MARCH

IN LIKE A LION & OUT LIKE A LAMB - I've always liked this phrase about March.  I remember in elementary school making kites with a lamb on them made out of cotton balls and a lion with yarn for a mane to represent the crazy weather March usually has.  I felt like March this year definitely came in like a lion emotionally.  A lady in our ward that was my age with 4 kids passed away after fighting stage 4 colon cancer for 4 years.  Even though I didn't know her extremely well yet, three of her kids were exactly the same ages as Ava, Kasen, and Kinsley.  When we all found out our whole family just cried and cried.  My kids were sad for their friends and thinking about not having a mom made them sad.  Both of our hearts (jed/me) just broke for those kids and also for her husband.  The kids decided to skip school and attend the funeral to support their friends.  My cousin's wife watched Dallin for us.  It was an amazing funeral and we all left filled with hope in Christ's atonement and promise that we will all live again.  Not long after we got word of another snowmobiler in Rexburg that got killed in an avalanche leaving behind a wife and kids. This year again and again I just feel like the heavens are trying to tell us that we don't know how long we have on this earth.  We could blink and our time would be over.  There really isn't any time to waste in distractions.  I feel such a great urgency to refocus my life on what God's plan for me is and understanding the way I receive personal revelation.

One of the things that's really been inspiring to me this year is finding ways to be a better mom and listening to/associating with people that believe that my role as a mother is the most important role I will ever have.  I started listening to a podcast from a pediatrician that gives such amazing advice on "how to be a parent that can raise great kids."  One thing she emphasizes, especially for girls, is to focus and compliment your children on their characteristics or qualities rather than their looks or anything physical.  Not that you can't ever say to your daughter that they look beautiful, but it doesn't need to be the first thing you say.  My girls - like most girls - take some selfies every now and then.  Then they want me to look at it and I'd be lying if my first response wasn't "Cute!" or "You look pretty" or something like that.  But I've been trying to say things like "I love it when you smile like that because you really look so happy and confident" or "That silly face reminds me of the time you...   I love that you can act silly sometimes and have fun" or "You have such a fun, exciting personality.  I love that you are thoughtful and thinking about how much I'd love a picture of you on my phone this week."

In my quest to be a "fun" mom again this year I've realized a lot of things about myself.  One of them being that it is a lot of work for me to be fun!  I've joked about Jed being the fun-crusher for so long, but in reality I am one too!  I'm not sure if this is how everyone feels, but having four kids is exhausting!  Some days I just want everyone to go to their rooms and not talk at all.  Kasen said the other day, "Mom I think your favorite sound is silence." And he isn't wrong. :) One thing that has helped me stay positive and keep on the "fun" track is to keep things simple.  And let go of my idea of things having to be perfect. So for example holidays are a really easy way of having a reason to do something a little out of the ordinary that seems more fun.  But if I try to go too overboard then it isn't fun - just stressful.  For the past couple of years, our neighbors celebrated Pie Day (March 14/3.14) by inviting us over for a wide array of pies to eat.  Now that we have moved we aren't close enough to be invited anymore.  My kids remembered that it was pie day and my first thought was UGH!  It was a day I had to drive kids every which way and had laundry and grocery shopping and so on.  It would have been much easier to say no or on the flip side get really stressed out trying to make a couple of pies that day.  So I tried to keep it simple and bought some little tiny mini pies that cost me less than $5.  It wasn't as awesome as the kids were used to but it was still fun.  Win win.  Another way we have more "fun" is by turning off the stinking tv.  Seriously the tv wastes so much time.  My kids love playing games and Jed/I not so much, but a 10 min game is a lot more meaningful than 30 cartoons while Jed/I do our own thing.  One game that turned out a lot of fun was "Watch Your Mouth" and everyone looked really crazy!  The last thing I'll say about being a "fun" mom that I've learned so far this year is that I need to laugh more often.  Like really laugh.  And also to look around at everything going on in our lives and just enjoy it more by laughing.  I wrote up our weekly menu one week and Kinsley slyly erased half of it and filled in her own menu of what she wanted to eat.  Instead of crepes she had written craps.  Now that is funny!  I told Kinsley how funny it was and then we told the family how funny it was.  We all laughed and laughed.  Even Dallin who didn't understand laughed when we laughed.  Laughter really is the best medicine and makes everything more fun.

