Rolling

 The annual Christiansen Family Egg Roll, always a wild time.  Made even more wild this year by an anonymous Newtonite who failed to actually boil the hard-boiled egg he/she sent to the town egg hunt.  Said egg was found by Josh and later thrown at his Uncle Floyd.  It was lovely.  I'm sure he would not have done so had he known it was raw.  Pretty sure, anyway.  He is quite a prankster.

The kids are old enough to really get into it these days.  Just looked at little Annie Oakley down below ready to let it fly. 

 

 

Even the babies were acting not so babylike and got serious about it.

 Look at Claire's form!  She's going to be a serious contender next year.

 

PS - Missed you, Kaden!

Egg Hunting

 How many egg hunts did you get in on this year?  Our total was three.  Which is a little low, but we were out of town the entire week before Easter.  Egg hunt #1 was at the beach and we finished it up seconds before a big storm rolled in from the ocean. 

While the storm rolled in, the kids sat around the table on the screened porch and admired their loot. 

 Egg hunt #2 was at Grandma Rose's and look!  Cole found the golden egg!  Wahoo!

Annie got off to a slow start on this hunt due to some sort of catastrophe at the starting line.  Somehow she still managed to gather her fair share.

 Egg hunt #3 was at Grandma Ali's and almost didn't happen because the dogs started the hunt a little early and gathered up quite a supply of candy.  Luckily, she had extra on hand and re-filled some eggs.  Made me laugh pretty hard when I noticed the extra included conversation hearts and candy corn pumpkins. 

I lucked out with the best job during this hunt - holding baby Lucy.  Babies do not get much cuter than her. Sometimes I want to steal her.

Ben almost missed this hunt in the excitement of finding a lawn mower to drive.

 But he managed to find a few eggs.  Which is a relief cause he was really hurting in the candy department.

 Thanks for all the great hunts, family and friends!  I think they are ready to go pro.

Easter Pretties

 The boys probably won't like me calling them Easter Pretties, but here they are anyway.  I just love getting Easter kids for my kids each year and was pleased that they had a nice sunny Easter to wear them in this year.  It makes me a bit sad when Easter is cold. 

Annie wanted to pick out her own dress this year and loved it.  She told people, "just wait til you see my Easter dress.  It is "A"-dorable." 

Ben didn't actually make it to church in his Easter clothes this year since he was still on East Coast time and woke up at the crack of dawn.  He took a nice Easter nap instead.

 Cole humored us for about 5 seconds, so we don't have many shots of him this year. 

I always want to get my boys little bow ties, but neither leave them on at all, so I skipped them again this year.  They'll probably thank me for that in 20 years.

Going...going...gone.

When we were in Florida, we watched the sunset on the ocean pretty much every night (if you are confused about the geography of this, we were up in the panhandle in a town called Port St. Joe that is located on a bay, so the sun rose over the land in the east and set across the water in the west - it seemed a little off to me for a few days).  One night, we went to the marina and fed the seagulls while we watched it set.  Ben threw about 100 rocks in the ocean too.  Cause that's what two-year-olds do.  It was a gorgeous evening.

Ben needed a little help guesstimating the size of bites the seagulls could take.

Annie spent more time dancing around and making her skirt twirl than throwing bread.

Cole and the seagulls got into a throw it up and catch it in the air rhythm.  It was cool.

 

And there goes the sun....

...going...

...going...

 

...gone... almost.

Seriously, watching the sunset on the ocean is something I will never get sick of.  It is just amazing every time.

A rose by any other name...

On Easter Sunday, I caught a little snippet of conversation between Annie and a couple of her cousins wherein they were informing her that when she got married, she would have to change her name.  Her response was to crinkle up her nose and defiantly state, "Well.  I am not going to.  I like my name how it is now.  Annie.  Rose.  Griffiths." 

They quickly dropped the subject.

I'll admit, it made me proud.  You see, I did not change my name when I got married.  It's not that I have anything against Griffiths, I just really liked my maiden name and it felt like who I was.  I didn't feel like a Griffiths. 

I thought it would be easy, but I guess around here it's unusual enough that it was a bit challenging.  I gave up explaining it at church after about 2 sweet little old ladies just couldn't understand why I didn't change it.  They all called me Katie Griffiths and I just kept my mouth shut.  Floyd never said much about it, but it was clear he would prefer if I would just change my name.  At work, I stayed Katie Christiansen and I liked having that identity.

But time moved on and eventually we moved away and I quit my job and nobody ever called me Katie Christiansen so I threw in the towel.  I couldn't think of anything to give Floyd for our 6th anniversary, so I officially became a Griffiths and gave him my new social security card for his present.  I sat in the Ogden Social Security office for two hours with two little kids to get it, so it felt like a big sacrifice.  I thought he'd be a little more excited about it than he was...oh well.

It's been over 10 years since I married and over 4 since I officially changed my name, but it still sounds wrong to me when people say it and it often takes me a minute to register that they are talking about me.  I wonder if that will ever change.  I do like having the same name as my kids and husband, but wish we did it like lots of other cultures that use both names. 

So I don't know what the moral of this fascinating little story is, but I did like to see Annie's spunk come out and I for one won't mind a bit if she decides she'd like to keep her name how it is.  I did put a lot of thought into that name, you know. 

P.S.  Don't tell, but when I'm feeling like a rebel, I sometimes tell people my name is Katie Christiansen.  Just people I don't know and won't see again so it won't confuse them or anything, but it feels kinda good to say it.

Cole

 Hey Beach Boy-

You grew up in my eyes on this trip.  Old enough to let wander down the beach alone.  Old enough to play at a new friend's beach house for the afternoon.  Old enough to swim with no floaties.  Old enough to once in a while share your beach creations without prompting.  Old enough to not require constant supervision on the airplane.  And old enough to let mom yank out the snaggly front tooth. 

Somehow, the two-and-a-half years between you and Annie seemed bigger on this trip and we found you hanging out more with the grownups or by yourself than with the little kids.  Staying up late reading on the front porch.  Wandering down the beach to find a creature or two.  Or 17.  You were content...as long as the little kids didn't destroy your hard work on the beach.  Sometimes they did. 

It was nice to just spend time with you.  We don't see you as much since you are in school all day.  I liked reading on the porch with you and laughing at the silly things the little kids were doing with you. 

As much as you seemed to enjoy your time being grown-up, it was very exciting for you to make a new friend when Derek showed up toward the end of the week.  You two had an instant bond and were pretty much inseparable the rest of the trip.  I wish I had been a fly buzzing around listening to the long conversations the two of you had as you wandered the beach looking for creatures. 

 

Of course, you were drawn to the water from day 1.  You were born a fish and are fearless about diving in no matter the conditions.  You did finally give snorkeling a rest when the waves just wouldn't stop washing over your breathing tube, but quickly picked it up again when the seas calmed. 

Cole, you were born to be a scientist.  You loved discovering everything about the beach and watching the creatures that you and Daddy caught.  Your mind just takes it all in.  From seagulls soaring over the waves to hermit crabs hiding in the sea weed, you soaked them all in.  

 

Of course, you don't travel without souvenirs and we made sure to make a stop or two.  It wasn't easy to tear ourselves away from the beach, but you just have to have them.  Your choice this year?  A harmonica.  And Pokemon cards.  Nothing reminds you of the beach like a harmonica and Pokemon cards, right?  You're a funny guy...
 

 It was a great trip.  I wish we were still laying in the sun with you shoveling sand onto my toes and the little kids following you around.  It was an easy life and you rolled with it well.

Love, Mom