Kentucky Blues

It's that time again. What time you ask? The time when it's supposed to be spring and it's not really spring. The time when all of my trees are in shock and don't know if they should wake up or go back to sleep. The time when the birds start building their nests in my barbecue grill (ugh) because there are no trees suitable enough for a home. This is about the time every year that I find myself a little homesick for Kentucky. So I decided that this year, I would bring a little Kentucky to Idaho and have a Derby Party! This could be interesting because I'm finding that not a lot of people actually know what Derby is. One of my neighbors even asked me: "Like... the Pinewood Derby??" Umm, not quite. So today the girls and I fashioned some fancy little Derby hats for them to wear on the big day. They were so fun (and cheap) to make! I found the plain hats at Michaels for $2.39, then just bought some ribbon and flowers to embellish. So fun! Totally put me in the mood to throw this party! Maybe then I'll get my "Louisville" fix and won't be quite so homesick anymore...until next year.

Are ya kiddin me?

This is the view out our front door this morning.

This is our garden which I worked in all day yesterday in shorts and a t-shirt.
All you people in Arizona and St. George, eat your heart out...we get to build a snowman today! (sigh)

Wordless Wednesday

Allie and Easter

Five years ago on Good Friday of Easter weekend, our sweet Allie joined our family. So every Easter we have more than one reason to celebrate. We are so blessed to have Allie in our family. She has quite the knack for making everyone laugh. Her own laugh is infectious her smile brightens our day. Her favorite thing of all is to sneak up behind and scare you...and she's getting really good at it. Sneaky, sneaky! Here is Allie and our traditional birthday breakfast-in-bed. It was her first one and she was pretty excited. Morgan and Layton were so cute to make sure it happened before they left on the bus for school. This has really become a highlight of birthdays in our house.



Allie and her Grandma and Grandpa Mikesell

Does this just say it all?? This cute sign was given to Allie by her grandma and grandpa Herbst.
Happy Birthday Allie! We love you!



Here are a few pics of our Saturday neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. Kate was so cute this year...she really caught on to "hunting" the eggs and got so excited every time she spotted an "eesa egg".



Hmmm...how many do I have, and how many more can I find????

Layton being his usual analytical self, "hmmm....which one has the best candy inside?"


Beautiful sunny Easter Sunday. Not many to be had here in Idaho, so we enjoyed it to the fullest.

An attempt at Ariel Photography

What were you doing last Saturday night? Here's what Quinn and I were doing. We were up enjoying the beautiful clear Idaho sky from the seat of a little Sesna 172 (?? I hope I got that right!) owned by our good friends Brad and Katie Wells. Brad is a pilot and kindly agreed to take Quinn and I up so we could take some ariel shots of Quinn's grandmother's farm, which we will frame and give to her for her
90th birthday celebration this weekend. Let me tell you, it was quite the ride! Brad is a great pilot and even taught Quinn a few tricks of the trade, letting him take off and land (with a little assistance here and there). But what a fun date night!
Thanks Brad and Katie!

Called to Serve.....

Who can resist a cute little boy in a white shirt and tie? I was called the other day by a primary chorister in another ward who needed some of my best singers to participate in a primary boys choir and sing at the upcoming Stake Priesthood Meeting. So I gathered up Layton and about 5 other little boys from our ward, all dressed up in their Sunday best, and we headed to the stake center where they stood in the front of the chaple and sang Called to Serve with every ounce of enthusiasm they could muster. One of the cute moms made little "future missionary" tags for them to wear. It was a great experience for me to hear these awesome little guys sing this wonderful hymn and be SOOO excited to do it. Ohhh, what the future holds for these sweet boys....

Cabin Fever!

Families are the best. My brother Mike and his sweet wife Camille invited us to her parents cabin in Heber Canyon for the weekend and ohhh, it was a welcome invitation! My kids have been so cooped up lately, we really needed the getaway. We were able to spend 3 days and 2 nights in the mountains above beautiful Heber City. We had snowmobiles, sleds, and 4-wheelers during the day, and yummy food, good conversation, and lots of laughs late into the night. Not to mention the excited squeals of cousins who hadn't seen eachother in way too long! Thanks Mike and Camille for a much-needed break and to the Dents for sharing their beautiful cabin with us!