Going to Utah with ChristiAnne.

We got up bright and early Thursday morning to get to the airport on time. Just as we came to the gate we noticed that our flight didn't board until 9:35PM!!! 

When we arrived to the gate desk and nobody was there rushing the door to check in we asked the clerk what was wrong and he pointed out th PM on our tickets. He quickly reassigned us to the 3:30pm flight. Lara generously came BACK to the airport and picked us back up and took us home where we took a nap and came back to the airport at 2:30. 

Because the flight came in later than it was supposed to Aunt Kelly and DJ were not able to come pick us up. Dad called Grandma Peterson (78yrs old) to come and pick us up. She was an hour late but it was wonderful to have an opportunity to sit in the Utah sun and talk to ChristiAnne. When Grandma finally got there she was a frazzled mess. She asked mom to drive home. Poor grandma had come through Salt lake city at rush hour in construction. She ended up missing the turn off and pulling into a Kneaders and asking the whole store for directions to the airport. A sweet beloved angel of a woman got in her car and drove in front of grandma all the way to the airport. I hope and pray she is blessed for her amazing insight and taking time out of her day to help. 

Grandma took us to her home and fed us bacon lettuce tomato sandwiches for dinner. I am always impressed with her grandchildren and great grandchildren wall on the side of her fridge. 

We headed out of grandma's neighborhood and headed to the Dollar store and Wal Mart to pick up supplies for ChristiAnne's new apartment. We got everything unloaded into her apartment around eleven o'clock PM. Much later than we expected and ChristiAnne ran off to surprise Scott Sonne for his birthday. He didn't know she was coming into town and wasn't expecting her for quite some time. 

  Meanwhile, ChristiAnne's amazing roommates, Beth and Marie helped unload and put away all her Mitch essentials. They helped remove all the stickers and tags and take the boxes out to the trash. Truly amazing. 

  Scott was super surprised and elated to discover ChristiAnne hiding in his kitchen. He had been lured in there by his roommate Jacob. 

On Friday we went to Costco and purchased provisions to stock ChristiAnne's pantry. We quickly unloaded and then went out to a healthy lunch with Scott. It was mom's first time meeting Scott and she wasn't disappointed. He absolutely loved ChristiAnne and treated her with gentle respect. He cherished her and couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear while he had her tucked under his arm. 

Scott had recommended a good mechanic which we went to Saturday morning and found that the 1999 Ford Escort that ChristiAnne would be driving had a broken wheel bearing. The quote was $650.00. Ouch. While we waited for a phone call from dad we looked for used cars in the area. Nothing could compare with a $650.00 repair. Dad consented to us fixing the car and we arranged to have it fixed. 

ChristiAnne spent Saturday afternoon golfing with Scott and mom went to the temple with Beth and Marie. 

That evening we drove up to Mutual Dell girl's camp and had spaghetti dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Robbins. They were currently serving a mission there. 

Grandpa took us on a hike after we ate Grandma's delicious dinner. 

Scott drive ChristiAnne home and mom drove home with Aunt Kelly. 

ChristiAnne's and mom's trip to Utah 5/15

It was a beautiful 

Jonathan's twelfth birthday.

Elders Shoenrock and Cherry came to celebrate the birthday with us. Sadly, this was their last day with us before being transferred to the Lewisville first ward. 

Jonathan received two soccer balls for his birthday this year. Every year for Christmas and his birthday he asks for a soccer ball and a few months later the poor thing is shredded. So Mom thought if she bought him two soccer balls they might last until Christmas. 

  Everyone wrote a card for Jonathan. It was really sweet to see them stacked up in his treasure box next to all the candy he received. 

ChristiAnne made this cake from scratch. It was the most moist cake we had ever eaten. Everton raved. 

Jonathan shot a pig this year on his hunting trip right before Christmas. It was so small that all that could be processed off of it were the ribs and the rump. Mom soaked it in milk for a week to get out the "gamey" taste and then  cooked it slow all day and served it with Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce. It was tender and delicious. 

Jeffrey's third birthday

There was silly string war. 

Shar McBride came. She brought him a tornado bubble maker machine. 

He absolutely loved every minute of it. 

Jeffrey has been looking forward to his birthday for a very very long

time. He wanted lemon cupcakes with Mickey Mouse on them. 

Barnyard fun

Saturday was an amazing work day. Everyone pitched in to get the barn ready to show for people to buy. Codi and Isaac fixed the broken barn doors. Tennessee and Diana and ChristiAnne unloaded and spread twenty one bags of wood shavings in the three stalls. Codi blew out the whole barn. He gave Diana the blower so she could help. Jeffrey discovered every mud puddle around and clomped in them with his barn boots. In the end we were all very dirty but the barn was clean. 

Family home Evening

Dad taught an amazing family home evening on President Exra Taft Benson's talk,"Beware of Pride." Jeffrey wanted to be just like dad so he got a book and stood at the front of the living room and "read" to us. 

April Showers Bring May flowers...and frogs...and turtles.

This year we have had what Texans call."a Texas Frog Swallower Season..."

It has rained almost non-stop since April. The April flowers have brought May and June flowers galore. They line every country road and most pastures. It's been beautiful. Our pond out back which was two feet deep in February is now almost to the top of the pond which is seventeen feet deep. 

  Along with all of this beautiful water has come these cute little teeny tiny frogs. Jeffrey is fascinated with them. He has smooshed a few but over the last few weeks he has learned to be super gentle. Here is a picture of hi ultimate success. 

Jeffrey calls the Indian Paintbrushes,"toothbrushes."  

It's rained so much the worms are retreating to the sidewalks to avoid drowning. Jeffrey and I were saving them and throwing them into the less saturated areas of the grass behind Briarhill Middle school. 

Jeffrey was super excited to see this turtle walk across the sidewalk. He couldn't believe he just hid in his shell when we stopped to have a closer look. He said,"he's shy!!"  I thought that was pretty observant for an almost three year old.