Lloyd Family

W e had the occasion yesterday to pass Heyburn on the freeway as we traveled to and from the baptisms of Jesse and Annelei, our nephew and niece. We were in kind of a hurry, so we had to deny the kids' pleadings to drive in to Rupert (sorry, Rupert friends!!) but I did make sure we took ten minutes to snap our annual photo on my grandpa's headstone. This picture makes me laugh, and I'm actually surprised it's as good as it is, but it was very windy, pretty cold, and a couple of the kids were cranky (big day, too much traveling, adolescence, pick your excuse). Still, tradition live on!

I t has been so fun to watch our yard bloom this spring. We moved here in the very late fall, so we had no idea what would come up in the large flower beds. Here are some  of what we're seeing:    A t long last. . . a new mower!! We got our old one nine years ago from a friend who was throwing it away. (Talk about "use it up, wear it out, etc.") Do you think the new one is an improvement?   W e have had some sprinkler-worthy weather. Or so the kids think. Ezra had the genius idea of wearing the knight armor to protect himself from actually getting wet.   J oziah's idea of sprinkler fun is watching and staying completely dry. "G o away, Cat!" This cat isn't ours, but seems to love our kids and comes around often. Ziah is not a big fan, although he's coming around. He doesn't cry or demand to be picked up anymore!

H anna finally turned 12 ! She was pretty excited to graduate from Primary and move on to Young Womens. She has really been into turtles lately, so I made her this: I t has 12 baby turtles around it, one for each year of her age. This was a happy coincidence- I just had too much batter- but I like how it turned out.     N o wrapping paper was injured in the filming of this birthday! Hanna is one of those fun people who like to unwrap gifts slowly and carefully, using her beautiful, long fingernails. H appy Birthday Hanna! We sure love you, and are happy to have you in our family.