Timmmmmmmmberrrrr!!

The power company said our trees are a real threat to the power lines so they needed to go. That was a few months ago... BUT they finally came out yesterday and started the job. Due to how many trees we have, how many power lines we have in the yard, etc. the job ended up taking two days. At first I thought the yard would look weird, but I actually like how it looks now. Being able to see the soccer fields behind the house makes the yard look bigger and the sun shines in our house longer now which is great.

Here's the left side of the yard before the workers began. Notice the BRIGHT green shirt? They were trying to figure out how to get the far tree down without taking out 7 different hot power lines.

The right side of the yard before they started

Bye tree tops!

Rosalee wanted to get a picture of the man "up high in the bucket being silly" so I helped her with the camera.

The nice men left me some palm trees, how nice!

The tree on the left is SO tangled in the power lines that all they could do (on the first day) was top the tree and make it even with the cedar.
Day Two
This is the picture that Rosalee INSISTED I take of the "monkey men up in the trees". I honestly find it a little insane that these guys were up in the trees with spiked boots and a chainsaw hanging off their hip.

Our yard now!

All that is left is a LARGE pile of firewood, some level to the ground stumps, and the one lone cedar tree. We like the cedar, it blocks the ugly power line pole.
Now I can FINALLY start the garden!

Yummy, yum, YUM!

I LOVE MESSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I decided it was time to introduce Zeke to sensory time the other day. I wasn't sure how he'd react but he was IN LOVE with the yogurt. Most of it ended up in his hair or on his shirt but I wasn't really doing it as a meal, so I didn't mind. Plus it gave me an excuse to mop up the floor.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I'm not sure what happened to the second movie. It looks normal on my camera and on the computer so I think it got messed up while uploading. SORRY!
I also have another Rosaleeism to share~
She was in bed getting ready for her nap and I heard her crying. I went into her room and she told me that she had bumped her head on the headboard. So to make it better I started kissing her like mad while saying, "I'll make it better." After giving her 1,000 or so kisses she turned to me and said, "Now I make you better." I leaned back waiting for my 1,000 kisses when Rosalee said, "Here's your shot!" Then she pinched my arm and giggled!
This next one JUST happened while I was typing this post. We have some guys from the power company removing our trees (I'll post that later). Two men were up in the trees limbing them to make it easier for the tree to come down without taking out the fence, a person, etc. When Rosalee saw the men she excitedly screamed, "MOM! We have monkeys out here!!!!"

Rosaleeisms

Rosalee cracks us up with the things she says at times! I've written down some of the wild and silly things she says on random pieces of paper. I've decided that I better post them on the blog or I'll end up losing the papers.

During our road trip we arrived at the Out of Africa park early and were waiting for the gates to open. I was changing Zeke's diaper when Rosalee said, "I'm stinky." Jesse wanting to know if she had messed her pants asked her, "Why are you stinky?"
Her response, "Because I'm fabulous."

While using the toilet Rosalee looked down and said, "WHOA! That's a lot of pee kid!"

"Mama, will you dance crazy with me?" I start dancing around and she says, "NO! Not like that!" When I asked her how I was suppose to dance she informed me, "Shake your booty, Jenny taught me how!" (Thanks Aunt Jenny!)

"I can't go to sleep, it's too crazy!" We then told her to just try and sleep, the usual things parents say to their kids- just stay still, close your eyes, count sheep, etc. She told me, "Mama you sleep first and then I can see how to do it."

Arizona is a no go

I'll keep this short and sweet.
Jesse was offered a job in Arizona working at the Out of Africa Park. He was offered $10/hour plus tips from driving the safari bus. It's not a lot, but we were willing to make it work. Jesse was willing to go to Alaska and fish this summer so we could use that money to live off of when the other money wasn't enough. We want him to get the experience in his field so we were just going to do it.

Jesse got an email from the owner saying that he wouldn't be able to pay Jesse more than $10 and he didn't think that would support our family. He didn't want us to struggle and blow through our savings. Plus he was afraid that we'd have to leave in a year so Jesse could find something with better pay. With that, he took back the job offer. He said Jesse would have made an excellent worker, but he needs to go somewhere with better pay.

