March

Whew, March was a whirlwind month full of good things!

In March, we:

*welcomed home Grandma and Bonka from their mission to Argentina!

(Kimberlee couldn't miss school so had to wait until Grandma's house for hugs).

We are so happy to have them home and loved their homecoming talks and the recognized blessings for their service.

*celebrated St Patrick's Day with all the Andersons, including corned beef and cabbage, and a little Irish dancing

*spent a wonderful week together for Spring Break. We originally planned to get out of town since Ed miraculously ended up with the whole week off, but we eventually decided a "staycation" would be better right now. It was perfect.

We started the cold week with a small hike to Tablerock. It was windy and miserable, but the view was worth it. We'll be going back to actually hike it when the wind doesn't leave us numb.

It warmed up slightly, so we headed to Barber Park to walk along the river and skip rocks.

We enjoyed a Nacho Libre night - our girls hadn't ever seen the movie, so Drew was kind enough to let us borrow it and joined us for Mexican food and some impromptu wrestling.

We hung out, went shopping, sent kids off with grandparents, went to the temple, and just generally enjoyed being together.

On Thursday we booked a hotel room for the pool and cable tv. The girls loved it and I loved how accomodating the hotel was - the pool was open 24/7 and they didn't bat an eye to all 5 kids being in 1 suite and needing breakfast the next morning. The girls got plenty of pool time and Spongebob and whatever else they could find on tv, and Ed and I enjoyed watching them do their thing and get along with each other. It was awesome.

*had an Easter egg hunt in our backyard. 120 eggs for 8 kids (Kim helped hide them, and Maggie watched) were found in no time...except for 1. We found that one the next week.

*attended a going-away party for my brother Stephen who will be deployed this summer. They celebrated birthdays, their anniversary, and all the holidays he would miss this summer (including a pinata for Cinco de Mayo and fireworks for the 4th of July). Such a fun idea of Lisa's!

(Keira was the last in line and told to finish it off - and she did)

*had Easter dinner with the Laws. I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I really, really, really like living by family again.

In March, Ed:

*turned 40!!!

My old man still has all the moves though, which he proved to us at his bowling birthday party that his parents put on.

*got a new toy

In March, I:

*cut off my hair. Finally.

In March, Kimberlee:

*turned 14!!! She wanted to keep things pretty low-key (Kim struggles with lots of attention and gifts), so she had a couple friends come over to hang out and have dinner and open presents.

(She got some treats and colored pencils, gifts from grandparents...and her own cell phone.)

And then they picked up another friend and went roller-skating.

(Kimberlee, Aspen, Leigha, and Annabelle)

I'm so grateful Kim has found sweet, uplifting, good friends here. And I'm so impressed with the sweet, responsible, beautiful girl she is growing up to be.

*had a really bad day when she found out her braces would need to stay on for another 5 weeks. Curse these slow-moving teeth of hers.

*went with Grandma A and Keira to the Ronald McDonald House to stuff Easter eggs for their egg hunt. They got a tour and enjoyed serving and hope to go back to do more.

In March, Keira:

*started track. She was really nervous about it, but determined as always. She has discovered a joy in long-jump and sprinting (and sore muscles she never knew she had).

*was evaluated for braces and was disappointed to find out she would need to wait at least another 8 months, despite all the assurances from Kimberlee that starting too early only leads to having them on longer than anticipated.

In March, Krista:

*sang in her 3rd grade music program. There were kazoos and speaking parts for each child, and lots of wiggly kids. It was great.

*was also evaluated for braces due to excessive overcrowding. Thankfully she also can hold off for a while...like years.

*went on a promised day trip with Grandma and Bonka and Jaron to Twin Falls. They went to lunch and Shoshone Falls, and then took a tour of the Jerome cheese factory. It was special for Krista to have that one-on-one time with her grandparents.

In March, Kassie:

*decided it was warm enough and time to ride a bike. We have a tiny bike that was given to us that probably fits Karoline - Kassie figured out how to ride it on our little back patio with her knees in her chest. So Ed took her out front on the bigger hand-me-down bike we gave her for her birthday, and she hopped on and rode away.

In March, Karoline:

*still struggled through nursery. Sigh.

*was accidental "matchers" with her cousin Reagan after Easter dinner. So cute...but getting them to hold still for a picture together was pure torture.

*picked up a few more words, including "cow" and "hair" and finally figuring out a more normal sound for Keira - she says "Deewa" which makes Keira much happier than the "Dee" she used to call her. My favorite was the few days she called her "Debbie." Kimberlee is "Bobo" (we assume that comes from "Kimbo"), Krista is "Di-da", Kassie is "Da-do" (from Kassie Jo), and she calls herself KK.