Nora Soccer

In April and May, Nora participated in soccer for the first time. She surprised Dad and I with how determined and hard-working she was. Nora never cried and whenever she was called to come on the field, she ran out and did her best. She scored most every game and loved playing!

Music Recital- "The Cheetahs"

Emma finished her 3rd year of Let's Play Music and Reese finished her first year. At the end of year 3, the students compose their own pieces. Emma named hers "The Cheetahs". She did a wonderful job and worked so hard at it. 

We got BUNNIES!!!

April 18th the girls finally got their bunnies :). For months Reese and sometimes Emma or Nora with her would go to my neighbors house around the corner to visit their bunnies. They usually had anywhere from 8-20 bunnies at a time. Reese was always in HEAVEN. She would beg and beg to get her own. Then one time we went to visit the bunnies and there was a new black and white bunny. Reese was SO excited that this bunny was so nice and would't run away from her. I asked my friend about this new bunny and said if she ever considered selling it we may want it.

Then Cade and I started working on building a bunny pen on the south side of our home. We took out one of our vegetable boxes and put a bunny pen in there. It was definitely a lot of work and trial and error (hitting a sprinkler line that cost us a whole lot of time and money and pain :)) but we finished it and the girls were so excited to bring over three bunnies to call their own. Reese brought home Oreo, Emma got Cinnabun (Rex bunny that is cute and fat), and Nora got Tibbles. They are all very nice and so adorable. It's been great to see the girls care for their animals. Everyday they make sure they have food and water and bring out ice blocks in the hot summer days. Then once every six weeks or so they muck out the pen and put new straw in--not their favorite chore but they actually don't complain about it yet. It's been so much fun to have these cute bunnies.

Arches- One of the BEST Family Memories

Spring Break, April 6-7, 2018.

This was seriously such a fun time with my family. I was so excited and happy that my 4 girls loved hiking and the outdoors as much as me!!! They never complained (well, until the very last hike on day two....long and hot) and they just were happy and excited to explore as a family. Reese said, "Mom, can we be a camping family?" And Nora said, "Mom, I love hiking so much!" My family plus being in the outdoors is the best things ever.

The first day we drove the 3-4 hours down to Moab, we got in line to enter Arches National Park (since it was Spring Break, we had to wait for 45-over an hour each day to enter the park!). ON that first day we just did the Delicate Arch hike since it was the longest one we would do during the weekend. The girls were troopers! It is just over 3 miles and some parts pretty steep and with the wind at the top it made it a little tricky. But Lucy loved being in the backpack and the other girls did great.

That night we stayed at the Moab KOA in a little two-bedroom cabin. It was so cute and it was nice to not have to set up tents and beds for everyone that night. The girls thought the mini cabin was awesome. I was expecting Lucy to have a terrible night, but turns out she did great and Reese and Nora did terribly :). Ah, the life of families.

The second day we did a few other smaller hikes- Windows and Landscape Arch. By the end of Landscape it was hot and everyone was very tired. Then we drove the 3-4 hours home. It was a very enjoyable weekend and made me SO excited for many outdoor adventures to come!

 

Easter Hunt and Conference Weekend with Cousins

We had such a fun week with extended family over Easter and Conference weekend.

First, we had all of the Bleak cousins over for an Easter egg hunt when Sisten and Andrew were in town. The kids had a lot together.

Then the Close side came for the weekend. Cade and I took Emma and Tara and Johnny took Ashur to the conference center because they are old enough to go. It was so neat though because it was a Solemn Assembly because President Russell M. Nelson is now our new prophet. It was an awesome experience and the spirit was so strong.

Then Grandma and Grandpa Close stayed a couple extra days for our Easter sunrise and going to the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City. It was wonderful to spend time with them.

Lucy and Andie 

Lucy and Sophie (they sure love each other. Little cuties) 

At the Conference Center:

Our cute neighbor, Spring, had an Easter Egg hunt for tons of little kids in the neighborhood: