May 3rd Parkin turns 10! And he is in a musical!

Parkin aka Love Dog turned 10! We love this kid. He is funny and sweet and very loving. He is bright and apparently is quiet the ham. He was soooo good in his school musical Seussical, he played Sour Kangaroo. From the moment he walked on stage he was working the crowd. The whole family including Nan and Papa and Grandma came too. We laughed and even cried he was that good. His acting was phenomenal but boy was his singing great too. He had a solo part and he let his voice go full throttle. It was fantastic! His great friend Ashley was also in the play she was fantastic too. These two have been buddies for years so it was so gun to see them in their element.

We love you Parkin you bring so much joy and happiness in our lives!

 We always use the same candle,a number 8 and then we write in +2 or whatever needs to be added).

                                                                  He is so awesome!

Pictures after the performance:

April 28th Beryl's 16 year and 10 month birthday party!

Beryl's birthday is June 28th and she will be back in China for it. In fact she will be gone by May 27th. We surprised her with an almost 17 birthday celebration. We got her Arizona inspired gifts. A necklace with a scorpion in it, a mini globe necklace to symbolize all her travels and coyote earrings. We have a band of javelinas that visit the property so her card had a heard of javelinas on it. We took her to the most cowboy restaurant in Tucson, Pinnacle Peak. They cut off any necktie that comes to the place so naturally we gave Beryl a necktie to wear. It was a fun night, we are really going to miss her. We later had apple pie and icecream. I can't believe our foreign exchange year is rapidly coming to a close. I can't wait to hear about all her success in the future. She is a bright, shy and kind young woman. We will miss her but hope to keep in close contact! We have loved getting to know you Beryl!

April 26th Wacky Wednesday

Parkin and Anna showing up as their natural selves for Wacky Wednesday spirit week. Love these kiddos so much!

Easter weekend April 15-16

I love Easter! I love that we celebrate that we will live again because of our Savior's Atonement and ultimate act of love for mankind. I also love Easter because The Howe family does Saturday activities and The Holmans do Sunday activities, no dividing the day hip hip hooray!

Easter egg hunt at the yellow barn

Nana and Papa gave each of the kids a little bunny or chick that hopped the cousins then turned it into a racing ring/ battle field, too funny.

Roper Lake April 13th-15th

We had such a blast with the Holman family at Roper lake. This is our third time going and we are happy to have the Holman's join us! They have a mini kayaks and we have two mini kayaks and we also borrowed a regular one from a friend. The cousins had a blast on the water. We lounged around and watched as time stood still for a bit. The camp ground also has a hot springs and hiking trails. Unfortunately Robin got stung by a ninja bee that came out if nowhere. Nothing like hot dogs, smores and pop tarts to make the kiddos happy. They had their foreign exchange student and we had ours, the more the merrier. Can't believe their time in our homes are coming to an end. Our mist exciting moment came when one our kayaks took flight on the freeway. Luckily Benjamin heard something and pulled over so we new we lost one. It was a miracle that it didn't hit another car and that we found it! We decided to keep it inside the van much to Olivia's happiness! Wish I caught more pics of the younger kids, but they didn't come to shore much :)

Ragnar race!! March 31-April 1st

Benjamin's home teaching companion is one of the most eclectically skilled man we know. He does so many things and knows so many people. So when he approached Benjamin to participate in a Ragnar race, Benjamin was all in. He loves anything that involves an adventure. So the idea of participating in a 200 mile relay race in Austin Texas he was more than excited to join. There were two vans of six runners and we rotate running throughout the day. His friend is 60 and his wife is 59, they both ran. They are amazing!! The other two who ran with our team one is a friend from the ward and another was the friend of Benjamin's who coordinated it.  Irun several times a week but don't run competitively, so I was a little nervous mostly because it's a 24 hour race so you end up running in the middle of the night. I'm a girl who needs my sleep so the thought of running my 3rd leg at 3am, a 6 miler was a little daunting. I didn't die! And I found I didn't lose the eye of the Ruger after all. My total mileage was 18. Benjamin's was 18.3, he ran the longest leg it was a little over 10 miles. 

Aunt to the rescue!! March 31st

At my kids school they have an awards assembly 5 times a year, it's great when you're​ on the list to get something, not so fun to endure the assembly when you don't get something. At my kids school every kid who gets a 90's grade point average and above gets recognition. Brutal when your in the first grade and a majority of classmates gets it. I'm not afraid of kids not being on "the list" I think failing is healthy people know how to list cause we do it such much more frequently than winning, but being 7 it's hard. Anna had an awards assembly on Friday both Benjamin and I were out of town for our Ragnar. Anna knew this so on her car ride home she asked Aunt Robin if she could come. Anna said Robin asked when it was but she wasn't sure the time. I was hoping Anna would forget about it and Robin too. Well we left for our trip and I got a text from Robin with a picture of Anna beaming. Robin made Anna's day as well as mine. So thoughtful to make her day. My Anna makes her own lunch, dresses herself, and cleans her chores like a champ. She wanted support and found a loving Aunt to fill in. Thanks a million Robin!!