Easter Sunday Pictures

We love the new dress and hat from Grandma Sue (Grandma Cows?)

Easter Egg Hunt Stories

It is always our tradition to go to an Easter Egg hunt as a family on the Saturday before Easter. This year, we went to the other Branson Ward Primary Activity Egg Hunt. We had a wonderful experience with them, it was just me and the two kids, and I was a bit nervous that I was taking them both myself (Doug had to work). We were met inside by a wonderful grandpa who took Monte under his wing and made sure he had a chance to participate in everything. (This was the first time we'd met him!) Then we were pretty slow finding eggs, Monte can see a little bit of color, so I hold him over eggs, and he "scans" with his hands and eyes to find them on his own. Piper followed us around holding our bucket, but kind of timid to pick any up. A cute girl of about 11 was one of the last to get to look for eggs. She jumped as high as she could, trying to get the ones out of the trees. After getting them, she brought them over to us and gave them to Monte and Piper, worried that they hadn't gotten enough. Unfortunately, by the time she finished, there were no more eggs to be found. Luckily, a group of 9/10 year old boys noticed that she hadn't gotten any and gave her a handful of theirs. You can imagine how touched I was! What a wonderful experience of sharing and Christlike Love!

It reminded me of the story in this Month's Friend, one that made me have to explain "happy tears" to Piper after trying to read it to her...

Candy or Kindness?
By Annette Alger (Based on a true story)

Look up the following scriptures: 1 Corinthians 16:14; Mosiah 2:17; D&C 42:38. Circle the one you think fits the story best.
It was almost time for the town’s annual Easter egg hunt. Children lined up along the edge of the lawn, waiting for the signal to begin hunting for candy that had been scattered everywhere. This year there were other prizes too. Brightly colored plastic eggs had been hidden in the grass, and whoever found one could redeem it for a big candy bar.
Eight-year-old Justin saw one of those eggs lying not far away. As soon as the signal was given, he ran straight for it. He grabbed the egg, then noticed another one close by. Quickly, he retrieved it too. He gazed down at his hands, each now holding a plastic egg. He was so excited. He was not only going to get one, but two delicious, gigantic candy bars!
Then he looked up and saw a mother with her two sons. He could see that the boys were blind, and their mother was holding their hands trying to help them find some treats. As Justin watched them, he noticed that before the mother could lead her sons to candy, another child would spy it and promptly scoop it up. This happened again and again. The hunt was almost over and the boys’ hands were still empty.
Once more, Justin looked down at his hands and his treasured eggs. Then he quietly tiptoed over to the boys, bent down, and placed an egg on the ground by each of them. The mother, with a tear streaming down her cheek, mouthed the words, “Thank you.” She guided her sons’ hands downward and they discovered the precious eggs. Their faces lit up with excitement. Justin got a big grin on his face. He didn’t get any candy bars that day, but he still felt like a winner.

Really Cute Kids

Piper and I on my birthday, going shopping together.
She loves glasses, shoes, purses, jewelry, ect! What a girly girl!
Relaxing in his track suit...

Dad discovers Piper's curly hair!

Claire's Birthday!

Doug loves to decorate cakes for our birthdays, and he surprised me with this one for mine. How wonderful is he?! All this and fettuchini alfredo (homemade, his speciality) after I got home from a Relief Society activity.

Monte the Tight-Rope Walker

Monte's school has a long standing tradition that the Kindergarten classes do a "Circus" performance every spring. Monte's class dressed up and danced as tight-rope walkers, complete with balance sticks. Monte's was taped to his chair, and he danced along with everyone else! It was really cute to see how much his class loves him.

Monte dressed for Church

Monte is always so thrilled to go to church, and we think he's so cute!

Piper Wears a Ponytail!!

After nearly a year of trying to get Piper to leave headbands, barretts, clips, and more in her hair...we have achieved perfection! The tight little rubberbands stay all day. Hooray! Now the hair is finally out of her eyes, and she looks so cute! She likes to sit on my bathroom counter and play with all my make-up while I "do her hair," then admires herself in the mirror. She's my beautiful brown eyed blonde, with curls in the back. We love having a girl!!

Ricks College 2000/BYU-Idaho Now

Amy is at school at BYU-I and living in my same dorm (a family tradition, my mom and 2 other sisters stayed in the same dorm too!) It's full of fun memories, and looks almost the same as when I was there. I had a candlelight ceremony with my engagement ring there, cute story!

Sisters

I bought matching hats and sent them to my college sisters for fun! Still missing our missionary sister...coming home soon!

Rexburg Temple Open House

I stayed longer in Idaho with my family so we could attend the Rexburg Temple Open House. It was so cool to be there with my kids. Rexburg is where I went to school, met Doug, fell in love, met President Bednar and President Eyring, competed on the Speech and Debate team, played flute in the band, was VP of Standards Committee, ran for Student government,....and graduated from Ricks College. Such a special place for us!

My kids were wonderful, (although I kept slipping Monte cookies from the open house, he was hungry after the long drive!) My mom kept Piper with her, she was very calm and content through the whole tour.

Hawaii!!

Ok, prepare for a surprise....Doug and I went to Hawaii!!! We left the kids with Grandma Fogelquist and Great-Grandma Wellington, and left. (I know, I'm surprised too!) My Sis, Allison is attending BYU-Hawaii, and helped us enjoy the Polynesia Cultural Center, and other fantastic aspects of the Island.

Butterfly Palace

Monte at the 3D Movie
Piper in the Mirror Forest, it really confused her...and us!

We've been having so much fun here in Branson, there are so many family things to do! Here are some fun pictures from the Butterfly Palace, a reserve with thousands of butterflies, in all stages.

Even though we sometimes struggle (typical mom vrs 5 year old battles), being a Mom is the best decision I ever made. Moments like these remind me how lucky I am, and how much I love my kids.

Monte gives the best kisses.

This is how I cheer up the kids when one is crying, we all pile onto the same chair on top of each other. Pretty soon, someone starts laughing, then pretty soon we all join in.

This second picture is one of my favorites, it's Monte and Piper holding hands.

During this photo shoot, Piper cried almost the entire time. It's amazing that she got so many of her smiling! Monte, on the other hand, had just woken up. I threw on fancy clothes, and sat him in front of the camera. After snuggling with Piper and I for a few minutes, he really started to flirt with us! I was thrilled to get such great pictures of him.