Eliza @ almost 17 months, butternuts and crafty junk

 

Eliza is at the sort of into everything stage.  I set her on the porch with a pack of raisins.

She finished the raisins and then filled her little box with cat food and started to eat the little fish until I caught her.

 Merry loves to garden.

Last fall she grew a butternut squash from some seeds from a plant from the grocery store.

 After pruning it all winter and pollenating the flowers herself, she has a bumper crop of butternuts.

 We will not be low on vitamin A.

How could you not help but kick the squash.

Butternuts roll, how cool is that.

I opened my crafting sweat shop over the weekend.

Jacob made an American flag out of some sticks he found of the yard.

  The other kids were put to work painting soda can stars.

We rewarded the hard work with some waffles.

And finally a picture of Eliza in action.

She inherited the family allergy/asthma gene so her nose is constantly snotty.

Random May

Grace received a green slide for her birthday,

so we had to build a deck for it to go on.

Merry is testing the work in progress.

I can't help but feel we are under utilizing this awesome tree.

Eliza and Adam waiting to use the awesome slide.

Adam showing off his toothless grin.

Merry reading the funnies in bed.

Why is it so fun to sneak up and take pictures of my kids?

Jacob was too fast and I could not sneak a picture of him.

Don't look now Jacob but there is something behind you.

Good plan, offer gummy bears as a token of peace.

Happy birthday Grace

 It is hard to believe that Grace is already six.

I love her sweet dimples.

She still loves owls so she had an owl birthday cake.

Good job Grace, way to blow out the candles.

Opening her presents with some help from Merry.

She is such a sweet girl.
I heard her making wishes on dandelion fluff the other night.
Her wish, "I wish everything was beautiful."
So do I.

She collected a bouquet of wildflowers for me.

I love my sweet Grace.

Another baby blessing

Eliza and I visited Utah to see Papa and his daylilies.

Brother David and brother John were also visiting so they were put to work.

Papa is supervising in the background.

Eliza by the daylily seedlings

and the pretty tulips

Eliza met her new cousins Sam-I-am and Phelps.

Papa and his 2 youngest daughters.

Brothers Dan, John, Mike and David.

Christian jumped in the picture as well.

Papa with 6 of his kids.

Now the real reason we went to visit is for baby Phelps' blessing.

Papa with 5 kids and 2 grand babies. 

The sweet family.

3 generation of Genho men.

The proud papa.

There were lots of other cousins around but they were to busy playing in the barn (Joseph)

and by the chicken coop (Isabelle and Lorraine) to be bothered with lining up to take pictures.

Monday night

After dance class Merry relaxing with a book.

Notice the starburst wrapper on the living room floor.

Grace showing off her dance moves.

Eliza showing how it feels to be teething.

At least Grace can make her happy.

Adam with yogurt lips.

Harbor getting a bath.

Happy Easter

 The crew in their Easter finery

Grace with her egg haul.

Adam making sure the eggs are fully stocked.

Jacob counting his eggs, he told me that I did not do as good of job hiding them this year.

Maybe he will be too old to egg hunt next year.

Merry and her eggs.

Eliza demonstrating the proper way to egg hunt.  First you find the egg.

Next you place the egg in the basket.

Then you climb in the basket yourself.  Oh wait I don't fit.

Harbor wishing he could join the egg hunting fun.

Happy Good Friday

 We took a road trip to Fort Lauderdale to see temple open house.

It was beautiful and the kids thought it was awesome.

 Merry and Grace both loved the glass room (Celestial Room).

Jacob loved the mirrors in the sealing room. 

Adam liked the oxen.

Eliza was pretty cooperative until we went to leave the Celestial Room and then she had a melt down.

Four hours in a car there and back and we still are all talking to each other.