Preschool Graduation

We had a little graduation and party for our preschool co-op. These kids have grown up a lot this year. It was fun to see their skills and friendships grow. It was a great group of moms and I will miss this next year.

Zoo

We met Erica and her boys at the zoo. It was a cool morning, but the animals were out and active. It was

Ashley's first time to the zoo since she was a baby and it was fun to see her reactions to the animals.

Austin is so cute with Nicole.

Visit to Coeur D'Alene

A few weeks ago, we drove up to Coeur d'Alene to visit our friends. It was such a blast! It was a quick weekend and a long drive, but it was worth it.

The girls enjoyed the dvd players I got them.

 Frozen yogurt

Their house had lots of room to run and explore. The kids set up a school and played all weekend.



 Most rooms had a sign such as this on it:

 We went on a little hike up the mountain behind their house.

There was the usual grumbling on the way up, but the kids found a little playhouse to explore at the top that made it all worth it.

 She is so cute, I am so sad she's getting so big!

Saturday afternoon they got babysitters and took us on a bike ride on an awesome path along Coeur d'Alene lake. It was cloudy when we left, but there were some ominous clouds. We hoped to beat the weather, but we didn't! It was pouring the last part of the ride and by the time we got to the car, we were soaked and freezing, my hands and feet were numb. But it was a lot of fun anway, it was so fun to go on a ride with Mark and Traci.

 I'm sure it is gorgeous on a sunny day, it was beautiful even in the cloudy weather.

 We went home and quickly changed and then had a nice dinner at a floating restaurant on the lake. Our girls had such a blast with their kids and we had a blast hanging out with them. We can't wait to go back soon!

Matthew's Birthday

I realized I forgot to post about Matthew's birthday a couple of months ago. The girls made thoughtful cards.

 Emily wrote up a number of memories with her Dad. They are priceless! She loves to write and is often found at the computer typing up a journal entry or some kind of list or schedule.

Michelle gave Matthew some of her hard earned cash!

Spring Piano Festivals/Recital

Emily and Angela both participated in a Piano Festival in April. They were very well prepared, played very well and received the highest rating, a Superior. I was a proud mom! It was Emily's 3rd year and 3rd Superior, so she received her 1st Gold Cup and played in the Gold Cup Recital. Emily has really improved this year, she is playing more musically and it is fun to hear her playing pieces I remember playing as a kid.

They also had their Spring Recital which they also played well at.

The Gold Cup Recital

Receiving her Gold Cup

She actually got 2 Gold Cups, one for Solo and one for Theory.

Easter

I've decided holidays are always a little busier for those involved in music because everyone wants to hear good music.Easter was no exception this year. I had to be at church early to practice with the ward choir and then in the evening I accompanied a Stake Easter Music Fireside. It was an awesome concert and I'm so glad I had to opportunity to be a part of it. We rehearsed on Sundays for 6 weeks before and then that day we had to be at the church at 5:30 for the 7pm performance. So it was a busy day. We had dinner at my mom's in the afternoon.

Easter baskets before church

Ashley was so excited about her eggs.

Matthew took a picture before church since I wasn't there to do it. Emily did the younger girls hair. She is such a helper!

The girls decorated eggs in the afternoon. I let them do it all themselves this year and they loved that.

Mom's Birthday Weekend

My sister came up for a quick weekend for my mom's birthday in April. We had a fun girls day going to the Pittock Mansion, out to lunch in NW Portland, a ride on the tram, and manicures.

 I'd never been inside the Pittock Mansion before and it was actually really interesting. We really enjoyed it.

 We ended the day with dinner at the Chart House and then card games at my parents. Unfortunately Matthew had to work that night and couldn't join us. It was a fun day!

Tulip Festival

On another day off of school, we lucked out again with sunny weather and met friends at the Woodburn Tulip Festival. I brought two cameras and Emily had a great time taking pictures. She took twice as many as I did and got some great shots.

My friend took this one of me and my girls and I'm so thankful for it! I love the mountains in the background.

 The bumpy slide was fun.

It's amazing how many tulips there are!

Ashley was so cute looking at the flowers.

I'm glad I didn't have to go on the cow tractor ride with them. I heard it was bumpy!

Emily loved posing the girls for pictures.



They loved running up and down the aisles.



Cupcakes

Last month I was in charge of cupcakes for a Relief Society dinner and they wanted a variety of cupcakes to make a pretty display. We got most of the recipes here: http://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/

I didn't make them all, a few ladies helped make them, but in the weeks before I tried out a number of cupcake and frosting recipes and practiced decorating them. It was a lot of fun, but I don't normally bake that much and it was exhausting! Not to mention bad for the waistline. But I did gain some new skills and it was fun to decorate them all that morning at the church.



Lovely Lime





Chocolate with a Raspberry Filling-the frosting for these came from http://www.ourbestbites.com/. It is the best chocolate frosting I've ever had!




Cherry Chocolate-these are so cute!




Banana Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting-these were surprisingly so yummy! I loved the frosting.




Perfect Lemon Cupcakes-these got the most compliments and requests for the recipe.