DISTRICT NATIONAL HISTORY DAY - For GT Ava was required to participate in a national competition called: National History Day.  Each year a topic is chosen and students do in-depth research and present it on a topic of their choice they feel fits in with the national theme.  They can present in a performance, research paper, website, exhibit, or documentary.  The theme this year was :Conflict and Compromise in History.  Ava did a lot of research on her topic and wanted to do something related to animal rights since she loves animals so much.  She found a medical case where a baboon heart was used as an organ for a baby girl with heart failure.  Baby Fae's story became Ava's topic: The Girl with the Baboon Heart - The Legacy of Baby Fae.  Ava worked so hard on this topic and finally was able to compete at the regional competition.  The top two finalists in each category would then move on to state.  I had never heard of National History Day before, but I guess it is a pretty big deal.  Below is a picture of all the people at the regional competition awards ceremony.  Ava had to have a 15 minute interview where she talked about her website and topic and answered questions from the judges.  She also had a volleyball tournament all day so we were running back and forth.  Volleyball - interview - volleyball - awards ceremony - volleyball.  Ava was so nervous for the awards ceremony she kept deep breathing and checking her pulse. :)  However, she got 3rd place in her category.  Just missing the chance to go to state.  To say she was devastated would be an understatement.  There were A LOT of tears all weekend.  The one thing I will say is that I was most proud of Ava for going back and finishing her volleyball tournament after the awards ceremony.  She definitely didn't want to go back and tell everyone she didn't qualify for state.  But she did and that is a really hard thing to do.

Susan, Morgan, and Mason were in town for a gymnastics meet this day as well.  They came over after they got done and had a movie night with us.  It was fun to see them and Dallin and Mason had fun playing together.  They are both pretty wild! 

Update on NHD: As stated before, the entire weekend was full of tears from not qualifying for state.  Monday was our neighbors funeral so Ava didn't go to her GT classes that day.  However she had decided to go talk to her teacher to see if she had any feedback from the judges about her project.  Her teacher said before Ava even had a chance to ask that there were a few more spots available at the state competition and she was given the opportunity to send one more student on to state from her class and she wanted to give Ava that chance because of how great her project was.  Ava was so thrilled and danced her way out of the classroom.  I had to pick her up from school that day and when I pulled in she was kneeling down saying a prayer on the front lawn of the middle school.  So object of the story is that sometimes (most of the time) things don't go how we want or expect them to, but we can't just fall apart because Heavenly Father knows what's best for us and what is waiting for us down the road.
SCHOOL - Kasen had a big project in GT he had been working on since before Christmas.  It was all about a national park.  The one he had was the Everglades.  There was an open house for parents.  Kasen had to make a piece of art of what you might see in the Everglades.  Also had to make a brochure and research different animals living there.  He had to make a clay sculpture of one of the animals and he chose a manatee.  He also had to write a fictional story about spending a day at the park.  There was a lot of research and other projects involved.  For the open house the kids had to dress like park rangers so Kasen chose this tropical shirt for his park ranger attire.  His two best friends, Will and Bryant, are in GT with him and so he got a picture with Bryant.  Will was absent.  Kasen has sure thrived in GT just like Ava.

It sure seems like Ava has a new project due every other week in middle school.  A lot of them are for her GT classes too.  She had to make an autobiographical graphic novel for her GT English class.  I call them comics, but the kids now a days call them graphic novels.  We thought hers was really funny.  It is interesting to see what your kids think are the most important things that have happened to them in their lives.

Ava's choir class also performed a play instead of a concert this trimester.  Ava tried out for the role of the evil sea witch.  It was the true story of the Little Mermaid.  She even had a singing part.  Then they performed it for parents.  Ava did a great job - even her singing was good.  The boy who played the prince the sea witch was trying to marry hit her at about the waist.  When Jed was watching the video he said, "Ava you could eat that kid for dinner?!"  She thought that was hilarious. :) She had a lot of lines to memorize and I didn't help her once.  She's got a great memory and it is nice never having to worry about her doing a good job in school.  Ava was very dramatic and it was really funny to watch, other than the screaming baby I had to bring with me.  That kid is getting worse in public everyday. :(

KASEN DAY - March was Kasen's turn for a day out with Jed and I all by himself.  He decided that he wanted his day to be the same day as his last basketball tournament.  We spent the entire day watching him play in games.  Ava stayed home and babysat Kinsley and Dallin.  Kasen loves basketball and has enjoyed playing with this team this year.  He likes all the boys and some are also on his football team.  They ended up getting 2nd in the tournament, but played their hearts out which is what is most important. All the parents thought they were superstars as evidenced by how crazy they all went to take one last picture of the team together!

