April happenings

Spring has struggled to arrive but is now here, and we celebrated by getting our last (sniff sniff) two trees cut down in our backyard. We had tried so keep several trees when we built the house, but they all were dying or were on their way. Now we need to plant trees to provide some privacy whenever the land behind us is eventually sold.

 It was great entertainment for a while for the boys (and me!) to watch the men work on the trees. Glad Michael isn't in that line of work, risking his life every day climbing trees and cutting them down (see the guy way up at the top).

 A leftover stump.

 While the men were working, I was also working on testing my garden soil. I wanted to check the pH of a spot where I want to plant blueberry bushes (which I will have to amend to make it more acidic and probably plant next year, sadly) as well as my garden soil.

 It was really fun to see! I added fertilizer to the garden because nearly all our levels were deficient/depleted, even though I had put in compost last fall, which surprised me.

Robbie also celebrated his birthday at school since he's a summer birthday and won't be in preschool, so I made cake pops (way too much work), which the kids thought were really cool.

 Robbie even got to be sung to and blew out a candle :-). (Can this count for his actual birthday, too, now?)

 Robbie is such a thoughtful, sweet boy. I loved watching him interact with his teacher, his classmates, and see him happy and enjoying school. I am so thankful for him.

 Robbie really likes doing science experiments and crafts, so I looked up an idea for a fun lemon volcano--it worked really well! (You cut out the top of the lemon and pour in baking soda, food coloring, more lemon juice, and dish soap to really make it bubble.)

Cutie Clara had to make an "edible cell" for science class with Mr. Good. Here is her animal cell, complete with nucleus, ribosomes, lysosomes, mitochondria, ER, and cytoplasm (nice photobomb, Robbie).

Michael continues to work hard on finishing the office renovation for his open house in May (we'll be glad when that's over!) and had to hire another employee for his front office because Gabby had her baby and decided to stay home with the baby--good for her, bad for us! The new employee, Gigi, is doing well, but Michael is also having to go in early every morning to help train her. Never a dull moment.

I am now 28 weeks and am feeling very large but grateful to not be nauseated anymore. It is fun feeling the baby kick. Henry often puts his hand on my tummy or points to it and asks, "Is that your baby?" and will make sure that we pray "and please bless the baby in Mommy's tummy" if I forget. Robbie has been able to feel the baby several times, which he has really enjoyed. He is cute--he'll come out of preschool and kiss my tummy. He also likes to rub it and say in a funny voice, "I like your big bell-eh (belly)."

Spring Break and Easter

Our Spring Break wasn't too exciting this year--Robbie had gotten sick the week before, then Henry, and then me, with a yucky cold. The weather was also quite chilly for most of the week, but on Thursday it warmed up and we were able to go to Wildwood Park with our friends, the Petersons.

 Clara didn't want to come, but she did a good job of playing and enjoying the outdoors.

 Robbie asked a couple of times if he could get in--I was grateful that the boys resisted the impulse to step out too far (I might have gotten onto them, ahem, a few times) and didn't get their shoes soaked.

On Friday, Michael had off of work and so that afternoon we drove up to Luray to visit the Luray Caverns, which are a famous landmark here but we hadn't seen yet.

 They really were quite stunning. Amazing what nature can do over millions of years!

 Posed amazed faces.

 Henry was done after about twenty minutes and kept saying, "I want to go upstairs!" We made it (the tour was only an hour) and then went to the Gathering Grounds in Luray for dinner. The kids did well while waiting--we played the alphabet picnic game and "what's missing?" before we got our food. Their desserts are so so good.

The next day was "Bunny Saturday." We went to a fun egg hunt at the Richardson family's home (in the 2nd ward) and then got to come home to another egg hunt. Since they'd already gotten some candy that morning, I actually didn't use all the candy I had purchased (it will still be good next year, right?!).

 The obligatory start picture.

 How did those robins lay a golden bunny?

 Henry was eager to find this bunny . . .

 . . . and proceeded to unwrap and eat it right there.

 And then after the egg hunt was the first session of General Conference! We were excited to hear who the new apostles would be--here were our predictions :-). Michael had just heard Elder Soares bear powerful testimony when he and Elder Renlund came to Richmond a few weeks ago, so he was particularly touched by his call to the apostleship.

And of course, our usual treats for various words to listen for. I was very touched as we felt the Spirit confirm the reality of President Nelson as a living prophet during the solemn assembly. And of course, it was a lot easier to pay attention and feel the Spirit when Henry was taking his nap . . . And to hear that a temple will be built in Richmond! So exciting! It might not be much closer for us, but it's wonderful that the Saints in Virginia will have their own temple.

 On Easter morning, the boys were both up around 6:30am, so we went ahead and dyed eggs before anyone else was up and enjoyed some pear bunnies. (In case you're wondering, Henry has a piece of Peep on his cheek.) We enjoyed watching General Conference again, although the last session on Sunday was pretty crazy, but we made it through. We had a part-member family over for dinner (they are from China) and enjoyed talking about different foods, traditions, etc. with them.