Happy Easter

On Sunday, we had our very first Easter dinner in this house and it was wonderful.

Ron and Diane came to dinner. The kids were so excited when they rang the doorbell. Jared ran up to Diane and said, "I miss you!" over and over!

All the kids helped with the cooking and cleaning and we even had the table set before we left for church!

As we sat down for dinner, I looked at the table and realized how many people actually contributed to it. Ron and Diane brought the ham, veggie tray, and dessert. Bobbye gave us the dining room table and chairs, and the beautiful crystal pitcher holding the water. Three of the bowls on the table were inherited from my Aunt Mary a few years ago. Jessica gave me a gift card so I could buy this new tablecloth after Christmas. I bought the glass goblets and white cloth napkins on the recommendation of my friend Sherrill. One of the crystal bowls was a wedding gift. And best of all I pulled out some of my Grandma Schofield's silver to use to serve side dishes!!! It's amazing to me how many different people bless our lives day to day and sometimes we don't even realize it.

My testimony of the Savior continues to grow. This Easter Sunday I was again grateful for my Father in Heaven who sent his Son to earth so that my family can be together forever. Because, after everything else, that's all that really matters.

10 Reasons Why I Love My Dad

1) He loves his family more than anything in the world and shows it.

2) He is brave and adventurous. He travels in and out of the United States and doesn't seem to have any fear of doing it alone. I admire that quaility a lot!

3) He likes to read and introduced me to some great books in my youth. My favorites: the James Herriot books.

4) He made sure we went on nice family vacations. We went home to Colorado to see family, visited Branson Missouri, Natchez Mississippi, California, the Grand Canyon, etc. Dad likes to spend time with us. One of my favorite memories of my dad is when he was planning to take my brother, Theo, on the motorcycle up in the mountains for an overnight campout. I begged to be included and so we took the car and went. The next morning, Dad fried bacon and then cooked potatoes and eggs in the bacon grease. It was DELICIOUS. I can still remember how cool the mountain air was, the sunrise beaming through the trees and that amazing breakfast.... YUM!

5) Dad always made sure we had what we needed as kids. We didn't always get what we "wanted", but we got what we needed!

6) He took me out for Jack in the Box breakfasts on Saturday if I got out of bed early enough. Not always easy when I was a teenager.

7) I learned my love of flower gardening from my dad. He taught me how to compost at an early age. In Texas, he and I did the front flower beds together. I remember my sister Sheralyn volunteering to do the inside work on Saturdays, but I liked to be outside. (Okay, I didn't like to work outside when it was hot, which is a lot of the time in Texas. Dad may have had to drag me out of the house more than I remember.) We still talk about our flowers. He has a great rose garden!

8) Dad is a big train enthusiast. He knows all about steam trains and has passed that love on to several of my children.

9) He taught me how to swing a hammer. Dad had us kids help build the fence along our property in South Jordan, Utah. We didn't finish by the time we moved and I can't say we did the best job, but I know how to hammer and even helped Shane roof our last house.

10) Most of all I love my dad because he loves me. I wish I lived closer to him so I could goof off with him or work alongside him like the old days!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY (yesterday) DAD!!! You are the best dad any girl could ever have!!!!

Happy Day

I'm excited today because I realized that I am 20 pounds lighter today than I was a year ago on this date! I still have a long way to go to my ultimate goal, but I am definitely getting there. I have been at approximately the same weight for several months, but I think I'm going to break through this plateau soon!

Now the plan is to lose 8 more pounds before May 2nd. It is a very ambitious goal, but that is the weekend of the Flying Pig 10K and 5K and I can't wait! Our Pink Princess racing team is getting ready to FLYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

Dave Ramsey Financial Class

Dear Friends,
I am just putting in a plug for the Financial Peace University class being taught at church on Thursday nights. Shane and I took this class last year at Rolling Hills Baptist Church and it is AWESOME!!!! Even if you feel you have good control over your finances, this class is chock full of good information. Plus, Dave Ramsey is incredibly entertaining. During each class, we watched a DVD by Dave and we came away excited about gaining control of our money. I STRONGLY encourage you to take the class if at all possible.

Brother Jewell in the Hamilton Ward is teaching this class and its starting soon.....the 19th or the 26th. (I'm not sure which.) You don't want to miss it!!!!
Shane and I are planning on coming to a couple classes just for a refresher. They are SO GOOD.
Maura

Michael's Baptism

What a great weekend! Dad came up to visit and attend Michael's baptism. It was standing room only in the Relief Society room Saturday night. I couldn't believe how many people came. Lots of friends came, Shane's parents came, and several people I didn't even recognize. Glenn Unklesbay spoke and had great insight on joining the church as a teenager. Chris, Michael's brother, baptized Michael. That was really cool. Chris joined the church last year and was honored to be the one to baptize his "little" brother. Michael's mom, dad, and grandparents also came. They are really fun people and "grandpa" had us all laughing when he started acting up during the picture taking. (Wouldn't you know my camera died just when he got silly! I hope to get copies.)

Chris, Michael, and Shane (he confirmed Michael in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday.)

After the baptism, Michael and Chris came up with "M is for Mormon"!

Darlene (Michael's mom), Michael, his grandparents (so sweet), Chris, and Mark (Michael's dad) in the church foyer after the baptism.

Our families went out together to McDonalds for a little celebratory ice cream. Things got a little messy!

Jared got really sticky by the time this ice cream was gone.

Grandpa Schofield got a great seat at the kids' table. Next to Hunter on the left is Alanna, a neighbor friend.)

We noticed that all the little kids had left the table and Grandpa was all alone. (He was really okay with that.) Mikayla was worried about him and went over to rescue him. I can't believe this is the only picture I got of Jessica before my camera battery died.

What a great night!

p.s. For those of you who might not know, Michael is Jessica's boyfriend and a real sweetheart. He's like a big brother to all our other kids. We love him!

A New Member of the Family

This is our new kid---Cody!

He is a real doll. Shane and I met him a week before Christmas and had him delivered Christmas morning. The kids were thrilled. Tanner kept walking around saying he was dreaming! Cody is 11 months old and house-trained (a major plus). I swore we wouldn't get another dog until all the kids were out of diapers, but Cody was too good to pass up.

Supposedly, he is part Austrialian shepherd and blue heeler, but we think he has setter and pointer in him because of his markings. He belonged to Jessica's friend Aaron at school, but Aaron's family is pretty grown up and they were gone all day at work and school leaving Cody in a crate a lot of the time. So, they decided to look for a home where Cody would have lots of kids to play with. They found the right place.

The first few days were pretty rough, especially Christmas night. Cody paced through the house, not knowing where he was supposed to be. Eventually, he laid down and relaxed a bit, but he was up 3 times in the night. Jessica has decided that he must sleep in her room and that has been great. She lets him out in the night if he needs it and first thing in the morning she takes him to the backyard for a long game of fetch! He has tons of energy and loves to run after anything you throw for him. He's still got a bit of puppy in him and chewed up a "Pokeball" that Hunter got for Christmas. (Hunter is still not over it and wouldn't you know Meijer is out of them so I haven't been able to replace it!) Cody buries his rawhide bones and tonight during scripture time he came running into the living room with the bone he recovered from under a tree in the backyard. It was a bit dirty. I had a hard time concentrating on the scriptures between Jared kicking a soccer ball (and then cheering for himself) and watching Cody toss his bone in the air and try to catch it!

So, the chaos of our home has moved up another notch.....oh and did I mention Santa brought Tanner a set of drums!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Santa

The gift you left on the front seat of our van was over the top! Thank you and God Bless!
Maura, Shane and the kids