Happy Easter!

Zack getting ready to brave the Easter storm! That OC sun is looking pretty sweet about now!

Brrrrrrrrrrr!

Since Josh and the kids had a four-day weekend for Easter we decided to rent a car and hit some of the sites in England. The pictures do not come anywhere close to showing how cold it was. We drove through wind, rain, sleet, hail and snow! We saw some beautiful places... but probably didn't enjoy them as much as we could have... you know like if it were 40 degrees instead of negative a million!

In front of the Roman Baths and the Bath Cathedral.

Wells, England (England's smallest city)

Tintagel, England (where the legend of King Arthur began)

Ruins of King Arthur's castle... you can't see it... but it was so windy the girls' hair was standing up on end and Brooklyn's glasses kept falling off!

When in the car, Brooklyn doesn't have a chance... both Makenna and Zackary get car sick... a lot! We invest in ziplocks... but unfortunately sometimes we don't make it! This is our little clean up after Makenna got sick... she soaked her own clothes and some of Brooklyn's clothes and hair with throw up... yuck!

Wild miniature ponies in Dartmoor National Forest.

Salisbury Cathedral

Girls at Windsor Castle

Oooooh eeeee oooooh.... uuuuoooooh ummmmm!

This guard stayed warm with that hat on!

Out of the mouths of babes!

Here are a couple thoughts provided by the girls this week:

Makenna said... on our way home from church on a rainy, blustery day, "Hey I think America needs to teach London how to put the sun out!"

And Brooklyn (a little background... Josh was working late last week so we kept postponing Family Home Evening... and ended up skipping it)... "Are we having Family Home Evening tonight?" (On Saturday) Mom... "No, we'll have it on Monday" Brooklyn... "Well we didn't have it all week, I hope you and Dad repent!"

Happy Birthday Makenna!

Makenna turned 5 on 17 February! She had a little party with some of her school friends. Some of her favOUrite (that's how you spell that word... in case you thought it was favOrite) things:

1. Cooking... with mom and on Webkinz
2. Wearing a school uniform and going to school all day... after they've been on a break she always gets super excited to go back.
3. Reading... always wants to read to us!
4. Playing with Polly Pockets
5. Eating an apple all the way to the seeds!

Ya-yul!

We have a little neighbor boy that Zack worships. For the past year whenever he sees Gabriel... he gets super excited and starts shouting Ya-yul! Guess that's how he says his name. He saw him at the park and had the same reaction as always!

What kind of house do you live in?

This term, Makenna's class has been studying different types of homes. So the question is... do you live in a cottage? a bungalow? a terraced house? a flat? or a detached house? I guess the kids will have to relearn some things upon our return to the States :) Each term, the girls' classes do an assembly for the school and the parents are invited to attend. Makenna has a brilliant teacher that is very musical and fabulous with the children... and actually reminds me of a former roommate at BYU. This is a video of one of the several songs they sang, "Gonna Build a House." Makenna is on the rightish side.

Enter into the joy of thy Lord

“Members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles express our heartfelt love and admiration for President Gordon B. Hinckley and the singular life of service he lived. He was our prophet, our leader, our brother and our friend. We feel a deep, personal loss at his passing. He unfailingly demonstrated his devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ, whose witness he was at home and abroad.
“We will miss his wit and his wisdom, his leadership and his love. However, we cannot but rejoice in his reunion with his beloved Marjorie, with his parents and other family members who have gone before, and with the prophets of God, both ancient and modern, among whose eternal ranks he now stands. As the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles we echo the voice of the Master, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant. … Enter into the joy of thy Lord.’ ”

I love the youth...
"Preparing for school on Monday morning took a different turn for thousands of teenage Mormon students who, some 12 hours earlier, had learned of the death of their Church president, Gordon B. Hinckley
The students responded to a flood of text messages from teens in at least six states, suggesting they arrive at school in their “Sunday best,” rather than their accustomed jeans or other casual clothes, as a symbol of respect and honor to their deceased leader."
The story continues here:

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/thousands-of-youth-wear-sunday-best-to-honor-leader#continued

Little Brooklyn...

As we were talking to the children about the passing of President Hinckley, they seemed fine... however a few minutes before we were to leave for school, Brooklyn was crying a bit. I asked her, "What do we do now, Brooklyn?" And she cheered up and said, "Well, President Hinckley taught us so much, so I guess we just take it all and go forward." Wise words from a six-year-old.