April~Argentina

April always starts out to be quiet and peaceful and I think I will have a short blog.  I know it is General Conference and Easter, but those are quiet and peaceful events.  However, I always forget that it is also prom, end of the year sports championships, programs and plays, as well as anniversaries and birthdays, of course. There was also a funeral of a dear friend.  In short, April has been busy and exciting and not so quiet at all.  There have also been some momentous events, worldwide, including a devastating earthquake in Nepal, and two beloved Apostles, Elders Perry and Scott, who have been hospitalized with serious illnesses.

Watch for the $2 challenge in the blog this month.  The first person to comment with the right answer gets a $2 bill.  I made it super easy.

Argentina is the place for this month.  When Dallin and Stetson got called to go to Argentina, we thought it was really great that they were going to the same country, but when DeWitt, then Levi got called to serve there, we wondered what was going on in Argentina that they needed our boys.   I still don't know, just people who need the Gospel, I guess.  But all our Argentine missionaries loved it.Then Allison married a returned Argentine missionary!  That's right, Taylor served in Argentina too.  Argentina, since it is such a long country, has weather conditions ranging from arctic to tropical, as you can see in the pictures.  Dallin is posing with a penguin, and then the bottom photo that Levi took is very tropical with palm trees.  Argentina has pine trees and lakes as well...beautiful country.   Of course, Argentina is famous for its soccer mania, too.  You can see each missionary in one of the pictures below.

April has had glorious sunsets.  This is from our front porch.

Dad's prolific gardens and my new roses:->

April also is the beginning of the hot, western sun beating mercilessly on our front door.  I told Dad I wanted a tree to shade our front door and this is what he got!  I know, it looks like three sticks, and it is, but the one in the middle has some leaves on it.  By the time we die, it should be big enough to shade the front door :-/

Our April birthdays are just as fun and exciting as they should be for such a month.

Dallin's birthday is April 8th.

Erika's is April 11th.

Scott's is April 12th.

Kirtlyn turned 11 on April 13th.

Tayte turned 15 on April 19th.

Poor Lillian had to start out the month of April by getting her wisdom teeth pulled. We went by when she got home and took her a milkshake...the universal cure for all things dental.

Oh, how I love having conference on Easter Sunday.  It gives such a lot of special meaning to the talks.  I have to say that this conference was absolutely the best conference I have ever heard.  The talks were all for me...especially President Uchtdorf's talk on the Atonement and the Grace of Christ.

Thomas and Jenn and their family watched it with us and shared our Easter ham dinner.  Later, Rebecca and  Scott and their family came by to visit and play on the playground equipment.

We stopped by Rebecca and Scott's on the 12th to wish Scott a happy birthday.

Mary and Tyson had invited us to dinner that evening.  Jared was very insistent that there be a boys' side and a girls' side to the table.

Thomas and Jenn invited us to eat lunch at El Charro to celebrate Kirtlyn's 11th birthday on the 13th. Notice the new, improved corner entrance.

Feliz cumpleanos, Kirtlyn,

When Rebecca and Scott stayed at the condo on their way to Virginia to visit Dallin and Sara, this is what greeted them at the door...bees!  Dead bees.  A mystery.

We went to a memorial service on the 17th for our good friend Bertha Day, who passed away earlier in the week. Rebecca emailed us this obituary so we were able to hurry and change schedules and go to it.  As sad as we were at the passing of our good friend, it was a true pleasure to see all her children and other friends from St. Johns who were there.  The photo is of Marlow and their eight children: Linda, Laurie, Karen, Daryl, David, Damon, Chris, Chan.  Brian Issacson took the one of us in front of the funeral home.

We had to rush away as soon as the service was over so that Dad could be in the Temple by 3:30 that afternoon.  He had promised Mark Herrington that he would sub for him.  Later, we saw why President Herrington had to be gone!

The Hiatt girls had a retreat in Pine that weekend, and even though none of us were able to go, I was interested to see that they had some encounters with wildlife while they were there...animal wildlife, that is.

