Moving Day

     So, we have bees.  I should say Corey has bees.  I told him the day he got them that they were HIS, I have enough to take care of.  Right. 
    So I was in the backyard doing some things for the twinners and I couldn't figure out who started their tractor.  We have at least two neighbors with big gardens and they use a great old tractor to till up their land for their beautiful gardens.  So I couldn't pinpoint the noise....then I looked up.  It was Corey's bees.  Thousands and thousands of bees swarming above the bee box. 

     A little lesson on bees.  Once they outgrow their boxes they make a new queen and then half the hive leaves.  They swarm around and huddle around the queen until the searcher bees find a new, acceptable place to live.  Usually swarms are thousands to TENS OF THOUSANDS of bees.  It's crazy I tell ya. 
     Back to my story. I rushed the kids inside and called Corey who sent me to get a new bee box so we could keep the bees.  They settled in our yard in a craggy old pine tree.  Corey was unable to get the bees down from the tree by himself so he put the box at the base of the tree and said he'd figure it out when he got off work that night.  He must be livin' right because
the bees actually went inside by themselves...lucky duck!
    










     The not-so-lucky thing that happened is when Corey was adjusting the boxes one bee was not happy with Corey and stung him in the eyebrow.  We're finding out that Corey is allergic to his beloved bees.....and I was starting to like 'em.

Roommates Reunite!!

     It took us a while, but we finally did it!!  These beautiful ladies are my college roommates.  Joy (opposite end of me) and I have been friends since elementary school.  So good to see you Linds, Shea and Joy!!!  We found out if you stay at Corner Bakery late enough they'll give you whoopee pies to send you on your way...not bad.  See you soon gals....sooner than 4 years at least!

Happy Birthday McKay!

     McKay turned twelve last week!  It's been so fun planning and preparing for this special birthday for him.  He worked so hard to get his "Faith in God" award and do everything he was asked to do to prepare to receive the priesthood.  I've been as excited for his birthday as he has been.  I love these special milestones and I couldn't be happier with this hardworking, smart, kind kid!
     But first...his party.  His was simple like Tate's (without the last-minute plans).  He had the choice of having a big party with a lot of friends or going out to dinner with our family and one friend.  He chose the latter.  He'd been to a Mexican restaurant the week before with the "dads" for priesthood conference and wanted to go there again.  So off we went to El Rancho Grande with our family and Mac's best friend Brad.  After dinner we came home and the boys settled in to watch a favorite movie of McKay's "Chronicles of Narnia." 

     On Sunday McKay received his "Faith in God" award and was ordained to the office of a deacon in the Priesthood.  It was a special day!  So proud of you McKay!! 

Happy Birthday Tate!!

     Tate turned seven this year!!  For some reason his age always shocks me.  I don't know if it's because he was the baby before the babies or what, but I can't believe he's seven!  This year is a party year at our house so I asked Tate what he wanted.  His request was to go with AJ (his very best friend) and have dinner at Arctic Circle and then watch a movie.  I was great with that!  So we made sure AJ was planning on it and I was thrilled at the simplicity.  Until the day got closer and Tate's mind was planning, planning, planning!!  It started with a costume...okay, I let AJ's mom know he was to wear a costume.  Tate wanted to dress up as Thor and wanted me to buy him a costume for his party.  Luckily he has a very creative brother who stepped in to make him one when I said I could buy it if we took back the present we'd gotten him.   McKay is so creative I love seeing what he comes up with.  Then, since Tate was dressing as Thor the boys convinced him to do an Avengers themed party...the night before his birthday.  How our Mom's survived without the internet I'll never know, but I googled some Avengers cupcakes, pulled out the Avengers for the movie and we were good to go!  Whewww! 
     The party was a hit!  AJ dressed as Iron Man and they had a great time playing, eating corndogs, and talking in lispy toothless voices that I LOVE!! 
                                             Happy Birthday Tater bug!  We sure love you!!

 

Peter Pan

     Keaton participated in the school choir this year.  He willingly admitted to me that he did it solely because he would get to miss some school time for performances, but I think he really enjoyed it.   For the spring-time performance they did a play.  This year they did Peter Pan.  So fun! Keaton was thrilled with his role as skunk-boy, a lost boy.  He planned out and created his costume and memorized his lines.  It was fun to go and watch him!  Great job Keat!

Ready to act!

Singing with the other lost boys

Keaton and our neighborhood friends after the play

Happy Easter!

     This year I had a great time learning how to make chocolate eggs from my good friend Alison.  She had five molds so we had to do two differently, but they turned out great and it was so much fun to do.  These are homemade marshmallow eggs surrounded with ganache covered in semi-sweet chocolate...yum! For Avery and Breckens we just cut out egg shapes from the homemade marshmallow and put them in the freezer and then dipped them in the chocolate. 

 

 

       We always start our Easter in Scipio.  Scipio is a little town just off the freeway past Yuba Lake.  It's where my Grandma and Grandpa Peterson grew up and where I grew up visiting.  The city puts on an Easter Egg Hunt every year so we go down the Saturday before Easter to do it. 

 

     All the grandkids....McKay holding Weston, Keaton, Tate, Brecken, Avery and Wyatt.  Ready to go!

     The age limit is twelve and McKay's birthday wasn't for another two weeks...lucky duck.  I love Wyatt's smile in this pic!  Hayley told him to do something silly first and then he laughed at himself, so cute!  Sweet baby Weston couldn't last the egg hunt, he plugged in his thumb and fell asleep.  

 

     We did a few family pictures after the egg hunt.  Upper right hand corner (going clockwise): My parents and my Aunt Tracey and Uncle Brent, the original "kids" of my family, Avery totally enthralled in baby Weston, my immediate family, & the girls.  

 

 

     After the egg hunt we head up to the grove and have a BBQ and play in the beautiful campsite.  My kids love to "fish" with sticks and swing across the stream. 

     On Sunday we went to the Larrabee's and had a great time playing with cousins and doing another egg hunt.  We're so blessed to be so close to our families and to enjoy great family holiday traditions!!  We love you families! 

 

 

Happy April Fools Day!

     Apparently we celebrated April Fools at our house....that's sharpie courtesy of older brothers.