Afterward we went to a Mexican restaurant in Kuna, since that was where the tournament was.  We've heard a lot of really great things about this place so we were pretty excited to try it.  Uncle Jeff especially gives it high recommendations.  The food was really great, but it took over 45 minutes to get!  I talked to the manager and he ended up giving us our entire order for free.  Kasen said it was because he is our good luck charm. :)  When I asked him to say three things that described himself he said, "Awesome.  Amazing.  And better than my dad."  Then he laughed hysterically.  Kasen really is awesome and amazing.  He is a great kid.  It was fun to spend some one-on-one time with him.  We love him so much!

DARWIN - Ava has been asking for a pet turtle for awhile now.  We told her she could get one when she saved up her own money.  She had already saved up alot in the bank and found a craigslist post for a Russian tortoise that included all the equipment and the tortoise for about the same cost as buying the tortoise alone at Petco.  She was so excited.  It will be a pretty easy and low maintenance pet for her.  She thinks it is so fun to play with.  That is our Ava alright - loving all the pets (octopus/tortoise/etc) with faces only its mother/owner could love!

VOLLEYBALL & SOCCER TRAINING - Ava had 2 volleyball tournaments in March.  Her team finally started winning sets and then winning matches!  It was much more fun to watch and for Ava to play in.  They even ended up in the gold bracket at one tournament and winning the silver bracket at another tournament. 

Kinsley got signed up to play soccer starting the first of April with all of her friends in the ward.  She is so excited.  It will be her first team sport!  She decided one day to go for a little jog with me to get into "training energy fitness" for when soccer practices start.  Jed followed us around yelling encouragement in the razor and taking pictures.  He didn't think Kinsley would last that long, but she ended up running about 1/2 a mile with me.

DALLIN 22 MONTHS - Dallin's best friends are still Buzz & Woody.  He plays with them all day long and talks to them.  He will copy their catch-phrases.  "There's a snake in my boot!" & "Reach for the sky!" - Woody  "To infinity and beyond!" - Buzz  Dallin is still full of energy and is so fun and cute & completely uncontrollable and crazy at the same time.  He can be so dang frustrating, but then gives that little twinkling smile or a cute little hug/kiss and all is forgiven.  Church continues to bring out the worst in him though.

This month Dallin has discovered sugar!  He loves it and wants to eat sweets all day.  It has been really frustrating to get him to eat regular food.  One day he can't get enough pasta and then a few days later he won't touch it.  But he has no problem wanting sweets all the time.  :(

PIANO RECITAL - The kids had their first piano recital.  They were pretty nervous and we had no idea what to expect.  Ms. Yelena kept it very professional which I liked.  It was at a local music store that also has performance rooms.  I told the kids the Steinway grand piano they got to play on is one of the most expensive pianos made and some sell for almost $100,000.  They weren't as impressed as I was about this fact.  I was also a little jealous they got to play on it instead of me!  They all had two solo songs they played and then Kasen & Kinsley played a little duet with Ms. Yelena.  Dallin was a nightmare the entire time and Jed took him out to the car mid-way through.  He is getting harder and harder to go places with that don't allow him to move around and be loud.  I was really proud of the kids.  They all played really well, had all their pieces memorized, and did a great job!

1ST WEEK OF SPRING - March 20th was officially the first day of spring and the sun came out that week and made everyone excited!  I got an itch after watching a blogger's video about wardrobe capsules she does each season.  She basically limits her entire wardrobe to 30 pieces (including dresses, shoes, jackets, etc.) for the entire season.  She doesn't add anything to her wardrobe capsule during the season unless she takes away something else.  The thought process behind it is to live more minimally, actually wear the clothes in your closet, and focus less of your energy each day on "what should i wear today?"  This blogger goes with a color scheme for the season so everything can be mixed and matched so she doesn't get bored.  Anyway, the idea was fascinating to me because just a few days before I had mentioned to Jed it was so ridiculous that we both had so many clothes, yet we always wear the same five things.  We had also talked about how some of our clothes we had held onto for so long that neither of us even knew if they were still in style anymore.  We had both been taught that you hold onto everything "because you never know when you'll need..."  A few months earlier Jed had taken quite a few things to the DI and so had I, but I decided to try this capsule wardrobe idea.  I didn't commit to a number of items and I didn't do a color scheme or anything like that, but I did separate my clothes into spring/summer clothes & fall/winter clothes.  Even though some things could go in both I put all the fall/winter clothes away so they would be new and exciting when I get them out again.  I got rid of everything I hadn't worn in the last year.  I got rid of all my shoes besides 4 pairs of sandals, 3 wedges/high heels, 3 flats, and my workout shoes.  I put all my winter shoes away.  The picture on the left are all the clothes/shoes I got rid of.  They filled up 5 garbage bags!  Jed kept saying - "I can't believe you are getting rid of so many things!"  I waited for a couple of days before I took it all to the DI/2nd hand store and ended up taking back 3 things from the pile.  I actually made about $130 from the 2nd-hand store from my clothes and then I took the rest to DI.  It felt awesome and so far I haven't missed anything.  The picture on the right shows the items I kept specifically for summer... and all the empty hangers we have now!!!

