Easter

The Saturday before Easter we spent a fun day with Cale and Hailey and cousin Kira up at Grandma and Granpa Wester's house. Here are some of our fun activities.

Ally was so happy that grandma bought a new juicer, they wasted no time in cutting up all kinds of fruits and vegetables to juice, it turned out really yummy.

Gail had a fun Easter egg hunt out back for the kids. They had fun finding eggs, Ava liked it once she figured out there was candy in there. But she never really got the plan of getting a lot, just enjoying the one or two she happened to stumble into.
Luke and Ally raced around getting eggs. I put this picture in also, so you could see the beautiful view behing Grandma and pa-pa's house.

Then we played some games, had egg races, and chick races. Here, if you can't tell, the chicks are racing to see who can be first to make it from the edge of the sheet to the food in the middle. I think batman won. He is the most competitive of the chicks.
And then Sunday, while we were at church, the Easter bunny came. He followed the Campbell tradition of throwing the eggs and candy all over the floor so the kids could rush around and grab it up. Ava could tell it was candy this time and got into the fun. I think the Easter bunny brought too much candy though, as there was still quite a lot on the floor by the time the kids stopped gathering.

We then had a good talk about the real meaning of Easter, and had a great holiday with our family.

baby chicks for Easter

Happy Easter!

Well, Ally has been asking and asking for baby chicks this year for Easter. (Can you tell that she is an animal lover?..that is all she talks about. Oh, and boys. And Hannah Montana. And her friends, and sometimes school,but the rest of the time, animals.) I told her no.
...but thanks to Grandma and Pa-pa Wester, who live in a chicken-friendly community (we do not) and decided that fresh eggs might be tasty and fun, they decided to get some chicks. Which meant that Ally, Luke and Ava got to go to the feed store and each pick one out.

I don't know if Gran and pa-pa will ever actually get to see, hold, or keep at their house-these chicks- now that the kids have picked them out and named and loved and loved and loved them. They have spent most the night just sitting and watching and patting them. They are planning on sneaking downstairs while they are sleeping to play with them in the night. Ally has been asking me all day if this is just a dream, and that she loves the chicks more than her guinea pig, hermit crabs, and fish. And they have been so loyal.

So let me introduce you to Batman, Peepster, and Chicken (from left to right) the most loved chicks in Eagle city limits. Lets hope they survive that love, and that they are girl chickens. It is really hard to tell, Gail and I had a hard time, but the guy at the feed store had a "trick", girl chickens have weaker leg muscles and can't reach up and peck you when you hold them upside down by the legs. So we either have girls or weak-legged boys. Only time will tell. but at least we have some happy kids this Easter.

weekend in the snow

Despite the spring weather here in Eagle, we went up to a cabin in Tamatak with some friends last weekend, where winter is still alive and well.

The kids are enjoying a treat of icicles. They were all around the house, some almost as big around as the kids, I am glad that none of them fell off while we were under them. they could have done some serious damage.
Little snow angel Ava.
Besides being a tasty treat-it didn't take the boys long to figure out an additional use for the icicles.

We had a fun time, the kids loved playing in the snow, but after putting on and taking off and putting on and taking off the winter clothes,-well, lets just say I am grateful that Spring is almost here.

music fun

The kids have come up with "can music" which means one kid is banging on the pots and pans while the other plays the "cymbals". Luke is pointing at Ally letting her know she is up.


Then they switch. I love that they are so creative and work so well together. I just wish it was somehow a little quiter. Josh and I have to escape upstairs during a few of their numbers. To keep our sanity.
Our other favorite musical activity is putting on my running play list and dancing around the house, practicing for the girls dancing with the stars audition.
Here I am showing the kids that this old mama still has some moves.
And I love Ava's face here, wild and happy after some having a fun time together.

borrowed dog

Well, Ally's love of dogs and wishing for a dog and asking for a dog almost daily and saving up for a dog finally manifested itself with the neighbors dog, "Romy" finding its way to us. He comes by whenever he can break out of their back yard, which is pretty often. I think he makes a beeline for our house, and then often spends the night or two. I'm sure he feels the love our kids have for dogs across the barrier of streets and houses, and now we have the best of both worlds, a dog to love and play with, but none of the responsibilily. And it just goes to show if you want something bad enough, it will happen eventually. The kids couldn't be happier.


The kids can not all sit still at the same time.

I know the next step is for us to get a dog. We want an old one that just lays around like this one does.
Romy did not enjoy the whoopie cushion like the rest of the kids did. Maybe that sound is not funny to dogs. It is funny to the kids though. Everytime. Sooo funny.

another tooth out, another hermit crab

Ally lost her second tooth, this time a legitimate one from the bottom, not the top deadened one. We are going to the dentist tomorrow to see about the snaggle tooth that has slid over on the top, porbably to have it taken out, just don't tell her that. Too scary!

Ally was really nervous about this tooth, so to help her, Josh told her that she could buy another hermit crab with the money from the tooth fairy.
So the very next morning we headed out to the pet store with some of Luke's buddies and picked out "superman", the next addition to our growing family of pets.
Here he is in his container to take home. And it looks like Luke has found some kind of treasure as well.
What will happen with the next tooth? Stay tuned, there are still three wiggly ones.

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve was really special with Barbies dressed up like the Nativity. I think GI Joe was Joseph. Gail was so creative to make this, and it was so fun for Ally and her to work on it together.

And finally-Christmas morning. ally's favorite present from Santa was three hermit crabs (all still living two weeks later...) and even though it was cold out, they could not resist riding their motorcycle. Or maybe that was Josh.



Look at that proud dad. Sadly (or maybe not so sadly) to say, the motorcycle turned out to be a little too hard to handle for the kids, so it was traded in for a four wheeler, which has provided much joy pulling the kids on sleds through the snow. ally is pretty good at it, if we could just get the steering down. All in all, we had a great, fun, busy, tasty, whirlwind of a Christmas and New Year, and loved it all, especially being with so many friends and family. We truly are thankful for each of you, and for the birth of Jesus Christ. Here's to another great year!