Utah and Joshua Tree

In mid-March I took Celeste and flew up to Utah to spend time with family.  It was quick but wonderful!  While I was gone, the kids finished up the rabbit hutch and did a rainy-day trip to Magic Mountain.
  

Grandma's House

    

  

    
The next weekend, Ryan had the opportunity to go in a friend's private plane to an air show in Lancaster, and he took Evan along!  Evan loved the airplane, but thought the show was kinda too loud.

  

    
At the beginning of April, we went fake-camping with friends at Joshua Tree.  We spent the whole day there Sunday, came home for school and work Monday, then went back up to a motel for Tuesday and Wednesday.  We're lucky to have such great camping buddies!
  

Chuckwallas

Getting Provisions

That's Connor on the rock in the background.

Lots of Babysitters

Desert Tortoise.  He eventually made it to the other side.

One of our ward's youth auction items was a "Princess Academy."  Corinne made crafts, learned to dance, and apparently practiced her serene princess smile.
  

After the rains, we had piles of dirt in our driveway and drainage ditches.  Ryan hired a guy with a Bobcat to come clean it up, and also had him flatten out the mound in our front yard.
       

Easter!  We did our traditional family activities, plus I played flute at church, and we went to a Polish After-Easter-Water-Fight at the piano teacher's house.  They also did a cute "egg fight", where you decorate an egg, then crack it together with everyone else's until only one is left standing.  Evan was the champion!
  

Story Egg Hunt

How to Play High E Flat

Easter Baskets

Egg Fight!

And here are cute pictures of other things...
  

She loves that baby in the mirror.

Sitting Up!

  

Baby Handcuffs

Stealing Cheetos

Happy Birthday Connor!

In early March, my sweet boy Connor turned twelve years old!  He requested two video games as gifts:  Mario Maker and The Legend of Zelda - Breath of the Wild, and wanted frozen yogurt from Tutti Frutti instead of cake.  We took candles and sang to him at the yogurt shop, which I think embarrassed him, but he still liked it.
  

  

Gifts from Nana and Al

The next day, Connor graduated from Primary.  He received the Aaronic Priesthood and was ordained a Deacon on the same day that we did Celeste's baby blessing.  It was fun to have our oldest and youngest hit milestones together!
  

Family Portrait

Thirty Seconds Earlier

Ryan got the kids working outside, and we made more progress on the bunny pen.  We had to order heavy-duty predator panels for the top, and sink hardware cloth half a foot under the ground, so the rabbits would be safe from our local wildlife.  Unfortunately, the size of the hardware cloth seems to be just right for snaring lizards.  I've been able to rescue most of them so far.
    

While the older kids were working, Corinne practiced her tree climbing.  She can climb as high as anyone, and seems to have no fear up in the treehouse.  It scares her mother to death!
  

We continued preparing for Certificate of Merit at our piano teacher's house.  The kids found a bunch of caterpillars outside one day, and decided they were "hairy eyebrows".  Nobody would put them on their face, though.
  

Practicing at Home

Evan lost his first tooth!  He had been getting so impatient about it, but was extra excited when it finally happened.  Also, we did our yearly growth chart measurements.
  

My crazy kids decided that mid-March was plenty warm for the first swim of the year.  Connor was being less-than-thoughtful, and kept dumping cold water on people.  I saw him coming to put some on Corinne, and reflexively ran over and shoved him in!  Unfortunately, my phone went flying in, too.  Connor fished it out, and after a night packed in rice, it was fine.  It auto-took some pictures on the way down into the water, though.
  

Connor Sneaking up on Corinne

Blub, blub...

Ryan attended the Stake Activity Days Hoedown with Elise.  They had a pie-eating contest, which most of the girls were too shy to do, so Ryan willingly helped out.
  

Cute random pictures:

 

Watching K-Pop Girl Band Videos at Chicken Day

Baby Hummingbirds!  (At Church)

Somebody let Celeste get the mush bowl.

Bean and Cheese Burritos!

Outside Nap

I gave in this year and agreed to do "Secret Leprechaun" for Saint Patrick's Day.  It's an activity at church where people draw names and secretly take treats and other fun things to another family.  I spent hours making "Leprechaun Rocks" with dollar coins inside, and we did rainbow krispy treats and green-candy gift baskets.  It was fun, but tons of work.  Hopefully I'll have a good attitude and be willing to do it next year...
  

Leprechaun Rocks

 
Elise and I went with our friends the Smiths and Kennys to the "T Room" for what they called the "Princess Tea Service."  It was very cute and very expensive.  We all had a great time eating scones and fancy sandwiches, though!