We were upset. I want to live in a warm climate and Jesse wants to work in something related to his field. We both thought the idea of working with rhinos and giraffes daily would have been fun for Jesse. But now we're back at square one. No job offers, not even a prospect. This was his first interview in 14 months of applying for a job.

We're focusing our frustrations on our garden. We're hoping that the Lord has something wonderful just around the corner for us so we'll look back on this denial as a blessing.

My green thumb

My name is Marie and I garden barefoot while wearing hot pink.
I love, love, LOVE gardening! There is something magically rewarding about digging in the dirt and then having thousands of delicious fresh fruits and vegetables to eat in only a few months. Last year I really wanted to start a garden but being 6 months pregnant, having an 18 month old, and a husband in Alaska, things just didn't get going. This year I was planning on just doing the small garden area that the previous owner had, but my father-in-law decided we should go big. So we are!
First, my father-in-law tilled the ground along the whole side of the yard. Then I thought I could start planting some spring plants (In Idaho we plant things to eat in early summer that people in the south plant as a winter garden. *Sigh.*) Then my father-in-law decided we needed more dirt. Dirt can't hurt, right? Well we got 12 yards worth!

To be fair, the power company said they need to take out 4 of our 5 trees because they are tangled in the power lines. So we are going to be using most of this dirt to cover up the tiny stumps left behind. (One, maybe two, of the stumps will be turned into a tree fort. More on that later.) So my dear husband and I went to shoveling yesterday. Our backs are sore and it's fabulous! Rosalee also got to "help" in the dirt and she's pretty much the happiest kid EVER! We've also told her that she gets to have a garden this year. Again, super excited. This is why-
1. She won't dig in the large garden because she'll have her own space to dig.
2. She won't pick and eat all of the tomatoes when they are still green. She will have her own tomato plants to do whatever she wants with.

3. We're starting a new tradition. Since the garden is technically my in-law's we'll turn Rosalee's space into the grandkid garden. Every year between Mothers' Day and Memorial Day (Yes, we have to wait THAT long to plant most things outdoors!) whatever kids can come to visit will get to pick out some plants and plant them in the grandkid garden. Then when they come to visit during the summer they can dig, pick, replant, etc. as much as they want.

Rosalee has informed us that she'll be planting strawberries, pretty flowers, and baby (cherry) tomatoes. She will have from the play house over about 4-5 feet for her garden. I'm pretty sure we'll decoratively fence off the rest of the garden to make her area extra inviting.

I haven't been able to start planting my seeds, but that doesn't mean I haven't started my garden! On Monday Jesse and I put in 15 raspberry plants. Sadly they just look like sticks in the mud now, but by June/July I should have some delicious berries to gorge myself on!

Rosalee helps by digging in the dirt and carrying sticks and rocks out of the garden area. Zeke helps us by just hanging out. We love having a calm, happy, non-clingy kid!
The trees will be removed tomorrow (Ironically on Earth Day...) and then we should be re-tilling the land this weekend, weather permitting. Then I'll be planting peas, carrots, potatoes, sweet onions, and radishes. We'll also let Rosalee plant her strawberries and maybe her flowers if she picks ones that are early planters. If we're still here in the end of May, we'll plant tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash.

Tired?

Miss Personality

Rosalee is becoming such a character! I just love seeing her personality grow each day, even if a large part of that comes with some attitude.
She still loves to read, read, read! At night we'll read a book to her and then give her one to read to her babies after we leave. I've sat outside the door and listened to her a few times and the things she does/says cracks me up! One night she asked her baby if he could see the pictures in the story. Another time she told the Tinkerbell doll, "You stay still or I'll not read anymore!"

If Rosalee sees me putting on make-up she'll ask for some. Normally I just give her a blush brush to play with, but yesterday she was CONVINCED that she needed eye shadow. I put some shimmer powder on her eyelids and then blush on her cheeks. She was SO excited! She told Jesse that he NEEDED to take her picture.

Rosalee has also developed a love of taking her own picture.