Here are a couple more pictures of my cleaned out closet!  Just a few things on my shelves now instead of jam-packed and overflowing!  The other picture shows what I have set aside for fall & winter and the rest of my spring/summer shirts and cardigans.  I feel like I have worn more things since I have done this because I have less to choose from that I can actually see things and choose them! 

This week my good friend Shalee also came to town for a few days with her family.  Her husband came for work and her kids were on spring break so they decided to join their dad.  Unfortunately the day after they got to Boise the weather got cold again and there was rain and wind.  Spring Break in Idaho is really a dumb idea because it doesn't even feel like spring consistently (esp in Eastern Idaho) until it's time for summer break!  My kids were in school so we only got to get together once while they were here.  It was fun to see her and her kids!  All the kids had fun playing outside and catching frogs.  Ava even brought Darwin out and Shalee's son Bronx put a frog on Darwin's back and all the kids thought it was the greatest thing they had ever seen.

The 2nd to last weekend in March we finally had a weekend without any tournaments or obligations of any kind!  It was our last weekend like this until May or June so we decided it would be a good chance to go to Rigby and see our grandparents.  Kasen was so excited he built a Star Wars battle ship to show his Uncle Jordan and then I ruined his life by telling him he couldn't bring it.  Grandma Foster decided to hold a mock interview training session with Ava to prepare for state NHD while we were there.  Saturday morning Grandma, Abby, Syd, and Aunt Marilyn all came over and "interviewed" Ava on her website and also gave advice and critiques.  It was very helpful for her!  Her favorite critique was Grandma telling her to become a gazelle.

We also wanted to go to Rigby so we could finally meet our new cousin Stockton.  He was just adorable.  We couldn't get enough of him!  Holding Stockton I missed the time when Dallin would just lay there! :)

Here is Grandma with all her granddaughters!  It always cracks me up that she had 5 daughters but among 14 grandkids she only has 4 granddaughters.  These four all have such fun, spunky personalities too!

We had so much fun with the Rasmussens, Hamiltons, and G&G Foster.  We decided to have a game night and a little ice cream party for Jaxon's 2nd birthday.  We played Pictionary which was so fun with all the kids this age.  Then somebody  (probably Grandpa) told the kids to pour Fanta into their ice cream cups like a root beer float.  Jaxon was so funny when we sang him Happy Birthday.  He was trying so hard not to smile - it reminded me a lot of what Heath does.  While we were eating pizza Kinsley and Raleigh snuck away with my phone and took about 3578 selfies.  Those two!  They ended up having a sleep over and Heath stayed over with Kasen.  They slept out on the couches and Heath was so funny.  He set out his slippers right by the couch so his feet wouldn't have to touch the floor in the morning.  He also had his art binder ready to go.  Ava did art lessons with Kasen and him before bed. 

We had Grandma & Grandpa Erickson stop by on Saturday after they finished watching volleyball games.  Dallin was introduced to Grandpa John's Donald Duck quack. Then we went to church with them on Sunday and spent the afternoon visiting at their house.  Sunday on our way home we stopped and celebrated Matt Berry's birthday in Idaho Falls with the Berry bunch.  It was too quick of a weekend.  We didn't want to come back yet.  We are sure lucky to have such great families on both sides of the family tree.  The kids don't realize how lucky they are to have such amazing grandparents and have grandparents that know each other and can get together with each other.

