April Miscellaneous 2020

April was weird...we spent so much time at home, and had to get a little more creative with our entertainment.  Even though our lives felt a little off balance, we were blessed to be healthy and there were still plenty of great memories to be made

Ruby has provided our daily dose of sunshine.

The kids have had a lot of time to do crafts, it has been fun to see all of their paintings and projects.  Luke even created his own present for Gavin's birthday.

After a month of not going to Santaquin, we were able to sneak down for a quick outdoor visit at Jarin and Jami's house.  Jami had made masks for all of us - luckily the kids thought they were fun to wear.  We also got to play with baby chicks and puppies.  It was a pretty great afternoon. 

Little did we know then how long we would be wearing these masks.

The orders to "stay at home" have definitely resulted in some new hobbies.  The past few years we have had a small little garden patch, but this year we decided to improve our little plot.  After a lot of raking, weeding, and rearranging, we put in our first plants - broccoli, cabbage and onions.  We would have to wait until it got a little warmer to plan anything else, but it was a great start. 

The girl sleeps as hard as she plays.

Luke had outgrown his motorcycle and kept asking us for a bigger one.  After missing out on a few good deals, we finally found one that we were willing to buy and surprised Luke with the new bike.

Luke passed his old bike to Ruby,

She is a complete maniac, and rides whenever she gets the chance.

Matching with Miss Nikki

Ruby was assigned to write about what she wanted in the future.  Go to France and be a vet.

Tim and the kids always work so hard to make sure I have a great birthday.  This year my birthday fell on a Saturday which was perfect.  I got up early and rode my bike downstairs for two hours, then came upstairs to find the most beautiful flowers.  

We planned to spend the afternoon in Santaquin in the back yard with my parents.  We ate lunch, chatted, played baseball, and ate birthday cake.  It was definitely different than most of my birthday celebrations, but it might be one of my favorites. 

I love this picture of my dad pitching to my mom!

Ruby spent most of her time training Gracie.

Quarantine project No. 2,587...we decided to re-do, then expand our deck.  For several weeks the deck was in limbo, without a railing, and the kids thought it was the best.  

Crazy hair day works just as well on Zoom as it does in person.  With all of the changes in the kids' schooling, we sure appreciated all of the extra effort from their teachers to still make it fun. 

Ruby got to represent the letter "X" in their alphabet review.

Tim had to take the kids with him to show a home....lucky for them there was plenty of dessert to explore.  They even caught a lizzard...fortunately they decided to leave him there.  

Happy Birthday Luke - It's Great to be Eight

For months leading up to his birthday, Luke was so excited - this was a big one - 8 years old!  He had talked about what type of party he wanted, who he wanted to invite, and of course, what kind of cake he would have.  As his birthday got closer and the world was still shut down, it quickly became obvious that there would need to be a change of plans.  It was clear there would not be a traditional party, or a lot of our other traditional birthday activities, but we wanted to make sure that Luke's day was special, and that he felt loved.  The night before his birthday, we sat on the couch in the living room and told him the story of his birthday, and reminded him how excited we were when he arrived.

Luke has really been into football lately so that seemed like a perfect theme.  I was able to get a football party kit and Tim and I got everything set up the night before.  Luke is like his mama and doesn't wake up so well, even on his birthday, but once he got his eyes all the way open, he was really excited about his first celebration of his big day.  After opening presents, I made his favorite waffles, and we spent some time just talking about what an awesome kid he is.  During the day he had several calls from family, grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc.  It all made him feel so great.

Alexa...his favorite present.

Even Ruby got a surprise.

Mid-morning Luke's second grade teacher, Mrs. Bertuzzi, came over to drop off a card and candy bar.  Luke has really loved being in her class and was super excited to have her come to his house.  He was especially excited that she brought Charlie who barked hello from the back seat. 

Later that afternoon Sonny and his family stopped by to wish Luke a happy birthday.  They had only seen each other briefly since school was canceled and they had the best time together out in the front yard  It was such a sweet birthday visit. 