She's not a fan of getting her hair brushed so I have to distract her with shiny clips. Now she likes it if I put the clips in her hair. She picks out how many, which colors, and where I put them.

"Mommy take a picture of me and my chicken nugget."

"Um... okay."
Grabs chicken nugget and says, "Cheese!"

She likes spending time with me which I love! We paint, garden, read together, and have a lot of fun!

Zeke is 8 months old

Mr. Blue Eyes is now 8 months old!

*He doesn't crawl but he is VERY mobile! He rolls, does that crab walk thing, and rotates around the room. If he sees something he wants, he'll go for it!*
*He's NOT a fan of baby food! He reaches for our food, cup, plate, fork, etc. but he doesn't like eating his own goo. I've let him eat some banana and toast and he couldn't get enough of it. He likes a sippy cup full of water but he still prefers eating at mom's. ;) *
*While in Colorado he got a tooth! We thought his slight fever was because of the tooth... but it turns out it was the starting of his pneumonia.*

*His pants are starting to fit him better but he still has a skinny waist and a lack of butt.*
*If he sees his sister he rolls over to her and starts grabbing her and babbling at her. He really seems to like her which is great because she loves him back!*
*He can sign "more", "eat", and "milk".*
*He makes silly click sounds with his tongue.*
*He also squeaks and growls when playing. The funniest is when he grunts while nursing.*
*He loves to snuggle if he's sick or tired but if he's awake and healthy he'd rather be rolling around the floor.*
*He chuckles and smirks if you make funny faces or noises at him.*
*He can sit up by himself without falling over.*
*He thinks Trouble's toy are the best! He'll drop all of his toys for a dog toy if he sees one. When the dog was chewing on a bone the other night Zeke started whining and reaching for it!*
*He prefers 20 minute power naps to a real quality nap.*

Last week we took Zeke to the emergency room because he was making a terrible wheezing sound. After examining him, and giving him a chest x-ray, the doctor said he had pneumonia. He was given an antibiotic and a nebulizer to use at home. It broke my heart to hear him wheezing and seeing him have such a hard time breathing. He responded well to the breathing treatment in the ER, but they told me to take him to his doctor that afternoon. When I took him in the doctor asked how he was doing after being treated once at the ER and another time at home with the nebulizer. When I said he seemed a lot better the doctor acted shocked. He said based on how he sounded he was going to recommend hospitalizing him! I asked if we could keep him at home and he said as long as he continued to improve. If he got worse, or plateaued, then he had to go to the hospital. We were told to give him 4-5 breathing treatments a day, an antibiotic once a day until it was gone, have him sleep at an incline, use Motrin and Tylenol for his fever, put saline in his nose and bulb syringe the goo out with every diaper change (or at least 8 times a day), and keep him near a humidifier as much as possible. We had him spend the first two nights sleeping in the swing with the humidifier right next to him. When he was awake I'd put the humidifier next to the blanket he played on or next to his bouncy chair. The best was when he'd start playing with the mist while sitting in his chair. He got such a kick out of it that Rosalee started playing in the mist too.

There's always a way to make the baby follow the doctor's orders!
Zeke is now almost back to normal. He still makes stuffed up sounds every so often and coughs like an old man smoker, especially at night. Hopefully it'll be out of his system soon so I won't worry about him as much!

Spring break

I've been meaning to post this for a few days now, but having some sick kids have made it difficult. (That's for another post!) This year we weren't planning on going anywhere for vacation but sort of last minute we decided to go on a week long tour of the Southwest United States. I keep trying to get Jesse to move us to the sunny south so I made arrangements for one of the places he's applied to to interview him during spring break. Instead of having him fly down to Arizona for a day or two, come home, and then all of us drive to Colorado for Easter, we thought we'd be crazy and take the family on a road trip. We started in Utah, went to Las Vegas, then Mesa, and ended in Colorado. If you look at a map we made a weird pear/tear drop route that probably was more miles than we should have put on the car, but oh well!
We started our vacation on Friday March 26th by driving down to Utah to celebrate my nieces and nephews birthdays. My niece, Kaylee turned 3 on the 26th and the twins, Maddie and Hudson, turned 2 on Easter.

