late april and early may

Liv and I have decided to grow her hair out--bangs included.  I think she looks older with her hair off her forehead. 

She's not too old to snuggle with Bunny though:

Burke is officially a First Class in Boy Scouts:

I'm excited for Burke to turn 12 and get to do more with our troop!

Liv swimming with her good friend Natalie:

We did a lot of tree trimming in our backyard one Saturday.  I get quite nervous when Rob is balancing way up high in a tree...

We kicked off the Easter celebration with egg dyeing.  The kids were all very interested in the beginning (don't let Tosh's face fool you)...

 And then the boys lost interest and it was just Liv and me finishing up:

I got some photos of the kids in their Easter clothes PRIOR to any egg hunting or candy.  I find it works better that way--ha!  I was happy to discover that I already had clothes for the three younger kids that coordinated, and was able to find this darling checkered bow tie for Burke--score!  I thought the kids looked adorable (if I do say so myself).  Rob and I each had a camera, so get ready for Easter photo overload:

I love how Liv is looking at Hewitt in this one:

Rob and I were visiting on the couch when Liv walked up to chime in on the conversation while eating her chocolate bunny like so:

 She is such a funny girl!

It's been warmer than normal this spring which has meant earlier swimming.  New goggles:

Jumping in the pool together:

Rob and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary on April 24th.  The photo on the left is actually 17 years old--from before my mission.

Tosh recently asked me if I had ever read the book, "Where the Sidewalk Ends." Tosh and Hewitt were both thrilled to discover I owned a few Shel Silverstein books they had never seen!  I love that my boys love to read:

It was fun to watch Burke play in the "Sixth Grade All-Stars vs. Teachers" soccer game. They tied 1-1.

The kids' second cousin McCallin Fisher (Kurt and Noelle's son) got married in the Mesa Temple and we were able to go to the reception.  Liv loves her second cousin Olivia (she also goes by Liv sometimes):

We've had a few 'cooler' days lately and have tried to take full advantage of them.  Family Night bike ride:

Liv came downstairs the other morning and said, "Hey Mom, do you like how I dressed like a Rock Star today?"

 Not only is Liv obsessed with these boots, but also with popsicles!  She probably asks if she can have one about four times a day.

 One day after school I took the younger kids to the city water park to be tested for swimming lesson levels (Rob was in California and Burke was at a school field trip).  It was a great time to go as it was really quite empty. I wasn't planning on staying long (I didn't even wear my swimming suit), but the kids were having so much fun and so we stayed for almost two hours!  It was so interesting to just sit and watch the kids go down the water slides and in the lazy river without having to be IN the water! The kids are growing up!

Cute Tosh and Liv in the lazy river:

Hewitt was holding Liv up in the whirlpool area and she kept kissing him on the cheek over and over.

The Fathers' and Sons' campout was last weekend.  The guys had a great time as always, and Liv was really excited for our "Girls Night" that we've talked so much about.  She had a friend over to swim, play and eat dinner, and then Liv and I went out for frozen yogurt and played a game of Go Fish while we ate.
 

We came home and snuggled up on the couch while we ate popcorn and watched "Finding Nemo" (Liv doesn't seem to remember ever seeing it before). On Saturday we played at the park, did a little shopping, and played LOTS of board games and puzzles before the boys got home.

A couple of silly selfies from the park:

 The kids went swimming right after the guys got home that afternoon.  Liv is looking so cool in these goggles and flippers:

Burke's final book report and project of the year was to be about the Middle Ages or Renaissance period. Burke had heard that he is related to El Cid (a knight from medieval Spain), so he decided to read a book about him and research how he is related to him.  We were able to get a lot of information from Rob's Aunt Marlene, and then Burke and I spent several hours researching the rest.  The internet is so cool!!!  It turns out that El Cid is our children's 29th great grandfather!  The other interesting thing is that El Cid is buried in Burgos, Spain which was Rob's first area of his mission. Pretty awesome! Burke used this poster for his class presentation. For you Petersons, please note that you have Spanish, English, and French royalty in your blood:

Remember that sweet park in Mesa I wrote about last month? We took the whole family there one night this week (prior to a trip to the scout shop).  I knew the boys would really like all of the climbing equipment (and the ziplines). I got some fun photos of Tosh at dusk:

I've never seen a play structure as tall as this next one-- Burke got as close as he could to the top, but it was crowded with adults.  I was okay with him just coming back down before reaching the very top :)

Other things to note:
Hewitt earned his Bear and three arrow points in cub scouts.
I finished the last two art masterpiece classes of the year.
Only two and a half more weeks of school!

And last but not least, family dinner on Cinco de Mayo: