Easter

I just realized I never did post anything about our Easter events.  We enjoyed the tradition of going to the ranch for the Ferguson family reunion the week before Easter.

The Warnicks came down from Sacramento, and the Allisons were here from Utah.  The kids were very excited to have so many cousins to celebrate with.

We had a large group that was able to make it.

And the kids were very excited about the egg hunt.

Preston wasn't too sure about the idea of the egg hunt.  He was much more excited about the cracker he had been snacking on for his appetizer before lunch.

but, when he found out there was candy inside of the eggs...he was pretty excited.

The boys were all excited to find shiny eggs.  Liam found the gold and Gavin found the silver this year, both of them getting extra prizes.

Grandma Finlay gave the girls matching Easter dresses.  They always love the chance to be twins.

Aunt Katie impressed us once again with her fun Easter cake.  We enjoy seeing what she comes up with each year.

Later in the week we enjoyed dying Easter Eggs.

And had a wonderful Easter dinner with Ian and Annie.

Disneyland-March

We had such a fun (but too brief) time with the Allison cousins in town.  I didn't get enough pictures, but did have some of our Disneyland day with them.   

Preston-entertaining himself in line by trying to pat his head and rub his stomach.  I think he saw it when we were doing kids yoga a couple weeks ago, and he remembered on his own.

Rides are even more fun when you get to ride next to your cousin!

Preston loved everything.  He and I got to hang out or go on toddler-friendly rides while the others went on some of the roller coasters.

Dance party in Cars Land...a great way to end the night.

Big Boy Bed-and back history

Well, I put it off as long as possible...but even with the crib mattress dropped all the way to the floor Preston was able to crawl out of bed, so for safety reasons I've decided it's time to transition to the toddler bed. Luckily this crib changes to a toddler bed, so we don't have to get a new bed for now.

I have really bad memories our experience of this transition with Ethan, so that is why I have waited. 

With Brielle, it was no issue.  She was just over 2, and gradually transitioned because of our circumstances of moving and living with James' parents. We packed up the crib, she was in the pack n play, then started sleeping in 'cave bed' (a mattress under the trundle bed at Brad and Margaret's house), then when we got our own house she got a big bed to herself that Aunt Megan set up nicely and made all special for her.

When we transitioned Ethan at 2 he was still sleeping really well in a pack 'n play, but was passed the weight limit so I thought we better have him move to a bed before he broke through the bottom of the pack n' play.  It then took an entire year (which felt like an eternity!) before he would go to sleep at night without a struggle.  We tried using the pack n play as back up if he got out of bed, but we didn't realize he could climb out of it, so bedtime just became a game. Prior to the change he took amazing naps and slept great at night.  Afterwards he would only go to sleep easily at night if he hadn't napped (but was a monster during the day) or would pop out of bed over and over and try to climb the ladder to play with Brielle on the top bunk.  So, since that wasn't safe James or I would have to stay in the room with him until he fell asleep, which was usually at least an hour of our evening.

  On a positive note, Ethan is a fantastic sleeper now though.  He still falls asleep within minutes of getting to bed.  Brielle takes longer to fall asleep, but likes to sleep longer in the mornings.

The gate is set up at the door, and he is not in the same room as the bunk bed, so we're hoping for better success.  Send us good wishes (and any hints!) that the bed transition will go more smoothly and we'll all get some sleep around here. :)

April General Conference

Wow, the big kids both took a lot of notes this year for our April session of General Conference.  I'm pretty sure that neither of them missed a single talk.  There were highly motivated by the conference cash (they remembered it from the last few times we've used it and requested it again for this time.  Preston mostly just played around us as we watched, or threw 2-year-old tantrums...

I love these printable note packets, that I've used quite a few times, but apparently my kids are beyond coloring the ties and need more space for writing.  Brielle asked if she had to color their tie, and switched to just plain paper for quite a few.  I guess next time I should just give them each a notebook.

It is so interesting to me to read what they get out of each of the talks.  Here are a few of their notes from this session:

Brielle

"He was talking about commandments.  You have to keep every single one of them. I love commandments because they get you to heaven.  They also give you luck."

"He was talking about prayer.  Prayer you need to do at least once a day. (It's better to do it twice.) Prayer is the key to heaven, so if you do not pray than you can not go to heaven.  if you lose the spirit you are lost.  You also need the spirit to go to heaven."

(This one had some on the front that continued on the back)

President Monson: "I learned that temples are something that need to be respected.  you also need to wear white in the temple.  My favorite part is that you can get sealed in the temple.  you can also pray in the temple.  In the temple you can be comforted.  I love temples."

(Another front and back)

"Elder Hales was talking about heaven.  In Heaven you are a spirit.  On Earth you are a human being.  you know how Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the wrong tree? You never ever want to take the fruit from the wrong tree or you can not go to the celestial kingdom.  If you do not go to the celestial Kingdom you were a bad person.  If ....?? you will be loved the most."

(It was snaking up and down, I can't make sense what the last part says.)

Ethan

 Ethan's are harder to figure out, and I've already forgotten what he told me they say, so I'll do my best.  He has made great strides with his speech and articulation, but I still find his phonetic spelling follows his speech patterns, and doesn't always make sense to me.

"Follow commandments.  You will feel more stronger.  I will tell you the commandments I follow."

  

"Our family can go to the temple to feel close to Jesus at the temple."

"is the most important the most other one was to go there.  If you follow jesus you will get stronger.

"We have not been to the Eiffel tower.  3 missionaries went in a church, it was not organized."

"If you believe in the church it is good. If you do not believe in the church it is okay because missionaries come...?"

Morro Bay-March

James had a conference to attend up close to Morro Bay in March.  We made a family trip out of it, and Margaret and Brad were able to come join us for a couple days as well.

James and the kids put together a movie of our trip...it shows our trip much better than I can try to recreate by writing about it. 

Preston wasn't phased by the cold water.  He loved splashing in the waves like the other kids.

We decided to try to take a short cut to get to the sand dunes...it was not the best idea.  

but the sand dunes were incredible.

climbing up was really good exercise.

While James was busy at the conference, the kids and I spent time tide-pooling and geocaching.

they found lots of crabs, sea slugs and sea stars.  Preston was impressed by everything.

Saturday, with Margaret and Brad in town-we took the kayak over to the rock and got us all over to the spit.

It was a gorgeous day, with a private beach to enjoy