Accelerated April

How is the school year nearing the end? How is it almost May? I constantly have to check the date because what on earth!? Time is moving at super speed. April included: spring break activities, an outdoor space renovation, hosting 2 book clubs, Easter, Grannie was in town!, state, and an unexpected surgery.

Spring Break can be summed up by these pics:

Friday, April 4

BYU volleyball game and Brick Oven! The m&m cookies were even better than I remembered and the homemade root beer is unique. BYU didn't play their best, but still pulled out the win. The atmosphere in the stadium is unforgettable. At the game we obviously had to get a cougar tail. There wasn't one bit leftover. Just by chance, 3 of our nieces/nephews sat behind us at the game which was fun! Sadly, Penelope was not feeling her best which meant we had to cancel the sitter and Andrew had to stay behind.

We liked this movie which seems to surprise people. After the movie Isabelle declared, "Snow White can ALMOST sing as good as me Mom!"

Renting her violin. Her dream of starting violin lessons finally came true!

Rec center pool with the Bais

4 days of swim lessons

We biked to a new park

Picture this: Jurassic Jungle with the Pattersons. It was dark inside so I didn't attempt a pic.

Picture this: James went to a bday lunch with Aunt Jessica at Cafe Rio. I love that she takes my kids out. He even came home with a Swig.

Outdoor Space Renovation

Spring break was kicked off by our deck being demolished. Paul and his team removed the sloping and ugly deck on Friday, March 28. We were under the impression that our new concrete would be poured that week... We finally got cement on Tuesday, April 22. The back includes 6 steps (3 steps out each door). Not having steps/access to our backyard was annoying. To be fair, Utah followed it's bizarre weather patterns and it did snow twice over spring break and again last week! We planned to host an outdoor BBQ on Easter, but our backyard was still in shambles.

I sound so ungrateful. Let me back up. We have wanted/needed to replace our haggard deck since we moved in almost 4 years ago. It is so expensive. We've had many estimates throughout the years. This year, we got a giant tax return. Like it covered the entire cost of this project. We could hardly believe it. We feel extremely blessed.

Our front step leading into our house was sinking. While they were doing our deck, we also had them re-do our front step. Guests didn't have access to our front door for a week! Ah! I hosted friend book club after the front step had been demolished. Made for a memorable night-- a garage entry for some and a precarious footstool for others. Piano students were effected too. Luckily, the new concrete on our front steps dried hours before I hosted neighborhood book club. And yes, hosting 2 book clubs back to back weeks wasn't my best idea. (There's a story.) Paul put in 2 smaller steps to replace the 1 large step.

If you look closely, you can still see the hole in the ground for the pipe that has a hat shoved into it. That annoying black water chute is not going into the concrete.

While Paul was at it, he used his bobcat to even out our front lawn. A couple years ago, we planted grass over our flower beds. The problem was the flower beds were higher than the grass and so we had hills and an uneven yard. Fingers crossed our grass seed grows in abundantly and quickly. Apologies to our neighbors for the machinery and ruckus our worksite/house has been.

The instant I gave the kids the go-ahead, they were out running on the concrete pad. They eagerly asked if we could eat dinner outside right then. We had air fried  chicken nuggets and french fries on a blanket outdoors right there on the hard concrete. We were told to wait a few days before putting any furniture on the concrete. Our new outdoor table and chairs were ready to be ripped open and setup. The table is from Home Depot and the chairs were on sale at Target. Andrew got an early Father's Day present, a new grill! We will be getting a new window well cover stat! 

You probably notice the wood framing surrounding the concrete. That will come out. Who knows when.

Easter

I tried to make Holy Week meaningful. I made a banner to hang on our mantle that listed every day of the holy week, had a quote from an apostle to read, picture, and scriptures. (So grateful the RS headed this project.) Each morning, we read the scriptures and talked about what happened that day. The church website also had packets to print for children with activities/coloring to do each day which my kids really liked. 

