April Conference

Conference has always been something that I have looked forward to and dread at the same time. Looking forward to having the spirit in my home and being able to hear council from our prophets and leaders is my favorite part BUT with four small children it has proven very difficult to actually get anything out of conference. One day I found this idea on Pinterest and decided to give it a go. It was AWESOME!!!

For every member of the First Presidency and Quorum of the 12 Apostles, I made a bag with their picture on it. In each bag was either a treat ( a healthy and non sugar to help with hyperactivity) or an activity (like playdough, velcro sticks, playdough, coloring pages). My kids were really excited by this and with every speaker where running over and seeing if their picture matched any of the bags. When it did they would sit quickly and do the activity until it was time to do the next bag! AWESOME!! 

We were actually able to sit and watch two full sessions at our own home. Usually we decided to drive around for a session so we can hear. We did decide to go to my family's for the Sunday sessions since its tradition. 

This was by far the most favorite activity. Marshmallow temple building! 

This is Peter working on his. 

Andrew doing his. 

My brothers decided they needed to get in on it as well.

The family all together.

Julia found Uncle Glen's skateboard later and decided to test her moves.

I'm really excited about the idea of conference coming again soon. My kids can't wait to see what will be in our bags this time. 

Our 2012 Easter

We celebrated Easter this year by doing this countdown. Instead of doing them all in one setting like my family did when I was little...we did one every day for 12 days for scripture study. It was a great way to bring Easter into our home.

We had a new cousin come into our family. Cute baby Jenna! 

We headed down to Firth for conference and had fun dying eggs during one of the breaks.

We then had our annual egg hunt! 

This is how Matthew felt after a weekend at Grandmas! 

The Monday after Easter we had a Tietjen Family Easter Egg hunt!

It was a great Easter and we had a lot of fun being with family and remembering why we  have Easter. 

Anthony's New Car

We decided that Anthony need a newer and bigger car. 

(One that I could drive was a good selling point since I can't drive stick...I know...I really should learn...someday!)

He picked out this green Honda Accord. He has really liked it and feels much more safe! It works better for hauling around the priests in Anthony Young Men's group. 

Peter's 7th Birthday!

My baby turned 7! 

He has grown up so much! 

He is always ready to laugh and to play games. He wants to be a guitar play when he grows up and loves to do anything that allows him to express creativity. i.g. paint, color, draw...

These were his breakfast doughnuts!

Opening his presents!

A kit to make your own bouncy balls from Grandma!

Super excited about the telescope that we gave him. 

The cake! 

I attempted to make an alien space ship!

I didn't succeed very well but I tried! The cake was old and dry and everything else kind of fell apart but he loved it! That's all that matters. 

St. Patrick's Day

Okay..

So I'm a little behind in my blogging! I will try and make up for it in the next few days.

So stand back and be prepared for a bunch of posts!

One of our St. Patrick's Day tradition is to make Leprechaun Traps the night before. We then sent them up and see if we can catch any. We had some cousins over and they made some as well. 

The leprechauns always play tricks on us for trying to catch them. This was one of them. 

On St. Patrick's Day, I let Anthony talk me to getting this puppy. 

This is Suzy!

We got her when she was 7 weeks old and were told that she was a teacup schnauzer. We have recently found out that she is more likely a toy. The kids have loved having a dog. Anthony and I are accepting our fate and feel that we have gained another child. 

This is how big she was when we got her.

She has 4x that!

Welcome to the family Suzy!!

Since getting Suzy, we have had to put up chicken wire around our fence five feet high. She's like a cat and climbed the 3 foot wire we had up! She loves to play fetch and to follow me around like a little puppy!

For My Wall

Every year I subject my kids to a torture photo session. I place them on a prominent wall in my living room! Here are the results of this year's session!

For some strange reason, all my children decided to smile like this...maybe we will do a serious pose this year! 

Again...maybe not!

Mr. A is my deep thinker! He is always attempting to figure out how something works! This one fits him to a T!

My silly little Miss J! Oh, the joy you bring me!

Mr. P is my most laid back of children...he's quick to laugh! 

I have never attempted to get one of them all before! This was the best of the bunch! Little Mr. M  refused to look at the camera! Out of the 10 photos that I took, he chose not to look at me in all of them! sigh....next year!