Speaking of wildlife...Another episode in the continuing saga of The Bird Whisperer.  You remember the little mother dove who had built her nest on top of our porch pillar.  Well, she sat so patiently, for so long, never seeming to eat or drink, but just nesting on her eggs.  One morning, Dad went outside to check on her and she had at least two babies in the nest.  She was feeding them.  The next day when he checked on her, the nest was empty and scattered and he found a tiny head and feathers in the yard!  It made him so sad and so angry at the neighbor's cat.

That Sunday, the Richins family had stake conference, so they were out at noon, the same time we get out of church.  So we had them over for dinner and ate outside.  It was such a beautiful day.

After dinner, Tyson told us about a website (relativefinder.org) that traces your family tree, through the Church's Family Search and shows some of the famous people you are related to.  It was so much fun to see that we had famous cousins such as Joseph Smith, George Washington, Richard Nixon, Barak Obama and Elvis Presley.  Of course, the removed means how many generations away you are,  so the farther back in history it is, the more removed, but the numbered cousin, (2nd, 3rd, etc) shows how close the relationship is.  To put it into perspective, your grandchildren and the grandchildren of your siblings will be 2nd cousins.  So anything 2nd, 3rd, 4th, even 5th, is pretty close.  But when you get to 7th, 8th, 9th..., almost everyone is related in some way.  But no matter how famous and fun those cousins were, the total topper of it all was to find that Dad, and thus, you, too, of course, are directly descended from the kings and queens of England.  King Henry VIII was your 13th great grandfather!  Your grandmother was "the other Boleyn girl," Anne Boleyn's sister, Mary.  Anne was the one your grandfather had beheaded for not giving him a son.  Mary, on the other hand, had a son named Henry, through whom you came.  These other cousins were from my side...not very impressive in comparison! (Except maybe George Washington.  Since George Washington never had children, 3rd cousin is pretty close!  I also have to say that we are 3rd cousins to Richard Nixon and Mitt Romney as well and 2nd cousins to Joseph Smith.) I find it interesting that John Taylor and I share a Brinton ancestor.  Grandfather Parley converted John Taylor, neither of them ever suspecting, of course, that Parley's great granddaughter, Vida, would marry a Brinton.  For the challenge, what was Vida's husband's name?

The first Henry Tudor on the chart is Henry the VII, Dad's 13th great grandfather.  He married Elizabeth, the daughter, of Edward IV and Elizabeth of York (both Elizabeths were called Elizabeth of York).  They were the parents of Henry Tudor VIII, who had many wives.  Anne Boleyn, whom he beheaded, was the mother of the famous Queen Elizabeth I.  Lady Mary Boleyn, Anne's sister, was probably never one of his wives...which may account for the fact that he didn't kill her :-}  You can see the progression from there.  Also, consider that the kings and queens preceding Henry VII were your ancestors as well!  What an amazing thing to be married into a royal family.  I feel like Kate Middleton :-)

One afternoon, after school, the kids came over for a play date and Dad took advantage and had them help him put a protective net over his strawberries.  

Henry insisted that his mom sit in the gator and let him drive her around.  She even sort of fit!

Once, when we went to El Charro for lunch, we saw Sandra Smith and Leslie Crockett taking advantage of the new "al fresco" dining.  They were the first, according to Thomas.  Sandra said she wondered if anyone would take their picture!

Update on Brad.  He and his family went on a desert picnic and here he is with his son on their respective vehicles.

Our Youth Community Theater put on Alice in Wonderland.  Since we had 5 grandchildren in the play, and since some of the makeup is out of the ordinary, I volunteered to help Penny with it.   Kirtlyn is one of the 3 Cheshire Cats who narrate the play, Brianna is Alice, Thomas is the doorknob, Hyrum and Lindsay are cards. I wouldn't have been able to get the 3 cats done all by myself in time, so Jenn jumped in and helped.  She really saved the day.  Thanks, Jenn. 

After we had finished their makeup

Waiting for the play to begin.

With the girls who participated: Kirtlyn, the Cheshire Cat; Brianna, Alice; Lindsay, a royal card.

After the play, with the cutest actors in the whole play. Thomas was the doorknob and Hyrum was a royal card with Lindsay.

