Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!

High School Grad Picture

One of my favorite pics when Mom was engaged to Dad.

2002

I love you Mom! You've taught me so much and continue to teach me. I know how to sew, craft, cook, bake, and be a good mom and wife because of the things you have taught me. I hope you have a wonderful birthday. I wish we could be there with you to celebrate (And to make sure the candles won't burn the house down. just kidding ). I love you. Have a great day.

Random

Sometimes I forget to look back at the pictures I've taken to delete bad ones before I download them onto the computer, like today. After I downloaded today, I perused the pics and had to laugh when I saw this.

Thanks baby! You're always trying to make me laugh.

Spring At Last!

We've been waiting for spring and it has now sprung. It's finally starting to warm up and the foliage is beginning to bloom at a rapid pace. Here's a look at some pretties out our front door.

Our tulips are funny. We didn't plant them, they were left for us. We have a theory that the kids who lived here before must have planted them because they are in odd places in bunches. There's really no rhyme or reason to their locations. Regardless, they are beautiful! I think when they are done blooming I will take up the bulbs and replant them in better locations for next year.

Our beautiful Magnolia Tree. I loved this tree last year too, but it was only in bloom for about a week, then the rain and wind blew the flowers all off. I missed my chance to catch a photo. Not this time. It's been raining, so I know it won't last long. I had to hurry and take a picture before I missed it again.

The MSU Farm

Monday after we were done with our walking club, we took a trip to the MSU farm to see all the new animals (and old). The research farms are all in separate locations in surrounding areas of the University. It was amazing how close we were able to get. We gave ourselves our own tour, and we were close enough to be able to touch the animals if we wanted, but we didn't. I didn't really want to lose any digits, and I wanted to make sure my kids could always count to 10. :)

We went to visit the "horsies". This new little foal was so cute. It would run all over or nibble at the gate and was also a bit interested in the kids that came for a look see.

A mommy horse who will deliver soon.

This was interesting. This was the corral where all the males were kept. They were on a special "nutritional study" diet (or so the signs said). There was no food or water in their trough. This specific horse kept ducking down, sticking his head through the bottom opening and catching nibbles of the grass outside the corral. I guess when you're hungry you'll do anything.

We also visited the dairy:

These cows are really HUGE! You don't think they're all that big when you're passing them in the fields by car, or see them on tv. But these heifers are massive!

The boys weren't scared to get too close either. These were the dairy cows. There were a whole lot of dry cows in a different section that were in the process of giving birth. I was even able to see a little hoof sticking out of one or two mommies. How uncomfortable. I know the process takes a lot longer for them than for us.

We had a good trip. We ran out of time, but maybe we'll get to visit the sheep and pigs soon.

300th Post!

Wow that's a lot of posts! I guess I have been blogging for almost 3 years. To celebrate, here's some pics of the boys. We had some of Daddy's homemade popsicles for a treat.

Elliott conducting the music.

Dono showing off that he ate 2 popsicles.

Rossy's 1st experience with popsicles. He liked them so much that he cried when it was all gone.

Surprise!

We got a little surprise visitor last night. We had turned off all the lights and gone to bed, when I realized I forgot something downstairs (we sleep on the 2nd floor). It has been raining the last couple days, so I took a look outside and was startled to find this guy on our sliding door.


He was a decent size, just clinging to the glass probably trying to get out of the rain. Our friend was gone by morning. Hoppy croaking friend!

Aloha!

Our branch had a Luau at the church this evening. It was lots of fun. Our new activities director really goes all out and does a great job. We received leis when we arrived in our Hawaiian attire (we didn't really have anything but jewelry and the boys' shorts) then we settled in for yummy Hawaiian haystacks.
After we ate, we got to have some fun.
The kids got to have pinata time (we seem to have had a lot of pinatas lately -4 in the past year, but still fun).

Elliott hitting the little hula girl. (We think the activities director made it herself.)

I told Dono to wack the girl really hard. He did, but he did it so fast that I caught him when he was done.

The boy after Dono did the deed. Dan is holding up the decapitated head of the poor hula girl.

Then was the hula hoop competition:

Dono saying, "What do I do with it?:

The Limbo:

The best pic Dan could get of how low I could go. The next round I crashed.

Then we got a special Hawaiian dance and song.

Don & Renae Solomon

We had a really fun time and even got to do a Hawaiian rendition of Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes saying the names in Hawaiian.

Happy Birthday Alisa!

Happy Birthday to my big sis Alisa! She's 34 now. Old Lady! Just kidding. I love you! You've been a great example to me. Life has not been easy for you and you've had many continuing struggles, but you are always optimistic. I've learned a lot from you growing up and still do. Thanks for being there for me always! Hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Easter

Easter was so fun having my parents here. The boys had more fun this year especially since it was snowing last year.
Getting ready to decorate eggs the night before Easter:

Ross couldn't help decorate, but he had fun anyways.

My dad has been COLD ever since his heart surgery. Being here in 30/40 degree weather was really chilling him. This is what he looked like a lot. The inside of my house was 68 degrees, but he was still cold. At least we had lots of blankets. Poor Dad! We thought he looked like a sith lord from Star Wars when he fell asleep like this. ;)

I prepared for the worst. I stripped the kids and put old adult shirts on them because I was sure they would get messy. I was impressed, this is all we got:

Good Job boys!

