Spring Fun!

Drinking hot cocoa on the front porch in the snow on April 14th.

Freezing cold spring snowstorm!

The kids love to build a snowman!

Playing with the baby goats on Sunday at ward choir practice. Anna also fell out of a swing that day and landed flat on her belly, ouch! I am just glad it wasn't her head. Boy Adam and I got a laugh out of that after Anna was okay!

Jumping on our new tramp with daddy Saturday night after we finally got it set up! The kids were troopers. We bought it Friday and they couldn't wait to set it up, but we made them help us with the garage first. The garage looks great and now they have their tramp.

Anna at the kids T-ball game. She loves to mow the lawn. She kept running out into the field during the game!

Our beautiful tree! These line our whole street and they look lovely!

Anna playing in the sprinklers yesterday. Yes, only one week before they were out in the snow!

Lily decided it was too cold to get in.

We love water!

Our safety net is great! Anna can't get out or get hurt!

Jumping is so fun!

The kids play on the tramp all day!

Lily's hair is getting long enough to pull up again! Yeah! She said the other day she wished it were long again. That is the first time she has said that.

So fun!

T-Ball

My cute kids before their first game!

Ammon up to bat for the first time, yes he is a lefty!

Ammon at first base, good throw!

Lily out field.Ammon running home.

The team with Coach Rob after the game.

Ammon and Lily enjoying their treats!

Ammon and Lily had their first t-ball game tonight. They were so cute! I laughed so hard during the game, as well as the other parents. Watching little 5 and 6 year-olds who know very little about baseball try to play the game is quite entertaining. They would all run to get the ball when someone hit it and they would usually end up crashing into each other and then fighting over it on the ground, sooo funny to watch! Ammon and Lily did a great job and I am really proud of both of them. Lily was up to bat last during the first inning so she got a home run. So in the second inning when she was up to bat again, she ran all the bases, passing her teammate on 2nd. It was hilarious. Everyone was yelling at her, not in a mean way, she was so confused. Her coach gave her a high five as she ran to home an then he told her to run on to 1st and stop. She is a sweetie. Ammon played first base the 3rd inning and did a good job. It took him a few minutes to catch on, but he did really well. The girl who was there before him was totally out to lunch. She was sucking her thumb and didn't even pay attention to the fact that the ball was coming to her. It was hilarious! She was just happy to be out there. I am so glad the kids have a great coach. He is so laid back and just wants the kids to have a fun time. I am glad he doesn't overdo it or we would probably not be playing! Maybe I am crazy, but I think more than once a week is too much for these little kids. Thankfully the kids only have a few weeks with two games, most are only one, phew! It takes a lot of time, which I don't mind spending on the kids, but really, they are so small... Anyway, sorry about that. All in all the kids had a great time and were very happy about their game. We wish daddy could have been there! We missed you!

Tea Party

The kids and I went to the TEA Party up in Carson City last Wednesday. I hope some of you had an opportunity to attend one. I know the media tried to make it look like there were just a bunch of freaks out there who didn't know what they were doing or why they were there, but I'll tell you there were mostly very American every day citizens there along with me, protesting how our government is running and ruining things and taxing us too much! I was really inspired by some of the things the speakers said and was happy to play a part of the history of our nation. Overall, the turnout across the nation was larger than the crowds who showed up in Boston on December 16, 1773, and I hope that the effects will bring about as great of a change for us as it did for them. I don't know if we will have a full-blown revolution as in war, but there are a lot of people out there who are getting really tired of our government taking all our freedoms away and interpreting the constitution improperly. I hope change is coming! Adam and I listened to a speech by Chief Justice Clarence Thomas last week and it was so awesome! I wish all the Justices were as honest with themselves, God, and our forefathers as he is. Adam had the opportunity to take a class with Justice Thomas while In Law School. What a neat experience that was for him. I wish we had more good men and women in elected office.
When I told the kids we were going to Tea Party they were a little confused. I told them we weren't going to drink any tea and Lily asked if they were going to have water. So cute! It was neat to take that time to teach a little history lesson about the Boston Tea Party and explain what protest means and to go together to take part in it. They actually enjoyed it and had fun!

We didn't take any of our signs, but Lily made her own American Flag in the car with her markers when we got there, but then she forgot to grab it because we were so busy bundling up. It was freezing cold! I think it was only around 36 degrees that day!

I don't know if you can see, but there are tea bags hanging on the tree behind Ammon.