SPRING BREAK - I've had these passes called Salt Lake Connect for over a year and since they expire this summer I thought spring break would be a fun time to use them.  Jed couldn't go anywhere because of work so I decided to take the kids down by myself for 4 days.  We got back from Rigby on Sunday night, backed and went grocery shopping on Monday, and then Tuesday morning loaded up and drove to Utah! 
Tuesday: We got to Utah about 2pm and went straight to the AirBnb that I had rented for the stay.  Hotels were so stinking expensive and this whole house was only $60 a night.  I have to admit that after I had booked it I started getting major anxiety about it - whether it was really safe or not, good idea, etc.  The only thing I liked about this particular house was it was just about 5 miles from downtown SLC and wasn't someones permanent residence.  It was owned by a lady in NYC and nothing was in the house besides the essentials, so it was more like staying at a condo.  I'm not sure if I could stay at someone else's house they lived in... When we got to SLC we went straight to the house and checked in with a lockbox.  The house was spotlessly clean and I examined the entire thing before I let the kids out of the car.  It was old but had been updated with modern finishes.  The little kitchen was nice, the bathroom had been updated.  It was on a tiny little street that ended up being really quiet.  There were lots of cool cameras as decorations.   Since we didn't plan on being there much more than sleeping I decided we would fine there.

After we got unloaded we headed over to the Gateway mall to go to the children's museum.  It reminded me of the children's museum I used to take Ava to in Chicago, but smaller.    It was almost completely empty so it was really fun to have most of the exhibits to ourselves. Up on the roof there was an ER exhibit with a rescue helicopter.

The kids favorite section was called Kid Town.  There was a mini farm, grocery store, house, auto body shop, etc.  I would have loved playing in something like this too as a kid.  Dallin just ran from one spot to another. 

After the museum we walked across the street to the Planetarium.  It was actually a lot busier so we looked at a few exhibits and decided we would come back the next day.  Our Connect Passes included a dinner at the Lion House pantry so we went there for dinner.  It is a great little place and I can't believe I've never eaten there before.  We loved it!  Afterward we went home and watched a little bit of tv and went to bed.  It was a great first day!

Wednesday: It was so nice having a kitchen to use.  I made a menu plan everyday and got groceries before we left.  Aside from saving us a lot of money, it allowed us to eat better food too.  I made the kids green smoothies everyday and my favorite beet smoothie for myself everyday for breakfast.  And because our little house was in such a good location we usually stopped back by for lunch too.  This day we went back down to the Planetarium to watch one of the 4D movies.  We had tickets to both theaters there, but Dallin was pretty naughty and I had to leave with him about 5 min into the first movie so we didn't stay for the 2nd. 

After that we headed to the Tracy Aviary.  The park it is located in wasn't very far from our house.  It was a little overcast so there were few people out which was great.  We had no idea what to expect, but this place was two thumbs up from all of us.  It wasn't too big, but lots to see.   

Funny story - since the aviary wasn't too big or too crowded I thought I'd let Dallin out of his stroller.  He was a maniac (I should have known) and went running everywhere like crazy fast.  There were employees out planting all the flowers and manicuring the flower beds and Dallin literally ran straight for every single flower bed he saw.  It had rained that night, so everything was damp and muddy.  Oh that kid!  We got so many dirty looks and I'm sure we were very close to getting kicked out!  As a distraction we decided to go in to the bird show.  It turned out to be the best thing about the place.  It was so fun and they brought out so many birds.  They had four little rows of stadium seats and one trainer was in front talking and another trainer was behind the audience.  The birds would fly back and forth to the trainers right over our heads and low enough that their wings would flap air on us like a fan blowing.  It was so fun.  Kasen even got picked to go up and feed some birds!

After a quick stop at home for lunch we headed to The Leonardo museum.  I wasn't sure what to expect with this one based on the descriptions I had read, but it was also awesome.  Probably our favorite museum of the entire week.  I still don't even know what the theme of it was - it hard little quirky, artsy sorts of things.  It is based around the mind of Leonardo da Vinci so it had a bit of everything.  It was a lot of fun for my artsy, imaginative kids though.  They played with green screens, made flying tornado papers and launched them in wind tunnels...

They drew (Dallin loved having free reign with crayons!), flew in flight simulators and learned about flying, did some 3D drafting on computers...

They had unlimited legos to build with - Kasen even made a replica of Temple Square out of legos - j/k but he said he could have if we would have had more time lol...

They did some science experiments in a cool lab and analyzed stuff in bottles (you can tell how little they get their scientific knowledge from me)...

They colored some more in a cute area called the Wishing Tree room, we hung up paper flowers and wishes on the wishing tree, Kasen drew a self-portrait by only looking in a mirror and never looking down at his paper once, Ava sketched her heart out,...