The next morning, the 30th, I went to Lindsay's and Hyrum's class programs.  Lindsay's was at 8:30...

...and Hyrum's was at 9:15.  There were multiple 1st grade classes in each program, so I hoped that theirs would be together.  No such luck.  It's a good thing they were both so cute that it was worth it.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE FAMILY

NATHAN AND SHAUNA

Hannah is getting ready to report to the MTC on May 6th, so she is trying to spend time with her friends before she goes.

Some really cool "Josh the Preservationist" buildings.

Nathan attended the Houston Temple when he was there for some meetings.  He says he has now attended 35 temples!  I think I have been in 10.

Palmer, painting barrels for a work-related service project.

Bethany and Palmer DJ'd a friend's party.

Here is the loving couple on their 2nd anniversary.

Goofing off at a family dinner.  The girl on the right is Hannah's roommate and  you can see Porter on the left.  He's staying with them for a while.

Josh and Hannah, after Josh's scholarship banquet.  He received another scholarship that should see him through until graduation in December.

JOEL AND STEPHANIE
Stetson was able to attend his mission reunion at conference time and had a good visit with his mission president and wife.

Crew was the neighborhood Easter bunny!

Here are Stetson, Levi and two of their friends when they were working in Chicago.

Fishing in the Ozarks...Branson.

Levi and his friends also had some lake fun...in Arizona.

Elder Andersen attended their Ward when he was there for the new Institute dedication and Stetson and Levi got to meet him.

Same disclaimer as Josh's!  Both of these girls are really cute. 

Family Home Evening, fishing at the lake across from their neighborhood.

The Show choir finals were in Chicago...actually, Waukegan, a suburb of Chicago.  They were treated like superstars there.

Jeremy sent these pictures of the show choir championships...full house!

At Docker's basketball game.

Ok.  Last day of the month, and I saw on Facebook that the cute girl from the above picture had changed her profile picture to this one...it must mean something?

DANIEL AND CONNIE
Shannyn posted this picture, saying she had never seen her dad in a swing before.  I have, Shannyn, but not for a very long time.

Super Hero day at school and the girls were "Super Sisters."

Easter at the Biggs' house.

Easter in Seattle (Federal Way)!

Easter on the farm.  Three new baby piglets.

Emma got a butterfly catcher for her birthday last month and here is her first butterfly/moth.

How could any girl resist Shadrach's dramatic prom invitation (tea lights), let alone resist such a handsome kid? She didn't resist, of course:-)

Shannyn and Emma took the ice bucket challenge.  I thought that was all over with, but I guess not.  I think it's still pretty cold in Colorado, too.  Brave girls.

Yep, I was right.  Still pretty cold in Colorado.

Devynne and Brock went to Portland to visit the Temple and the zoo. and some other fun places.

Connie went with each of the girls and their respective school classes to Hanging Lakes. Also, Analynn wanted to make sure her pretzel name made the blog:-)  

Emma's class put on the play The Lorax.  Emma was the Lorax!

Shannyn, with a baby bird she is trying to rescue.  I guess she is a bird whisperer too.

Happy Anniversary, Daniel and Connie.  Shannyn posted this picture, so I'm assuming the whole family went to dinner to celebrate. 25 years?

Shadrach graduates in May and Connie made his "Senior Board," a collage of a lifetime of Shadrach pictures.  She has done one for each of her graduates.

REBECCA AND SCOTT

The traumatic wisdom teeth ordeal.

Rebecca and Rachel had a YCL luncheon to get ready for camp.  Polly and Rylie are both going to be YCLs this year.  When they were designing shirts for camp with Thomas, Jenn asked him if he knew what a YCL was.  He said, "Of course.  I've been in Young Women's long enough to know that!"

This is the Miami Invitational.  Their team took first place.

The famous Evans girls.

Polly is with Ethan Karnes, and Lillian is with Eric Brock

Rebecca and Scott went to Virginia to visit Dallin and Sara.  They stayed with them in their little house and thoroughly loved being there with the kids, eating with them and just hanging out together.  They were also able to watch him play a tennis match, which he won.  

