window well wonders

Ever been awakened in the middle of the night by a child standing over you? There's just nothing quite like it. Kenyon came into our bedroom in the middle of the night last night, saying that something was trying to get into his window. He thought it was a bird or a mouse. We knew there wasn't much we could do or see at 1am, so we told him to sleep on the couch. This morning, THIS is what we found in his window well!!Lovely, isn't it? A mink!! I tried to snap some pictures but every time he moved I freaked out and ran away, so Kent (my hero!) bravely captured these. (Sorry about the messy window well...)

We called animal control and when the officer arrived, I felt safe enough to stand behind the camera once again. The officer said she'd never been on a call to capture a mink before...

...so a brave police officer (my other hero!) crawled down the window well to capture it for her.

What team work!

And there he is in his nice little Pet Porter. Sorry the picture is out of focus, but if you could have smelled him, you wouldn't have been able to hold the camera steady either! P.U!!! Apparently mink spray a stinky musk when threatened. That poor police officer...he'll be stinking for days! What an eventful morning. You just never know what a new day will bring...especially around here!

my little angels

(With their slightly crooked halos)

perspective

We were driving in the car today and Kolby said, "Mom! Look at all those cute flowers!" So I had to pull over and take his picture among the 'cute flowers.'

(I guess it's all in your perspective.)

Kolby and I did our part to share the love.

Hope you take some time to stop and smell the {cute} flowers today.

meet my new neighbor

Baby E is my new, beautiful little 14 day old neighbor. He is so cute and so sweet that I have a hard time believing his mom that he's up all night. (Just kidding, Stacey! I feel your pain!!) Yesterday Stacey and I had so much fun playing with E. What a fun little photo subject. I just love him so much! (And, funny thing, I think he looks JUST like my other neighbor - his big sister! Ooooh I love him.) Oh and what does it mean that he's always looking to the right? That in his life he will always choose the right? That he's very left brained? That he's already a thinker?...

all you need is a wife

A wife brings balance and stability.

little surprises

Oh how I love it when you plug your card into your computer and find some wonderful little surprise pictures like these!

more easter pics!

We had such a fun Easter. Grandma and Grandpa always have the BEST egg hunt for us. And those eggs were in some pretty clever hiding places. What could be better than cousins and CANDY!?

easter eve!

Kent and I are playin' Easter Bunny tonight...the two big boys are each getting a wonderful "new" invention that is going to change all our lives...it's a phone that PLUGS INTO THE WALL and stays attached to the base via a stretchy CORD so that it's never lost, and when it rings, you know exactly where it will BE. Ingenious, isn't it!? They're going to LOVE them. (But Kent and I are going to love them MORE!) I'm also up late trying to figure out a Sharing Time for tomorrow. I think we're going to talk about all the miracles of Spring...trees, flowers, and grass blooming and turning green...fuzzy caterpillars turning into beautiful butterflies...rain bringing flowers (and rainbows)... and little eggs hatching into birds. We'll then, of course, talk about the amazing miracle of the empty tomb, and our gratitude for all that an empty tomb represents. I AM grateful for the wonderful miracle of a tomb where Jesus Christ was no longer there, for He had risen. How can you help but be filled with joy at the thought of such a thing!? My goal this week is to more fully recognize the miracles that surround me. Easter truly is a wonderful time of year. Happy Easter, everyone!

primary activity

Had a Primary quarterly activity a couple weeks ago. It was a lot of fun. First the kids made headbands out of torn pieces of muslin. They decorated them with markers to look like Nephites or Lamanites and they really did a great job. Some of them were works of art! We then learned scripture stories, played Do You Love Your Neighbor?, played Steal the Lamanite Sword, and then played Battle. After the "battle" we pointed out to them that we didn't lose anyone in our battle (though a couple were wounded :) and that the kids were just like the Stripling Warriors who all came out of battle alive. We told them that we knew they would always fight for the right and battle on the Lord's side. We then finished up by burying "weapons" (little toothpick swords) in ice cream sundaes with all the fixins. The activity was to reward the kids for bringing their scriptures to Primary each week and filling up our scripture jar over the last couple of months. It was a fun activity...we aren't sure if they got the meaning of all our ideas and how they tied together. Mostly they just thought it was great to dress like warriors, battle, and go home with swords. (Yikes!)

neighborhood easter egg hunt

The neighborhood had a spontaneous Easter egg hunt, thanks to Shelly, the queen of spontaneity! Shelly, without you, my life would be so boring! You're the BEST!