And last of all they painted the walls!  This place was so fun.  We could have stayed there all day.  It was in a fun location too - right across from city hall and the library.  The kids (mostly Ava) was pretty bummed we didn't have time to go explore the library.

After the Leo we drove up by the University to go to the Natural History Museum.  Ava was so excited to come here.  She loved the Chicago Natural History Museum so much.  She was a little disappointed she told me afterward.  The problem with living near big cities and doing all the museums/aquariums/etc there are that everything else afterward in places smaller is a bit of a let down.  This museum was still cool, but we all got a little bored sooner than we expected.  It also could have been that we were getting tired of chasing Dallin around too!!!  The museum had great dinosaur fossils though!!!

Caught taking a selfie with a much older guy!  

There is always so much to see at these types of museums.  It was impossible to see and read each exhibits information - especially with Dallin.  Looking into the window of the lab research room was like looking into Ava's bedroom. :)  So many projects so little time!

In an act of insanity we hit one more stop before we went home for the day.  We had passes to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts which was near the Natural History Museum so we stopped there on our way home.  It was on UofU's campus and when we walked in the students working at the ticket counter gave me a look like "what are you doing here with all these kids??"  My kids love art so much that I thought this would be fun place, but they didn't like it.  Classic art is weird so I was a little relieved they didn't like it.  Kasen said to me, "Mom this place is grossing me out!  Why are there so many naked people in these paintings?"  Ava also commented on all the pornography. haha  Truthfully I don't understand why all angels are painted as fat, naked baby boys either.  We didn't stay long needless to say.  Which was good since it was very quiet and Dallin is the polar opposite of quiet. We got home about 7pm and ate dinner and watched a movie on Netflix before bed.  The other nice thing about a little house vs a hotel room was that we all didn't have to go to bed at the same time or wake up at the same time.  I could put Dallin to bed at his normal time, then the kids a while later, and then I stayed up and read for a bit each night.  Can't do that in a hotel room!

Thursday: This was another exciting, jam-packed day!  We woke up and headed up to This Is The Place park.  LOVED IT!  It reminded me of a mini Nauvoo.  So many amazing little replica spots with people dressed up explaining what pioneer life was like.  The kids loved it too. First stop was the Academy which we learned was the first BYU.  Then we stopped at a little log cabin that was a typical first time home for most pioneers.  Just one little room with a little loft for some kids to sleep in.  I can't imagine.  The kids played some pioneer games and did some laundry too.

Our next stop was the shaving parlor.  Lucky for us the barber was in and Kasen got his first official shave.  Afterward he said, "I really feel like a man after that!"

We caught the train up to the Indian Village.  The village was on the top of the hill overlooking everything else.  Inside the teepee it was so warm!  The kids made beaded bracelets with arrowheads and also learned how to make wool into yarn for weaving.

Like I said earlier, we rode the train up to the Indian Village.  I tried to talk the kids into riding it around the whole park so we could get an idea of everything that was there and what we wanted to see, but they were so excited to go explore the Indian Village (which was the next stop from where we got on) that they almost jumped off  before we even got stopped.  Dallin was the only one who wanted to stay on the train.  When we got off he looked at me with a sad little look and said, "Bye bye choo-choo."  Across from the Indian Village was a big Trading Post, a stream to pan for gold in, and a trapper camp.  The kids loved panning for gold and found lots of it.  Normally they would have been really interested in learning about what a trapper/mountain man's life would have been like, but they were so anxious to get back down to the bank and have their gold weighed that they barely paid attention to anything the mtn man said.  Kinsley did think the pelts hanging from the trees was "half interesting and half creepy weirdness."

Before we headed back to the bank, we stopped and checked out this ship tribute to all the early Utahns who traveled here across the ocean.  When we got back down the hill we hurried toward the bank, which was right next door to the shaving parlor, only to find out the banker had stepped out for a minute.  Luckily the barber saw us and took on the role of banker too!  He weighed all the gold and calculated the exchange to a whopping $6.55!  We struck it rich alright!

