April

After a year of quarantine, this month felt positively packed full of people! We started off with a lovely Conference weekend and Easter Sunday, then had the Kresses with us for a week. It was a big week for Mercy, as she turned 8 and got baptized! Two days after Matthew's parents left, my mom came for a long weekend. We got together with the Barrios several times, Hyrum had a stake youth fireside in person, Hyrum and Abraham both started YM/primary activities in person, and we started archery night back up with the Jeb Brown's. It's both strange and wonderful to be so social again!

 

Other small tidbits of note: Mabel turned one and has taken to walking along the walls of the back yard, we fixed several leaks in the sprinkler system and ran a line to the back yard, and Mom got braces.

The Susan and Sterling Brown's got a new tiny puppy named Artemis, which our children (ie. Mercy) is obsessed with.

With our new camera and projects galore to get done, Matthew and I have launched into the wide world of YouTube. We spent all winter talking during our morning walks about what the Lord wanted us to do. Getting into realestate was discussed at length, as well as several other investment strategies. I felt very strongly that I am to write a cookbook, but that that endeavor needs to wait until the Fall after the kids go back to school. We eventually came around to starting a YouTube channel and have felt over and over again that this venture is what we are supposed to do. We don't know why, or how it will play out, but we are moving forward with faith and a lot of enthusiasm. We published our first video towards the end of this month, the giant torsion box, and it was a lot of work. Neither of us think it's particularly good, but for our first attempt, it's not bad. We're excited to learn and improve. We're also a bit anxious to get some better equipment and upgrade our computer, but funds and availability of resources are forcing us to wade into this a bit slower than perhaps we would otherwise. BuilditMakeit

Covid update:

I got my first dose of the vaccine, and Matthew got his booster, which means he's fully vaccinated. We were allowed to start singing at church again, and some of the kids church activities have started back up in person. While it's definitely not over, the pandemic does feel like it's really winding down.

Goals:

Our exercise goals have sort of fallen flat. Matthew cut his big toe in the backyard, which forced him to stop running, Mercy is only working half heartedly on her splits, and the boys have lost a lot of enthusiasm for the treadmill. The weather has been lovely and they've preferred to take Mabel for walks and call it a work out. I worked hard on my Grand Fondo training plan though, and finished my metric century with a satisfactory time. Scripture reading continues to go well, which is what really matters, and the kids are pushing along with their music. Abraham especially likes having a real drum kit to play on. My scripture for this month was Alma 13:28.

Meals:

Pancakes

School lunch pizza and salad

Taco salad

Ham, funeral potatoes, steamed broccoli, rolls

Pulled Pork

Gnudi and mixed vegetables

Pizza

Crepes and bacon

Fried chicken and salad

Leftovers

Rabbit stew with buttermilk biscuits

Breakfast bowls

Chicken enchiladas

Pork and pasta with homemade alfredo sauce and salad

Malt pancakes

Pork noodle soup and savory scones

School lunch pulled pork

Popcorn shrimp and salad

Pork chimichangas

Zuppa toscana and breadsticks

French toast and bacon

School lunch macaroni and cheese

Treats:

Angel food cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream

Frozen chocolate custard

Chocolate mousse cake with vanilla frozen custard

French orange tart

Chocolate brownie tart