Our poor car! We started at 50,000 miles just 2 1/2 years ago. I'm not even going to tell you how many miles the car has now after the trip.

The kids played a game where they passed a wrapped present around the circle and when the music stopped the kid with the present got to rip off some of the paper. As soon as the kids started taking the paper off, they didn't want to stop.

This is the ice cream birthday cake that Kristi made for the kids.

All of the birthday kids got to take a turn blowing out some candles on the cake.

The kids seemed to really enjoy the presents they got. The rest of the kids had fun "testing out" the toys. I felt bad for Rosalee because she was sad when all the toys were for other people. Thankfully we had some books to take her mind of it.


I find children hilarious, especially when they aren't being watched by adults. I've also noticed a lot of similarities between Zeke and his cousin Hudson (the one he's "wrestling").
Saturday the 27th
It was really windy on Saturday so Jesse and Jared took the kids outside to play with bubbles and a kite. When I went out to take some pictures the guys were attempting to get the kite up in the air while the kids were happily soaking themselves in bubble solution.

After the kids took a nap we headed down to Provo to play at a park and eat some dinner. We ate at a pizza buffet and Rosalee insisted on eating salad and bread sticks. I did get her to eat one slice of pizza, it was the raspberry dessert one.

Zeke's first trip down a slide

Sunday the 28th

We went to church with Kristi and Jared and then headed south to Vegas. We decided to stop at the Saint George temple on for a break and lunch. Rosalee started her rock collection for the vacation. (Seriously, this kid grabs rocks from EVERY place we go to!!!!) We also got to enjoy the nice warmth of southern Utah, which only made me extra excited to be heading to Arizona.

A happy Rosalee has a rock in each hand

As soon as Rosalee realized she didn't have to get right back in the car she took off! She told me she was looking for Jesus's rocks.

A rare family photo! Even rarer, all people are looking at the camera AND have their eyes open!

Rosalee asked Jesse if she could climb up and see the temple more so they walked up the stairs. When she turned around and saw me with the camera she said, "MOM!! You sneaky Mom!"

This is my favorite picture from our whole vacation! I want to get it printed and then put it in Zeke's future room.

Rosalee wanted to join in on the fun. The lighting isn't that great on this one, but with some editing I'll make it ready to be printed and put in my room.

This is the Saint George temple

More rock collecting before we had to go

Trees in bloom!
I can't wait for Spring to come to Idaho

Zeke and Jesse having a chat
Seeing this sign, and then the Nevada sign, made me really excited! I really was in need of sunshine and sandal wearing. When we got to Vegas Rosalee because really excited looking out the window at everything. We got turned around somehow and ended up on the east side of town. We went down Tropicana and stopped at the light where the MGM, New York, and Excalibur are. Rosalee said, "I want out mommy."
"No, we're in the street driving."
"Mommy I want to see the castle! I want to see princesses and fairies and an evil witch and oooohhhh a LION!!! Can I touch the lion? Maybe I'll touch the tower."

"Ummm... okay. We'll be back later and you can see somethings."
We arrived around dinner time at Jesse's cousin's house and spent the evening talking. Christine made kalua pork for dinner and I'm pretty sure I ate more than everyone combined! I need to get her recipe so I can make it for our family.

Monday the 29th
Jared (Jesse's cousin) had to work, but we met up with him for lunch. Then Christine took us to a free chocolate factory and cacti garden. What makes chocolate taste better? Being free!

I love how quick to grab Jesse's hand Lucas was. He is such a cute kid! Rosalee had a lot of fun with him and I like how he called her Rosie.

This is at the cacti garden which oddly is right next to the chocolate factory

Jesse taught Rosalee all about the pokey plants. She'd walk up to one and say, "Oh not too hard, this one is pokey" as she'd start to touch it.

Rosalee told me that I HAD TO take a picture of THIS rock so I did... but I made her be in the picture. Then Lucas ran over and said, "Rosie, Rosie, Rosie!!!" so I decided it would be better to have both of them in the shot.

