Cell Phone Camera 3

Estella's Kindergarten Graduation.

While I was at the checkout counter at the dollar store I looked over to see all five kids intently checking out the coin machines.  Alexander was on to something else by the time I got my camera out.

Eleanor always wants her shoes off.  I have the hardest time keeping track of her shoes because she is always taking them off in random places.  We were hanging out in the gym at the church waiting for our two cub scouts to finish.  I love the hairy eyeball face she gives me when I'm not giving her what she wants fast enough.

This spring the runoff made the irrigation water particularly dirty and clogged up the neighborhood irrigation filter really fast.  We all pitched in to keep it clean.  Alexander and Eleanor were my little helpers.  They loved riding the trike over with me.

Nicholas having a turn conducting his little orchestra at Suzuki camp.

Cell Phone Camera 2

Alexander often asks me to take a picture of him when he is particularly proud of something.  This was a crown he made for himself.

Clarissa babysat and that always means a fun time for my kids.  I left my phone with her this time and she documented some of the fun for me.

Cell Phone Pictures 1

I don't keep up with taking pictures off my phone and getting them documented on the blog.  The next three posts will be full of these random pictures that I just can't part with because of the memories that come up when I look at them...memories that I know I will forget if I don't record them.

Swimming at the Fruita Rec Center several times during the winter.  My kids love that pool!

Fun day trip (during spring break I think) to Ouray to soak in the hot springs.  We drove around the mountain for a while afterward and came across this beautiful animal.

General Conference weekend.

Estella's tooth hanging on by a thread.  She wouldn't let me touch it!  It did eventually fall out, but it sure hung on longer than I thought possible.

High School Girlfriend weekend trip.  We forgot we weren't in high school anymore and bought WAY too much candy.  We ate too much, but didn't even make a dent in the pile :)  We did, however, have the management of the hotel threaten to kick us out if we didn't quiet down.  Apparently we are a rowdy bunch :)

Estella's selfies.

I will never forget this Sunday afternoon during the town's spring cleanup when Thomas spotted a vacuum in someone's pile and begged me to stop and let him take it home so he could take it apart.  I agreed, and he realized he was in his jammies and robe with no shoes.  He wanted me to go out and get it...no deal.  He finally decided he wanted it bad enough to risk being seen in his robe, darted out, and ran back to the van victorious.  I am still slowly throwing away vacuum parts I find around.

Thomas won a coloring contest at Enstrom's (chocolate store) down the street from our house.  He won a BIG chocolate bunny.

Bubba built and installed a bee house on the roof of his house.  He invited us over for the exciting moment of pouring and shaking the bees from the transportation box into their new home.  The dad's bravely stood by to watch.  The kids all watched from a safe distance behind a peak of the roof.

Thomas created a wound for himself at school during a special class.

Messes like this are sadly a very common occurrence around here...sigh.  

Nicholas created a model stick bug for a school presentation.

Baby owls on the river trail.

Date night!  If the weather is nice, we love to go on hikes for dates.  I usually don't bring my phone, but did this time and couldn't resist stopping for all the different wild desert flowers.  They aren't usually so bountiful, but we had had a few good rains and there were so many.

Wild bird (turkey, I think?)

Canyon tree frog.  We love these.  We watched a male and female calling to each other and then finally found each other.

Sweet Estella warming Alexander up in the cold grocery store.