6 April 2008

Is Sophie having a cheese sandwich for a bedtime snack? April Fool! Sophie made surprisingly realistic looking "sandwiches" by baking a cake in a bread pan, slicing it and spreading the slices with orange frosting for "cheese."


Gibson enjoyed playing in a pile of balloons. Brandan, Sophie and Abe used an air compressor to blow up balloons for. . .


Abe's birthday! Our golden boy turned 5 on April 3. We admire Abe for his steadiness, goodness and ability to work hard. He plays hard, too, and gets so sweaty, his hair stands up.


Abe got to have his first friend birthday party. In our family, you can have your first friend party when you're 5 and then can have one every other year. Abe picked a baseball theme for his party. He and his friends decorated baseball caps, ran an obstacle course and played whiffle ball. Whiffle ball is a great equalizer of athletic ability. The bat is big enough that those lacking coordination can hit the ball and it's awkward enough to slow those with athletic talent down.

The obstacle course was a lot of fun. Here are most of the balloons shown previously, taped to the underside of a table for the kids to crawl through. Or crabwalk through. Or scamper, slither, gallop through. The kids were so creative coming up with new ways to go through the obstacles.

Here are the kids on the front porch, waiting for Abe's friends to arrive. As parents, we love what good friends they are to each other. Sophie, Abe and Helen call themselves "The Fearsome Threesome" while they wait for Gibson to grow up and join their antics and become "The Fantastic Four." Brandan thinks that "The Fearsome Foursome" sounds pretty good, too.

We enjoyed conference very much this weekend. Lots of good food and CANDY. The kids picked "president" as a jelly bean word and then reaped the rewards during the talk on presidencies yesterday (as well as during many of the introductions of speakers). We're so thankful for the testimonies of the Savior and for the miracle of an ordinary man being called to an extraordinary position and God's goodness in giving us a prophet, President Thomas S. Monson.