In Person Church

 For the first time in 13 months, we went to in-person church today. We were nervous, but it went really well.

On Thursday, I took the girls shopping for new church dresses and dress shoes. I wanted them to have something to look forward to- it totally worked! Camille kept saying, "I'm so excited to go to church on Sunday!"

For shopping, we had that and the bee thing at Hudson Gardens. When I told Camille our plans for the day, she ran to Claire and said, "Today is the BEST day! We are GOING SOMEWHERE!" Thank you, Covid, for lowering the bar of excitement so low! Can we keep that bar so low?

Anyway, I had to get pictures of our first day back:

We went and very purposely sat in the very back row. We didn't want people singing on our backs, even with masks on.

We didn't know what to expect. And we were both pleasantly surprised.

There was one family who didn't wear masks, so we know we will avoid them. But, the young men all wore gloves passing the sacrament, they each had two trays- one to get your water, the other to put your dirty cup in. We don't touch the sacrament handle, the young men hold it the entire time and take it to each person. They take their responsibility to keep us safe seriously. Our Bishop takes it seriously. I felt totally safe the whole time. I expected to be angry, honestly. And, while I was upset about this one family, I was overall very impressed. So much so that next week we are transitioning to two hour church, but we are doing it in such a way that I'm not worried. It's a very smart, socially distanced, way- and after seeing how well they did today, I am confident they will keep being responsible in how the second hour is implemented.

Creative Cooks

 Claire and her friend Pearl decided to do Creative Cooks. Pearl's mom really took the lead, but the girls were told this was their project and they needed to do it all. They had a vision, Claire dreamed up this wagon, and they worked hard to put it together. It truly was mostly all them.

Their theme was pioneers, and they converted their table into a covered wagon.

They got a lot of compliments for doing such a great job with their theming. They made baked beans and apple cider to go with it.

They were the only ones in their division, so they did take first place which does qualify them for state. They really did a great job!

Here's a celebration lunch!

Busy As Bees!

 At Cloverleaf, Camille has been learning about bees. Her teacher told her about Hudson Gardens doing a bee exhibit thing, and Camille started talking non stop about it. So, I signed us up. Ben has been stressed out at work, so he took the afternoon off and joined us.

We also went shopping for new dresses in the morning (more on that later), and when I told Camille all the plans for the day, she ran to Claire and said, "Today is the BEST day! We are actually going somewhere!" Oh, how I'm grateful for Covid for lowering the bar of expectations!

Anyway, Hudson Gardens did a great job. They had 12 different bee stations, and the girls went around completing different activities. It was a lot of fun. My favorite part was learning that they kill off all the males as soon as the breeding takes place.

They put on these glasses and it made them see like a bee.

Second Doses!

 We got our second dose! It is so cool to see the miracles of God and science work together and unfold right in front of us.

Ben got pretty sick from the second dose- nausea, etc. I felt pretty great the first day, but am pretty tired on the second day.

It's worth it, though. This truly is the answer to prayer that we have been seeking, and it's a happy, happy day to be fully vaccinated!

Conference Quote Tournament Bracket

 Last night we did our semi-annual General Conference Quote tournament.

It is my hope that eventually the kids will find quotes that stuck out to them, but as it is now I just put the quotes together from a Deseret News article that goes through each talk and finds great quotes.

Nevertheless, this is our third time doing this, and it is pretty fun.

I tried to rig it a little bit because I really wanted a quote from a woman, and it worked! Sister Aburto for the win!

"I testify that through the redeeming Atonement and glorious Resurrection of Jesus Christ, broken hearts can be healed, anguish can become peace and distress can become hope."

We are start out with 16 quotes and have snacks, music, and dancing between each round. Our dancing is legendary enoough to go viral if I were crazy enough to make it public.

Turkey!

 Just when we thought 2020-21 couldn't get any weirder, there's a turkey running around our street:

Conference

 Getting the kids to sit and watch General Conference (8 hours of church) is no joke.

About a year ago, a friend told me about how everyone in their family chooses a word, and every time that word is said they get a certain treat- jelly bean, pretzel, grape, etc.

This has been an absolute GAME CHANGER! This weekend, they listened to all of conference, and actually listened, and didn't complain even once. NOT ONCE! Their favorite talk was President Nelson's because he said "Faith" about 100 times, so they got lots of chocolate covered popcorn. Bonus: When I ask them what President Nelson talked about, they can say with 100% that he talked about faith.

They also had Bingo cards and pictures to color, but I'm being serious- they were attentive and watched the entire conference. So, that's our secret- candy words.

Then I made our traditional Conference Brunch, a scaled down version. Since it's Easter and we were going to Ben's parents for dinner, we didn't have everybody over for Conference, so it was just us. But it was still lovely- anytime I make crepes the girls are happy.

Easter!

 What a GREAT day we have had!

The Easter Bunny definitely spoiled the kiddos which was fun. (also, note: Our girls are AWESOME! They know that mom and dad don't love to wake up in the morning, AND that mom and dad get to watch them see what the Easter Bunny brought them. So, they went downstairs with their eyes closed, went and watched TV- which is what they do on weekends so we can sleep in- and patiently waited until we woke up. What kids on the planet do that???? Ours do, because they are amazing)

They got candy, some church CDs and books, and a surprise from the Bunny:

"Happy Easter,

Outside you will find eggs aplenty,

10 eggs for each of you, in the backyard to see,

But that is not all, for a big secret I tell thee,

Your parents are planning to take you to Disney!"

(I'm hesitant to post this. Ben and I have talked about going to Disney, or doing some type of vacation, for awhile. But we fully, completely understand that we are lucky right now. Many are not so lucky. Not only did Ben not lose his job, but we were able to get our vaccines. I know a lot of people aren't in a position to take a vacation. Please know I fully understand that. My hope in traveling is that we can help businesses bounce back and hire people back. We are being intentional about spending money to try and stimulate the economy, and we completely understand that being in this position is a result of pure, dumb luck)

We all got matching shirts for The Animal Kingdom!

Then, time for the Easter egg hunt!!!

They move so quickly it's hard to get a picture of them!

I think this is the fourth time we have made the cake. The girls were pretty pleased with how it turned out this year- Camille was especially proud of the ears she made. I don't know if I love it or if it really turns out cute, but it's been a fun tradition.

Audra saw this cute recipe for deviled "chicks" and asked if she could make it, so she went for it. We all agreed they turned out super cute!

                                                    

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's where we had a wonderful Easter dinner and the kiddos got another Easter egg hunt. The kids were in Heaven!