Kindergarten Program

Each one of my children have had such great kindergarten years.

I think that Hattie by far was the most excited each day to go to kindergarten.

Not only did she have a great teacher {her aunt and my sister-in-law}

and some great teacher assistants.

She had some great friends in her class too!!

She loved going to school when she could ride her bike,

she loved going to school when we could go to lunch first and then I would drop her off.

She LOVED going to school.

Hattie and her two best buds!

Hattie and her teacher. Mrs. Taylor...

She is excited for 1st grade.

School Programs

One of Brinton's end of school projects was to make an anthropod. It had to be over 20 cm and this is a dragonfly that we created {Yes I said We--because I helped him}

He got an A+...Good Job.

The middle children Brock and Breanna had their annual school singing program.

Here is Breanna with some of her school buddies

This year for 4th grade they learned to square dance and some songs about Idaho.

They also line danced to Cotton-Eyed Joe

Easter

Easter is always fun. Baskets, Candy, New Church Clothes, Egg hunts

My Beautiful Children lined up and ready for church.

After church we spent some time with our grandparents.

Grandpa & Grandma Taylor had Ham and potatoe dinner and an Easter Egg hunt.

What a Fabulous Day.

Brinton turns Teenager on us

Brinton's birthday was a couple days after we got home. I can't believe that he is a teenager already. Boy does time fly. This year instead of choosing to go to dinner with the family....he decided that he wanted to have a family party and then have his friends over later in the week. On his birthday we had tacos and let him open his presents. Then he had to rush off to scouts.

A new bike is what he wanted and needed this year.

Then on Wednesday night we had cake and ice cream with our extended family.

Then on Friday he had a party with his friends.

Let me tell you these teenage boys made me laugh.

They all brought Brinton a gag gift and then something else to go along with it.

He got a banana, some Hannah Montana makeup, some bath salts, you get the idea.

We all had a great laugh.

Then we went off to Orange Leaf for some Frozen Yogurt.

Then they came back and watched a movie.

Even though Brinton's birthday turned into a week long celebration...

that is ok--you only turn 13 once.

We are so glad to have this caring, funny, helpful boy in our home.

Spring Break

We have decided that it is wonderful to go somewhere warmer than Idaho for Spring Break. This year especially we were looking forward to some warm weather. So Saturday afternoon we headed down to SLC. We had a hotel booked for the night in Lehi--partially to split up the long drive--partially because our room in Vegas wasn't ready for us until Sunday night. We met up with some friends {The Johnson's} in Utah. They just happened to be spending their spring break in Utah. So we spent the evening with them at Chuck E Cheese. [Not the ideal place for the parents--but wonderful for th 11 kids :)] We had a great evening. It was a fair day the first day but then the next morning we woke up to 2 inches of snow. At this point we were really grateful that we were headed to some sun.


We started our second day of driving. When we reached St. George, the kids were excited to go to Pioneer Park and picnic and hike around a little.

Sunday night we reached Las Vegas and met up with Nathan and Amy's family and Miss Pam and T. It was so warm and nice....we for the most part were content to play in the pool. They had a lazy river, a bigger pool, and a kids pool. Sunday night we drove down to Freemont Street. All I can say is that Las Vegas is pretty eye opening....we saw some pretty interesting people.

Since we were in Vegas we decided we should walk down the strip in the morning with our kids to blind their eyes from a lot of the stuff that is there. They enjoyed spending time in the M&M store. {Don't you love Logan's pose??}

And of course if we are at the M&M store we have to eat a little chocolate!!!

This next picture I had to capture. Of all the times the kids fight and feud and think they can't get a long. I will have to show them this photo and let them know that there are times when they actually enjoy getting along and be loving with each other.

Andrew had his fair share of the chocolate too, then just couldn't stay awake any longer.

Being in a place like Las Vegas we definately got plenty of strange looks.

A few people even counted our children as we passed by.

US and ALL of our children :)

Then some more relaxing.

One night we took the older three kids with us down to see the pirate ship,

the Bellagio fountain, and the volcanos go off.

