Spring is in the Air

It's finally spring and with spring come busy and happy times.  Sports are going, school, gardening, outside fun, trips...you name it and we've been doing it.  Well, kind of.  

Our big event was Maggie's eye surgery.  She had what is called intermittent exotropia where her left eye would turn outward a little some of the time.  Her doctor recommended surgery so we went ahead and removed Maggie's eyeball.   Just kidding.  A little surgery to fix the problem.  Here she is ready to go in!  She was nervous but she was so brave.  I was really proud of her.  We made sure to write YES on the eye to be worked on--no mistakes here!

 Surgery went well and after she came out (and took a while to wake up out of her grogginess) she was fascinated by her double vision.  It can last about 2 weeks.  "I've got 10 fingers on my hand!"

 We've been having fun teasing her and playing games with her and her double vision.  It gives us all a little giggle.  Then it was time to go home and she got wheeled out like a movie star.

 Maggie did so good and we were all very proud of her.  The eye is still recovering but doing well.

Jacob got a special award from school--the Terrific Kid award.  Each 6th grade teacher in the district picks one boy and one girl in their class for the award and Jacob's teacher picked him!  We were really proud of him.  He is a terrific kid!

For spring break this year Hillary and her family were in town so we decided to do something fun.  We went down to Moab and stayed in a cabin in the La Salle mountains.  The cabin itself was quite the adventure.  It was very "rustic" --  it was really out in the middle of nowhere, and there was no dishwasher, the mattresses were dirty and gross, it was run off of solar power and in the morning we would run out of power!  It was definitely an experience!  But the only that mattered is that we had a ton of fun.  The kids loved playing with cousins and chopping wood outside.

 We played lots of games around the table!

 Grandma had us play some games where we got to get really up close and personal....

 But I didn't mind.  I got to sit with my handsome guy!

 Kaylee was the official hair stylist of the trip--does it mean your boys' hair is too long if it can be braided?

 We took a couple of fun hikes too.  We hiked out to delicate arch and we also did another fun one (I can't remember the name of it).  The scenery is so beautiful down there!

 What a great way to spend an afternoon!  Me and Joey had fun hanging out too!

 And of course we had to stop at the sand hill after the hike.  We did this last time we were down here a few months ago and it is always a hit with the kids.  Even though my car fills up with sand.

 The boys went mountain biking while we went on a small hike.  Tyler and Jacob had so much fun! They came back with lots of scratches to show how tough they are.

Jacob moved on in his science fair again!  He went to show at BYU and he won a really cool prize--a trip for 4 to a fossil quarry in Wyoming to dig for fossils!  We even get to keep all the fossils we find. It doesn't open for another month but we are so excited to go!  It's going to be really cool, and of course Jake thought it was the coolest prize ever.  Future geologist.

Life on a "farm" (okay, a mini-farm) is definitely different from how I grew up.  Eric got a tractor and has been teaching the kids to use it (gulp).  But it has come in handy a lot even in just a couple weeks.  And Ziggy is always bringing me treasures.  Here she is with a cow leg, and then the other day she brought me a dead mouse.  Put it right outside my garage door for me.  I guess better dead and outside than alive and inside?  

When Hillary was here we went up to Salt Lake to walk around temple square and have lunch.  I just had to capture this quintessential shot of Joey.  This is basically his uniform lately.  T-shirt, sport shorts and tall socks pulled up all the way.  Lol.  This kid may be a handful, but he can make us laugh.  I love it.

Joey love to help us work out in the yard and with the horses.  Here Eric was showing him how to hook up the manure spreader to the back of the tractor.  Joey got to hook it up, change the latches, and even drive the tractor a little bit!  Future cowboy in training!

 Back to temple square with the cousins (the pictures got out of order).  I left to go home with the younger kids who were tired but Tyler stayed with the rest of the group.  Maybe I should have stayed to supervise because this is the picture I was sent by Hillary....oh dear.

 They also went to do baptisms for the dead in Provo.  What a good looking family!

 I went for a horse ride with Eric and his dad last week.  The weather was beautiful and spring is always so pretty up in the mountains.

 And with springtime finally here the gardening has begun.  We planted a lot more plants around the house for landscaping, and started our fruit and vegetable garden as well.  I've never been that great at growing things but maybe with the help of the family this garden will actually produce something.  It will be a fun family project this summer.  Fingers crossed we get some yummy crops!

 Lots more action to come in the next month.  Stay tuned!