Happy Easter!

It sure was a nice and relaxing Easter weekend! We enjoyed spending time together as a family and participating in our Easter traditions. I think the only thing that would have made the weekend better was to have warmer weather. (Winter finally arrived this past week.) We still had a wonderful weekend though, despite the cold temperatures. We started off by making some Easter goodies and delivering them to ward members which we did between sessions of General Conference. Then we colored eggs while Daddy went to the Priesthood session.

The girls were very creative.....

When Dad came home we had ice cream sundaes which are a Perry family tradition, dating back to when Mark was a kid. You can't go wrong with ice cream.

This morning we woke up to a blustery and very chilly day - it was 19 degrees! It was hardly the weather for an Easter egg hunt but we figured that if the Easter Bunny could handle it, then we could, too! The girls literally jumped out of their beds before seven and were anxious to get outside and find their treasures!

Emma and Samantha weren't too phased by the fact that they were wearing their pajamas along with their heavy coats and gloves.

Hooray for the Easter Bunny for finding his way to La Grande! The girls were tickled with their discoveries.
We spent the rest of the day watching General Conference and snacking on the Easter goodies. Mark cooked a turkey so we had a delicious Easter dinner and then listened to the Tabernacle Choir concert on BYU TV. It was amazing and a perfect way to end our holiday! And....thanks to our very nice neighbors who helped the Easter Bunny find his way back to our house for a SECOND time! :) The girls were sufficiently spoiled!

Conference Weekend

I love General Conference. I look forward to it every spring and every fall.
It's wonderful to be able to stay in my home with my family and listen to the messages that have been prepared for us. I feel particularly blessed this weekend -- I feel uplifted and spiritually fed. Every talk was amazing and hit home to themes that have been on my mind lately. I love that a good deal of the talks given centered on family relationships -- how we can learn from one another, how we can look to our parents and how we can teach our own children. I was also grateful to hear a few of the Brethren talk about the Youth Programs of the Church. (I sure hope that my Young Women were listening and have recommited themselves to Personal Progress!) Most of all, I was drawn to Elder Ballard's talk on Mothers. I am so grateful for the mothers in my life, including each of my sisters and sisters-in-law. What a blessing it is to have so many wonderful examples to look to and to share my joys and burdens with! I love you!

Spring Break Activities

This past week was our Spring Break and we had a wonderful time together. I really enjoy having my kids home with me and not having to stick to a certain schedule. We could just relax and have fun! Unfortunately, Mark had to work all week so most of our activities were just me and the girls. We started off by having a family movie night. Mark turned the living room into a movie theater and we had popcorn and watched Kitt Kittredge. Emma has been reading the "American Girl" series of books lately so she really enjoyed seeing the movie.

Most of the weekend the weather wasn't nice at all. It was cold and windy. On Tuesday the weather was so nice we decided to take advantage of it. We spent lots of time outside playing in the backyard or at the park. Emma has learned this past year how to go across the monkey bars which is a huge accomplishment!

Samantha couldn't get enough of what she calls "The Spider Bars." She is getting better and better at climbing and is such a monkey!

On Wednesday the girls and I went to stay with Gramma and Grampa and to see their cousins. Mark stayed behind because of work responsibilities so we reluctantly left without him. But we kept very busy playing and spending time with family. Here is a picture of 18-month old Jordan swinging at his house. What a cutie!

The kids played on the trampoline all afternoon together and got all their energy out. In this picture the kiddos are trying to make Uncle Jon come alive!

Here is Emma, Samantha, Eliza, and Isaac.

We spent time with the Perez cousins at the park, even though the wind came up and it was stormy. Emma and Kennidy love the swings!

My camera died again so I didn't get very many pictures at the park. (I think I need some new batteries). But they played hard and had a great time! We also had a birthday celebration for my niece Karlie. She turned five years old. Plus, it was Gramma and Grampa's anniversary and my sister Shellie came to visit.

Here is Karlie with her little sister Lilly. How precious they are!

Uncle Jon, Kennidy, and Jordan at the birthday party.

Samantha and Karlie having a fun night together!

We came home on Friday and that night the girls had an "Almost Slumber Party" at their friend's house where they made pizza and painted their nails. Last night we capped off our school vacation with another family movie night. I was really sad for spring break to be over and today it was hard to send Emma back to school. Dare I say that I am looking forward to the summer break????

Morgan Lake Adventure

The girls were out of school on Friday and Mark was off of work so we had a family day and took a little trip to Morgan Lake to hike around and enjoy the warm weather. It was nice and warm at our house but once we got up to the lake it was very chilly and we found that the lake was still frozen over. We walked down to the water's edge and took turns throwing rocks and sticks onto the ice.
The girls had a lot of fun playing in the trees and climbing on the rocks. Samantha pretended that we were in a cave and that we were explorers.

Blogging Again....

