Easter!

This year's Easter was bitter sweet. We started it with the Good Friday hike in Ashton creek It has been a tradition of ours since we were first married, and in these past ten and a half years we have missed very few of them. This year the kids and I did it on our own as daddy had been at floor hockey the night before so he slept in for milking and wasn't able to get chores done in time. I definately missed him during that last steep hill pushing Mason in the stroller and convincing Bella she could make it, thankfully a friend offered Bella a piggy back ride! It is such an amazing way to reflect on Christ's sacrifice, to be in his creation and just take in the beauty of our surrondings.

After our hike was done and a potluck brunch, we packed up and headed to Abbotsford to visit our Haak family. It was so nice to be with a lot of family but it was really hard to reflect on all that Easter is, to spend church singing about death and heaven and the hope we have was really difficult. I know it is a holiday in which we celebrate Christ's triumph over death, but for me this year, Easter just made me realize how far away Heaven really is, it made me feel Don's absence even more, and long for that day when we will all be united again. We are blessed to have an amazing extended family, and thanks to a reliable hired hand, we were able to go and spend the weekend with people who are also grieving as strongly as we are, but who can also have a lot of fun.

Our kids begin counting down the trip to Uncle Ron and Aunty Betty-Lou's weeks in advance and it is always a highlight to spend time there for them. It's such a peaceful place to visit, and we have come to view it as our little sanctuary. We were able to spend an extra day down there this time and it made our trip a little more relaxing then it normally is. We got together with our immediate family on Saturday and the large gathering of around 40 people was on Sunday. It amazes me everytime we go down to see how close this family is, I love it. I love that my kids are growing up knowing their great aunts and uncles, and playing with their dad's cousins' kids, how many families do that? I don't know very many, and I know what a blessing it is to be a part of it, and to have our kids see that side of their heritage. As hard as life feels now, we truly are blessed!

playing at Mill Lake Park

The latest fashion statement, gum boots and pretty dresses.

This is their favourite place to play at Uncle Ron and Aunty Betty-Lou's

Great Grandpa put on an Easter egg hunt for all the little ones

such a sweet heart!

Love the dress and gum boot combo :)

This little boy and his crazy expressions crack me up!

The redneck portion of our Easter begins, in case you can't tell from this photo, Michael has a golf ball all teed up, everyone else in the line has a shot gun ready to let that ball have it as soon as the ball gets up in the air. This idea was hatched after watching the incredibly enlightning show called Duck Dynasty, pretty sure I lost points on my IQ score after just one episode, lol.

the attempt at shooting the little golf ball, while a nice normal family gathering was out enjoying a lovely Easter Sunday walk, lol.

How cute are these two together? I wish I could have understood the converstations they were having, but I am sure that in a few years they will be hatching all kinds of plans to get themselves in trouble!

see they look guilty already :)

Man I love his cheesey grin!

April Fools!

For some reason our girls were so excited about April Fools day this year. Cheyanne plotted her trick on daddy for a week, and was continually giggling about it throughout the week. I told Michael he had to come up with something to do them so he put purple food colouring in their milk. It was pretty cute to hear them talk about it, and when Michael told them they shouldn't eat it because it was old and yucky the girls responded with an annoyed, "while why would you give it to us then?" lol, he started to laugh and decided to give up the joke before they started yelling at him, hahaha. At the girls' age they are creative but a little weak in the "sneaky" department, but Michael did a good job of looking the other way and acting surprised. He even acted it out for a photo shoot and a little video session so that the girls could see what happened when he fell victim to their prank. I unfortunately can't get the video to load though, which is too bad because it is hilarious! The trick was that they filled his pillow case with toys so that when he went to bed it would be all bumpy. They thought that they were absolutely hilarious!

 This is what the pillow looked like when we went to bed

"ahh, this is uncomfortable" hahaha

"What's going on?"

...and this is what we found inside :)

I am looking forward to seeing how the little pranksters get better over the next couple of years :)



Ballet!

Really, is there anything cuter than little girls in tutus! My girls have loved ballet this year. It has been fun watching them dance and move to the music. It is so funny to see their little personalities come out when they move to the music. Cheyanne is all about the elegance and the grace, and Emmersen is like a little hip hop dancer in a ballet costume. The parent watch days always had me giggling as we watched the girls try and execute their recently learned dance moves.

Ella, Emmersen, Cheyanne, and Kadence posing for pre-class photos :)

Cheyanne loves posing for the camera :)

...as does Emmersen!

I love this one, they are trying so hard to have the perfect pose, it cracks me up how focused they are!

dancing like giraffes

The ribbon dance was one of their favourites, as were the pom poms and getting to re-enact Cinderella.

Ice Fishing!

I thought as spring is fast approaching I should get this post finished before all remnants of this past winter are gone. It's one where I kept thinking, I should really put our ice fishing trip up and never really managed to do. This was our first ice fishing trip as a family, and truthfully my first experience with it at all. Michael had taken Cheyanne and Emmersen on separate occasions this year for a daddy daughter date but for us as a family this was the first one. We took it in with the family experts on ice fishing, the Derksen clan. It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day and we had a ton of fun!! 

getting the hole ready for the rods

it was a little bright that day!!

Lexi and Mason were our two most focused fishermen. While the other kids wandered around to play and slide on the ice patches, Lexi and Mason sat and watched their holes.

snack time!

The Family Photo!!

After fishing we planned to go swimming and for lunch at McDonald's. It was almost a shame to leave the lake it was so beautiful, but we didn't catch anything and we figured it's always best to leave when everyone wants to stay, rather  then once the meltdowns begin, and instead of memories of fun the kids have memories of being tortured by having to spend all day on the cold frozen lake, haha.

One of the funniest parts of this day was when we were leaving. The girls asked Auntie Renee where we were going for lunch and she said "the dirt farm" (she has a weird sense of humor that comes from my dad, lol). All the way to Salmon Arm the kids argued about whether they wanted to go to the dirt farm or not, but in the end they decided that they did, and when we pulled into McDonald's were very upset as they wanted to go with Auntie Renee to the dirt farm for lunch, lol. Once we finally explained that Auntie Renee and family were coming to McDonald's and that she was joking about the dirt farm, everyone settled in and enjoyed running through the play center. We then went to the pool and had a ton of fun while everyone burned off any remaining energy they had. 

Oh Really?

Bella: Mom, I wish I was your age

Me: Really, why

Bella: Because then I could be the ruler of a house!