April

April sure felt like winter, but we still did our spring activities anyway:)

 Mike has had a rough go this month due to getting shingles. He seems to get the most random illnesses :/

Easter was definitely a day that felt like winter!  The kids enjoyed their Easter baskets, we went to church, ate brunch at home with the four of us, and then played with their slime which they got from the Easter bunny.  
Quiet Easter with just the four of us, but sometimes those holidays are appreciated here and there!

 Just sayin--I hate slime...it is messy...not really that fun in my eyes, but as many of us remind ourselves-these moments are all for the kids:)

 The next weekend the kids and I went to Sidney for Aunt Kati's bridal shower.  It just so worked out that I got to spend the whole afternoon watching my niece Olivia.  I LOVED the one on one time with her!  

Joden playing with Owen.  Loved how he stuffed his guns down in his clothes:)

We had Kati's bridal shower by a lake at a restaurant called Buffalo Point.  

 The kids got lucky and Aunt Heather gave them their birthday presents so they were showing them off.  

 Left to right:
My sister in law Lisa, me, my sister in law Kati, my mother in law Brenda, and my sister in law Shannon
*We were missing Heather who was at her daughters theatre show:(

 Love these three pictures below!

My birthday was the following Monday and Mike and the kids surprised me at school for lunch.

 

 That night we went to dinner while the kids were at gymnastics and then afterwards we enjoyed Big Red Treats as a family!  It was a pretty darn good birthday for a Monday one:)

 And here was winter in April again...my dad texted a picture of my mom cleaning up snow at their condo.  Dad unfortunately cannot help due to his heart surgeries.  

And now she is missing 4 teeth up top!

Dad sent another picture of mom, which I loved.  My mom has always been great with flowers and she is in her element here:)

We took the camper out for the first time to Morman Island during a crummy weather weekend, but we wanted to just get a feel for it.  This is the kiddos on the top bunk!

Finally got to play baseball and he was mad at me for not packing his snack :(  Well maybe now he will consider packing his own snacks and not always relying on mom!

 We finished off April with Reeve's dance recital and birthday!  It was a whirlwind, but we all enjoyed it and had a great time.

 Of course due to previous rain cancellations, we threw baseball in the mix as well!

 This is the number one reason I wanted a big table...everyone is sitting around it enjoying each others company:)

It was so great to have our family here to cheer Reeve on!

Sure loved our family time together this month:)

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

~Ephesians 3:14-15

March

Life has slowed down a bit now that basketball season has come to an end...

Last year Joden and I began a tradition that I hope to continue ever year.  We go down on the first day of the girl's state basketball tournament and enjoy watching games, going to dinner, and just taking it all in.  We had planned to take Reeve this year, but she had been sick with the flu so we left her home.

Another fun event we decided to go to was the rodeo here in Grand Island.  Growing up my dad took us to these all the time so I thought it would be fun to take the kids.  They had a blast and were truly engaged the whole time!  I would definitely go back.

Next up was Joden's 9th birthday.  We celebrated on Tuesday the 6th at Spring City because we were going to be on our ski trip on his actual birthday.

 Gotta love when you find that your child took selfies on your phone:) 

 So my acne has been bad :(  I was having so much trouble with Rodan and Fields in terms of dryness so I decided to switch lines.  To make a long story short I switched to Arbonne and it has been sort of a rough journey.  I am still sticking it out a tad longer here and will see how it ends up.  I did research that the chin acne is a result of hormones....ugh!

The basement is so close to being completely finished!  These are two quick pictures of the countertops after they were installed.

We stayed in Sidney one night on our way to skiing and met up with cousins for some lunch!  

We arrived in Laramie in the afternoon on the Thursday of our spring break.  This was our first night out to dinner with our dinner group friends!  Everyone came except the Kastens, which we sure missed.

 Trying to wait patiently in line for our gear...

 Day 1 at Snowy Range Ski Resort!

 This was Joden's birthday so we ordered pizza and then went to Dairy Queen to enjoy a birthday treat with Joden.

 This was my birthday shout out to Joden of a picture he asked me to take one day at Home Depot:)

 Day 2 of skiing.  The kids were picking it up pretty good.  Joden was of course flying down the mountain and Reeve was doing a smaller run, but by the end of the day we had her go down a longer one and she rocked it!  So proud of both of them:)

 Last night out for dinner at Chili's.  We had a blast and are so thankful we got to take this trip with our great friends!

 Officially got her costume for her dance recital :)

Helping grandma celebrate her 63rd birthday and also super grateful to have grandpa out and about with us after all of his heart procedures!

The next weekend was super busy!  Reeve had her first indoor softball game, Owen was in town for state wrestling, Reeve had dance pictures, my friend Meagan was out at the horse races, and then all of my family went out for breakfast on Sunday.  It was a fun, exhausting weekend!

This year of basketball will be my last for the time being.  Trying to wear too many hats in life has resulted in me feeling that I am not doing great at any of them-just mediocre.  Therefore, after lots of praying and processing with Mike, I will step down to be a better wife, mom, and teacher.  Ironically our head coach was feeling the same way and it has resulted in us all stepping away from the program.  We pray that the next group of coaches will carry on with these amazing young ladies in a similar fashion.  That is the part that makes it incredibly hard to walk away!

This was our banquet and if felt good to get to spend one more time with our whole crew!

This is of course with foundation on, but I think my chin is getting better:)

Good Friday started of with some egg dyeing with two of my favorite people!

After many years of talking about getting a camper, we got one!  We plan to have it for sure for three years and then reevaluate our usage of it. 

If we move through life too fast and fail to slow down and appreciate life, we will miss out on what God has in store for us.  We must wait on Him and let him guide us.

The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. – Lamentations 3:25 (KJV)