Sequoia

The day after Easter, the kids had the day off from school--it was the last day of spring break here. We decided we should drive up into the mountains and take my mom to see the Giant Sequoias. She had never seen them and we only live an hour away from Sequoia National Park, so why not? We drove to Visalia and had breakfast at our favorite breakfast spot, the Corner Cafe and then headed into the mountains. It was SO cold up there. I believe it was in the 60s down in the valley, but in the 30s up at the trees. Brrrr. Good thing we brought extra jackets and boots! On our way out of the park, we stopped and had pizza at the Pizza Palace near Three Rivers, California (our traditional after park meal). We stopped at a local strawberry patch and grabbed a huge carton of the valley's best fruit and then headed home for naps.

Easter

Easter was amazing this year! While we missed having Isaac, Heather, Ava and Emma with us (they moved to Maryland last year)...we got a special treat--my mom (Nana) came to visit! We have a wonderful day of celebrating our Savior and enjoying a day of fellowship. What a blessing and a privilege to have family together on a holiday!

Passover and the Blood Moon

Supposedly, a blood moon happening on Passover is a spiritually significant event. And you know, it really felt that way. I could feel in my spirit that it was important. So Josh and I got up in the wee hours of the morning to witness it. It was beautiful and eerie at the same time. I wish my camera could have caught it in all of His glory, but my pictures just don't do it justice. It was a red/rust color...it looks more orange in my pictures. And the color was much much deeper than my pictures show. But you get the idea:

A few of the kids playing around the house

Teaching brother to color

Today was Loyal's first official coloring session with Wyatt and Rea. He loved it! And promptly attempted to eat a crayon...and then run away and hide with a fistful of them.

Meat Blossom

For a little over a week now Wyatt has been using the term "meat blossom" in passing conversation. We laugh and roll our eyes because little mister has a penchant for making up words and phrases. 

Well today he said it again about some tomatoes..."These tomatoes are awesome. They're my meat blossom!" I laughed and decided to figure out what the heck he was talking about...I asked what that meant. He couldn't explain it. I asked where he heard it. He said he didn't hear it, he read it. So I asked where he read it...he runs upstairs to his room. He comes back down with his Veggie Tales Bible Storybook. I think to myself "Veggie Tales can be pretty weird, so meat blossom may be plausible." This is the page he shows me:

I laughed SO hard. Then I texted it to Josh. Now I'm blogging about it. I told him the proper pronunciation and tried to explain what a metabolism is...but I also encouraged further use of the term "meat blossom" in this house.

Uugh

Uugh! My heart could literally burst! I'm in the kitchen doing dishes and many other mommy things. I peek around the corner into the room that should be our dining room but isn't...and there they are. Three babies building LEGOs and singing "A Spoonful of Sugar" to themselves. This. This is why you become a mother. For moments like these.