I bought Easter books and each night of Holy Week, the kids unwrapped a book and we read it as a family. (Chocolate/candy was involved.) We unwrap books in December for Christmas, so why not for Easter? Hoping to find more Easter books next year to maybe extend it to the whole month.

Easter itself was bustling. There were 5 musical numbers. The ward choir met at 8:15am to practice and Andrew and I sang with the group for both songs. I snuck out to run through Valerie's song with her. At 8:30am the YW practiced their song. (Last minute, I covered for someone else who was supposed to accompany.) I got to watch my kids sing with the primary and James got called out over the pulpit for itching to stand in front of the microphone. He'll get his turn soon enough. haha The meeting ran long. Immediately following the service, I rushed to Jessica's ward. I accompanied her as she played "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" on the violin. My day was made when the bishop in her ward announced that Elder BEDNAR was presiding! What? Jessica and I played for an apostle. To top it all off, Elder Bednar spoke. It was influential and I have not stopped thinking about his message. He cracked several jokes and I loved seeing a different side of him. That meeting also ran long.

We did brunch and an Easter egg hunt at Jessica's, had a call with my parents, and hosted Lucy and Matthew for dinner. Sadly, Hailee ended up being admitted to the hospital and we missed her and Tyler. When our company left, I collapsed in bed.

Someone was a little jealous I was holding Dorothy

Grannie (aka "Bammie" according to Penny)

Our niece Malia graduated from BYU. Grannie came for her graduation! We were delighted. We met up with Brent and Deena, Malia, and others for dinner at Hilcrest park in Orem. The traffic was outrageous. It took us 1 hour and 45 minutes to get there. This may have been the hardest thing the kids have ever experienced. Sigh. There were lots of big feelings. It was worth that time in the car though. There were pickle balls courts, Spikeball happened, dancing, frisbee, Cafe Rio, and cake. After, we kidnapped Grannie. She spent the night with us, Friday, April 25 (which is her birthday). The next day she was able to come watch James play basketball. He made 2 hoops!

April 23

My cousin Kimberly also graduated from BYU, which meant my aunt Heather was in town as well. I loved meeting up for lunch with all of this family.

State

I accompanied Sophia at state at Woods Cross High school. She crushed it! I also played for her at region twice at Bingham recently. She is so talented! She is going to start teaching some of my piano students. She takes violin from Jessica and also babysits for us occasionally when she's not too busy cramming for AP tests, performing, going to early morning seminary, or simply just being awesome. I love Sophia!

Saturday, April 26

Surgery

One of my intentions this year was to floss more. I have been diligent which is why I was caught completely by surprise when my gums started bleeding. How could this be happening when I was taking such good care of my teeth? Did I really have gingivitis? I ignored it for awhile and hoped it would go away. The bleeding stopped, yes, but something was up. Andrew consulted his dentist brother and I tried using a different toothpaste which unfortunately didn't magically make the problem disappear. Finally, I made an appointment to see my dentist. It hadn't been long since my last cleaning, so they were surprised to see me. I was referred to a specialist. 

Moments into my exam I was told a need a gum/tissue graft. Ugh. Just what I wanted to hear. My bottom gum looks pretty gross. You can nearly see the root of the tooth. In fact, I was asked if I was injured. The good news: it's definitely not gingivitis! I have been taking good care of my teeth. The bad news: I have to have surgery this week. I've heard the recovery from this surgery is miserable. My mom said she couldn't really eat for a week after and another friend who has had it done says she couldn't talk. I can't wait to put this behind me and to stop having pain/bleeding. Not quite how I wanted to end April though. My gums bother me often and I decided to get this over with sooner rather than later. (Before my kids are out of school for the summer.)

The Pinewood Derby is still to come this month! James gets to race his car Tuesday! Hopefully time continues to fly by because if so my parent's will be home in the blink of an eye! T-minus 59 days, but who's counting!?