April showers....

So it's finally spring here!!! We can see the grass! Although most of it was eaten by mice, whatever is growing is growing fast. I think I'm going to have to mow it tomorrow. If it's not snowing again :)

We're as busy as ever. Here are some highlights from the last few weeks:

Tim has finished up pruning for work and is now moving into fertilizing and other fun things. He said, "I feel kind of funny when I show up to people's houses and say--I'm here to fertilize!" But he loves his work and keeps busy. He even got to be on the radio a few weeks ago with his boss, Mark Anderson. If you ever want good garden/lawn advice, go to http://www.610kvnu.com/ and you can listen to Mark's (and sometimes Tim's) broadcasts. Just scroll down to "The Garden Guide."

Tim's been working hard at home, too, getting our garden ready to go for the year. We still have a month or two left before we can plant everything, but we've gotten our peas in and pretty soon we'll get our potatoes planted. (We're actually still eating potatoes we harvested last year!) Tim has also decided he wants more chickens...(they're the "cool-looking" ones this time) so we have baby chicks in the basement...oh and two ducklings. Oh, and Tim picked up a black lab puppy the other night from the neighbors. Does it ever end? We may never know. :)



Yes, you heard me right. We are now the owners of a dog. It's our first dog as a family! Hopefully things go well. Our sister-in-law, Jodie, is really good with dogs, so she's going to help us train her. The kids are thrilled with the puppy, which is a girl, and whom Cyrus has named Bluebell. She IS really cute, although she'll grow out of that fast. I just hope she learns to poop in the empty field next to us REALLY FAST.



Tim has also been finishing up the kids' bedroom in the basement. We painted it blue, of course, since it will be Cyrus' bedroom. We'll see if he actually sleeps in it all by himself. I think we'll put him and Sonora down there together. Maybe they can both overcome their fear of the basement together.

Laura has been trying to get back in shape running a few times a week. She's also been working hard on a dance/skit for the ward talent show with some other young moms in the ward. One of the girls put it on YouTube...so now the whole word can see how remarkable we are!! Hahaha. If you can't tell which one I am, I'm the second on the left(in the beginning). Tim also had a first for the ward talent show!! He and our bishop sang a duet...John Denver's "Perhaps Love". He was petrified, but he did awesome...he may even do another one some day!

Laura just finished reading "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" (which she LOVED), and is now reading "Flowers For Algernon" for her book club. She is very busy, doing young women stuff, trying to hang out as much as possible with MaeLynn, keeping up with just life!! Just the same old, same old. She did make a German Chocolate Cheesecake for Sunday dinner tonight, though...here's the recipe if you want to try it. It is HEAVENLY. Even Tim, who is not a big dessert person, LOVES it.

German Chocolate Cheesecake:
Crust:

3/4 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
4 tsp. cocoa
1 egg, slightly beaten
5 TBS soft butter
3/4 tsp. vanilla

Stir flour, sugar, cocoa together. Blend rest of ingredients in with mixer. With well-greased fingers, press into 9" springform pan. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Filling:
24 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. sour cream, room temperature
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 tsp. vanilla
7 oz. german chocolate, melted

Combine cheese, sugar, sour cream. Beat until smooth. Add one egg at a time beating well each time. Add vanilla, then stir in chocoloate. Pour over cooled crust. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, then at 200 for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until the center no longer looks wet and shiny. Run a slim knife along the inside edge of the pan to keep the cake from cracking as it cools. Chill, uncovered, overnight.

Topping:
1/4 c. butter
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. evaporated milk
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
1 c. flaked coconut
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1 1/4 tsp. vanilla
pecan halves
chocolate curls

In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in sugar, milk, egg. Cook and stir over low heat about 10 minutes or until thickened. Stir in 2/3 c. coconut, chopped pecans, and vanilla. Spread over cake. Garnish with remaining coconut, pecan halves, and chocolate curls.

It's kind of time-consuming, but SO worth it!!

Anyway...Cyrus has been a fun 6-year-old as usual. He's been reading like crazy. I love to see him sounding things out.

Apparently he goes to the best elementary school in the valley...wahoo! It's a Title I school, if that means anything to anyone. He loves school and he loves his teacher. He told me, "Mom, spring break was a lot of fun....but I REALLY missed my teacher." It'll be interesting to see how summer goes. I'm definitely going to try the 1/2 hour of reading after lunch each day, like my mother used to have us do as kids.

He's also quite a hoot! The other day we were in Lowe's and he was making eyes at the checker. As we were leaving the store, he even blew her a kiss. When Tim was laughing at him he said, "WELLLL...she was CUTE!"

Sonora is dang funny, too. My child who won't eat anything asked for a peanut butter and cheese sandwich the other day. And ate the whole thing!!! We've also put more effort into making her eat things lately, with the whole "airplane" thing....or whatever else works. She really likes the idea of parties, so we tell her the food is having a party in her mouth. Each bite has to ask (in a different voice) if they can come in to her party. What a joke. Dinner feels like it takes a hundred years. Especially when she stores bites in her cheeks for long periods of time. Oh well....at least we're progressing!



Macey is as cute as ever. She has started saying 'shoes' (shoosh) and jabbers all day long like she's having conversations with us. She is so sweet and fun and loves doing anything the older two are doing.

Life is good for us! We pray each day that it can be good for everyone! And it can, I guess, because life is what you make it, huh?