Not To Be Out Done

April 16 was a big day at our house. The tornadoes hit and Brinley started walking. But we still managed to slide in a singing Happy Birthday to Matt and a little cake at the Pope's. Happy 3-1 babe!

We actually celebrated the night before with dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings but unfortunately a difficult client cut into the fun and we had to end the festivities early and head over to there house. Ohh the joy of owning your own business! Its okay though I rolled down my window as Matt talked to them so they knew that two screaming children were in the car and a Friday night at 8:30 there just isn't much we can do. Its a good thing Matt is so good with clients. This couple is still one of our clients today so obviously the issue was resolved.

Tornados Hit the Carolinas

Between April 14-16 165 tornadoes ravaged the south in one of the largest tornado outbreaks recorded. Now that the clean up is well underway I wanted to share with you some of the affects of the tornadoes near us. On April 16 a series of tornado swept through North & South Carolina. When the tornado hit in Fayetteville about 15 miles from our house there were approximately 6 other tornadoes on the ground between North and South Carolina within that 20 minuet span. So, unfortunately there wasn't much coverage of our tornadoes until it was past us. Even though our county, Cumberland, had little to no warning there was only one fatality. Damaged exceeded over 150 homes destroyed and hundreds were damaged. Its path was over a mile wide.
This picture was featured in Time magazine. That is our white truck and trailer on the far left, if you can see it, at the intersection. If you see this picture blown up you can also see Matt sporting his big straw brim hat.We had the opportunity to go and help with clean up the next day in the shown development. I had a friend, Lindsey, who was willing to keep my kids so that I could go with Matt. It was an amazing experience to see. We also heard some amazing stories. Not a single person was seriously injured from the development shown but several were literally picked up by the tornado. Most of these homes were torn down and either rebuilt or just left.

We were far enough away that we didn't get much damage except more damage to our roof. We will have it replaced this fall but are waiting it out for now. Don't worry there aren't any leaks.

Easter

Keeley

Brinley


A couple times this week we have talked with Keeley about the meaning of Easter. At only two years old she can tell you about Jesus praying and being hurt, dying on the cross and being resurrected. Of course at such a young age she can't possibly understand the huge impact this sacred day has on our lives but listening to her tell the story brings me to tears. I am so grateful for our Savior on this wonderful day.

This is the first we have tried dying eggs with Keeley. It was a good time for everyone.




We were there too.

Now this afternoon we are headed to a friends house for good food and company. It is so nice to have segregate family here that we can celebrate holidays with.

Daddy Time

We have officially entered busy season. Matt leaves around 6 am and returns around 8 pm Monday through Saturday. That makes Daddy time a peciuos commodity. The girls are always so excited to see him when he gets home. So I try to resist the temptation to be upset or stressed when he gets home and everything is a disaster and just let everyone enjoy the little time together. This is something I'm still working on definitely not perfect here.

These pictures just remind me how much I love my little family. The Girls favorite thing to do if he gets home before bed is to chase each other in the front yard. Keeley say "NaNana Boo Boo you can't catch me." and Brinley screams and chuckles as Matt fly's her through the air to catch Keeley. These are the moment I never want to forget.
Brinley is affected by Daddy being gone a lot more than Goose. When he walks into the house she instantly crawls towards him and will fuss at his feet until he picks her up. It is pretty cute how those two have bonded. At least I have Keeley who acts that way towards me. It is always nice to know you are loved.

Gymnastics

Keeley has been taking gymnastics the past four months. Wednesday are her favorite day of the week now because it is gymnastics day. I have to hear all about it every other day of the week. Keeley does really well. The class is for 3-5 year olds but she started at 2.5 years old, mostly because I wanted her to be in a class with older kids. But she keeps right up. It has been a great thing for her because she is so active and she needs time doing active and social things.

Stretching

Learning Forward Rolls on the Balance Beam.

Learning Pull Overs on the bars. Miss Erin you see behind her is her coach. Keeley adores her. Keeley insist on having her hair like Miss. Erins several days through out the week. She is really good with the kids and is pushing them to learn more.

Practicing pull overs on her own.

Conference Weekend

For conference this year we headed to the Roberts for a mini reunion seems how we won't be making it the "big" one this summer.

The Clan
Grandma Deon
Hiking with Grandpa
Heidi had this idea to make a table runner with batting in it so that she didn't have to cover her table every night with hot pads to set dishes on. I thought it was brilliant so we made table runners, place mats and few other little projects while we were there. Lots of fun and I love the colors I found. (the other side of the table runner is like the place mats)