Right after this picture was taken a small lizard scurried across the rocks toward us. Instead of getting freaked out Rosalee got excited and ran off to tell Jesse what she saw.

This picture is for my dad :)
After the chocolate factory Rosalee was exhausted! We took her back to Jared and Christine's and let her nap. While she was sleeping we took Zeke out and walk around part of the south end of The Strip. Zeke's eyes were almost popping out of his head at all the sounds and sights!
After Jared got home from work we went out to The Strip to see some more sights, specifically all the crazy lights. When we drove into Vegas the day before Rosalee rattled a list of things that she wanted to do. Before going I asked her which things she really HAD to do. Her answers-
1. See the castle. Did that on Sunday as we drove past so we bought her off with seeing "Pixie Hollow". (If you don't have a girl under age 10, Pixie Hollow is where Tinkerbell lives in Neverland with all the fairies.)
2. See some pirates
3. Touch the tower (We weren't sure if she meant the Stratosphere or the Eiffel)
4. See an evil witch

Rosalee is still convinced that we went to Tinkerbell's house in Pixie Hollow! We went to the gardens at the Bellagio. Almost everything was made out of flowers, it was amazing! We went by the gardens on our way to the street and on our way back. On the way back Rosalee told us to leave her there because it is where she wants to live.

Isn't this cute!? Rosalee insisted on getting a picture of it and I couldn't argue with her.

Couldn't argue to the point of getting a family photo! Pesky baby... why didn't he look!?
On our way to the fountains Rosalee was up on Jesse's shoulders and got to give Darth Vadar a high five. I thought she'd be freaked, but she was actually excited about it!


I know he looks like he's confused, but he was squealing with delight during the performance.
After the fountain show a guy behind Jesse (you can kind of see him in the above picture) asked Jesse some questions and then wanted to pray for him. He prayed Jesse would get a job either in the Vegas area or in Arizona. Weird, but it's what I'd like so I can't complain! After that Rosalee looked across the street and saw this-

She said that THIS was the tower she HAD to touch! On our way to the tower she saw an "interesting" looking lady in a gold sequin outfit and said, "Look the evil witch!" I almost peed myself laughing!

So we let her touch the tower and she was so happy about it!

A man dressed like Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean waved at her and she squealed and waved back to him. For days after we left Vegas she told people about seeing Tinkerbell's house and the garden where the fairies live. We were happy we could check everything off her list and then some!
Tuesday the 30th

We left Vegas and headed to Mesa, Arizona. We decided to leave around noon so the kids would take their naps in the car. Thankfully they napped during the busiest part of the trip- Hoover Dam. Due to recent security issues, the highway over the dam is being closed to tourists and they are making a new road. We had to stop for 40 minutes while some large trucks moved newly blasted rocks and debris out of the way. I was very, very, very happy the kids were asleep for that!

The Hoover Dam

The new highway that will be parallel to the dam
After crossing into Arizona we all got hungry and decided to stop at Wendys for dinner. It was an odd experience because everyone around us was speaking in Spanish. Zeke kept staring at some ladies and smiling. Then when one large family started to leave some of the men came up to Zeke and started speaking in Spanish. They rubbed his head, pinched his cheeks, the ladies said things while rubbing his cheeks and pointing at his eyes, it was INSANE! All I got from the Spanish was "baby boy", "blue", "pretty" so I'm fairly sure they were complimenting him. Just as quick as they had come upon him, they left! One of the young girls said, "Oh this baby is fat and cute!" and then followed her family out the door. We had a good laugh about it for the next twenty minutes.
We got to our friend's (Anna and Alex) house in Mesa around 10 at night. We brought the things in, said a few words, and then went right to bed!
Wednesday the 31st
Rosalee had a lot of fun with Anna's son Braden but I forgot to take any pictures of them together. Alex's grandmother was also in town and Rosalee quickly adopted her as her own grandma.
We were expecting to have Jesse's interview on Thursday, but Jesse received an email asking him to come on Friday so we could have nice weather for our visit. It did NOT break my heart to have to spend another day with friends in sunny Arizona!
That evening I met up with my best friend Charlene (Chuck) who lives in Mesa now. We also got to meet her boyfriend (soon to be husband!!!!) Jose and hear the story of how they got together. Again, I didn't take any pictures but I'll make up for it at the wedding this summer. :)
That night we went to the Mesa temple and watched the Easter pageant. It's free, outdoors, and really great. If you're in Mesa around Easter, go! It is the life story of Christ from the New Testament and done very beautifully. The kids weren't too crazy so it was fairly enjoyable. The only part Rosalee didn't like was at the end when they were whipping Jesus. She yelled, "You leave Jesus alone you naughty guys!"

