The hunt is on......

This afternoon we had a little easter egg hunt for the kids. They were anxiously awaiting the okay to run out into the back yard to find their eggs. They kept trying to peek around the corner to see where the eggs were being hidden!

On your mark, get set......GO!And THEY WENT! This is what they found......

A pose from each of them - I love Sam's chocolate mouth!

These next pictures were actually taken yesterday on the way to our Ward Easter Party. Kylie is pretty in pink and is looking so grown up.

Lexi loves to pose - I had several pictures of her to choose from!

And Sadie is learning from her sisters how to pose!

Brodi was with her other grandparents today, so we'll have to post a picture of her later....

She's learning young!

Michael, Mallory & Madie working on their computers

Isn't this adorable?

Thanks, Grandma MariLou, for sending it to me!

Summer already?

Here's what our thermostat says right now - at 4:23 p.m!

It's really nice outside, but I'm not ready for the hot weather yet.....

Mmmm - Yummy!

We've been on a bit of a bread making kick lately. Here are a couple of loaves that Bryan made last night. We got the recipe from Michael & Mallory - it's the easiest recipe ever - and those of you who know me know that if I can and will take the time to make it - it's EASY!

Here's the recipe - thanks to Mallory:

White Bread
This recipe uses a different method for activating the yeast,

and makes it soooo much easier.

The bread is ultra soft with a nice thin crispy crust.

4 c. flour
2 T. yeast
1/3 c. sugar
1 T. salt
3 c. hot tap water (as hot as the tap will get it get; it should be too hot for you to keep your finger under)
1/4 c. oil
1. Mix flour, yeast, sugar, and salt together with fork.
2. Add the hot water and oil to the dry ingredients. Mix with a fork until thoroughly blended.
3. Add more flour (about a cup at a time) just until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. It will still be quite sticky, so flour up your hands.
4. Turn the flour out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough, adding flour (this time by handfuls) until the dough no longer sticks to your hands. The key is kneading the dough as little as possible, to keep it from becoming too tough.
5. Add about 1 teaspoon of oil to a clean bowl, and make sure it spreads over the bottom of the bowl. Tuck the dough into a ball and set in the bowl. Allow dough to rise to double in size.
6. Cut in half and form each half into loaves. Set in greased pans and let rise until loaves reach the tops of the pans.
7. Bake in 375-400 degree oven for 1/2-hour.
8. While cooling, grease tops of bread with butter.

Business and pleasure

I had to go to a meeting in San Diego this past week,

so Bryan went along with me.

I worked for 2 days and we played for one day.

Along with getting our clam chowder fix on the wharf,

and walking around Old Town, we were able to go here

and we saw these darling babies
SO CUTE!

We got to the flamingos at feeding time,

so they were going a bit crazy in the background.

The weather was actually pretty cold and windy, but while we were at the zoo,

the weather was just fine. It's a beautiful zoo - lots of green.

We hadn't been at this zoo for 20+ years.

It's always nice to get away - especially when the company pays!

My Dad

I can't let this week go by without posting about my Dad. This picture was taken Thanksgiving Day 2 years ago. Three months later, early on March 3, I received a phone call from my sister telling me that my Dad had just died of a heart attack. They eventually revived him, but there was no brain activity. I immediately made arrangements to fly to Utah that afternoon - my brother flew to Phoenix from So. California and we were able to fly to Utah together. I feel like it was our little miracle that Dad didn't officially pass away until a few hours after Dave and I got there - early on March 4 - and we were able to say good-bye. I miss my Dad and I'm so thankful for the great example he was and still is to all of our family. I had a great childhood and I have some great memories of my Dad.

One of my favorite memories is when my Dad dressed up as Elvis for a skit at our family reunion. None of us were expecting this, so you can imagine how hilarious it was when he walked out in this get-up! I think everyone laughed for about 15 minutes! He was a great sport! I'm so thankful for eternal families and the knowledge that I know I'll be with my Dad again. I love you, Dad!

Yes, it does snow in AZ!

We have a missionary couple living in our cabin this winter and they sent this picture of a pine tree that fell right in the middle of the front yard. It missed the house, it missed the street, it missed the rock wall and it missed the apple tree. It fell exactly where it didn't hurt a thing!
Here is our cute little cabin covered in snow! And - it's only 1 1/2 hours away from Phoenix! After the tree fell, it snowed some more - you can see that the tree is now covered with snow - the roots are sticking out in the bottom right of the picture.

And then it snowed some more......................


and some more..........The locals say this is the most snow they've
had since the 1960's and wouldn't you know?
We weren't able to go up and play in it since we have renters in there! Maybe next year..............