Tiptoe through the tulips

April 24th we headed west for some sunshine and spring since it hasn't come to stay in Bend yet. A friend had told me about this tulip festival in Woodburn and it was AMAZING!
It was a beautiful day and all the tulips were in full bloom... I can't describe it, so I've posted a tonne of pictures.

We were there for a few hours just walking around and taking pictures (I have spared you from about 90 percent of the pictures).

They also had this fun ride around the property with Betsy and Clarabell, some water pump duck races, a haystack, slide and swings to play on.

This place gets an A+ in my places to visit book.

We of course came home with some tulips and ordered some bulbs for the fall. I can't wait!WARNING: PDA

Easter fun

Easter morning!!

You would have thought it was Christmas. My kids were up until midnight on "Easter eve" and were up by 5am!! Nuts!!

(p.s. 4 kids and a mom without enough sleep and too much sugar in the morning do not make for an enjoyable day at church... I was ready to strangle them!)

Mmmmm!!

Ethan and I made these fun Easter eggs. I'm afraid the light is terrible, but you get the idea.
I think they are quite impressive looking!! This paisley one is my favorite. They were fun to make and I think the result turned out pretty cool We'll be even better at it next year.
I found out how to make these from a friends blog who found the tutorial here.

Here's a little video of their Easter morning egg hunt

Procession of the Species

Abby's Kindergarten class participated in the Earth Day parade: "Procession of the Species" on April 18th. The classes had made eagle or fish costumes at school.

It was fun that Abby's teacher and a few of her classmates were there. She actually was very clingy during the whole parade, but Brother Bear, Ethan joined us and seemed to have a good time.

I always get a kick out of the people who show up for this event. It is always interesting!The monkeys showed up after the parade was over while we were waiting for lunch :D

Happy 11th Birthday Elise

My curly blonde turned 11 this month.

Here she is at 3 patiently waiting on the sidelines at Samantha's soccer game.

Here she is going off to her first day of preschool Elise's entry into this world couldn't have been more perfectly orchestrated had we planned it!

Brad was in med school and had a test on Thursday, and they always got the day after a test off. So... Brad took his test Thursday came home, and in the wee hours of Friday morning (like 4am) my water broke (4 weeks early) and we went to the hospital. She was born around 11am and they took her to the special care nursery to watch her. She was due to be realeased from the nursery Saturday afternoon. Our dear friends the Salmon's showed up, then the Jarvis's came to visit, followed by the Glowa's just as they were releasing Elise from the nursery, so everyone (all 9 visitors at once) got to see the new baby. It is one of my most tender memories. Even though my family was thousands of miles away... I was surrounded with so much love and support, I couldn't have asked for more. We went home from the hospital on Sunday and Brad never had to miss a single day of school!

Here she is now... 11 years old!!

Elise had some really nice girls over for her birthday. They all stayed after school to play tetherball (Elise's new passion) together for about an hour and a half, then came back to the house for the festivities. Really nice girls!

Elise used her birthday money to buy herself a digital camera. She has decided that she would like to learn more about photography, so she has been busy ever since taking pictures and learning how to edit them.

Elise is such a nice even tempered girl. She has a tender heart and a desire to do what is right. She is a wonderful part of our family.