Winner, winner!

We attended Beehive Elementary's Bee-A-Reader Assembly on April 26th in the morning. Brooklyn had met her goal of reading 3600 minutes since school started. Yes, many of those minutes were me reading to her, but we enjoyed our time reading together. Brooklyn earned a medallion for completing this goal. She had several friends from her class earn their medallion as well.

Then they held a drawing for a free bike. One lucky boy and one lucky girl from Kindergarten through 3rd grade would win. (4th through 6th had their own assembly and drawing for bikes). She earned tickets for this drawing each month by meeting the monthly reading goals. There were so many tickets in the bowl so imagine our shock and surprise when they called out "Brooklyn Nowling". I think it took Brooklyn a minute to have it register because she had to be told to go up on the stage. We were so excited for her!

The certificate allowed her to pick one bike from our local Walmart with no more than a $60 value. We weren't able to go pick out her bike for a few days though.

Later that day of the assembly, she was invited to go back to the school to have a cookie, milk and pick out a book! She would have been completely happy just being able to pick a free book and getting a cool medallion with her name on it, but the bike was an added surprise! She picked the above book. I tried to get her to pick a chapter book, but in the end it was her choice.

Saturday we finally had the chance to take her to Walmart to pick out her bike. There was only one girl bike in the size she needed. It was a big ordeal that I won't go into, but she was excited to have a new bike! She came right home and rode around with one of the neighbor girls. Now we just need to teach her how to ride without training wheels. She's still a little scared to try right now.

Farewell

Three months ago my dad and step-mom received a mission call to serve in the Washington DC South Mission. It's been a crazy three months. They've been busy getting everything packed away so they can rent their home (if you know of anyone looking to rent a home in West Jordan, let me know). Fortunately they started working on this early on because it was a big project. When you are young and serving a mission, you basically pack up some things from your room, but not a whole house so it's a bit different.
Also it's been a crazy three months for me because I've been sick two of those months (the last two) so I haven't been much of a help. I helped where I could, but not nearly as much as I could have if I felt well. They felt bad because they weren't able to help me as much either so I guess it worked out. :)
This Sunday, April 15th was their "farewell". We don't technically call them farewells anymore, but in a way they still are considered farewells. My step-mom spoke on charity and my dad on the prodigal son. They both did a great job! Plus, it was awesome to have so many family members there together (that doesn't happen very often since several members of our family no longer attend church). I'm grateful they came to support our parents though. I even had my mom, my mother-in-law and father-in-law there so that was cool too!
We had a little luncheon at their empty house right after the meeting. My step-mom was so embarrassed to be serving people on paper plates and having people sitting on the floor. It worked out great though. Afterward we made sure to take a few family pictures because, again, we aren't together all that often. We still were missing two people. My nephew, Micah, was in California with this dad and my niece, Maddie, was in Cedar City because it was prom weekend. Here we all are! Eliza was a little camera shy with all the people so she had to be next to me at all times.
Then grandma and grandpa with their grand kids. I'm hiding behind Eliza to get her to stay in the picture.
My dad, step-mom, 3 brothers and 2 step-sisters.
Add a few spouses to the mix.
And of course, the stars of the show, Elder and Sister Harris! We are proud of them for their decision to serve a mission and for the example they are setting to our family. Brooklyn has been praying for them every day. Even with all the ways we've tried to prepare her, she's still a little concerned about where they are and if they are safe and, of course, if she will still get a birthday present from them next year. :)
Sunday was a crazy day! We went to church, the luncheon, ran home for Marty to make an appointment he had at the church, then ran back to catch the tail-end of an Open House they had in their ward, went to see them set apart as missionaries at their Stake Center, and then back to their house to finish the last minute details of emptying the place out. It was a long day!
They spent the night at our house and woke up to drive to the MTC to officially report in for their mission. It would have been easier on them if they reported to the MTC on Wednesday like most missionaries because Sunday wouldn't have been as crazy, but it is what it is. I bawled as they left my house. I'm not sure why because they will be back this weekend. They have 5 days at the MTC, the weekend off, and then 4 more days at the MTC before they start the drive out to Virginia. I really shouldn't cry until they officially leave, but I'm an emotional wreck anyway.

Easter

We celebrated Easter on Saturday and Sunday. We usually like to attend a city Easter Egg Hunt in North Salt Lake, but it wasn't possible this year. Marty was in charge of a ward baptism. The girls went with him and I stayed home because I wasn't feeling too great. Well, while they were gone, the Easter Bunny came to our house. Brooklyn walked into our house after the baptism, took one look around and noticed a few eggs. She ran back out to the garage to get Eliza! She was so excited! Their baskets were hidden so they grabbed some bags to start looking for eggs. Brooklyn was really sweet to leave eggs for her sister. She could have grabbed way more than she got, but she would say "I'll leave this one for Eliza". Eliza and Brooklyn had been playing with the eggs for the week before so Eliza was beyond excited to realize the eggs were full of surprises. One of her eggs opened in her bag and she said "there is candy in my egg!" She is my candy girl so she was in heaven.
They are still searching for eggs. I already had a little mess (toys) in our front room as you can tell.
It's fun to see how each kid is different. Brooklyn opened each egg to examine what she got. We put Squinkies (silly little toys) in a few of the eggs. They were Brooklyn's favorite part! She likes candy, but knows how to control herself so she hardly ate any. In fact, she still has some Valentines candy that she has never eaten. I guess it's time to throw that away. :) I call her my candy hoarder.
Eliza on the other hand is the complete opposite. She went right for the goods. She didn't care what was in each egg. She just wanted to eat the candy in the one egg she was holding. She is my candy girl. She ate so much candy I'm surprised she wasn't sick. She refused to eat lunch after all the candy too. She said she was full. I'm sure she was. She is also known for finding Brooklyn's "hidden candy" and helping herself.
Next was the treasure hunt to find their Easter baskets. Brooklyn loved this part! I wish I would have videotaped the whole thing. She had fun trying to read the clues and "solve the mystery". Eliza wasn't really sure what was going on and was more worried about eating her candy. :)
Part of the treasure hunt took them outside. Brooklyn's favorite part was the Easter Bunny was in our truck and he made a mess in our basement (just a small mess of course). She had a lot of questions about the Easter Bunny this year. We usually don't talk too much about the bunny. In fact, she even told me "when I was little, I thought you were the Eater Bunny". Maybe I should have told her, but I didn't want to take away the fun and magic for the little ones.
Eliza found her basket and was pretty excited! She received a bunch of the Disney Princesses.
Brooklyn hoped she would get the princesses too, but was excited to see a Snap n' Style doll that she has wanted instead. She also realizes that sisters share. :)
Later on that day we colored Easter eggs. My girls were excited for the activity.
Eliza had forgotten all about them so she was relearning the skill.
And of course we needed to take our annual family Easter picture.
Just the girls.
Marty and Brooklyn only because Eliza only wanted to be in pictures with me.
Sunday morning brought church. Here are the girls in their Easter dresses. Love them!
It was nice to have Marty home with us for Easter. Later on we went to a family dinner with Marty's family and they had an Easter egg hunt there. I don't have any pictures because my camera was already full with the pictures from the day before. It was a wonderful weekend though!
Of course we talked about our Savior. We talked with the girls about his life, his crucifixion, and resurrection. We enjoyed watching the Bible videos on lds.org and had a family night about it. I'm grateful for the Easter season that reminds us of all the things our Savior has done for us and that we can share them with others. I'm grateful for the knowledge I have of my Savior. Happy Easter!