Easter Morning:

We have church in the morning, so we're usually up early and busy getting ready. Being Easter Sunday, we were a little extra busy. First the kids found this from loved ones. We get gifts from loved ones instead of the Easter Bunny because we are celebrating with each other the wonderful gifts that our Savior has given us on this day and not trying to focus on things that don't exactly coincide with that. We might have still gone a bit overboard with gifts, but we still tried to keep our focus.

Then we got ready for church. We had to go a little earlier than usual because Donovan and I had to practice for the sacrament program. I was in the choir for a few special numbers and Donovan was singing a duet with his friend Abby. During church Abby got a little scared and wouldn't go up to sing. Donovan was so brave. He sang a solo in front of the whole congregation! He needed me to stand by him at first (I was already up with the choir) but we had practiced beforehand and he knew all two verses of "Jesus Once Was a Little Child" and he sang it beautifully by himself! I was so proud of him! My little boy is growing up! So many people came up to us afterwards and commented that they cried and that Donovan's song was the best part of the program. I had to agree, of course.

The Earl bunch

We were invited for Easter lunch/dinner at our good friends Tom and Stephanie Smith's house. They are always opening their home to all of us transplant families that moved to Michigan with no other family close. We've been to their house for almost every holiday that we've lived here for. They've become part of our family. They sit with the boys and I on Sundays while Dan is doing his stake duties. They keep an eye out for us and we love them very much. Well, they didn't mind us bringing my parents along to their potluck get together. I think there were at least 50 people there enjoying the company. We ate and the kids even got to whack at an Easter egg pinata. I forgot my camera and nobody even brought our cell phone cameras. I wish I had been able to take pictures.

Once we got home, we had our own Easter egg hunt in the backyard. There wasn't any snow this year, but the wind sure made it chilly. The boys had so much fun and hid the eggs for each other over and over again till it was just too cold.

I might get a blue-eyed boy yet. Ross's are definitely the lightest, so they might stay.

We had great Easter celebrations.

It was great being able to celebrate the life and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. His gift of the Atonement always leaves me in awe. It makes me sad that He suffered because of some of the mistakes that I have made and continue to make. But I know he loves me and through this selfless act I can repent and be forgiven and someday strive to live with my Savior and Heavenly Father again. I know that He was also crucified through cruel and ignorant acts. I know that it was in our Heavenly Father's plan for this to happen. He loves us so much and knew that this was the only way. On Easter, we focus on our Savior's resurrection. Jesus Christ has led the way, through His example, for all of us to be resurrected one day. I strive to follow the examples that Jesus has taught us in the scriptures. I'm not perfect by any means, but there's always something to improve upon. I love my Savior, I know that He lives, even now, and wants us to choose to make good decisions so that we might live with him again.

Primary Egg Hunt & Breakfast

Our primary at church decided to have an Easter egg hunt for the kids in our branch (congregation) and their friends and family. Being the president of the primary, my counselors and I decided to add a pancake/sausage breakfast this year. It was a great success. Many didn't think there would be a good show. Last year we only had five kids come. This year I was optimistic and bought enough supplies for 100. It was a bit much, but as I said, I was being optimistic. I should have done a final count. There were at least 20 kids and their parents/grandparents that showed up. I'm sure there were at least 50 people total. Not bad. I'm pretty sure it will only get better. Hopefully the word will get out and we'll have even more participate next year . Everyone seemed to have fun and the food tasted good (I was probably a little biased). What a great day!

Workin in the kitchen. My mom (bless her heart for wanting to help on her vacation), me, and Dani Firth.

**Bro. Holm, Lael Worsley, and Emily Forsyth also helped with preparations though Dan the cameraman/egg hider didn't catch them in the act.

Some of the participants:

And the hunt begins!

The kids were so excited to find candy-filled eggs. There weren't many hiding places in the back field, but then does it really matter? They had fun.

We'll definitely have to do this again next year.

A Spring Visit

My parents came for almost a week to spend some time with us and to spend Easter with us (will post about later). We had such a fun time. We mainly relaxed. They had seen the sights with us in visits past and since it was SO cold (we Earls actually thought it was warming up) we were content to spend time indoors. I neglected to take lots of pictures, but here are the ones I did get.

Nama reading the boys a story (the part she was reading is when the monkey is sad)

Nama & Papa Elliott with the big boys.

Roswell was content to be moving around instead.

Papa playing with the boys.

Roswell even decided to start walking with his walker. This clip shows a little bit, but not the full extent of what he's been doing.

We had lots of fun Nama and Papa! It was sad to see you go home. We love you and miss you. The boys miss waking you up in the morning.

Movie and Lunch with Friends

Sorry, it's been about a month since I've posted. We've been quite busy and I've been reading some great books. So, I'm doctoring up the dates to when they actually happened.

The movie theater out in Lansing has a great spring family special where kids 12 and under are free and adults are only $2.50 for certain films. We decided to go with some friends. This was the very first time my kids have set foot in a movie theater. They had a great time. Dan and I are really particular about movies that our kids watch so I was a little nervous since we hadn't seen this one before (Madagascar 2). It was cute but obviously had some adult humor, that thankfully wasn't caught on by the boys. Then we went out to lunch at an all-you-can-eat pizza joint. It was fun to share this with friends. (We also went back a week later to watch Tale of Despereaux(sp?). It was ok. The experience was more fun.

Our tables: Roswell, Marinda Wessman, (new) Abby-that's what the boys call her, Emily Forsyth, (old) Abby-boy I hope she won't get a complex from their nickname, Donovan, and Elliott.