We went into the schoolhouse next.  I've always loved the idea of a little schoolhouse where every kid goes to the same classroom.  I'm not even sure how a teacher would teach that way, but it seems so perfect.  I would have probably been a teacher back in those days.  One thing we learned and even I didn't know, was that the Mormon pioneers tried to start their own alphabet.  It was called the Deseret Alphabet and most of the characters don't look like English letters at all.  It reminds me of learning Russian.  This new alphabet and form of writing was initiated and taught for a while, but because it was too expensive to print in the idea was abandoned.  Kinsley had picked up a little virus the day before and her eye started draining a lot and was swollen and red.  She had tried to be a trooper, but wasn't feeling very good at this point of the morning. :(

We could only stay at This Is The Place until noon - which went by way too fast.  We could have stayed up there all day.  So for our last activity we went to the farm area.  Spring was a fun time to go because there were lots of baby animals!  One of the rules they told us before they would let us in was to not chase the animals.  That was pretty much the exact opposite of what Dallin did the entire time.  I had pioneer people following me all around the farm "reminding" me that we were not to chase the animals.  Well news flash - I was just trying to catch the little animal in orange who was trying to chase all the animals!

The only time he slowed down was when we went into the barn to see the baby chicks.  There were soooo many.  Baby animals are so cute.  It's a shame they grow up.  If they stayed little I would consider having every baby farm animal as a pet.

Our last stop was at the stable for pony rides.  Dallin loved this so much.  He went around 4 turns before I could pry his death grip off of the saddle horn to get him off.  We loved This Is The Place so much.  It was definitely a place we would go back to.

Around noon we headed to Church headquarters to meet up with Uncle Brad and Aunt Sharol.  We got to visit in Brad's office and he told the kids some fun stories about what he does there.  He also pointed out his window to where the prophet's office was.  There was lots of excitement in the air on Temple Square getting ready for conference that weekend.  You could feel the energy - and I'm sure everyone was buzzing about who the two new apostles would be!  Kara came and met us and then she walked us over to the Family History Museum and showed us how to do some things there.  Again the kids loved it.  They had so much fun seeing who they were related to - especially which of the cast members of Studio C they were related to.  They also had fun seeing what their heritage was - well I guess my heritage since they were logged in as me.  When you get to the museum you can check out an ipad and log in to family search, then when you go around to the different exhibits you can just stick your ipad into the wall and it pulls up all your information on big screens.  It's amazing.  

Afterward, based on a recommendation from Aunt Sharol we drove up to the Salt Lake City cemetery.  She had told us that there was a lot of prophets buried there and they had a fun time searching for the graves with her grandkids.  Since Ava is so into family history and it was a nice sunny day we decided to google a map of the graves and go do it ourselves.  I'm so glad we did - we had the most fun time doing it.  It was like doing a treasure hunt and the kids got so excited when we found a grave on the map.  I would definitely recommend everyone doing this with their kids.  Plus we talked about each prophet and who they were and what they did.  It was a great teaching time.  The cemetery is up by the UofU at the top of the hill and it looks down onto the valley.  It is actually really cool area just for the view.  It was also huge!  There were deer just enjoying the view up there as well.  The prophet's graves were scattered all across the cemetery so we just started in the middle.  We found a few other famous Mormon graves to get us warmed up: James E Talmage, Porter Rockwell, and Orson Pratt.  

Prophet #3 - John Taylor.  His headstone was really tall and came with the best view.  We had just learned at the Family History Museum that we are directly related to him on my side so that made it all the more exciting to find his grave.  Prophet #4 - Wilford Woodruff. 

Prophet #5 - Joseph F. Smith.  The only flat headstone of all the prophets.  Prophet #6 - Heber J. Grant.  (Also a tall one)  Prophet #7 - George Albert Smith.  We found a couple of graves with that name on it so we weren't sure which one it was but took a picture with both.

Prophet #8 - David O. McKay.  This was a big one up on a steeper side of the hill so it looked massive!  Prophet #9 - Joseph Fielding Smith.  Prophet #10 - Harold B. Lee. Prophet #11 - Spencer W. Kimball.

Prophet #13 - Howard W. Hunter.  This was actually the hardest grave to find of them all.  It is just normal looking and we walked by it multiple times before we found it.  It was probably my favorite one because of what was written on it:  A Prophet, and a kind, patient, courteous, forgiving man. I can't really think of a better tribute a human could have written about them.  I loved that the characteristics that most embodied him that his loved ones remembered and wanted inscribed on his headstone were so simple and yet so hard to attain for most people.

Prophet #14 - Gordan B. Hinckley.  The prophet of my youth.  He will always hold a special place in my heart because he was the prophet during the time in my life when I gained my testimony and the prophet that signed my mission call.  Prophet #15 - Thomas S. Monson.  President Monson's grave was the last one we found.  It had fresh flowers and a dirt mound and his death date hadn't even been carved on yet.  There was the sweetest spirit around his grave.  It made me teary-eyed thinking of how big his smile would have been watching my kids pose for a picture and Dallin taking big sniffs of the pretty flowers.  We are so lucky to have modern day prophets on the earth today.