While they were there, Sara received her birthday card from us.

Dallin and Sara took them all around to see the campus and all the historic Virginia sites.  The bottom pictures are of them in the restaurant where Sara works.  It is the cute little white house at the bottom of the first set.

Dallin walks across this pole every day to go to school.  I can't even imagine how it is on cold, icy, snowy days!

Dallin and some of the paintings for his art class.  He has a lot of talent.

Allison and Taylor visited the Columbia River Temple in the Tri-Cities area. I wonder how close that is to the Portland Temple?

This is Stonehenge!  I didn't know America had a Stonehenge.  But Oregon made a replica of it.  And the bottom picture is of Taylor, ever serious and solemn, when they chaperoned a stake dance.

DeWitt is taking a woodshop class and is really enjoying it.  He made a small skateboard and asked me to paint a Hawaiian design, with his signature, on the back.  He is currently making a long board, and then has his sights set on making some furniture.

Polly was inducted into National Honor Society...beauty and brains.

JEREMY AND ERIKA

After the Easter Pageant at Pete's...you know Pete's loves the Easter Pageant!

FHE, and Ellie's favorite activity...Uno.

For Ellie's "Ballet Under the Stars," Reygan was doing her makeup, but she was also babysitting Elli. So little Elli wanted to join in the makeup fun too.  I have to say, it looks like Elli does it with enthusiasm...and our Ellie looks gorgeous, Reygan! Good job.

Ellie warming up before the ballet.

Erika is now in orthopedic surgery!

Erika's "toe day" celebration.

Tayte's superhero birthday cake.

When it was time to cut the dogs' hair, Erika was in charge of their faces, Jeremy did their bodies, and Reygan did their feet.

Service project at the Church farm in Coolidge.

Jeremy was driving Erika's little topless car and got bird-bombed.  Fortunately, it just hit one lens of his glasses (with a not-even-worth-mentioning dribble on his collar).  He really lucked out :-} It could have been so much worse!

This was at Ellie's "Golden Scholar" night.  Good job, Ellie.  It's quite an honor to receive it.  

Reygan fills her tiny car with lots of friends and brothers, going to and from school.  They fill the car to the ceiling, and Hayden gets to scrunch up in the hatch.  Do you remember that the hatch was Jeremy and Rachel's spot when we all crowded into the Rabbit?  Hayden is actually lucky to have it all to himself! :->

There was an art show at Reygan's school and, of course, she won first place.  Jeremy said she should have won 2nd and 3rd as well, but they had to spread it around.  Her pictures are the five you can see, starting with the golden eye and ending with the dark one at the bottom.  I remember going to a 4th grade art show with her.  She was just beginning to realize her love of art.  She was very good then, for a 4th grader, but I had no idea she had all of this amazing talent lurking inside her.

Daynen is excited about having two baptisms this week!

Jeremy, working hard at the show choir finals in Chicago.  He filmed them and we were able to watch it all on line.

RACHEL AND TONY

At the stake YCL luncheon.

Easter at the Alder's

It's ironic that their dog showed up on their porch with a rabbit in its mouth...on Easter!

Watching conference.

It's a good thing they have a huge mirror for getting ready for school...and church...and everything else.

Rylie was in charge of decorating for the prom.  The theme was "James Bond."  Her sponsors raved about what a great, dependable, creative girl she is.  We just smile and agree.  Notice the caption on the picture she posted at the bottom right of this set.

Wow!! Gorgeous!  That goes for the decorations, and, of course, the girl.  Her date is Cody Davis.

She got so sick from all the stress, I think.  Fortunately, their good friend and Bishop is a doctor.

Fortunately for Luke, too.  He had a case of MRSA that Dr. Hargis was able to take care of.  Luke was a little worried to be having surgery in the kitchen, and when the doctor told him to be brave, he  said,"you do your best, and I'll do my best."

Rylie went with the Ward Laurels on a temple trip that included the Gilbert, Mesa, and Snowflake Temples...all in one day.

Rylie and Lillian with Lela Herrington and her husband and a friend who was leaving on his mission.

