Old news...

My little sister Julie came back in March.  she was here in February (from NY) as well as my other sister Sara.  we had such a great time together and it is always hard to see them go... Always!  I love my sisters, they are my best friends!  although hard to see them go I knew that Julie would be returning in just a few weeks (she was here the end of March) and I knew that Sara had a move and a new house to get to and we were all excited for her.  Julie's husband who is a doctor in his residency had a week off of work and so they decided to come to Utah and spend some time with family and friends and to bless their new baby Frances.

While they were here we had a great time.  I love being able to load my 'littles' into the car first thing in the morning still in their pajamas and head over to my mom's house, getting in as many minutes with each other as possible.  Gabe and Ruby are the best of friends and it is so nice for them to have a play mate! For me there is not much better than having a permanent friend to run errands with, sip a diet coke with, shop with, stay up late talking with... I have only had a few friends who I've had "the total connection" with-- like a sister... it's hard to find.  I know there are lots of sisters who are not close like we are... and I really just feel for sisters who struggle... and I count myself very lucky!.... blah blah blah.... rambling, I know!  So anyway  here are some of the things that we did while they were here

Eli and I went down to Ogden to pick up his new glasses... that's right, he is wearing glasses!  Looks like so far my boys have inherited my poor vision!  Eli's glasses are very cool (one pair is orange and blue-funky and the other pair is more serious and preppy) He looks very handsome in them and his teeth are finally starting to grow in after many months of having no teeth it will be fun to see his new grown up- permanent tooth grin!    While we were in Ogden we met Julie and family and brought them to Logan with us for the weekend with plans for them to return to Heber for the first part of the following week.  They came to Logan for a quick trip over the weekend to see our cousin Tate.  Tate left to be a missionary in the West Indies on Wednesday March 24th.  He gave a great talk the Sunday before he left.  It was about service.  We were all able to go listen to him and and it was nice to hear his testimony

I really appreciate his example to all of my future missionaries :)  He will be a great missionary!  My mom hosted a a little open house for him after sacrament meeting (brunch) at her house. 

Towards the end of the week (Wednesday evening) Julie returned and we took the kids to see the babies at IFA the next morning... Baby bunnies, chicks and ducks. Who says you need to pay 50 dollars to attend baby animal day at the Western Heritage Farm- We figured we'd go to IFA for free!  Well, truth be told- it was pretty gross.  All these baby chicks were crammed into these warm metal boxes with lids.  Try as I might, I just DO NOT love animals what kind of a person doesn't like animals??  seriously... I like to think that I have a pretty big heart but there is not much  room in it for animals....I just can't make myself!  Usually baby animals soften my heart but these babies were oh. so. STINKY!  and the lid contained it all but as we lifted the lids to see them the smell hit like a million wet diapers mixed with sawdust, decaying vegetables and death.  The kind of stink that hits you like a ton of bricks and makes you give yourself whip lash.... ok maybe I am exaggerating a little, but the thing that topped it off was that as we looked a little more closely... Yes, we did look closely because hello... we had children with us who were SO excited and who LOVE baby animals and so although I hated to open my mouth for fear of inhaling the toxic smell... I whispered "oh look how cute."  (They were sort of cute and cuddly ... it was just the smell...) and I held Gabe up to see etc... and as we looked more closely we noticed that a few of the chicks were half dead ... just laying there while all the others went about doing normal chick stuff and I can't stand to see something suffering... mouth breathing, eyes glazed... it was just gross and sad. (see I do have a big heart) ... sorry about all the gore... hopefully the picture below makes up for it... cute and cuddly with no accompanying smell...

The bunnies and the ducks however were not as stinky and they are so adorable... my stomach was doing flip flops so I didn't enjoy them fully and least none of them were half dead.... yet

I was pretty freaked out by the chick encounter and so was Julie so we made grandpa catch a duck to show Ruby and Gabe...

All in all... the kids LOVED seeing the baby animals... pretty sure we won't do it again though...unless we are equipt with gas masks... baby animal day we're heading your way next year!

We had plans to have our annual Family Easter party... bon fire and egg hunt that night and then the weather took a turn for the worse and we considered re scheduling but decided to make it work.  The original plan was to have the party outside but with inclement weather I had to do a quick scramble to to get my house clean and move things indoors.  About an hour before we were going to start the party the clouds broke and the wind stopped.  It was cold but we were able to have a fire and Easter egg hunt outside... It was perfect!

My grandpa was not feeling very well and he gets cold so easily. (side effect of chemo)  But he didn't want  to miss out so he and my grandma came and parked their car in front of the barn, out by the fire pit.  We all took turns sitting in the backseat and visiting with them.   They stayed cozy in the car, were able to watch the kids on the hunt and didn't miss out on the fun!  It worked out perfectly!

On Friday we had our ward Talent Show... Yes, we are still doing activities for our ward.  It is a little much since I am in the primary presidency (seriously) but luckily Glen is... well you know... he is amazing and pretty much pulled off the entire thing with the help of a few people on our committee.  The party was a huge success... lots of variety in talents.  Kids, adults and teens... did performances and had talents on display.  The one big hit was a concession stand all decked out with a sign and bulb lights.  We had the people working in the concessions wear red hats and aprons and they were giving out licorice, bags of popcorn and root beer.  it looked amazing and in my opinion "made the night." I am telling you, these things are all about the atmosphere!  doing a little extra makes all the difference. Glen was a great organizer and MC too!  oh and my mom saved us by keeping the littles, feeding them, bathing them... and she had Julie's two girls too-

she is the best!

Saturday the 27th we met at the church around noon for the blessing of Frances Susan Williams.

  It was such a special day!  Francie looked like a little china doll... all dressed up in a big fancy dress.  She is a beautiful baby girl!  dark red hair, bright blue eyes... tiny little features, one of those pretty babies!

After her blessing Julie invited everyone to stay and celebrate Frances' new little life.  We had a delicious lunch and enjoyed just being together.

My super talented (and beautiful, kind, funny... pretty much perfect) friend Marcie made her signature 'baby kakes" for me to surprise Julie with!

She made these cake ball babies to resemble Francie and they were hilarious and adorable at the same time.  Almost too cute to eat and then when you sink your teeth in... they are like a little piece of heaven...

To. Die. For. moist, fluffy little morsels... and you should see her other yummies... cakes and desserts that should be on the food network... I can't get a link to work to her site for some reason but contact me if your interested and check her out- she does photography too... I tell you this girl is deluxe!  Thanks Marcie!

Richie left that night to fly back out to New York but Julie stayed until Wednesday.

Monday night we threw together a little last minute dinner with the big extended Fam and then 

dyed Easter Eggs at our place.  

It was so perfect to have Julie and her little family here.  My life goes on hold and we are in vacation mode when family is in town.  they go home and reality hits hard... back to real life... cleaning my house, meetings, making dinner, easter to plan etc...

 We were able to pull off our tradition of "A Christ centered Easter" week and we had a wonderful, relaxing Easter Sunday that I will post about oh... before the end of the year hopefully!