticket, a plane ticket, I bet she'd even take the train.
Traveling feeds her well being.

Elder Ferrin

Isn't he handsome? We had a glorious day...more later...

Spring is springing!

I love spring. It makes me giddy to see my
little flowers come up,
adding color to the leftover blah of winter.

My sister, Emily, got chickens a few months ago and I have been crazy for some ever since. We had chickens when our boys were preschool age. We loved the fresh eggs. While we were at Thanksgiving Point we saw some chicks for sale.

I asked Lane about getting some, really.
He said it wouldn't be a problem to house them with the rabbit in her pen.



Oh, the excitement was hard to contain!
This week Claire and I went to IFA and got these two little gals,
Jellie and Millie.
Lane got two more today, a different variety, for different eggshell color of course! We love a project! Lane's already got them set up in nesting boxes, minus the boxes for a couple of weeks.
He he, I'm so happy!

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Clogging at Thanksgiving Point

Abbie had her first clogging competition last weekend and on Monday her group performed for a missionary reunion celebrating St. Patrick's Day...perfect costumes! These aren't great photos but they certainly convey the enthusiasm and energy of the event. We're so pleased with the opportunities for Abbie to perform, learn, work hard, achieve, etc. I could watch her clog for hours! I've always been fascinated with the sport and to see my beautiful daughter doing it so well is just plain fun!

As with any sport, there is an entire lingo just for cloggers. We're getting more acquainted, slowly but surely. Abbie simply loves clogging and is getting quite muscular. She never ceases to amaze me! She learned a lot,
we better understand the lingo,
and we can't wait for the Clogging Spectacular in St. George the end of March!