Spring Break Part 3 (Easter)

As I said before, there were more activities after we ate dinner when we got back from four wheeling. Easter was the next day and we were still going to paint eggs. Michelle used the Instant Pot pressure cooker to boil them up. We watched a movie while waiting called Shazam. I wasn't a big fan of that one. When the eggs were cooled enough, it was time to color them. I think Alice, Charlotte and Jack were the only ones from our family that colored any. The girls were having so much fun that I decided to just let them do it. I think most or all of Stillman's family colored some.

This is a machine that rolls the egg and you just press the marker down on the egg while it spins. I might have to get one of these next year.

The teenagers had their turn in the hot tub in the evening but I didn't get a picture. We stayed up late waiting for the kids to fall asleep so that the Easter bunny could do it's job. After the baskets were filled, we hid them upstairs. Hiding the baskets is something we always do but it was new to the Nortons. I wonder if they'll continue the tradition. We didn't get to bed until about 1am. It's a good thing church is at noon. Of course the younger kids woke up first and it took a little time for the older ones to get up. Someone had to finally go out to the camper to wake up Jack. They couldn't look for their baskets until after everyone was up. I think it was about 8:30 when they finally looked for their baskets and then had the egg hunt. The fake decorated eggs were hidden inside and the boiled ones they all colored last night were hidden outside. This was something new for us as we usually filled plastic eggs with candy and sometimes coins for the outside hunt.

We finally bought new baskets for our kids this year because I was tired of the old ones and I didn't want to pack them when we moved. I like the upgrade and I think they do too.

Charlotte got a blue bunny basket/bucket. It was filled with new sandals, a purple spring dress, stickers, a kit to build a bird house and some different candies.

Alice got a pink bunny basket. It was filled with new sandals, a pink spring dress, a small blue unicorn that you can build, stickers, a Bluey sticker activity book and a few candies.

Garrett got a blue bucket. His was filled with a large Reese's chocolate egg because Reese's are his favorite. Then a new Hawaiian shirt, new shorts, sandals, a model kit made out of sheet metal in the shape of a drum set and a few other candies.

Jack got a purple bucket because that's still his favorite color. His was filled with Dr. Pepper Peeps, a hat, shorts, Hawaiian shirt, a model kit made out of thin sheet metal of the Millennium Falcon space ship from Star Wars and a few other candies.

All ready for church wearing her new dress and holding her Bluey activity book that she already did.

The bottom of her dress has unicorns, which she loves.

Charlotte in her new dress.

Church was only an hour long because of it being Easter. We got to work preparing dinner after we got home but it took awhile because the roast beef took a couple of hours, plus they made twice baked potatoes and I baked up some rolls. We also had deviled eggs and broccoli salad. The adults played a card game called Trails while dinner was finishing in the oven. We had to pause the game to eat dinner and then finish afterwards. Right after we finished then we packed up to go home. It's a 2 1/2 hour drive for us so it was nice we could stay a little later. This time Curtis drove home. It was a great Easter weekend and we're so glad we could still spend it with family. It's probably the first time we've ever been out of town for this holiday. 

Pictures after church.

Stillman's family

I wanted an adult only picture right before we left.

It was a beautiful ride home.

Spring Break Part 2

Curtis wasn't able to travel to Nampa with me and the kids during the first part of spring break but while we were gone he got busy finding us a toilet and vanity for our downstairs bathroom so that we can have a usable toilet down there. He also picked up two towel racks, one for hand drying and the other for bath towels.

I'd say he did pretty well. I like them! The mirror came with the vanity but we didn't hang it up because we're planning on bringing the mirror cabinet down from our bathroom to be in this bathroom. We haven't figured out where to put that extra mirror yet.

We noticed a couple of bumps on the wall that we somehow missed. I will have to sand those down later and retexture them and paint. But we like this rack because it can hold stacks of clean towels and has the bar to hang a towel from, just like in hotels.

Originally, we were thinking we would have to drive separately to Lewiston, ID for our next trip because Curtis had a couple of work meetings over there he needed to be to on Friday, one was in the morning. I didn't want to wake up super early and my brother's kids were in school so there was no point in getting there early. Well, the morning meeting got cancelled and next thing you knew we were packing up to travel together. We still needed to leave by 10am though to make it in time for the afternoon meeting. I drove while Curtis attempted to work on his computer. This was our first time driving this way and it was beautiful! Because I was driving, I couldn't take pictures. You'll just have to take my word on it. Beautiful hills and fields!

