My Latest Project

While Layne was gone this week, I decided to kind of redo our bedroom. I have my mom and dad's old bedroom furniture which is still in great shape but maybe not the most up to date. My good friend Jodene Trimble came over early Monday morning and we started sanding down my bed and dresser. About mid afternoon we ran out of paint and made a trip into Idaho Falls to buy new handles for the dresser, more black paint for the bed, and on a whim Jodene convinced me to paint an accent wall as well. With cabin red paint in hand we headed back home. At about 7:00 pm Jodene gathered up her four kids who had been playing with my four all day (they really were pretty good, but I owe Abby big time for babysitting), and headed home because she had to work the night shift at the hospital that night. I don't know how she does it. I put the kids in the tub, made pancakes at about 7:45 pm, put the kids to bed and went back to painting my bedroom. Around midnight I finally called it quits. Gradually throughout the week I finished up the painting, rearranging, and putting back together and finally on Thursday Jodene came back to help me put up curtains she had so generously donated. (She really is amazing). Anyway, I had Layne convinced that none of the painting on the furniture had worked and that is was still sitting in the garage waiting for him to come home and fix it. We couldn't wait to surprise him! He loved it. He had no idea I had finished let alone painted the wall and put up curtains. I know the picture doesn't do it justice, but it really does look like a totally different room. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you set your mind to it. Thanks Jodene!

Easter...and finally some sun!

We had a wonderful Easter. The Easter bunny stopped by Saturday night to drop off treats for the kids since he knew Layne would be busy with meetings Sunday morning and it would give us a better chance to focus on the real reason we celebrate Easter. Jake couldn't get over all the chocolate eggs hid around the house. On Sunday we had Easter dinner with my mom and Don and she had an Easter egg hunt there as well. The kids really enjoyed it, and it was fun watching the adults trying to remember where they had hidden the eggs the kids couldn't find. The girls all wore matching pink dreses to church ( I don't know how much longer Abby will go for that), and Jake had a cute white shirt, tie, and vest which looked really cute until his pants spilt out during church. Oh, well! Luckily he just thought his leg was fun to play with through the hole.

Last Snowmobile Trip of the Season

To finish off his week before leaving for Project Inspire, Layne managed to squeeze in one more snowmobile trip with his brother Mike and friend Jeremy ( a nice little birthday get away). They went to the Felt area where there was still good snow and found some fun places to ride. ( I think they would enjoy themselves no matter where they were as long as they were together!) I'm thankful they have each other to go with. We wish Mike was closer to go more often.

Fun with Dad

Before Layne left for Project Inspire, he took the day off to play with us a bit. We went to town, did some shopping and took the kids to the park to play. They have been waiting for the snow to melt at this particular playground forever. It was a bit windy, but dry and the kids had a ball.

To top off the month of March, Jake finally walked. He turned 16 months and just finally decided it was time. At first it was just a few steps here and there and now you can't stop him from walking everywhere. He thinks he is so cool! He loves to ride bikes with the girls outside, too. I have a feeling he could be a handful to keep track of this summer. Oh, well! It keeps me skinny!

We have a spent a fair amount of time playing in the snow this winter, too. Jared, my brother-in-law found an awesome tubing hill last year that has become a favorite place of our's to go. We went once with my family (Holly and Jared and Don and Jolynn) and once with Layne's family. We took Kathy and Alex, Brian and Debbie, and Mike and Emily and their families. It was quite the feat getting everyone the 1/2 mile back in to the hill, but it was worth it. It also gave Layne another excuse to use his snowmobiles. He loves it!

We also had Jake with us both times, and for four hours he just sat in the sled and didn't make a peep. He even went on the tube and rode the snowmobile. What and angel!

March was a crazy month for our family. From birthdays to baptisms and everything inbetween, we managed to keep it all together and have a really fun month. Abby turned 8 and wanted to have a "Rock Star" party. We had about 12 girls at our house to dance and sing and make their own star to hang. It was a lot of fun! Abby doesn't take dance, but if you ask her what her hobbies or favorite things to do are, she will always tell you DANCE! She and her friend Brylei really rocked out during her party. She had really wanted to go to the musical Wicked for her birthday but we couldn't get tickets. She (and I) are looking forward to another opportunity. She got the scooter she wanted instead and of course accessories for her American Girl doll, Kit. Happy Birthday Abbs!