It's so hard to say goodbye...

2 weeks ago we made our last Disney World trip. Last May we went to Disney World with Tony's brother, Matt and his family. We bought seasons passes and only needed to go 1 more time to make it worth the money. But we didn't go just 1 more time. We went 6 more times. It was magical. There is no other word for Disney World. Everything about it is magical.

So the last time we went we made a goal--to come back in 10 years. Then Tony and I talked about how different it will be to be at Disney World with teenagers rather than small children. No strollers, no whining (at least not the crying kind) and no waiting for Tony to go on a ride with William and Hallie while I wait with Gracie and Clara--we can all go together. So even though it's still 9 years, 11 months and 2 weeks away, I can't wait!

So goodbye Disney World, we'll never forget you!

Here's a few highlights.

Something I will soon have a picture of is Will learning how to be a Jedi master. He wanted to fight Darth Vader, but was put in the group to fight Darth Maul. So opted to not fight at all, and after all his training!

Meeting the Princesses. The girls were in heaven.

Eating lunch with our brother-in-law's company at a restaurant in Africa we never would have been to otherwise. We'd never had African food before, but it was great! Thanks, Jeff and Rainbird!

Spending Gracie's 4th birthday at Disney World. She didn't get a party and at the time didn't mind. But ever since February she's been excited about her next birthday (in December) and has been planning her party.

Being at Disney World with our family (Matt and Susie, Becca and Jeff) and even friends (Jared and Angela Durtschi).

Staying up late to watch the light parade and fireworks. The kids barely stayed awake through it and it took us an hour to get from the park exit to our car afterwords. But we were there at Christmas time and the castle was literally dripping with lights. So worth it!

Favorite rides by person:

William

Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids (Animal Kingdom)

Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain (Magic Kingdom)Lights Motors Action, Toy Story Mania, Rockin' Roller Coaster (Hollywood Studios)

Spaceship Earth aka "The big golf ball" (Epcot)

Hallie

Kali River Rapids (Animal Kingdom)

Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain (Magic Kingdom)

Soarin', Test Track, Spaceship Earth (Epcot)

Toy Story Mania (Hollywood Studios)

Gracie

Boneyard aka "Dinosaur dig" (Animal Kingdom)

Cinderella's Carousel, Big Thunder Mountain, Tea Cups (Magic Kingdom)

Soarin', Spaceship Earth (Epcot)

Tony

Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids (Animal Kingdom)

Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain (Magic Kingdom)

Test Track, Spaceship Earth, Soarin' (Epcot)

Toy Story Mania, Rockin' Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, Lights Motors Action (Hollywood Studios)

Nicole

Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids, Lion King, Finding Nemo--The Musical (Animal Kingdom)

Mickey's Philharmagic Orchestra, Pirate of the Caribbean, Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor (Magic Kingdom)

Test Track, Mission: Space (Epcot)

Toy Story Mania, Star Tours (Hollywood Studios)

Dad, Hallie, William, Gracie right after seeing Finding Nemo--The Musical.

Mom and kids at Hollywood Studios, not San Fransisco.

Gracie, Snow White, Hallie. She was in character the whole time with the high voice and all.

William, Hallie, Gracie trying to become the next king. You can tell Will is serious about this.

Jackie, Cinderella, Hallie, Gracie. I love the girls hugging in this picture.

question

Do you all see the little tool looking things in the corner of my header and by my sidebar? Sometimes I see them and sometimes I don't. If you do see them, can you tell me how to get rid of them?

Easter weekend

Easter weekend was wonderful! We spent Saturday morning planting our garden. 3rd times a charm, right? Then we spent the rest of the day watching General Conference. Did anyone else notice several admonitions for mothers to do better in teaching their children the gospel in the home, or was it just me? It seemed like every other talk--literally--was about the importance of our own spiritual strength and the need for mothers to cultivate that in their children. "Okay," I thought, "no pressure there!" But after talking to Tony and making some new goals and plans I feel better. I know how important it is that my kids grow up gaining their testimony of the Savior and I know most of that lies with me. But along with the pressure I felt listening to talk after talk after talk, I felt peace. The Lord is with me. They are His children and He wants them back more than I do. So He won't leave me to do this alone.

Sunday morning we colored Easter eggs. I thought 10 eggs per kid would take us a while. But after Will did his first 5 eggs in 5 minutes I knew I was wrong. But that's okay. Tony and I then made the kids play in the front room while we hid the eggs in the backyard. We hid the real eggs along with the plastic ones the Easter bunny had stuffed with candy and some with coins. Then we released the children. We had to tell Will to slow down and let his sisters find some (he's such a good boy, he did slow down right away and then even helped his sisters). Clara loved being outside watching her siblings run around like crazy. Tony filmed it all. I followed them each around trying to get some pictures (I got some great pictures but I can only fit so much into one entry).