We got into Clarkston, WA where the office is and dropped Curtis off to work with my brother Stillman and attend the meeting. Michelle wasn't ready for us to come over yet so the kids and I drove down the road to Costco to eat and then we roamed around looking at stuff, grabbing a few snacks on the way. We were going to go hang out at a park but it started raining. Fortunately, we got the call that it was okay to come over. Jayden and Alex were home by then so the kids got right to playing video games. I was so tired from driving two days in a row that I just rested on the front room couch upstairs while they were downstairs.

I forgot they had birds until Alice came to get my phone from me so she could take a picture of Charlotte with the two birds on her arm. They had moved the birds downstairs during Christmas time and they decided to keep them down there.

After the men got home from work and Michelle back from shopping, we all went to our favorite pizza place over there, Fazzari's. Then we went to the theater to see the new Super Mario movie. It was very popular and we ended up having to sit down in front because by the time we got there, there weren't enough seats in the upper part of the theater for our group. I think the movie might have sold out because by the time the movie started, even the few rows in front of us, right in front of the screen, were all filled up. It was a very good movie and we all loved it! Everyone in the theater clapped at the end.

At the pizza place. It was busy when we went but we were able to get all of the kids seated together and the adults on a separate table.

I had to get the little kids in the back to look toward me for the picture.

The adults were still close to the kids table. They did some photo bombing in the background.

Ready to watch the movie! The girls loved hanging out with their big cousin, Alex.

That night, the adults had their turn in the hot tub while the kids played their video games, except Alice who watched a movie upstairs. She really wanted to come in with us and I probably should have let her, but we didn't want all of the kids wanting to come in also. The 4 younger kids had their hot tub turn the next morning.

Swimming in the hot tub.

We had a big breakfast that morning and then Stillman had to go fix one of the four wheelers so that we could use it later that day. Fortunately, he and Curtis figured it out and got both four wheelers loaded. Stillman was called that morning to go to a baptism since he's in the bishopric and the bishop and other counselor are really sick. So he and Michelle went to that while Curtis and I took the four younger kids to McDonald's and the park. They were just finishing up an egg hunt when we arrived at the park, so it was packed but fortunately we came just as someone was leaving and got a nice close spot to the playground. Curtis went and practiced some disc golf while I watched the kids play.

By late afternoon, we were finally able to pack up and head to the hills for some four wheeling. This was something we had been planning on doing this weekend. Again, it was a pretty drive. I was surprised at how high we went up the mountain, high enough to find snow. I was so glad I brought my hiking shoes with me, just in case! There were some spots of road that still had snow/ice and I was nervous because I don't trust our van in slippery conditions! We finally had to turn around at one point because it was getting too slushy, but we found a good spot close to an outhouse (thank goodness). It was muddy and poor Garrett didn't want to get his shoes all dirty so he stayed in the van for awhile. Stillman and I devised a plan to ride a four wheeler right up next to the van so Garrett could climb right on. I know he's glad he did because I could tell on his face that he had a lot of fun on the four wheeler. We all had a lot of fun! And we also brought some shooting stuff and a portable campfire and chairs and lots of snacks. We had the fire on a drier area and so Garrett sat down over there after his ride. 

All ready to go!

Like I said, beautiful drive!

There's the mountains we're heading to.

Curtis was driving this time, thankfully.

We swapped a few kids around so cousins could ride together. Alice rode in Stillman's truck.

I was a little nervous at first because I haven't rode a four wheeler in years but I quickly adapted and had fun giving the little kids rides.

Curtis and Jack

My hands were getting cold, so I put some gloves on.

There's Garrett after his first ride. Stillman drove him around at first and taught him how to do everything and then they switched places and Garrett drove.

Michelle and Keaton

Our little campfire. It was nice to have it to help warm us up!

The boys doing a little bit of shooting at some pop cans.

Both of the girls went for a ride with Dad.

Jack, Curtis and Alice

Jayden and Alex

Everyone had such a good time and we left as it was getting dark. Our van got so dirty that Curtis went and got it washed after dropping us off at the house. He also picked up some Panda Express for our dinner that night. Yep, we love Panda and it looks like the Nortons do also! Yum! I have loved the orange chicken at Panda Express ever since my mom took me there as a teenager in the Boise Town Square Mall and that's what we ate. It took awhile for Curtis to come around to liking Panda but he does now. Yay! That wasn't the end of the activities for that day but I'm going to end this post and pick it up in the next post.

Sprink Break Part 1

The weekend of April 1st we finally decided to move the girls into their room downstairs even though we're not done with the trim. We figure we'll just do the trim later all at once because we want to get going on the upstairs as soon as possible. Of course the girls were super excited and love their room!

