Soccer injuries...

Last Saturday, Connor played in a soccer game, went for the ball, and he and a kid from the other team collided.  I happened to miss the whole thing because I ran to my car to retrieve a blanket...so when I came back the other parents were all, "Heather, you totally missed it!  Connor totally collided with another kid!"  I walked over to the bench, asked him if he was ok, he nodded, "I'm fine", so I returned to my seat. But when he didn't play a whole lot of the rest of the game, I wondered what was up.  So after the game, I took a look at his eye, and saw this...

It looked like a huge tumor had grown under his eyebrow.  He couldn't see very well out of it...

I wonder why??? :)

The next day it looked like this...I made him go to church anyway...mean mom. 

On Monday, he went to school, and as he walked into one of his classes he pretended to bang into the doorway.  Covering his eye, he started to moan,

 "Oh, that really hurt!" 

He sat next to his friend, still holding his eye,

and his friend asked,

"Are you ok?"  

Connor removed his hand, and said,

"does it look swollen to you?"

His friend freaked out, "Dude!  It's totally black!!"

 He got a good laugh out of it, and needless to say, lots of attention that day!

Looks like fun huh????

Until....

Uh, yeah...!

The kids spent all day on Sunday playing on the swing, literally hours out there, then on Monday, Connor and Taylor went out, and on their 2nd time swinging, the post split in two!   Lukily the boys were as low to the ground as they could be when the post split, so no one was hurt...scary stuff!

Karl quickly put up a new post, good as new...at least for another 7 years...hopefully?

Showing off those Talents!

For some reason, each of our recitals were held in April instead of May,which made for a busy April, but ultimately, a very grateful mom!  I can't tell you how proud I am of each of them, they put in hours of "not so fun" practice, and did a great job! 

Parker played Habanera, from the opera "Carmen".

Ashlyn played "Perpetual Motion" from her Suzuki violin book.

Alyssa sang "Many a New Day" from the musical "Oklahoma". 

And so the adventure BEGINS!  

Sunday afternoon, we watched as my parents were set apart to be missionaries.  It was a beautiful experience.  The Stake President asked each of my brothers and sisters, and in-laws to share thoughts about my parents and their gifts that would help them in serving.  Being the oldest I was asked to be first.  I actually got through it without crying...getting sappy in my old age I guess, but it was really inspiring to hear everyone in attendance share their love for and confidence in my parents.  They will be stellar missionaries, helping refugees from Nepal, living in Minnesota.  

I will definitely miss them though....

Spring Break...

We decided to have a "staycation" this year over Spring Break.  Karl has a new position at work, and couldn't take off the whole week, plus, we're saving for a big vacation, so we planned mini-outings for the week.  

Monday:  After we cleaned the house....:)...the kids went to a movie with friends.

Tuesday:  Karl took the day off, and we went up to SLC and played all day.  There is a brand new mall in the heart of the city, that was fantastic!  

Wednesday:  The kids played with friends during the day, then we invited family to our home for dinner.  We had planned to head to the canyon, but it rained, so we just ate our hamburgers and hot dogs at our home and played in the rain.

Thursday:  Karl had the day off, and we went to a movie, then out to eat, then ice skating with Lee and Lisa's family (our cousins).  Taylor had never been ice skating, and was determined to just sit and watch, but then Karl convinced him to go out and try it, and wouldn't you know it, the kid was a NATURAL!  He just zoomed in and out of everyone.  I think his practice on roller blades paid off..

Friday:  Connor headed up to Logan with his friend for a soccer game, Alyssa stayed home to work on home work, so Karl and I took Parker, Ashlyn, and Taylor and their friends to the Lehi Legacy pool, then to Costco for churros.  MMMM!  

City Creek Shopping Center

They have all of these gorgeous fountains all around.

Finishing the day with ice cream sundaes...

2 cute kids....

Easter Fun!

Easter this year was fun and simple.  Allyson and Matt were in town, and Nate and Steph are close, so we decided to all get together at my house for our annual Easter Egg Hunt. Luckily it was a gorgeous day, and we were able to eat and play outside!

We had a simple luncheon of BBQ chicken sandwiches, chips and salad.

I don't think we ever get too old to go egg hunting!  My big boys seemed just as excited!  Steph and I had prepared 10 eggs for each child to find, then Allyson and Adrienne informed us that they had prepared 16 eggs for each kid.  So everyone found 26 eggs each, filled with goodies!  

Better make those dentist appts. pronto!

Success!!

Melt my HEART!  I checked Taylor and Ashlyn out of school for an afternoon, and we went to the park with Allyson and her 2 kids.  Ashlyn cannot get enough of Emma, and Emma adores Ash, and follows her around saying her name!   

Sooo cute!

Sadie Hawkins...

Alyssa recently went to Sadie Hawkins, her first school dance! 

The kids dressed in clothes from a decade of their choice. Her date was a great guy, and their group had tons of fun.  For a "day date", they went roller skating, then came back to one of the girl's homes, and ate homemade pizza.  Then after the dance, they came to our home and we fed them a yummy oreo/mint ice cream dessert.

St. Patrick's Day. 

Taylor has this cute shirt that really says,

"This is my LUCKY shirt", but he decided he didn't want it to say that anymore, so he wrote out "Happy St. Patrick's Day", on a sheet of paper and taped it over the other words...so funny...