St. George surfing

Jeremy's family met us down in St. George which meant that the kids had cousins to play with, and we all had a boat!  Brody and Alysha brought their new boat down and all of the kids took turns learning how to surf and tubing.  

Waiting to launch to boat and testing out how cold the water was.

Brody and Aly showing us how it's done.

Jeremy was the first Rogers in the water.  It didn't take him long to figure it out, but he'll tell you he has some style points to perfect in Powell.

It was a lot of fun watching my kids tackle this new challenge.  Even though the water was cold, they sat there and shivered, determined to get up on that board!  McKenzie was the first one up and was so surprised that she fell over!  After she learned how to get up she played around with where she was supposed to be.  She kept thinking she was a wakeboarder and went really wide.  We never quite got her closer to the center line of the boat and that great wake for surfing. 

 Cambrie also got up the first day, but she really took advantage of day two and grew really confident on the board.  She even let go of the rope for a spell and coasted along on the wake like a pro.  She can't wait for Lake Powell later this summer.  

Kelton struggled because he was so cold, but the next day he used Stockton's wetsuit and was much happier.  He was able to get up too!  He never cruised along very long as he kept catching his front edge, but the fact that he was up out of the water at all was awesome.  

Aly took one for the team and spent most of the time in the water getting these kids situated and helping them figure it out.  Thank you Aly!

The kids also had a chance to tube.  Pippa and Daxton needed calmer rides than the other four, but if they succeeding in tubing then they also earned points towards the donut prize that Nana was offering.  To help Pippa stay out there longer, Cambrie rode with her and they made up a game where every bump they hit meant that they were frogs hopping out of the water.  They were frogs a lot.  Luckily, since every kid got up on the surf board (or willing tubed) they earned their donuts! I think we are all totally on board with the King's new boat!

Long days on the boat means naps for the littles.  Good thing there were plenty of arms to rest in.

Do we have pancakes?

This is what happens when your kids wake up before you and have time be be creative!

Mom made pancakes!!

Just an umbrella

Just a post of a cute kid playing with an umbrella!

 

Ninjabread men sugar cookies

Just trying to capture a simple moment of family joy.  We made sugar ninjabread men cookies, and ate them in the middle of the afternoon.  Who cares about spoiling dinner?

No walls!

When everything is cleared out of the basement, it sure looks big!  The kids had a few days to enjoy the space before construction began and they made the most of it.  They all pulled down their roller blades and went crazy!  Somehow they were even able to play tag with Daxton who didn't have his own set of wheels.  I found myself thinking, "Why finish the thing if we can leave it open like this forever?  It sure would save us a bunch of money!"  

Too soon though walls started going up.  This is getting very exciting!

 

Here we go on the basement

It's been six years, so I guess it's time for a project like this again huh?  We have decided to finish our basement.  I really want a space where Cambrie can come and hang out with her friends and potential avoid annoying little siblings if they choose.  I want a space where our guests can have a space of their own.  And I want to have it done while our kids are still around to enjoy it.  So the first step is cleaning out the crawl space to make room for everything that will be stored in there for the next few months.  My knees are totally bruised, and my spine is unhappy with me for scratching it so often on the beams, but it's organized and ready.  

Daxton didn't mind me working in there when it means that I come out with treasures like big bouncy balls for him to play with!  

The first contractor we asked to give us a bid was super friendly and professional, but his bid came back three times higher than we expected.  We knew that costs had gone up, but not that high!  So Jeremy and I made the decision to do all the work ourselves again.  Truthfully we weren't looking forward to the months of labor this is going to require, but didn't think we had another choice.  We contacted Bob again, the contractor who helped us with our last basement, to see if he'd oversee us again.  When he came and looked at the space not only did he say that he'd help, he said that he could do the entire project for our original budget!  Jeremy and I can still help in whenever we want, with electrical or tiling, or wherever we feel like the kids can learn a skill, but now it's not completely on our shoulders.  We are both so relieved.  Bob is also a lot more available to begin than we expected.  We have one week to clean out the basement to prepare it for framing.  Holy smokes, time to get going!  Jeremy and I are still listed as the permit holders for the property, which means that I had to submit our plans to the city.  Seeing our floor plan design drawn up like this makes it feel so real.  Hopefully this project goes relatively smoothly, at least as smoothly as a basement remodel can go.

 

Easter egg hunting

We had the Kings and Rogeritos out for Easter again this year.  The Easter bunny went above and beyond with the scavenger hunt.  (And even though the kids misinterpreted one of the clues and went straight from clue #1 to the finish line, we backtracked and enjoyed the rest of it.)  Cambrie was the only kid tall enough to reach the clues taped to the roof.

McKenzie reading one of the clues in her adorable jumpsuit.

Keeping little Pippa with them on their adventures was tricky.  She wanted to be part of the group but just has such little legs!

Little Addi was hiding one of the clues.

Finally the kids were directed back to the beginning...end...and retrieved their baskets.  They are definitely set on candy for the next few weeks.

 Mango tongues!  Because why not?

It was General Conference this weekend, so in between the basket hunt and the egg hunt, the kids had to sit and reverently listen to the apostles.  You can see how well that goes with three little boys.

After the last session of conference the kids headed outside again to find their Easter eggs.  Each kid had to hunt down twelve. Last time Cambrie could only find eleven and was determined to find them all this year.  We also lucked out with the weather, it was so warm and pleasant, not a snowflake in sight.

So many of Cambrie's were in the highest branches of the trees.  But by pure luck she found that last egg from two years ago!  It was hiding under one of the bushes, completely bleached and camouflaged with the rocks, but the money and candy inside was still good!

The adults were out helping to spot rogue eggs.

One of Stockton's eggs fell down the downspout.  McKenzie could see it and reached her hand down to pick it up.  Unfortunately she couldn't grasp it, and ended up getting her arm stuck in the pipe!  We had to cut the pipe off of her arm!

Happy kids with their full baskets.

Checking out their haul...more candy!  They also had some money in some of those eggs.  Don't lose those!

Super cute grandkids.