May Mayhem

Most of you parents out there know how crazy May can be.  End of the year presentations, concerts and recitals fill the calendar.  With five kids things often conflict so it is rare that Greg and I both get to attend an event as we must "divide and conquer".  This year was no exception.  We had two piano recitals, three concerts, and a preschool graduation.  Throw soccer and normal flute and piano lessons in the mix and you have one busy family.  That is nothing to say of the church activities.  Unfortunately we didn't get pictures of everything.  Here are a few from our May Mayhem.

One weekend Greg and all the boys attended the annual father and son campout.  It is fun for them all.  Lizzy had a birthday party to go to so just Anna and I went out to dinner together.  That was great fun.  

Ben at the Father and Son campout

This is a pillow Adam had to sew for his Family and Consumer science class.  It is not a class he hopes to ever take again.

One weekend my brother and his family came for one last visit before they left the great state of Iowa.  We loved having them close by even if we didn't get to see them as often as we would have liked.  We are glad they are still not too far in Wisconsin.

I had hoped to get a picture of the whole Ebbert/Finch clan, but the kids were too busy playing.  Lawson, Ben and Jacob playing together.  I think the girls were locked in their room creating something and giggling together.

Jacob, my little frog at his preschool graduation.  How is it possible my baby is going to kindergarten?

Anna finished fifth grade, which is the end of elementary school here.  On the last day the parents are invited to come and clap out their kids from elementary school to middle school.  This is Anna with three of her friends.  I guess you have to wear glasses to be friends with them:)    Again, I cannot believe Anna will be in middle school with Adam next year.  It is just not possible!

Anna playing at her piano recital.  She did fantastic.

We managed to squeeze in a trip to Living History farms one weekend.  Here is Anna.

Adam at Living History Farms.  Don't let the fun face fool you.  He was less than thrilled to be there although he did great at keeping a good attitude even though Living History Farms is not his favorite place.

Anna and Lizzy

Lizzy and Jacob

The rest of a great weekend

Right after Adam's play we headed down to Kansas City to see the new temple our Church has constructed there.  It was beautiful and it was so wonderful to see so many people there, both of our faith, and others.  I think Lizzy especially enjoyed it.  Unfortunately, just as we were about to get our picture taken by a kind stranger, the batteries died on Greg's I-phone.  So, the temple pictures I lifted off of my brother's blog.  He is much better at taking pictures anyway:)  Thanks Todd!  Aren't the pictures amazing!








After we spent the morning at the temple we met our friends the Garners at a park to eat lunch and let the kids play.  It was so much fun!  The kids all got along wonderfully.  I am so grateful we have been able to continue friendships even though we have moved.  Thanks to Pam for the pictures.  I took these off of her blog.  I hope that's OK!

Zack, Lizzy, Anne Marie and Adam

Anne Marie and Lizzy, the best of friends.

Here is the whole crew, including some of the Garner's cousins who stopped by for a short while.


The weekend was just amazing!  Awesome to see Adam in Oklahoma.  Awesome to go to the temple.  Awesome to spend time with the Garners.  Then my brother and his family stopped by for a short visit too!  What a great weekend.

Adam in Oklahoma

Howdy y'all,

A couple of weeks ago Adam starred in his middle school musical, "Oklahoma" as Will Parker. For those of you unfamiliar with Oklahoma, Will is the love sick cowboy chasing after Ado Annie. Adam was awesome in the role ... he even _almost_ got his first kiss out of it, but fortunately Ado Annie resisted at the last moment.

This is Adam singing his solo about his visit to Kansas City (audio quality isn't great, but hopefully you can follow along):

Adam on stage with some of his cowboy buddies:

And with Aunt Eller and the ladies:

And finally with his sweetheart, Ado Annie, telling her how much he thought of her every time he roped a steer and pulled it down on its rump.

It was very fun for us to watch him perform.  Not many of the boys his age were interested in being in the musical, but Adam really enjoyed it.  He's a great singer and not at all afraid to be on stage.  Great job Adam!

