A Little Catching Up To Do

Well, our lives have been caught in the whirlwind of finishing law school, moving, fixing up a house, dealing with a flood, studying for the bar, and keeping up with kids and house! So needless to say, the blog has not been updated for quite a while! But we are here in Utah, back in our old digs and trying to fix it up and make it nice. Danny finished law school (woo-hoo!) and is now under the incredibly intense pressure of bar exam preparation while trying to work. He will take the big test in two weeks, then we can see more of him! Congrats, honey, we are so proud of you.

I thought I would do a post to make up for the month of April. So here's some highlights:We celebrated Easter with the V.G. Egg Hunt the day before, which was CRAZY this year with three kids, as they were in three separate age groups and all started at the same time! But they got plenty of treats and made some fun crafts (and got to do it with their friends, what's better?!)
We spent Easter Eve dying Easter Eggs. We tried some cool foil rub-on stuff that Grandma had sent us. It was neat, and very sticky!
Lexie and Gavin are so proud of their egg creations. Too pretty to eat!
Easter morning, the kids came downstairs to find the Easter Bunny had filled their baskets and hidden candy-filled eggs all over the living room. What none of us expected, however, was for Cole to pick up and CHUCK every egg that he found across the room! (Yes, jellybeans exploding everywhere.) It was hilarious, especially since it surprised him that there was candy inside. But he wasted no time in eating his mess!
Lexie and Gavin woke up very early to look at their little goodies in their baskets.
And then they had to find a lot of eggs all over the room! But they enjoyed it! Because it was General Conference this year on Easter, it was nice to just have a leisurely Easter breakfast and hang out at home. The Conference talks this April were so inspirational and I really enjoyed spending Easter hearing testimonies of the Savior.
Oh, and by the way...we are expecting our fourth child! I have not really been announcing it this time, but after my first doctor appointment, we told our families. And then a few others bit by bit. So please don't feel bad if you are just now finding out! I had a little ultrasound at 13 weeks along (April 5th,) and here is our new little bean! We are all very excited. Due date: October 8.
Lexie and Gavin had been trying to master climbing trees. They asked me to get the camera because they were so happy they had figured it out. (And how cute that they were cooperating to do it!) Here's Gavin up the tree...
And here's Lexie nestled in the branches.
For Family Night on April 12, we decided to take a family bike ride. We ventured not too far from home, but to a place I still hadn't visited yet in the 3 years we had been in Omaha! We rode over the pedestrian bridge that crosses from downtown Omaha across the Missouri River and into Council Bluffs, Iowa. Then we rode a nice walking/bike trail that follows the river. It was beautiful, and a fun thing to do with the family.
Here is the bridge, it has a really cool "S" curve to it (you can see in the distance.)
Cole loved riding behind Daddy, and this was the only way I could catch him for a picture!
As we approached the end of April, we realized that we had several events to already begin our goodbye process. Lexie finished up Girl Scouts for the year and had her "Bridging" ceremony, where the girls advance to the next level. Lexie made lots of friends and had a good experience this year doing Girl Scouts.
Lexie also worked very hard this January through March to sell Girl Scout Cookies. (So did Mom!) She wanted to sell 150 boxes to earn the plush frog prize, as well as the other prizes for selling each level. She did it, and received her awards and a patch that night. She had a fun year as a Daisy Girl Scout, and now it is time to say goodbye!
Another goodbye was a big one for me. Since we moved to Omaha, we have been involved in a Cherubs Music Group. It is a playgroup coop that moms do with their kids to help instill in them a love of music. It is a lot of fun, and when my friend Kelly moved after our first year, I said I would organize it, which I have done the last two years. I loved the experience for my kids, and wanted to have something the community could share. But it is now done, and the last Wednesday in April was our last class. While it was good for me to finish to get ready for the move, it is also an experience that we will never quite have again. It would be fun to have another Cherubs group in Utah, though. But it was a big part of our experience there in Omaha.
Here's Gavin during marching time.
And the kids love story time at the end.
The last event in April was the V.G. Dance Academy Recital. Lexie had a lot of fun and danced beautifully! Here she is in her costume.
And here she is with her best friend from Omaha, Savannah. These two were attached at the hip, and this night was a fun one for them to share.
Here is the ballet number, done to Lollipop, Lollipop.

And the tap number to Big Rock Candy Mountain was darling as well. I loved the decorations! My friend Ms. Hannah, the dance teacher extraordinaire, did a fabulous job with the whole recital.
Here is Lexie with her dance class.
And we did a twisty-updo for her fancy night. What a fun month! (Now on to crazy month, stay tuned for May's post!)