When the Sun Beats Down

At the beginning of the month my mom fell and broke her arm. The kids really wanted to make her a card; this is what they came up with:
they wanted to send her some band-aids:

and a big hug to put around her neck:

We borrowed a camper trailer from Jake's dad and went camping in Yellowstone:

the kids always have fun getting as dirty as they can. I think it's a contest between them who can acquire the most dirt on their person:

On our way home we stopped in Wyoming to buy fireworks. We were planning on staying to light them off somewhere in Wyoming but we were concerned about a problem our van was having so we took our illegal fireworks home

One of the things we've been wanting to do for the kids for awhile now was swim lessons. We were finally able to get the 3 older kids signed up. There wasn't a coinciding time slot open for Evelyn's age group so she'll have to wait until next year. They all thoroughly enjoyed their 2 weeks of swimming and did a great job. The finally thing every kid must do is go off the diving board; even if someone has to toss you, you have to go:

The kids always love helping me in the kitchen; especially if we're making cookies:

Mako was an awesome unplanned addition to our family:

We got the kids bikes for Easter. Alexander took to it pretty quick. Breahna really loves her bike but can't figure out how to push the pedals down or steer. Kaleb wants nothing to do with his bike. We decided one evening to take the kids to the empty school parking lot to practice:

It didn't take very long before Kaleb was in tears because he hated being on that bike so much. We have tried Strider bikes and trikes so I'm not sure what we'll try next. I would love to get a bike and start going on short family bike rides so I'm hoping I can get him to ride something:

Another accomplishment this month was the finishing of two quilts:
Evelyns has been on my quilt frame for way too long so I finally finished it up:

This next quilt has been in the works for 2 years. My niece Eliza passed away August 2013. I had the funeral guests sign quilt squares, along with those I used Eliza's clothes to create this memorial for her parents. This quilt was a difficult one with the stretchy clothes; I kept throwing it aside in frustration. When my brother and his wife announced they were getting sealed in the temple I knew I had to finish it. This is the first quilt I sent out to have someone long-arm quilt and finish it up. It is far from perfect but I am grateful for the talent the Lord blessed me with that I was able to create a little something to honor Eliza.