After a lot of walking we even stopped for some Ben & Jerry's Icecream.

A little pricy--but good none the less.

At the Fountains the kids walked around a little and found this golden man.

Breanna thought it was pretty crazy.

We had such a fun time. We love vacationing.
Even if we are plum tuckered out!!

After Vegas we headed to Rifle, CO.

I didn't take any pictures while we were there.

We hung out in the hotel, playing the wii and swimming.

Took a tour of the area with the realtor.

Visited the elementary school and the middle school

Had dinner at Russell's potential boss's house.

We had a great time in Rifle as well.

Then we headed home to sleep in our own bed :)

New Job Story

I needed to write this down so that I wouldn't forget...it is quite a long story so here goes....

Back in January Russell received a phone call from a guy he knows and has worked with (Luke). Well Luke said to Russell, do you remember Jim from the converence in October? Russell did. Luke continued--well he has just been made CEO of the hospital in Colorado and he is now looking for a CFO, he remembered you and wondered if you would be interested. Anyway Russell got the information and called me and told me about the situation.

Well I pulled out the map and started looking where it was, how far away it was, etc. Russell came home from work that night and saw the map on the table. He said to Brinton--what do you think about moving to Colorado?? All the kids heard-so we had a big conversation about what would happen if we moved, etc. Anyway, Russell and I discussed the situation and decided that it would be good for us to look into the job.

The next day our elementary aged children went to school and told their friends and teachers that we were moving!! IT was pretty funny. We had a few friends crying, a few calling us to see what was going on. We had to calm everyone down and tell them we didn't know what was going on yet.

Well, Russell called Jim and told him he was interested. Jim told us that it would be a little while to get everything situated before they did interviews but that he would get back to us.

After a few weeks, we thought that maybe they had forgotten or something, but then Jim called and said he wanted Russell to come for an interview. {this was a little tricky because we didn't want Russell's current employer know that he was interviewing} So he set up the interview for middle of March. He would leave Thursday night and come home on Sunday. Well he went to the airport on Thursday night and waited and waited and waited some more--just to find out that his flight had been canceled and that he could leave in the morning. He would make it to Rifle, CO around noon and interview all afternoon, then have a tour Saturday morning, go to church Sunday morning and fly home Sunday afternoon.

He had a great time and the interview went well. They told us they would get back to us.

It took about 2 weeks for them to get back to us and they finally did. They said that they wanted to fly me and Russell down there this time so that I could look around. {they realized that we were both Idahoans and that it would be hard for us to leave family and friends and the place that we love} Well the only time that seemed to work for us was Spring Break. Russell had already asked for most of the week off so we could go to Las Vegas. Also this way the kids would be able to go with us and check it out as well.

So for Spring Break we drove to Las Vegas and spent a few days there, then we packed up and drove to Rifle, CO and spent a few days there. Russell interviewed for 2 whole days, I went and looked around with a realtor and checked out the schools {we also spent time swimming at the hotel pool} Then we drove home. During our stay we found out that out of all the candidates for the job--Russell was the only one brought back for a second interview.

When we got back we anxiously waited for them to call to give us an offer. They called us on Tuesday, actually when I was out to lunch with Russell. I knew the whole time that Russell was talking to Jim that we would be taking the job. The offer was too good to be true and we both felt great about it.

So the next obstacles were to tell Russell's current employers and get the house ready to put up for sale.

Russell was worried about telling his employers and it took alot of rehearsing in the shower what he was going to say to them. But it turned out good. Much better than we thought. He gave MVH a one month notice and told Grand River Hospital District that he would start on June 1st.

All I have to say is that throughout this whole process I know that I was led by the spirit. We would pray that we could make a good decision and that we would know what was good for our family. Each time I would receive a comforting feeling that everything was going to be ok. All along I was given little thoughts and ideas that would make the decision just a little bit easier.

We are so excited for our new adventure. There are a few more road blocks we need to get through--selling the house----moving---starting a new job----starting a new school......Our friends, family, neighbors, teachers, schools, and our house will surely be missed by us....but we know that this is what we are supposed to be doing and we look forward to the adventure.