The best part was after the hunt was over. Gracie started opening her eggs and yelled "Mom! There's money in them!" Then Hallie whined "Mine has money in it. Where's all the candy?!" I loved it! It shows their personalities so well. Hallie is an absolute chocoholic. Gracie is much more practical. But they both make me smile.

I think the best part of the weekend was having everyone home all weekend with nothing important to go do. No one had to rush off to be anywhere or do anything. We were all just together.

Gracie, Hallie, William--get ready, get set...

Go!!

Mom and Clara

Clara loves playing anything that's for big kids.

Coloring eggs--I love how my Hallie poses!

Celebration!

I can't even express how happy I am that this week is over. Not because it's been spring break for the kids (we've had a really good time this week!) but because Tony took his prelim test this week. This test is a major rite of passage for PhD students. Not until you take your preliminary exam can you begin working on your dissertation. Tony has been studying for this one test since Fall 2009. This test takes 3 days--4 hours per day--and is very intense. But as of 12:30 Friday afternoon, he is mostly done (he still has his oral defense on the 16th, but that's not nearly as intense).

So naturally we wanted to celebrate. The kids were all for going to Chuck E Cheese's and no matter how many times I said that's not really fun for Dad or Mom, they wouldn't budge. Until we mentioned bowling. So we loaded up and headed to the bowling alley. Here are a few pictures of our celebration!

Tony helping Gracie roll her ball down the lane. It usually took a while for the ball to reach the pins.

Hallie dancing after sending her ball down the lane.

William preparing to roll his ball.

After Tony and I took turns pushing her around, Clara finally fell asleep.

Our final scores. You can't tell from this, but Tony was one point ahead of me in the 9th frame. Then he got a strike and a spare so I thought all hope was lost. But miraculously I got 2 strikes in a row! I was able to beat him by 5 points. (Keep in mind that these are our scores with the bumpers!)

Misc.

These are just a few of the cute pictures we've taken lately. I just had to share!

Gracie loves to make her little sister happy. And it's not hard to do. You literally just have to look at her and her face breaks out in the biggest smile you've ever seen. It truly makes life wonderful! Clara is 4 months here.

Clara joined in during scriptures one morning (still 4 months old). This is one of my favorite pictures of all time!

In March we were able to go to Disney World with Tony's sister, Becca, and her family. Hallie and her cousin Jackie are two peas in a pod. I love seeing them together! The wait was long (longer than we thought it would be) but the girls got to meet some princesses again. Here they are with Cinderella.

Will's 7? Holy Cow!

That's right, Will is now 7 years old (plus 2 months, since I'm a bit late with this post:). That's one year away from baptism. Where did the last 7 years go? Every time I look at Clara I can see William when he was a baby. But I'm not sad. This time of my life is so great! I love the kids being in school and helping them with homework. I love having more real conversations with them. I love hearing them laugh at something that I think is funny too!

So just to make myself stay calm, I'll assume it only gets better from here. I'm not too worried about the next 7 years--it's the 5 or 6 after that that has me a bit worried;)

Here's a few pictures of Will's birthday party and all the changes that have been made over the last 7 years.

William on day one.

William at 18 months.

William at age 4. This is the first of many of his wild poses.

Christmas 2009

This Christmas Tony's sister Becca and her family came to visit. It was so great to spend a week with them and for the kids to get to play with the cousins. We had a gingerbread house contest with the boys versus girls. We had a good time, even when the roof of the girls house caved in!

We had a lot of fun with the cousins here. We went to the beach and played in the sand, we went to Wakulla Springs and saw a few alligators, we visited a museum, and we even played soccer and freeze tag at a park.

On New Year's Eve we got a couple of babysitters so the adults could go out together. Since Tony and Jeff went to Brazil on their missions we went to a Brazillian steakhouse called Rodizio's. We had a wonderful time and the food was stupendous. We got home just before 9 and still had to have a New Year's Eve "party" with the kids. So we drank Sprite, ate M&M's and played 2 games of "Guess Who". Then we had a toast and sent the kids to bed. I think it lasted 15 mintues total.

William posing in his Superman cape on Christmas Day.

Hallie wearing her princess jewelry Christmas morning.

Gracie wearing the tutu from Grandma Ricks Christmas morning.