Easter Weekend--Post 2

The Saturday before Easter was a fun one.  We started off the day by going for a hike and picnic lunch at WildCat Den State Park.  It was someplace we liked to go when we lived in Bettendorf and our friends had never been there.  The kids love that there is an area where they can climb up the rocks.  I love walking in the woods and being together as a family.  It was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed ourselves.

Saturday afternoon we brought Lizzy and Adam to see our friends the Garner's.  Greg and I enjoyed a short visit with them as well.  Lizzy and Anne Marie are fast friends and it is nice they still get to see each other once in a while.  Adam and Zack also enjoy running around together.  It is nice that even though we have moved a couple of hours away, that our friendships are still growing.
Greg made some chili for everyone that night and we all prepared for Easter Sunday.  Sunday was a very nice day.  We spent the morning at church.  The messages of the Savior were very nice.  One of the things I love about our church is that we all take turns giving the message in our Sacrament meeting (our main worship service).  It is not just our Bishop who gives the message each week.  In fact we start our children giving short messages at the age of 12.  I loved that not only were the messages lovely on Easter Sunday, but that I had a personal connection with the women who spoke.  I knew of some of their struggles, and I knew of their great love for the Savior.  It was wonderful to go to church with the people we grew to love so much as we lived in Bettendorf for 12 years.  Easter is already so meaningful and special.  How grateful I am for the Savior.  I am grateful for his example.  I am grateful for his love for me.  I am grateful he was willing to give his life for me.  I am grateful for the gift of repentance.  I am grateful that he understands my struggles and sorrows.  I am grateful for his mercy.  What a blessing to know the Savior!

Sunday afternoon we drove to Iowa City to have Easter dinner with my brother Todd and his family (and some of their friends).  We got the easy end of the deal and only had to bring paper plates and cups.  We sure did enjoy the yummy food everyone else brought, though.  As always, the kids love playing with their cousins.  We are sure going to miss them when they move this summer.  At least they are staying in the midwest.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend.  We were grateful to get away.  We were grateful to renew friendships with old friends.  We were grateful to have time to remember the Savior's gift to us.  We were grateful to spend time with family.  We hope all of you had a wonderful Easter, too!


All of the pictures are from Wild Cat Den.  Sadly, we have none with the Garners and none with the Ebberts.

Here are the climbing kids!

Even Jake got in on the action.

It was hard to keep up with the kids.

 

 A short stop at a stream.

The three musketeers.

I had to include this because of Lizzy's face.  Love you Liz.

That's Adam up there.

Our pseudo-twins.

Awesome time at Wild Cat Den.

Easter Weekend--Post 1

All the kids preparing to make a dash for the eggs in the back yard

For Easter weekend Greg had the day off on Good Friday so we pulled the kids out of school and headed back to Bettendorf to see some friends.  It has been a long time since we have been there for any length of time so it was great fun to catch up with people we still care about even though we are farther away.  We stayed with our good friends the Jensen family, who always have a place for us.  We arrived in time for lunch on Friday.   Then Adam had planned an egg hunt for everyone.  He is outgrowing a lot of the traditions we have, but is becoming a big help in organizing things for the younger kids.  This is the first year that I didn't feel all of the eggs.  In fact, I didn't fill any of them.  Adam did it all.  He his all of them too (he may have had some help from Katelyn).  He didn't look for any of them and didn't complain that he didn't get as much candy as the other kids.  Of course he did pass off a requirement for his Family Life merit badge.  Still, he did it all without complaining.  Thanks Adam.

The search is on

The Jensen have an amazing yard for living in a suburban neighborhood. 

Ben found some cheese on the egg hunt :)

While the kids hunted for eggs, Adam shot some hoops.

There was a lot of trading and negotiating going on

Then came more outdoor fun.

The amazing Christian and his gang perform for the circus.