Afterward we stopped home for dinner and then drove out to Malorie's house to see her and the boys.  Her boys had been a little sick and she had been busy at work so we hadn't been able to get together yet.  We didn't stay long, but man it was loud while we were there!  The kids were excited to see each other. :)

Then we drove down to see our other cousins!  Funny enough, Jake & Megan & family had come down for a roping so they were at Trena's too.  Kirk taught Kasen how to play the drums which he loved.  Abbie is gaining on Ava in height too. We got home a little late, but it was fun to see family.

Friday: This was our last day in SLC, but we didn't slow down until we left.  We got all of our stuff packed up by 9am and loaded so we could head up and spend the morning at the zoo with Mal & her boys.  These are a couple of pictures of our rooms.  Both bedrooms had king sized beds so we had lots of room.  Kasen and I shared a bed and Dallin slept in our room in the pack and play.  Ava & Kinsley shared a room.  All in all I would say that renting a place on AirBnb was the perfect choice for this trip.  I was super nervous about it, and like I said before, I'm not sure I'd ever stay at a place that people lived in full-time.  I think that would be weird.  This place felt like a condo and was a ton cheaper than a hotel. Also I would definitely recommend the Salt Lake Connect pass.  We were able to see and do so many fun things.  It would have cost us so much more money than what I bought the passes for to do what we did during our spring break - plus we didn't even do everything!!! We still have to plan another trip down to finish our passes before July ends. :)

After we "checked out" of our home we headed up to the zoo with Mal and her boys.  We got there right after it opened and were glad we did because it was crazy how busy it got so fast.  Zoos, even when they are busy, rarely feel crowded but this one definitely felt crowded by the time we left!  It was nice not having crowds for most of our time there.  The kids had so much fun checking everything out together.  Sometimes I think the thing kids like the most are to climb on the animal statues...

These cute pictures of the kids on all these statues usually doesn't show the intense work of a mom lifting them up onto the statue!  Especially when they are 12 and as tall as a giant and can't quite get their 10 mile long legs over the rhino.  We were all laughing so hard as I was trying to get Ava up there and then during the picture she was just slowly sliding down.  lol

The bear territory was a favorite for everyone.  Again there favorite was playing on the statues I think...

Dallin mostly had to stay in the stroller because he has turned into a runner.  He is so stinking fast that once he takes off I have to sprint to catch him.  When he did get out he was especially fond of the otter statue and the lion.  The lion and Dallin pretty much had the same hair style going on today too.

One thing that people always comment on about my kids is how good they are with younger kids.  They definitely didn't get this quality from me so it must be from their dad.  My kids are always so sweet and kind and inclusive to younger kids.  All three of them are great cousins.  It is something I admire about them and love to hear.

The stroller babies enjoying their luxury rides around the zoo.

Ava and I made an important discovery today.  I discovered that I look like an orangutan and Ava discovered she looks like a tortoise.  We are both oddly enough the same color as these animals as well.  Although this isn't really odd for me as I seem to have the same hair color as pretty much a million species of animals - dogs, cows, horses, lions, etc.  

Our last animal encounter was right up by the exit gate.  A zookeeper had an owl out and the kids all wanted their picture near it.  By the time we left the zoo right around noon it was packed!  The kids got to pick out a souvenir from the gift shop - the only time we spent money this entire week - before we left.  The Salt Lake Connect pass was so worth the money.  Each time we went somewhere I would check and see what the entrance costs were to each place.  We would have spent easily about $200-300 dollars on tickets to every place we went this week.  The passes saved us so much money and gave us so many fun and new things to do, see, and discover. 

We went to a fun park for lunch with the Monsons for about an hour and then we loaded up and drove home.  We had such a fun week and my kids were so good for me.  We didn't have any fights between siblings at all.  They were all helpful and obedient.  They listened to me and didn't argue or talk back to me the entire week.  The only thing that was hard at times was Dallin trying to run away.  It was such a fun trip to take and most of it was because of everyone's attitude.  Ava was an angel child which honestly when she is nice and happy the other kids are too.  They follow in her footsteps more than she even realizes.  Even with all the fun we were happy to get home to Jed.  We definitely missed him and he was pretty happy to see us too!