This is one of Adam's favorite quotes by Thomas Jefferson.This was a statue they had that is suppossed to represent the Boston Tea Party. It is a contemporary version of the Statue of Libery and is called The Hand of Order.

I don't know if you've ever read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, but this is from her book. The yellow sign says "Who is John Galt." I read the book last summer and loved it. I think it should be a must-read for everyone! It is really long, around 1100 pages of tiny print, but it is quick reading. I loved every minute of reading it and was sad when it was over. I highly recommend it!

I love this Don't Tread On Me Flag! The first time I saw it was on the John Adam's Videos by HBO. It is a seven video series and so wonderful. We have them if anyone wants to borrow them. I love history, thanks to Adam. I didn't care much about it before and I feel ashamed to say it. Since marrying Adam that has changed. He majored in history at BYU and is very active in what is going on. He is a great example to me and has opened my eyes to so much. Please understand and study the history of our nation and love it! Teach it to your kids and help them know what our founding fathers believed in and fought for! Thanks Adam!

Everyone was honking and making noise. It was really a lot of fun and the kids were so excited about being able to honk all the way down Carson Street to show our support. They had a lot of fun and so did I!

Lily's View of Easter

A week or so before Easter I was having a conversation with Lily about what Easter was all about. I said, "Is it about the candy and eggs and treats?" And she thankfully replied, "No, it is about Jesus." So we started talking about why it was about Jesus. I briefly explained the Crucifixion and then asked her, "What happened after Jesus was in the tomb?" Hoping she would reply, the resurrection, I was surprised with her answer. She said in a very thoughtful, honest and disappointed way, "Jesus missed Easter." I laughed so hard! I explained that no, Jesus did not miss Easter, but that we have Easter because He was resurrected. I love digging into my children's minds. It is so fun and often times funny to see how they perceive things. I am so thankful for their innocence and simplicity.

Have Faith

After my last appointment with my midwife, she told me that the radiologist had sent her the results from my ultrasound. He is recommending that I go see a perinatologist for a higher level ultrasound and a possible high-risk pregnancy. The baby has some cystic collections by the choroid plexus, which is at the base of the head, near the brain, and an abnormally echogenic bowel with possible fluid in the bowels. I have done a lot of reading about these two things and had Adam give me a blessing and I have said many prayers. I have decided to have faith in the Lord and whatever His plan may be and I feel tremendous peace. I am so thankful for personal revelation.

As I thought about going to a perinatologist, I felt that it would do me no good. They would do more ultrasounds, stress me out more, want me to do amniocentesis, which I will not do, and in the end, all they could do is tell me what might be wrong, but not fix anything. If our baby has a chromosomal abnormality they can't do anything about it, and I will not choose to terminate my pregnancy on the condition that my baby may have something wrong with him. I am thankful for the miracle of life that is in me and grateful to the Lord for blessing me with this time. I don't know if the peace I feel means that he is whole or not, just that I know I am okay with whatever it may be. Both markers can be an indicator for Trisomy 18 which is fatal. Most babies are stillborn who have it. They usually have several markers though, not just one. I know we have two, but I still feel peace. The echogenic bowel can show up if the baby has swallowed blood, which I spotted a lot between 5 and 8 weeks and thought I was going to miscarry, but thankfully did not. So I am hoping that that is all it is from. Each of the things he has in and of themselves can often clear up on their own by the time the baby is born. I am hoping this will be the case, but if not, my trust is in God and I am relying on the peace He has given me.

When I was pregnant with the twins, Jameson also had an echogenic bowel, but after he was born and they did all his tests, they came back fine. I met with a genetic counselor and saw perinatologists, but it didn't change anything. I feel like my mental well being is extremely important for me during my pregnancy. I feel like it really affects my baby when I am stressed and concerned and I do not want that. Before I knew about the ultrasound results, I was so happy and excited. I felt like someone popped my balloon or took the wind out of my sails after I heard that he had some concerns. It is really an awful feeling. All the joy and excitement turns to stress, tears, and fear of the worst. I have turned those feelings around and am confident that the Lord will continue to strengthen me and bless me no matter what the outcome. Adam and I have turned to Joseph B. Withlin's talk from his last conference, "Come What May and Love It," and also from something said at this April's General Conference, which I don't remember who said it or the exact words, but basically, to not ask why this is happening to me, but to ask what I can learn from it. Both have helped us to feel better about the whole situation. And one last thing that was said, by I think Elder Uchtdorf, "Our future is only as bright as our hope." I have great hope and that coupled with my faith is helping me to be okay.

An Easter Surprise!