Update- Birthday, Ear Piercing, Goodbye

Hey everyone, I'm on my new computer, and it runs much faster, thanks to Rick. I haven't downloaded pictures for a long time, so I'll try not to make it too long. No promises though.

We've had a busy April. I'll start with Rick's birthday.

I mentioned in a previous post that the girls wanted to dress up for his birthday dinner. This is what they wore. So sweet!

That's quite a little fire on the cake there. We had to sing fast! :)

This is the end of the movie when all the kids were sitting on Rick's lap. I love it. They love their Daddy so much, just as they should.

The next big thing was the girls getting their ears pierced. I think I mentioned that they had to earn it by being good and earning beans. They had a few not so good days, but mostly they earned it pretty quickly. I am still not sure I should have let Rick talk me into this, but the girls love them and take care of them pretty well for how young they are. We got a little choked up while we were there. I know its a lot of pictures, but again, this was hard for me so deal with it!

Annie before

Annie during

Annie after. She chose green birthstones (I don't know what month.) No tears, no flinching. I am amazed by my brave daughters. Rick tried to talk me into it and I still didn't dare and was secretly relieved that they wouldn't do mine while I'm pregnant without a doctor's note.

Carlyn before

Carlyn during. Notice that she has her lamby. Anyone who knows her well know her lamby too. She chose lamby that night to comfort her.

Carlyn after. She chose the pink birthstone, of course. Again, no tears and not even the tiniest flinch. Tough cookie! For at least a week they proudly showed their ears to everyone. They'd say, "Look, I got my ears pierced. I didn't even flinch!"

Darren was bored out of his mind and screamed through the whole thing. He also went through at least 2 suckers.

Now I need to mention that my brother,Mathew, had let us know he was working in Canada for the summer and would be leaving in May. I was having a hard time with it because we're pretty close and see him a lot and my kids just adore him, especially Darren. Plus, I'm pregnant and he won't be here for the baby to be born. I'm not sure why this is so huge to me, but it is. So we had their ears pierced on Friday night the week before Easter. That weekend was also conference weekend and a family Easter party on Saturday morning (to be blogged about later.) So Saturday morning I had everything timed just right so that we can eat, bathe, get ready and watch conference then leave to the party immediately after. Well, Mathew threw it all off :)

Rick hadn't gotten much sleep that night (thanks to WOW) and was sleeping in while I showered. Next thing I knew, Rick was up and dressed. I was surprised and he said I had a call from Mathew who was on his way to Canada that day and wanted to say goodbye to us on his way out! I just stared at Rick then finally said, "You're a little late for April Fool's." He laughed but then said it wasn't a joke. Mathew was on his way. Well, I lost it. I bawled while I got ready. I know he's a grown up and I think this adventure will be really good for him, but I still miss him. Its hard when you get used to someone being there, able to come play games or watch the kids most times when we'd call. (Mathew, if you're reading this I don't say it to make you feel bad. We really are excited for you.) Anyway, he came by hugged us, used our computer, then was off.

Look at that smile! Any questions how much she loves Mathew? He lived with us when she was born and for awhile she liked Mathew at least as much as Rick.

I don't think Darren would have been smiling if he had known he wouldn't see his buddy for such a long time :)

Carlyn is old enough to understand better what was going on and was a little more clingy to him, but it was also really sweet because every prayer for over a week prayed for Mathew to be safe and have a fun time in Canada. How sweet is that?