We asked our neighbor if he would bring out his DJ speakers for a little socially distant dance party in the cul de sac.  Luke saw him setting up and got excited about the party, but was so surprised when he found out it was all for him.  The kids all danced around, wandering to different parts of the neighborhood, and enjoyed some birthday rice krispie treats from our yard.     

After the party ended, Tim went and picked up dinner from Mooyah - burgers & fries - then we had tres leches for dessert.  At the end of the day, Luke told us that it was his best birthday ever.  In fact, he still talks about his awesome DJ dance party, the cake, and all of the calls and visits.  I had been so worried that he would feel disappointed on his birthday, but it really did end up being such a happy day.  He felt loved and important and that is all that really matters on your birthday.

Luke actually started celebrating a few days early...while we were together with my family for Easter, we celebrated these two best cousins.  

Luke was able to celebrate one last time when Erika and Brycen came down to wish him a happy birthday.  Erika gave him a fish - a beta fish that he named Memo.  The rest of his birthday had been super fun, but getting a fish might have been the highlight. 

Ok, I know that every parent thinks their child is amazing, a genius, and the cutest thing that ever lived, but honestly, Luke is really such a special kid.  He is so easy to love, and genuinely just wants to make others happy.  I love that he is old enough to participate in making a birthday poster, it is fun to see what he thinks about himself.  There were a lot of new interests and favorites this year. Honestly, this kid just totally has my heart and I absolutely love being his mama.

Over the past year there have been so many awesome, funny, and tender moments with this kid.  I haven't been as great at keeping track as I have in the past.  In fact, I have committed to do better because I love reading and remembering all of the little things.  But I do have a few, and they are all so typical of my boy:

*During one of Ruby's more silly times, he told her "Ruby, you really need to take things more seriously in life.

*He told me that Drake said that he was never going to get married because it would be too embarrassing to have everyone watch.  But Luke has been trying to tell Drake that he should plan to get married.  He said that it is a lot better if you have two people because then you make more money, and also, if you're a boy and you don't get married, you an't get a baby.  Love that he has it all figured out.

*After helping me pull weeds one day he asked me if it made me happy to have the yard look so nice.  Then he said "it makes me happy when I make other people happy".

*We got a ping pong table and he and Tim play almost every day.  He has gotten so good and loves when he is able to beat his dad.

*This year he discovered BYU sports and became a super fan.  

Easter 2020

Easter looked a little different this year.  But despite covid and social distancing, we were able to celebrate the holiday and still had everything that really mattered - Jesus, Family, and the Easter Bunny.

The week before Easter Luke and Ruby got busy during General Conference and made several Easter crafts.  These little pets were definitely their favorite of the projects. 

Pandemic or not, we found a way to celebrate Easter at Grandpa and Grandma Broadbents.  Luckily the weather cooperated so we were able to all stay outside.  We weren't quite so good at the social distancing, but we tried.  The kids had so much fun during the egg hunt, and of course, we all just loved the chance to continue our long held tradition.

Racing for the best eggs

Looks like it paid off

Our kids have the very best grandparents!

We took advantage of having 6 out of 7

And got a great porch picture

After a long day, I didn't feel like dying Easter eggs, but Ruby found a kit in the pantry and they begged to make their own.  So...I went Target to pick up a last minute order, and Tim was left in charge.  They turned out great - in fact Ruby loved hers so much that she made them a little home and refused to let anyone eat the eggs.

Easter morning started early.  It was cold and windy, but the kids didn't seem to care and quickly got ready for a back yard hunt.  Once everyone had their baskets, and we had eaten a delicious breakfast, we had our home church.  it was really nice this year to be all together as we talked about Christ and reviewed the Easter story.  I found some coloring pages that outlined the events of the last week of Christ's life and it was nice to be able to share more of the story with the kids.  Luke really didn't like to hear many details because it all just made him too sad.  We tried to keep it light and kid friendly, but it felt important to make sure they understood all that Christ sacrificed for us. 

Many of the eggs had little stuffed animals inside and they were a huge hit.

Easter baskets for everyone (even Taylor and Erika)

Luke and Ruby have had the best time playing with their mini Easter pets

Ruby the found the haunted Easter Bunny

Luckily this one seemed a little more sweet.