It's been two months since my last blog post and unfortunately I haven't been keeping up on it as I should....in fact, I haven't really been taking too many pictures. I suppose we've just been too busy. However, I would like to share a few random pictures that I've taken over the past several weeks. These are of the girls playing together. It's so fun to watch them enjoy being sisters with each other.
We have had such a mild winter this year - I think it's only snowed three times all season. Although I miss not seeing the snow this year, it has been advantageous because the girls have spent so much more time outside burning their energy! We have some nice neighbors next door with teenage daughters who are so kind to Emma and Sam. They let the girls play with a badmitton set and they had a fabulous time! Emma is growing up so quickly. Every day there is something new and she gets closer and closer to not needing me as much anymore. This is very hard for me to watch but I'm trying to let her be her own person and find her way with her classmates and her other activities. Apparently it is "all the rage" to wear a side ponytail to school so Emma wanted me to take a picture of her before school to prove how stylish it is.

I did have a birthday in January...not that I want to commemorate the fact that I turned 33. I did agree to take one picture with the girls after we opened presents. I actually did have a wonderful birthday spent with family and friends which I am very grateful for.

Yesterday Mark had his birthday and I will spare him the agony and not announce his age to everyone. :) Hopefully he had a nice day. I snapped a few pictures as we were having cake and ice cream and opening up presents. (I think that Emma and Sam usually have more fun at our birthdays than we do.)

I will definitely try to be better about documenting the events going on in our family so I can share them all with you!

Happy Holidays!

Well, the month of December has absolutely flown by for us. It seems we were so busy that we barely had any time to breathe! Now that the month is coming to a close, I look back on things and wish we could have done things much differently. December was also a difficult month - we had several things going on within our family that actually kept our spirits down most of the time. I feel like I need to apologize to so many of our family and friends because I just didn't get things done like I would have liked to and we basically laid low when we could. Having said that, we were able to sneak in a few things to help us celebrate the holidays.

School Christmas Programs!

Samantha had a wonderful Joy School program that her and her little classmates participated in. They reenacted the Nativity, sang songs, gathered donations of necessities for a local shelter, and made gifts. All of the families came together for a potluck and an evening of entertainment. Sam did a wonderful job as Mary in her play.

Emma also had a Christmas program at the Elementary School. Unfortunately the pictures we took just didn't come out well. The second grade classes and the fifth grade classes put on a play and sang lots of songs. Emma was so cute in her new birthday dress and she knew all of her lines and the motions to the songs. We were very proud of her.

Snow!

We had a little bit of snow this month. It snowed a few days before Christmas and fortunately it stayed cold enough that it never melted and we were still able to have a White Christmas. We are hoping that we get some more soon. Sam wanted to pose in the fresh snow for a picture.

Baking Day with Gramma!

Gramma and Grampa were able to come visit from Hermiston for an afternoon. We hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving so we were really looking forward to their visit. Gramma brought all the makings for some treats so all the girls worked hard in the kitchen melting chocolate, dipping pretzels and candy canes, and doing a little baking. Everything was so yummy and we had a good time together.

Christmas Day!

Before we knew it, it was Christmas morning. It was the first time that we were really able to relax and enjoy being with each other and celebrate the birth of our Savior. My favorite part of Christmas is watching my sweet daughters come out of their room to see the bounty under the tree. It is so special to see their delight! I always try to take a video of it:

The girls bought each other a little something and they were very happy and thankful for their new play-doh and colored pencils. Aunt Joan and cousins Rebecca and Mariah sent books for the girls which they absolutely LOVE! And Santa brought them a little something that they could open up together.

It really was a nice day and we enjoyed our gifts and being in our pajamas all day!!!

Sledding!

The day after Christmas we decided to get out of the house and drive up the mountain to Tolgate for some serious sledding. It was just gorgeous there and there was so much snow. The trees were all covered and the undisturbed snow looked like little fairy wings. It was the perfect day for sledding and we topped it off with hot cocoa and popcorn afterwards to warm us up.

We are looking forward to the new year and all that it offers for us. We hope that you all have a wonderful new year as well!

Welcome Lillie!

My sweet niece, Lillian, arrived this week to Hollie and Bryce. We had the opportunity on Thanksgiving day to visit them in the hospital and meet her for the first time. She is so precious and we are grateful for the beautiful blessing of having her join our family.

The girls have been looking forward to their new cousin for so long now so they were thrilled to finally meet her! Emma said to us, "I felt like crying when I got to hold Lillie!"

We love you Lillie!

Into The Woods

Last night the girls and I went with a group of friends to go see a play called "Into The Woods" at the Elgin Opera House. Our good friends were performing in the play and they did such a good job. The music was fun, the acting was hilarious, and the three of us really had a nice time together.
The lovely Jeannette played Cinderella and she was amazing! Emma and Samantha were so thrilled to see her on stage!

Although it was a late night for us, it was well worth it!