Happy birthday to me...

May 8th, I got the opportunity to celebrate my birthday with my little family.  They were all super excited for dinner, presents, decorating and cake.  I spent the day in meetings all day at work, then came home for a quick run (thus the great photos) and then got to open presents (Mark got me real pearls).  We headed out to dinner at a favorite pizza place and then home for cake.  The big 38 years old...Where has time gone?!

Easter festivities

Easter is always a good time.  The kids love the decorating of eggs, the egg hunts, Easter baskets filled with goodies and then also remembering and celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  This year was no exception for fun times.  

  Saturday before Easter, we joined in some fun Easter egg hunts.  We always participate in a local Easter hunt put on by the fire department.  We got there and Chase was a little hesitant to do it.  He said he wanted to go home (I am sure he didn't want to fight for eggs), but as soon as it started he jumped right in collecting eggs.  He picked up about 10 eggs, but 4 of those 10 eggs had "prizes" in them instead of candy, so he was super excited.  He got a coloring book, a big foam airplane, a slinky and something else.  He was all smiles leaving.

 Then we headed to grandma and grandpa Palfreyman's house for their traditional egg hunt.  The kids LOVE this tradition because not only is there candy in the eggs, but the eggs all have some money in them.  Most have quarters, but some have dollars.  Chase was hoping to get enough money to purchase some Lego's, and Madeline and Cassie wanted enough each to buy new nail polish.  They all met their goal averaging about $12 each.

 Easter morning brought early morning church (like normal) and then seeing what the kids got in their baskets.  Then we enjoyed a nice relaxing day with a delicious traditional Easter dinner.

Lacrosse

Madeline decided she wanted to try a new sport, so instead of our regular spring soccer season, she decided to try girls Lacrosse.  This was new to all of us, so it has been a season full of learning.  It has been fun to watch her play lacrosse and she has really enjoyed it.  She plays both defense and offense and is quite good at scoring.  Since the girls do not wear protective gear (with the exception of the mouth guard and eye protection) there is no contact between girls.  There is a lot of running, throwing, catching and scoring.  The scores are usually pretty high (10-11 or 13-10).  They play 2 halves and the games are about 1 hour long.  Tonight is her last game of the season.  It has been very time consuming, as she does lacrosse 3 nights per week in a neighboring town, but we survived and she enjoyed herself. 

Cheer competition

Cassie is on her middle schools cheer leading team.  In January they traveled to Burley, Idaho for a local competition against other middle school teams.  The competition was cheer, dance and students.  They did such a good job.  I was a proud mom.  Here are some shots.  

 Winning first place...they were so excited.  After the competition was over, we all went out to lunch in Twin Falls, then we (as a family) stayed the night in a hotel, saw family in Burley and just enjoyed our time swimming, relaxing, shopping and eating.

Happy Birthday, Mark

Today is Mark's 43rd birthday.  I love that man!!  He is the greatest!  The day started out with him working out at Crossfit (one of his many loves), Chase singing his version of the happy birthday song, then off to work.  I brought him treats to share with his friends/co-workers...donuts ;).  He and I got some quiet time away at lunch and tonight will be the family dinner at The Olive Garden.  Presents and chocolate cake to follow.  Happy Birthday, Mark!

Happy Birthday, Madeline

Madeline turned 11 years old on February 21.  It was a Friday and just happened to be Donuts with Dad day at school, so she started the day off with Mark and Chase at her school eating donuts for breakfast.  Is there not a better way to start off a birthday?!  Then at lunch the 5th graders sang to her and she passed out treats and had Wendy's brought to her at lunch.  After school she opened presents, then off to her dads for the week.  So, when she came home we had our family dinner at the Cheesecake factory, went to watch the Idaho Stampede (basketball) and then had lemon cake (her request).  Happy Birthday, Madeline!

catch up...

Does it always seem like I get behind and then have to do a big catch up?  Well, it does to me!!!  So, here we go again.