A shepherd and sheep from the nativity scene

It's dark, but this is the stage
Thursday the 1st
With an extra day in Mesa we decided to see some of the city. We decided to go out to lunch at a place I'd read about on Nienie's Dialogues. It is located in downtown Mesa so we got to drive around the city and see the buildings. It is called Sweet Cakes Cafe and they have the BEST cookies! They are as big as your head and they only cost $1.

Surrounded by cookies, Rosalee wanted Cheetos.
Zeke enjoyed a giant pickle... my kids are funny!
After having lunch we took the kids to the Mesa Childrens' Museum. It was small, but full of a lot of great things. I love how over half of the place was filled with furniture from IKEA. My future house and this museum will look very similar!

I would LOVE to have this as Zeke's bed!

Recognize the leaf? We have one in Rosalee's room over her bed!
Rosalee had fun playing with the stuffed monster toys. She kept calling them "octopus babies".

Blacklight fun!

Rosalee found a cape...

Jesse found the Wii!

Braden made a smoothie and Rosalee proceeded to slob and bite the toys.

Some quotes that I love

Rosalee was playing "Mom and Dad"
Friday the 2nd
We left Mesa and drove up to Camp Verde so Jesse could have an interview with Out of Africa Wildlife Park. We arrived at the park early and there already cars outside the gate waiting to enter! The owner was really nice to us and let the kids and me go on a mini-tour while Jesse was being interviewed. We got to see the baby area where they keep the babies until they are big enough to go out with the other animals, see all the reptiles they have (the park is working on building a reptile house), and Rosalee got to pet an ostrich. She wanted to pet the cobras but I had to put my foot down on that one! Jesse was offered the job but we're still considering taking it. The job would be working with all of the larger herbivores- giraffes, rhino, camels, etc. He'd also be in charge of taking people on the safari bus tours through the animal enclosures. I'll explain it all later in a different post, but we are doing some research to see if we'd be able to live off of his salary.
After the interview we got to go around the park, for free, and interact with some of the animals. We got to see them bottle feed a baby antelope and then it came up to Jesse and started sucking on his finger like a binky. Rosalee thought that was GREAT! We spent a few hours at the park (I took TONS of pictures!) and then continued our drive to Colorado. Whoever (me) had the idea to go to Colorado on the same day as Jesse's interview needs to be flogged. The kids did really well, I just got tired of being in a car with nothing but ugly brown dust to look at. By the time we got to the mountains it was too dark to appreciate them. We ended going over a mountain pass with snow and elevation 10,000+ feet in the dark... slighty creepy! But the creepiest part was when we came around a corner and saw some odd shaped thing on the side of the road. Right when Jesse was about to ask, "Was that a car on its side?" we saw a guy standing on the side of the road trying to hitchhike. We didn't have any room in our car for him so we drove to the next town (2 miles ahead) and called an ambulance and crew for him and his messed up car. We finally arrived in Colorado late that evening and we were all happy to be out of the car with family.

This is from the drive to Camp Verde. I was really surprised at how greener it was there than in the Phoenix area.

Let it begin!

After Jesse's interview we went on a safari ride. I don't know the different antelope type animals but they have a few different types. If Jesse takes the job, these are the animals he'd work with.

Rosalee got to feed the giraffe a few carrot sticks and then pet/hug him around the neck. She wasn't shy at all, she acted like this was something she does a lot.

