Another free digital scrapbooking design by Smilebox

We took a vacation to Walt Disney World this week. I took a few of the photos and put them in this digital scrapbook thing. It's kinda fun. Kids had a great time, so did Van and I. Gramma and Grampa Floyd took us and we enjoyed spending time together. None of us had ever been to the deep south. Weather was hot and humid. Swamps were interesting to see. Van drove the whole way except for the last hour home. We drove 2500 miles! We also saw the church ranch in Florida where Grampa Bake worked in the 50's. It was really neat. We also took the kids to see the ocean - Cocoa Beach. We spent an hour there playing in the water. What fun!

April 2010 — The Latest

Ty does the long jump, triple jump, 200m-dash and 4x100 relay in track.

Rachel made blue cupcakes for FHE one night and ate almost half of it!

Van and my mom by the calves' pens.

My sister and her daughter, Natalie

My sweetie!

After church today (4-11-10)

Feeding Rachel's and Wyatt's calf - a Holstein heifer named Anna (after her cousin)

Ryan named his heifer calf Speckles. He's pretty happy.

Van built a nice little barn for these two. There are actually two more pens on the other side.

March 8th (2 days after Wyatt's 15th birthday), celebrating with presents and cake. He got his driver's permit a few weeks ago.

Rachel lost her 2nd tooth. She put it in an envelope under her pillow and was pretty happy with her coins the next day!

We just thought it would be fun to post more pictures of what's been going on lately. Van has been off work from shoulder surgery since Jan. 12th, but will be going back on April 13th. He doesn't want to, but he's glad he has a good job.

The kids and I have been busy doing the usual stuff - School, Ty in track, Wyatt in several school-science and academic groups and projects, all boys in scouts and piano lessons; Van still teaching seminary (about 10 students); and I am running all over the place, doing laundry, feeding my family, cleaning, and trying to quilt for fun. In general I'm happy. I think we all are. Life is definitely challenging, but good. We really enjoyed General Conference. My sister, Noelle, came to visit this week from San Diego. It was fun to see her and her two girls, ages 6 and 2.

Never a Dull Moment!

We planned on posting monthly. Ha! Life has definitely kept us busy. The pictures say it all. Each of the kids are busy with a thousand things.

Ty went out for basketball and did pretty well considering he's never played before. His last game was the second weekend this month. 

Wyatt is busy with lots of science classes and projects. He made a "blow-torch," --something which could cut through metal-- using a cucumber and different foods for fuel. It was interesting and he had fun. 

All the boys are still taking piano lessons and will have a festival (playing for a judge) in a few weeks, then a recital in another month. Wednesday nights are busy with scouts and youth activities and Wyatt has been going to Super Saturdays.

Van has been busy with Seminary. He's teaching the Book of Mormon this school year and there is a lot of reading. His classes sound so fun -- I know the kids enjoy them. We have the class down in the basement from 6:10 to 7:00am. The mornings start at about 5:30 around here! 

Van had surgery on his shoulder on January 12th to fix a bone spur on the rotator cuff, and also to remove a cyst. He is recovering well, but it takes time, and the first few weeks were brutal. He's been to physical therapy twice a week and might go back to work in 2 to 3 weeks. The boys and I have tried to pitch in and help with all the chores he usually does around here. 

Rachel is doing alright. She loved school when it first started, but has convinced herself that it's no fun anymore. It doesn't help that she'd rather be home with her Daddy. We've worked hard to turn her attitude around and I think she'll come around, but some mornings it is such a struggle! She is also having more stomach pain and vomiting. I'm sure it isn't very fun to be at school while that is going on. Her teachers are very helpful and willing to do whatever they can. Rachel figured out that if she said her stomach hurt, she could get out of class and go to the nurse's office. -- It's a hard line to walk -- how do you tell if it's real pain? I can tell, but it's harder for her teachers. A high point for her -- she lost her first tooth about a month ago. She's very proud of it!

About a month ago I cut Rachel's hair for "locks of love." She looks adorable with shorter hair and likes it better this way. I got my hair cut too. It's a shorter bob and is a nice change. Oh, and I turned 40 in January. My kids gave me cards telling me I was now "old." Van wanted to take me out for a nice date, but in addition to having a terribly sore shoulder, had had a fever for 5 days, a hurt back, and a couple of superficial blood clots in his good arm. (He's ok now, but he had a heck of a time for several weeks after the surgery.) But he did manage to drive me (through the snow) to my folk's for a little party that night. It was perfect. We went on our date the next week.  A good friend of mine from church got sneaky and threw me a surprise luncheon with 10 friends attending. It was really nice. 

Ryan is doing well with his calves. Many times he doesn't feel like going out to feed them, especially since it's been so muddy and cold. But he's hanging in there. Hopefully things will turn out well for him. He also just earned his Webelos badge and is excited about becoming an 11-year old scout in July. Then he gets to wear the tan shirt!

I am hanging in there too -- my family keeps me hopping! And then Relief Society takes time, along with a thousand other things. I don't know why I thought I might have more time with Rachel in school. It's like my to-do list is multiplying exponentially! When I get to where I've had enough, I either take a bath, or go to the sewing machine. Actually, the scriptures and prayer have helped a lot. Right when I think I'm going crazy, I get a little something that helps me see how things are really alright. I'm just a worrier.

We've enjoyed watching olympics, keeping up with current events (politics have been interesting lately!) and playing card games has been popular. The wood stove has kept us warm all winter, and we're still getting a few eggs every day from our 5 hens (the rooster takes good care of them). We lost our little dog, Lucy, in December. She was hit by a car. Our older dog, Belle, misses her. We're all eager for Spring. Maybe we won't miss a whole season the next time we post!