They have an automatic wall shelf because of the concrete wall that sticks out. That's where they put their stuffed animals that aren't on their bed. I guess I can get rid of their old stuffed animal net now, yay!

I decided to use Nikki's old closet organizer for the girls until we can get something better but it works well for now. This is one half of the closet.

This is the other half of the closet. It's pretty big.

We also decided to move boxes and office stuff that was in our front room and dining room to the family room downstairs. It looks so much better upstairs now!

It gets so dark in the front room. Eventually I'd like to get some better lamps that will light it up more.

I can't wait to be able to decorate but that will have to wait until we repaint this room.

We still have one box of china dishes in the corner by the door but I wasn't sure where to put them right now. There used to be a folding table set up as a desk and a bunch of boxes lined up on the wall next to it behind the recliner.

Ah, our front room was all nice and clean right before the kids and I started their spring break by driving to Nampa again on Monday the 3rd. We decided it would be best to stay with my grandma again since she has the space and she wants us to. I also didn't want my mother in law to worry about cleaning up her house for us since she's busy being relief society president. We did however make plans to eat dinner with them right after we rolled into town. It was nice. They cooked up some hamburgers (and a few hotdogs for the girls) and had some air fried fries, potato salad and grapes for dinner. Then Gaya, Jack and I played a dice game called Farkle. We didn't stay too long because Garrett had a heart doctor appointment the next morning and we needed to get to bed at a decent time.

Garrett's appointment went well, as usual. He saw a different doctor this time, Dr. Mack, who is Asian and he was super nice. He did mention the idea of doing some different testing to make sure everything is working well since it's more difficult to see things on the ultrasound of his heart the older Garrett gets. He recommended some blood tests and also a liver ultrasound, which is a fairly new thing so not many people do it. He printed out the lab order so that we could do the blood test any time in the next year when we're in Kennewick and they will just send the results to them. Or we could do it when we come to Nampa again. 

The next couple of days was pretty laid back. Garrett wasn't able to connect with any friends this time so he was bummed about that but Jack was able to connect with Porter this time, his best friend. In fact, they hung out twice. The girls also got to see their old neighbor friends on Wednesday. We brought them over to Grandma's house and they played and ate dinner with us. Mom and Dad also came over on Tuesday evening to eat pizza with us and then we played some games. Tamara came for a little while also but had to drop off a couple of her kids and leave for a bit to go take pictures at her relief society activity since she is the ward historian. So we played some Mexican Train after she got back. The next night Mom and Dad came again when the girls' friends and Porter were over and we played the card game Golf. Jack and Porter went and saw the new Super Mario movie on Wednesday right after Porter got out of school. They came home to eat with us and then I drove them to mutual at 37th ward. I'm so glad they had so much time to hang out this time. Porter was out of town the first time we came. 

In between all of those activities I was busy helping Grandma put together the 750 piece puzzle we started on our first trip. My friend Whitney even came over a couple of times and helped on it also. I didn't get to see her the first trip so it was nice to hang out with her again. She has recently started teaching painting classes at a place in Payette that her friend owns. She had her biggest class ever of 20 students on Wednesday. She was quite nervous because she doesn't do well with crowds and also suffers from bipolar but can't afford medications to help with it but she said it went well. That morning she had come over before her class and brought two paintings of flowers, one for me and one for Grandma. I did not do well at taking pictures this trip so I didn't get a picture of it but will get one later for sure.  Whitney dropped by again after her class and helped me finish the puzzle. 

  

The finished puzzle.

Jack hanging out and as usual, drinking a soda.

This was taken before Whitney came to help finish it. I wish I would have gotten a picture with her also. Next time!

Garrett hanging out, watching a movie.

The girls with their friends, Brooklyn and Bryston. He was shaking his head and standing away because I told them to put their arms around each other like what the girls are doing. 

It was a good trip and a great way to spend the first half of their spring break. We headed back home Thursday morning after cleaning the bed sheets and remaking the beds and doing a little extra cleaning as well (vacuuming) while Grandma went to the temple with Mom and Dad. The weather was scary when we drove down on Monday because there was snow and fog in the mountains. I even pulled over in Pendleton to ask the guy at the gas station if the road was open and clear. By the time we had gone through it had been plowed and it was open. It was scary but we made it safe. On the way back home, most everything had dried up and we had sunshine. The only scary thing that happened on the way home was almost getting run off the road by a semi truck. I had to quickly get away from him and all of the other semi trucks around. We made it home by about 3pm and had to get going on laundry so that we could pack up and travel again the next day, this time up to Northern Idaho for the Easter weekend!