Comments are back on..

Thanks to some feedback from Ang, I found out I had accidentally disabled the comment feature. Yeah, still trying to figure out this whole blogging world. But I love your comments and feeling a bit more connected to the people I love--comments are back--keep 'em coming.

Grateful

The kitchen is clean, the kids are all asleep, Tyler should be home from church soon, and I am grateful. Why?

• We made it to church, only 2 minutes late--not too shabby with 4 kids in tow.
• Although it snowed yesterday and was a bit frigid, the sun is shining today, making me think spring might come after all.
• All the kids are healthy--no bottles of medicine in the fridge (okay, just one, but it's old and needs to be thrown out. Shayla had her last dose on Thursday--hurray!)
• I have the best family and friends imaginable. Just thinking about the examples I have helps me want to be better, and while it is hard to live so far away from most, I have great friends who are always there when I need them. Like at church when I'm wrestling with Grant, trying to get him to stop exercising his vocal chords (he's not mad--just yelling for fun because he can), and trying to contain Garrett and keep Shayla and Ty quiet, there is a nice grandma who has adopted us, and will come and sit by me, or one of the young women comes over and helps. It makes all the difference knowing that we are all here to help take care of each other and love and serve each other the best we can.
• And best of all, I'm about to take a Sunday afternoon nap--could life be any better?
  

Garrett-isms...

So Garrett is three, and what a fun age that is! Tonight at dinner everyone was telling stories, so he said, "I have a story. Once upon a time there was a boy walking down the street. And then he met a chicken. The end."
Hilarious little guy, isn't he? I guess when you are three, you can say anything and it is funny.
Here are some of my favorite things he has said lately:

• After receiving the pink cup, instead of the blue cup he wanted he said, "You get what you get, and then you trade!" (the real saying is "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit.")
• After helping me make dinner, while eating together he announced, "You guys need to tell me, 'thanks for dinner, Garret.'" (I think he's heard that one from me before :)
  
• I turned on the microwave, and Garrett looked around for the source of the noise. "What was that?!! Oh, it was just the microphone." (Later I told Tyler what Garrett had said, he overheard me, laughed sheepishly and said, "Yeah, I should have said micro...whatever it is."

Summer Sausage

What a project! Our neighbor is a big deer hunter and makes summer sausage with the venison, so Tyler decided to try it out. Let's just say that the sausage turned out delicious but I'm not sure it was worth repeating the process. You'll have to ask Tyler about it sometime--I was gone for the grinding of the meat and came home to deer blood splattered all over the wall, bloody towels and chunks of ground deer meat everywhere. Trauma! I'm still recovering from the whole experience...maybe by next year I'll be ready for more summer sausage.

Stuffing the sausage
Male bonding time...
Cooking the sausage...the boys love it!
Come and visit and you can decide for yourself if it was worth the effort :)

discoveries...

I love seeing the world through a baby's eyes. Grant was discovering that you can't grab a stream of water.
This photo needs no explanation--you all know that face. I figured I needed some black mail for Grant's teen years, so i couldn't resist snapping this shot.

Slacker Easter Bunny...

So I don't know about your Easter Bunny, but ours was a slacker this year. Traditionally, he comes on Saturday, so on Sunday we can focus on the real meaning of Easter, but this year Saturday came and went, and no Easter Bunny. And then Sunday came and went, and still no Easter Bunny. The kids were so sad. We reassured them that they had not been forgotten, just delayed. Monday morning the kids awoke to eggs scattered around the house and an Easter surprise on the table. Phew! Hopefully the Easter Bunny is forgiven, and can get his act together for next year :)

Family, oh how we love family!

My brother, Seth, came to the Twin Cities for a school trip, and we were able to visit with him in the evenings. What a treat! We had fun eating BBQ at Famous Dave's and trying not to lose any of the kids at the Mall of America (successful, thankfully!) and then picnicking in Seth's hotel room (hope your roommate didn't hate you after we invaded your room :) and then swimming at the hotel pool. It was great to see you, love you Seth!
(Notice the way Shayla is adoring Seth--this picture says so much!)

On Saturday Brad, Emily, Braden, Dallin and Trevor came over (Tyler's brother and fam). We are blessed to live only 1 hour away from them and love getting together as often as we can. The older kids went skiing and the younger kids stayed and played at the house. It was a beautiful spring day and the kids had a blast playing with each other. (notice Grant in the snowsuit--the phrase "beautiful spring day" means it might have been 40 degrees, and was pretty windy :) But we'll take what we can get.

There is something so rejuvenating about being with family. So, who's next to visit?