Wow we have really been busy this spring. To start off Amber and the High School Jazz Band won the state Championships last week. She was very nervous and excited. Last years band won two consecutive championships, but 12 members of that band were seniors. So not to many people thought they would do it again this year with only one senior and so many others who were sort of starting out. But they worked very hard and gained confidence in themselves and were able to pull it off another year.Amber standing next to the trophy and all the other awards they won this year. They took first in every event they played in except a 2nd place finish at the beginning of the year. I think getting that 2nd place really motivated them to work and try extra hard! We've also been busy with Soccer, which Ben is in and doing very well. I think he's finally found something he is very good at. Now we just need to work on the temper. He gets very mad at himself when he messes up. Last Saturday he scored 3 goals. He's very fast and good with the ball. Fancy footwork I guess you can call it.

The gardening season is finally here and I can at last put my veggie plants outside in the ground. They have been looking so sad sitting in little pots on my window sill since February. So that means lots of work to do outside now which I'm not complaining about at all. Just wish the house work IN the house would now do itself somehow.

Birthday family visit

We had a great little family reunion! We got to have Brinley's 3rd birthday party, as well as a visit from John and Marilyn, and we got to welcome baby Chase to our loving family! The kids had so much fun playing together and haming it up for the camera!

We are so very happy to have Marilyn all recovered from her near death experience and hope she has many more years to enjoy her wonderful family, because we love her so very much! John had a great time with all the kids and enjoying some fresh country Iowa air! Addy and Amber love each other so very much! Brinley had some great presents and looked so cute in her tiara.

It was so much fun having all the cousins running around playing with each other, and I love having a little baby in the family again. I always have so much fun with Sheri and Derek, and Kevin and Jennie, and with John and Marilyn here it made it complete. Just missing Debbie :(

It makes me feel so blessed that I was able to marry into such a great, and loving family. Thanks everyone! Your the best!

Owl dining

We had a visitor! Bret noticed that something was getting into the pigeon coop and helping himself to some yummy little snacks. Then one Sunday afternoon Bret called us all from the house to come see what he had caught in the barn! We found this guy just sitting inside the coop not able to get back out. I know the picture doesn't show it very well but he was huge! About 2 feet tall! Now it's a pretty heafty fine if you get caught with a Great Horned Owl, because they are protected. We didn't just want to let him go, because he was killing our pigeons. We also couldn't kill it. So what to do? We called the Nature Center here in Shelby co. and got permission to catch it, cage it and re-locate it. Which was quite interesting to do with out losing a finger! He wasn't happy about getting caught in a net and being put in a cage! He puffed himself up and started hissing and snaping his big sharp beak! We drove him to the Nishna Bend Recreation Center and let him go out there. I think he was happy to be free. It was very cool watching him take off and fly away.

Okay, time for an update. Sorry it's been a bit since I wrote. Things are going great. The weather has finally started warming up and the snow is pretty much gone. Just the really big drifts are left. Our pond is full of fresh snow melt and looks very big right now. I can't wait to see that all done with trees and grass and a sandy beach and a dock, it will make a nice addition to our place here. But lots of other things are to come first.

Last weekend, we had John and Marilyn come for an over night visit on Friday. Jennie and Kevin also came. We had a great time visiting and watching the boys and Jennie play Mario cart. The competition was fierce, and very exciting. Amber was gone all day for a school music and band activity. She was in Atlantic for Solo ensamble, and small group band competition. She did very well, and is glad that is over. It was causing her some stress. Saturday afternoon Sheri and Derek came over so we had a house full for dinner. It was really great to see all the cousins playing together and getting along. Sheri's new baby is the cutest little thing, and I love to hold him. Jennie will be having her baby in June so I'll have lots of babies to hold this summer! Yay!

Sunday was interesting, as Fast Sunday's usually are. The same few people got up and talked about the same things they always talk about, stuff that should NOT be in a testimony. It's very annoying. But I guess I've been dealing with that my whole life. Every ward has them. It's just in a branch it's more pronounced! The highlight was Amber who got up and bore her testimony about prayer and faith and how it helped her do her best on Saturday for her competition. I guess what I've been teaching the kids has sunk in with her. She's a wonderful daughter and I'm very pleased with her and how she's living her life. Young Women's was great. I love it when we can all just talk about the experiences the girls have been having during the week. I'd rather do that than give a lesson, but we have to follow church itinerary, and that's fine, but it seems like they open up more when we're just talking, then when we're having a formal lesson. Hmmm maybe I should work on making my lessons more of a discussion and less formal. I'll have to work on that.
That afternoon, we had the Missionaries over for dinner. So after two days in the kitchen cooking for the family crowd I got to go back and fix a big Lasagna dinner, which they requested, for those wonderful young men. It was great to sit and eat with them and then have a little lesson. They asked each of us to share something we learned in Church that day. I was the last one to go, and Bret took what I was going to say about Amber, so I had to think of something else. I was kinda tuning everyone out during testimony meeting ( except for Amber) and I skipped Sunday School because I was asked to go to the Clerks office and order some things for Young Women, which we have asked for since January, plus I don't really care for the teacher, and all I could think of saying was that I learned that I needed to have a better attitude during Fast and Testimony meeting. So when I see certain people get up I shouldn't role my eyes and tune them out but to listen and try to apply what they say to my life. Because they MIGHT say something I could use. Well that got a laugh out of everyone, and then I felt bad because I kinda ruined a spiritual moment. Because the missionaries gave thoughts on the atonement and Amber shared her experience with her testimony and how that can touch someone elses life, and Bret talked about a great experience he had with Amber's testimony and that he was touched with her faith in prayer. So I guess every Sunday now I'm going to try to learn something and have a better attitude. All the speakers and teachers can't be as good as John Bytheway, so I need to get over it!

After the missionaries left Bret had to leave to go work the Denison ER for a 12 hour shift, so I cleaned up a bit from dinner and went to my room to just relax. I was bummed that Amber and I missed the General YW Broadcast on Saturday night, and I was looking on the BYU channel and it was on!! I was excited! So Amber and I watched it and they had some wonderful things to say to the girls and I just loved every minute of it. I wish we had more LDS girls in Harlan for Amber. She feels so alone in her values at school.

April is almost here that usually means winter is over and the planting season can begin. I have my little plants ready to be transplanted and I'm eager to get out and dig around in the dirt! I have a lot of winter mess to clean up first! It's never ending isn't it.