All the zebras are pregnant

She fed a carrot stick to the camel and giggled about it

Black jaguar

This is not a crocodile or alligator, but a smaller similar animal called a caymen

If you've seen the movie Madagascar you'll understand why Rosalee ran up to these and said, "MOVE IT, MOVE IT!!!"

No zoom, just a fence and a small patch of dirt between me and a tiger

Rosalee kept talking to this tiger and then he got up and started stalking her! She was walking down the path, giggling and talking to herself, while the tiger hunched down and stalked her along the fence!

These are the stalker tiger's ladies

We went to the reptile show and I thought Rosalee would be nervous to see the animals. NOPE! She ran up to a giant tortoise and pet him so fast I couldn't take a picture. Then she walked up to this monitor lizard and introduced our family to it while Jesse pet it. Then, with Jesse's help, she pet it. I kept my distance...

I hate to say it but there are parts of Arizona that are UG-LY!!! This rock was the first interesting thing we saw for two hours while driving in the Navajo Nation.

We decided to pull over at the giant rock to change Zeke's diaper and let our legs stretch. Rosalee and I had fun playing with the camera.

BIGGEST UPSET EVER!
I know it's cheesey, but I really wanted to stop here! Poor Rosalee needed to go to the bathroom but they were all behind a locked gate so she got to learn how to go camping potty. For the next 1/2 hour she kept laughing and saying, "I pooped on the rocks!"

While feeding Zeke at the Four Corners entrance I saw this sign. I have a goal in life to go to all 50 states but I never saw an "entering New Mexico" sign so I'm confused if I've actually been to the state or not.
Saturday the 3rd
Kristi was in Colorado visiting her in-laws so she came over to Uncle Russ's to color some eggs. The kids had fun with it, but I got stressed because Rosalee's idea of fun involved making a mess. I was glad she liked it but I hope next year she'll be more into coloring eggs and less into body painting. I decided to run to the store to get some items but being the great mother that I am, I got lost and then the store didn't have what I needed so I had to go to a second store. By the time I got back to Uncle Russ's the kids had finished hunting for eggs. I was sad, but glad that my mother-in-law got some pictures.

The girls ready to color

Zeke and Sydney
This is the day he started coughing and acting sick. Can't you see it in his eyes?

MUCH more interested in using her hands than the egg scoop!

"My hands are purple and pink!"

Despite the nasty wind, Rosalee had fun finding the eggs outside. The coat was in the trunk of our car (we'd been in WARM Arizona) so she had to borrow her uncle's sweatshirt.

The girls with their goods
Sunday the 4th
Rosalee woke up on Easter and came downstairs to find her basket. She really wanted a Dora puzzle so she dug around in the basket until she found the Dora princess puzzle. Within a few minutes, the plastic wrap was off and she was playing with it. She also loved the My Little Pony she got and took it everywhere with her. I'm pretty sure she slept with it that night.

Zeke got a few things but he was mostly interested in the items he could easily chew on.

Uncle Russ took us to a cute little town called Ouray nestled in the mountains. We walked around the town for a bit before heading back to Russ's.

Monday the 5th

We left Russ's and headed back to Idaho. We hit some snow in the mountains of Utah and then nasty rain in the northern Salt Lake area. We were hoping that it would get better as we drove on, but we were wrong. Just south of the Idaho border to 20 minutes from our house we had snow. At times the snow was SO bad that we had to go 30 mph and pray we were in a lane. I kept telling Jesse to pull a u-turn and take the freeway south. (This is the same freeway we took to Vegas.) I seriously almost cried when the snow kept getting worse. I hated the idea of going from warm 80s to nasty snow and cold. I told Jesse I didn't care what the salary they offered was, WE ARE MOVING! Once the snow stopped I came to my senses and realized that we need to think it over more. Again, that's for another post.
Our trip was great and I'm glad we decided to take it. I love how great our kid are in the car, especially after nine hours. I'm thankful to our friends and family who let us stay with them along the way. I really do look forward to more family vacations!

These are some pictures of Uncle Russ's place

The face of a happy to be out of my carseat child