And the Rest of April!

Once we were home, it was right back into the fray!  Of course, we saw what we could of the eclipse-- we didn't get full coverage here, but it was pretty close.  It clouded right up during peak coverage, just like the last time we had an eclipse here.  You can't win.  But it was still very cool!

If you zoom in and look really closely, I actually got a pretty cool picture of the sun about the size and shape of a thumbnail

I hadn't bothered to order glasses, so I was glad the school gave them out!  Camille cracks me up...

Our neighbor's cat, Caramel, came to hang out with us.  And then proceeded to squat in our grass puking up a hairball.  Gross.

We got a package from BYU containing some swag for their newest recruit.  I truly love this picture of Bentley-- I was worried he was only going to BYU because we basically told him he had to, but this is one very genuine smile from my eldest!  I'm so excited for this next chapter in his life (even though I know I'm going to miss him like crazy)!

We had a "hands tied" meal with the Young Men and Young Women where we sat everyone around a giant square and everyone's hands were tied to their neighbors', and then we served them salad and spaghetti and watched as chaos ensued.  Eventually it evolved into a food fight of sorts, which we were expecting-- we made them walk around (still tied together!), trying to pick everything up!  And then we served them ice cream, which meant they had to figure out how to get back to their seats!  It was hilarious and they looked like they were having fun, so that was a win!

Jadyn decided to just not bother with silverware, which is a choice, I guess!

It kind of looks like they're doing an elaborate dance?  

Notice the kids trying to climb over the table

At some point they decided that it was easier to go under the table!

It was at this point that Craig and I finally kicked it into high gear working on the condo and getting it in better shape to show it.  I also had Craig take a few new pictures of it, since the one we had posted on Zillow was kind of dark and forbidding looking.  

But this looks nice and friendly, doesn't it?

And yes, we finally got renters, and I handed over the keys last Wednesday, so that's a huge weight off my mind.  We've never had it empty for that long before (almost five weeks?)-- I think I got spoiled finding renters so quickly in the past!

Adam and I found time to go kayaking, something I think we didn't manage to do at all last spring!  When we first got out on the water, we thought there was a lovely mist over it, then we realized we were just seeing so much pollen!  😂  On a related note, I've been taking double the recommended dose of Zyrtec and my allergies have never been better!  I've even gotten where I can swallow the pills pretty consistently.  It's a spring miracle!  (Not really, those pills are tiny.  But I'll take any win I can get!)

And speaking of Adam, he made sure he took our spring family portraits, too!  I never would have gotten around to it without him reminding me-- I'm so lucky he's my friend!  So now we have two of our Four Seasons of Smiths!

We'll start with my favorite-- Adam happened to find these amazing azalea bushes and how great of a backdrop are they???

My pants are certainly apropos!

And we're all wearing crocs!

I love the clouds and sky behind us!

We probably use them too much, but fences are such an easy way to make the pictures a little more interesting!

And now that the weather has been so nice, I've discovered that it's really lovely to take the chickens down to the grass and read a book while they peck around the yard.  I feel like I'm accomplishing something-- being a good chicken owner-- while I get to sit and read!  The kids arrived home from school during my reading chicken time, and we learned that the chickens really like all the keychains on Camille's backpack!

The face Camille pulls during this!

We had a YWs activity where Craig had the girls building fires and I had them practicing a mountain climber's knot out in the parking lot.  (That's pretty much the only knot I can tie, but I'm really good at that one, thanks to a lot of practice when I was at Girls Camp many decades ago!)

Lydia, Julie, Marianne, McKinley, and Lilyann, somewhat tied up 

Violet and Julia working on their fire

And now, time for s'mores!  (Not sure how Calvin snuck in there, but all the girls love him, so they were probably happy to share their s'mores with him!)

L-R standing: Ella, Sabrine, Liberty, me, and Missy, and then sitting, Abby, Megan and Megan (with Brahm) and Valerie

I got to spend a few hours at the hospital holding my friend Brianne's very sweet baby.  She'd been in the hospital for a couple months and finally got to go home last week, so that was very happy news!

We had a very busy afternoon, so I had to make a time sheet for Craig and I so we didn't forget anything...  (The main activities were just tennis lessons, piano lessons, and an open house for rising 6th graders at the middle school, but there were a lot of moving parts to make it all happen!)  And this barely included Bentley and Kendra!

We did not plan this.  How did they end up so adorably matched???  Beth, Sydney, and Camille, playing at Pen Park before tennis lessons!

And Saturday was prom!!!  Once again, I can't believe Bentley is a senior and so close to being done with high school!

How handsome is he?

He didn't ask anyone, but had a big group of friends which changed for each activity, but here they are for pictures  

I love that the guys got matching pajama bottoms for themselves (and I was very impressed that Bentley still managed to get to church early enough to set up and bless the sacrament)!

Last fall the trampoline mat-- which was here in the yard when we bought this house nine years ago-- finally died a very painful, ripped-to-shreds death.  I bought a new mat and net, but decided not to fix it until after winter.  So the kids are very excited to have their trampoline back, now that it's spring! Here, they were jumping while spraying each other with a hose.

And last but not least, Ryder had his end of the year band concert!  He played great and Craig and I were pretty happy to enjoy a Tuesday evening where we weren't in charge!

April was a good month for us!