Senior Pictures

Senior pictures have changed so much from the days when mine were taken.  I cringe every time I look at my pictures, sitting in a chair in a studio with a colored backdrop, closed fist under my chin!  They're so much more natural now, and they really show personality.

Maren is lucky enough to have an aunt who spent hours with her, taking pictures in the most unusual places.  We took some at a duck pond by a trailer park, some at the entrance to the freeway, and some in the cemetery.

 Later, we went to Salt Lake and took some behind Lagoon, some in an amazing public library, and some at the gorgeous Memory Grove park.  We had lots of fun and got some great shots of a beautiful girl!  Maren has grown into such a terrific young lady.  She's intelligent, kind, and so spiritual, and she always impresses us.

 Thank goodness for Becky because we are not naturally a very photogenic family!  Here's the proof!

Emma's Big Surprise

For at least 6 months Emma has wanted a ukulele.  It started when I showed her a video on Youtube of a man and his three year old daughter signing "Tonight You Belong To Me" while he played the ukulele.  It was so cute, and I told the girls I wanted them to sing it as a duet for me.  Emma said she would learn it if I'd get her a ukulele, and she started putting them in my Ebay shopping cart every time she got on my site.  She constantly reminded me that she wanted one, and she told me about a dream she had about how sad she was when she didn't get one.  I've never seen her want something so much, so I bought her a ukulele for her birthday. 

 

 I couldn't help playing a trick on her, though.  Inside of the ukulele-shaped present, she opened this:

 A dollar store toy ukulele!  She was pretty surprised and didn't seem too thrilled!

 When she opened the real thing, though, she loved it.  She's been teaching herself to play all week.

Emma is such a fun person, and we love having her in our family!  Happy Birthday, Kiddo!

 

Chris' Big Day

It's not every year that you get to celebrate your birthday on Easter AND General Conference weekend, but Chris had the great luck to do just that! Laura's family came for the Easter weekend, so we had lots of family to celebrate with.  First, we watched conference at Mom and Dad's house.

Next, we had a giant Easter Egg hunt.  The night before we had a glow in the dark hunt, which was a lot of fun, but this time it was serious.  The two birthday boys set off together to find the money eggs!

Emma was determined to find the egg with the $20 bill (donated by Uncle Rob).  Even Devin hunted!

The chickens must have wanted to join in the fun because Layla found a light green egg that turned out to be freshly laid!  

We figured we hid almost 1,000 eggs, and the kids had way too much candy, but they also had lots of fun!

After the Easter egg hunt Grandma and Grandpa Symons joined us for Chris' birthday.

I love this picture! My family is naturally unphotogenic, but I think my genes must be rubbing off on Del.

 Of course he got the usual gifts, like clothes, but his favorite was an old exit sign I found at DI.  It goes well with his vintage bowling pin and the stop sign I bought him previous years.  His bedroom is rather eclectic, to say the least.

 Liam helped him play with his remote control car.  Boys never get too old for those!

 The following day was Liam's football birthday party at our house.  Lots of work, but Pinterest worthy!