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Last fall, during a miserable allergy season with no meds working for me, Greg said, "You know, local honey is really great for seasonal allergies.  Why don't we get some bees?"
I gave him the look - bees?  Really?  Why don't we just buy some local honey?
A few days later, he brought it up again.  I started to realize that he was serious.  Did we really want to do bees?  It seemed like a big commitment. I asked Greg to look into what was involved before we made a decision.
The more research Greg did, the more excited he became.  By the end of October, we made the decision to become bee keepers.  Only a few days later at dinner, Enoch said, "Do you know what would be really cool?  If we had bees."  Greg and I looked at each other with shock!  Enoch had never talked of bees before and we hadn't mentioned to any of the kids that we were looking into it.  I guess great minds think alike.
Greg did a lot of research online, read books from the library and Greg and Enoch took a bee keeping class at Thanksgiving Point.  For Christmas, Greg got a lot of bee keeping equipment and Enoch got his bee suit (his favorite present).  By now, they were ready to go.
The morning they went to pick up the bees and hives, Enoch was beyond excited.  Greg said a few bees got out of their cage and were flying around in the car.  Greg tried to get them out the window, but Enoch wouldn't let him.  He let the bees land on his hand, gently pet them and talk to them saying, "It's okay.  I know you are scared but we are taking you home.  I'll take care of you.  You're so cute."  A true bee keeper who really loves his bees.
We have two hives with one queen in each hive.  Enoch named his queens Mauna and Lucille after his great grandmothers.
It was quite a process to get the bees set up.  Once Greg had the hives in the garden and ready to go, it was now time to introduce the bees to their new home.  The bees come in a cage with a lid on one end.  Not going to lie, it freaked me out a little seeing all the bees crawling all over each other.  But, Greg and Enoch were fascinated and couldn't wait to get them in the hive.

After a quick knock on the hive to get the bees at the bottom, Greg just poured the bees into the hive.  That was very cool.

Enoch just couldn't get enough of the bees.

I've had to tell him quite a few time to stay away from the bees, let them be and they will take care of themselves (they really are quite self sufficient).  Enoch can hardly stand not being around his bees.  He will go out after school and just watch them, talk to them and be with them.
We are looking forward to some yummy honey in the fall and some good time with the bees.

Easter Sunday

Easter seemed a little off this year because of Guard's injury, consequently missing the Evan's Easter party.  But, we still had a great Easter Sunday!  We took it easy on Guard and just did the basics - dinner, visiting the Fowlers and a small Easter egg hunt.
The kids looked so cute in their Easter outfits.  I again had them match and I'm thinking this might be the last year I can do that.  Bummer.  The big boys are not too on board with this idea any more.
Anyway, I made Kate skirt, Enoch's bow tie and Guard's tie.  Gavin refuses to wear homemade ties anymore.  Kate picked out the fabric for her skirt and I found matching fabric for the ties.

Aww!  Aren't they cute!
Since we missed the Evan's and Randall's Easter parties, we had our own Easter egg hunt in the backyard.  The kids had a great time and it was fun for Dad and Gavin to hide the eggs.

Guard didn't really understand the hunt.  He would find one egg, sit down on the grass, open his egg and eat the candy.  Then, he would go and find another egg and repeat the process.  Finally, Greg helped him gather all his eggs and then open them.  He was so fun to watch and see the joy of opening each egg and discovering what was inside.

It was a beautiful day - sunny and warm, full of family and of the Spirit testified of our Savior.

All Banged Up

It's the age.  Guard isn't a terribly clumsy child, but he seems to have taken his fair share of spills lately (stupid wiggle car).  By the time he cut up his lip today, he already had a big scab by his eye, another cut on his elbow and his legs were a mosaic of yellow, green and purple bruises.
No wonder the doctor had questions.
We are not sure exactly what happened.  We think Guard was pushing his big stroller, it rolled faster than he thought it would and he fell forward trying to keep up with it.  He came in the house screaming, covered in blood with more pouring out of his mouth.  His mouth was bleeding so much we couldn't stop it to see how bad the cut was.  We thought he might have bitten through his lower lip.  It looked bad enough to take him in.  Thankfully our pediatrician office has Saturday hours.
By the time we reached the office, the bleeding had slowed to a drip.  The on-call doctor said that is was a bad cut, but it didn't go through and he wouldn't need stitches.  Guard was an ideal patient and laid so still while the doctor was poking around.

Poor kid.  He's had a rough week.  We kept him on Advil for a day and them tried Orajel for the swelling and pain.  Guard hated the Orajel and would scream, 'mo, mo, mo' (no, no, no) and run away if we got out the medicine.  So, we just left it.  He seems to be doing fine.  He's a tough kid.

Easter presents

The Easter Bunny always comes to our house the Saturday before Easter.   The kids can play with their toys, eat their candy and we still have a nice, Easter Sunday without a lot of distractions.  It works for us.
This year, the kids were so excited about what was in their (or next to) their baskets.
A new balance bike and helmet for Guard:

He loved it!  His own bike!  He is still a bit short to sit on the seat and push with his feet, so he just walks with the bike straddle between his legs.  He was so excited!
Enoch and Kate got scooters.  Enoch has a rip stick/scooter that he thinks is pretty cool and Kate got a pink razor scooter.  Both of them rode their scooter all day.

Happy Easter!

Pinewood Derby

Enoch had so much fun building his Pinewood Derby car this year.  He did it all himself, with a bit of help from Dad with the wheels.  He painted racing stripes along the top and outside and then glued a Lego driver to the top.  Purely Enoch!
He had a lot of fun racing his car against his friends.  We let the kids race as much as they wanted and most were happy with that.  Enoch didn't take any places, but he had a great time and was really proud of his car.
Way to go Enoch!

St. George

We love St. George.  It was the perfect destination for our Spring Break trip.
Our first stop was the Johnson Farm Dinosaur Track Museum.  The tracks were so fascinating and the kids had a wonderful time playing in the sandbox in the back.

We also spend a fun day in Zions National Park.  We stopped at Subway to get some lunch and then headed into the park.  We hiked, did our Junior Ranger booklets, relaxed under the big tree at the Lodge and had a great time.

We spent the rest of our time swimming...

watching movies...

and having a great time!  We hit the Frostop every afternoon for half-priced Glaciers.  We watched the movie, Mr. Peabody and Sherman and loved it.  Greg and Gavin went to the temple to do baptisms.  We spent time on the patio eating ice cream bars.  We spent time together.  It was a relaxing, family vacation.  It was perfect.

Bathroom Remodel Demo

We've been talking for a bit about redoing our bathrooms.  It seemed like such a big project, that we kept putting it off.  Finally, I decided now was the time.  Not sure what pushed me this time, but I'm glad I did it.
It was a lot of work picking out tile, counter tops, colors, sinks, mirrors, accessories, etc.  Whoa!  But we did it and now for the fun part - demolition!

Some people had fun with it!
Guess where my toliet ended up on April Fool's Day?  Yep, the backyard!