Rylie, who, as a member of the National Honor Society, was present for the new inductees, including her cousin, Polly.  

Isabel made Taste of Sound, the high school show choir, for next year...one of two sophomore girls to do so.

Chugging juice with Polly after Young Women Recognition Dinner

Rebecca and  DeWitt went with Rachel to pick up Luke and the twins from school. What a fun surprise!

ESTHER AND SHAD

Oh, happy day!  Brody went for a whole week without sucking his thumb and got to go to Build-a-Bear as a reward.

Watching conference.

Coming home from General Priesthood meeting.

An Easter protrait.

Bridger receiving his Webelos badge.

Miss Esther's All stars preschool.

Esther had to be released from her calling as YW president when Shad was called as Bishop.  The girls were pretty sad to see her go.

Bishop Brown hooping it up at Youth Conference, setting a good example for Harrison.

Bridger is running for office in his school and made these posters himself with a little help from his mom with the emojis.  He said that all the other posters were way cooler than his, with lights and everything.  But I'm proud of him for doing these himself.  Win or lose, he's definitely a winner.

His election is next month.  Mary helped Bridger make his shirt.

THOMAS AND JENN

Easter at the Biggses

Thomas made each child a framed poster to hang in their room.

The new al fresco dining at El Charro.

The Stake Camp shirts he designed.

Their little dog, Ella, also got a trim.  She looks like a rat with a furry head. Sorry, Ella, hope I didn't offend you!

The Downtown Merchants Association and the Gila Valley Chamber of Commerce had a luncheon which El Charro catered.  Rachel helped with the cooking as a return favor for all the help Thomas has been with Young Women.

Mary was watching Maya and Henry one afternoon and this is how she found them...stuffing themselves on Mary's empty shelves.  Since she is moving, her shelves are empty, except for kids:-) 

The ribbon cutting festivities for the mainstreet renovation project.

The Cheshire Cat

Notice their tails as they walk off stage.  That's how you can tell they're cats. Sorry all the play pictures are blurry.  I had to sneak them and couldn't take the time to focus.  I felt as if I were going to be thrown out any minute!  The clear ones I got at the dress rehearsal.

MARY AND TYSON

Easter with the Richins, watching conference in Cotton City.

One sunny afternoon they flew kites in the desert by their house, where Brianna came face to face with a rattlesnake.  She ran!

This is the house their family will be moving into in May.  It is right across from Quail Ridge on 1st Street in Thatcher.

They came to dinner one Sunday in May and Tyson helped Alex show off for us.

Mary gave "Groucho" glasses to the teachers for April Fools' Day.  Alex is testing them out for her.

He is growing so fast!

Alice in Wonderland...There were 3 Alices.  One big, one small, and one just right.  Guess which one Brianna was.

And Lindsay was a royal card.  Hyrum was too but he stood in the back and I couldn't sneak a picture of him.

SOMETHING TO MAKE YOU SMILE
One of these boys posted this picture this month and I couldn't help smiling when I saw it.  

Mary and Tyson went to Gilbert for his brother's wedding and the kids waited outside.  It was so hot and Jared got very thirsty.  Mary took him inside the foyer for a drink of water and Jared was a little worried that it was ok.  He said, "Does Jesus want  us to drink his water?"

One day this month, we were all having a "which twin is which" discussion when Brynlie said "All you have to do is say 'Brynlie' and I will say 'what!'"  That reminded Jenn of a time when they were small and one of the twins (she doesn't know which one) said, "Here's how you tell us apart.  Brynlie has two kidneys and Camille has one!" Duh!

Thank you for sending pictures this month.  I have really loved seeing your families' goings on.  What a fun, creative, energetic...not to mention beautiful...family we have.  Dad and I love you all so much and are so happy when you are happy.  I am so thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ that allows us to be an eternal family.  Each one of you is so precious to us and so unique, with your own special qualities, even though everyone thinks we are all so much alike.  Even the twins are distinct and unique.  And not just kidney-wise, either:-)

  Have a wonderful May and keep sending pictures.

Final note:

I have always admired Mother Teresa.  When I saw this post I couldn't help copying it and sharing it with all of you.