*APRIL

April. I don't really know where April went. It came and went so fast. I guess I will just continue to condense every month down into one post. Life is crazy. The month started with a visit from Kyle's parents. They were here over Conference weekend and were such a huge help...as always. There was a lot of 4-wheeling adventures and games and food. Kyle was on vacation so he was even able to go to the Priesthood session with his dad...a rare treat. The kids LOVE having them here and there are always lots of tears when they load up and go home (some of Eli's tears might be shed because he will miss Grandpa's 4-wheelers, too!)

Kyle and Ansley passing the time during Conference (during a song...I am sure). Playing the hand slap game. Yes, Claire is in the background sitting on the bag that holds our nebulizer and chewing on the electrical cord... parental supervision at its best.

Grandpa and Grandma playing with Claire during Conference.

Claire and Grandpa.

Grandma and Grandpa enjoying some ping-pong. We had a lot of fun playing ping-pong with them. Kyle and I played doubles against them and they are some fierce competition!

*The Fair*

The County Fair was the second week of April. Since it happens to take place in our little town, everyone gets involved...except us. We are not huge fans. It is hot and dusty, there are bees, it costs a lot to take a family of 7 and feed them all and well....we just don't love it. The whole town shuts down for "The Fair". The kids don't even have to go to school. It is fun for an afternoon, but a lot of people go all 4 days and spend tons of money (yes, Tuna...I mean YOU!). We took the kids for a couple of hours and it was plenty. We didn't even get carnival passes this year because I refuse to put my childrens' lives in the hands of a bunch of "carnies" (carnival people...they are scary). The kids were a little (OK...a LOT) bummed, but they had fun doing other things at the fair. Until next year, Fair...we will miss you....not really!

Eli on the pony ride. He did love this even though his face isn't saying so. I don't know if the pony loved it...they put Eli on the smallest pony. He probably should be moving on to full size horses at his weight!

That is Nate on the rock wall. Every year he BEGS to climb the rock wall and every year he wimps out before he gets to the top...

but NOT this year!!! He made it all the way to the top. We were so proud of him and he was pretty proud of himself.

Kyle and the boys went on this interesting virtual reality video game thing. The chairs they were in moved around while they watched some movie or something through those fancy goggle things. I really have no idea what it was, but they looked ridiculous doing it! You can see that Josh has his head down. I was worried about him because he gets motion sickness very easily, but he was fine.

Nate and Tuna. Ridiculous!!!

Josh and Eli feeding baby goats. So cute.

Ansley aka "Pop" and her friends Lauren aka "Snap" and Lynae aka "Crackle". They had those hats made up at the fair. Aren't they clever....DORKS!

Claire in kiddie land. She quite enjoyed her time out of the stroller.

Later in the month...

Ansley's dance team performed for the last time at the end of April. They danced at a cancer fundraiser. This is a picture of Ansley with 2 of her good friends on the dance team, Karla and Kaylee, at the fundraiser. Ansley decided not to try out for the dance team again and instead she tried out for cheerleading and made it. She is excited to try something different next year. She will miss being with her friends on the dance team, but her friend Karla (on the left) made the cheerleading squad too, so Ansley is excited about that. Ansley good friends, Lauren and Lynae (aka Snap and Crackle) made the cheerleading squad, too! Ansley is thrilled!

Ansley with her dance coach, Meagan. Ansley really loves Meagan and it going to miss her. Meagan is moving to Utah. The girls really wanted to dance at this cancer fundraiser because Meagan was diagnosed with cancer 5 years ago. She was in remission, but the cancer returned several months ago and she is fighting it again. Ansley learned a lot from Meagan this past year and she will miss her friend/coach a lot.

Kyle and Ans. Love this picture.

Cute Claire pretending to be shy.

And finally...at the end of April, Kyle and I took Eli and Claire with us on a very quick trip to Phoenix. My dad had a heart attack and had to have surgery. It was a little scary, but he is doing good now and his cardiologist said everything looks great. We left on Sunday morning and came back on Monday afternoon. Ans, Nate and Josh stayed with friends and we were able to get back before bedtime on Monday. Eli and Claire did great in the car (13 hours in 2 days) until the last hour on the way home. Eli was delirious and Claire cried for an entire hour. They were so worn out. I was glad I was able to be with my dad while he was in the hospital. I am so glad that things turned out ok and that he has many years ahead of him. This picture was taken overlooking the lake side of Hoover Dam. Claire had a poopy diaper blow-out and we had to stop with ALL of the tourists and change her. Kyle has Eli standing on a wall that has probably a 100 foot drop off the other side. Eli is standing on a sign that says: DANGER: STAY OFF WALL! You should have seen some of the looks we got from the foreigners, but after being in the car for 12 hours with 2 little ones and still an hour left to drive, I really didn't care.

*And that concludes April. Check back in June and I should have May all ready to go! Someday I will catch up and be able to stay on top of this blog!