April

Spencer decided after seeing his dad and brother with mohawks, that he needed one too.



The church had announced general conference would look different this year, and boy did it! No patrons were allowed in person at the conference center and only the speakers were in the room, they were all 6 feet apart. That was weird to see. I spent the weekend trying to make some masks. Nate found some free pallets and made me a few garden boxes that turned out beautiful and now we just need to make some decisions on how we want the backyard to look so we can put them in their final resting place.



We had our first backyard fire of the year. S'mores galore!


We had a great Easter, the boys got a bucket of sand toys to share (and fight over). They've spent lots of time in the sandbox playing and I call that a win. We had dinner and an egg hunt at Oma and Opa's.



On a nice windy day, Nate took the boys over to the park to fly kites. Spencer thought that was so cool!



We tried to get outside and do lots of hiking and exploring when the weather was nice. We went to celebration park with my sister and boys. Nate rode his bike all the way out there. It was a beautiful but windy day.





Nate wanted to mix up her workout routine so got himself a giant tire to flip around and beat up. It 
is heavy and it does make for a good workout! The boys even enjoy beating up on it occasionally.




The boys' favorite spot is elephant rock. Mr. Independent refused the hiking backpack and walks the whole trail himself. Pretty cute, but pretty slow. 







We finally updated to a bigger, newer vehicle. I wasn't quite ready, but Nate was eager. That camry was good to us! It was beat up, one of a kind, and had more than 255k miles. I thought we could get a few more out of it but it was time. And we said goodbye to the camry.



We heard a great horned owl had babies in a tree downtown near some good hiking trails so we picked up my nephews and went to see the owl and go for a hike!

Can you spot the owls? Their eyebrows make them look very grumpy! :)





One morning I woke up with a killer headache. I tried ibuprofen, napping, coke, excedrin, and nothing helped. For almost 72 hours I had this killer headache that I could not get rid of. I had never had a headache that was there when I went to bed and there when I woke up. It was pretty miserable and I couldn't figure out what was going on. Then I started getting an itchy, rash looking patch on my back. Something clicked and I was pretty sure I had shingles!! After researching and talking to other people, I was convinced that's what it was and that I needed to get on an antiviral ASAP. To make matter worse, covid. I could not get seen anywhere! I went to one urgent care but because I had a headache I had to go get tested for COVID first. Not a chance, I knew this wasn't COVID. I called my boys' doctor, they weren't seeing new patients. Called another urgent care and just got recordings. I was so frustrated and miserable. Nate finally called and got through for me and made me an appointment for the next day. Turns out I was right, I had shingles. The rash wasn't as bad as I'd heard, but the neurological pain was pretty extreme for me. Turns out lots of younger people are getting it now!


More fun from April.




Nate took the boys fishing and you can see how that ended.







Sweet Potato & Sausage Breakfast Casserole

I am a big fan of breakfast casseroles. Maybe it's only having the one pan to clean? Maybe it's everything I love about breakfasts in one bite? I'm not sure but this is a favorite! Plus I love that it was full of vegetables but my kids still ate it!

Ingredients:
  • 1 sweet potato, diced (I liked smaller better)
  • 1 medium zucchini, diced
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 lb sausage
  • 3 mini sweet peppers
  • 8 eggs
  • 1/2 c almond milk
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • dash of salt and pepper

Instructions:

  1. Cook sweet potatoes in oil until they start to soften.
  2. Add the zucchini and pepper and cook until all are softened.
  3. Preheat oven to 350.
  4. Spread vegetable mixture onto bottom of 9x13 baking dish.
  5. Cook sausage in the same pan the vegetables were in.
  6. When done, spread onto the sweet potato mixture and mix/spread around the pan.
  7. Whisk eggs, milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder in medium bowl.
  8. Pour evenly over sausage mixture, stir to combine if needed.
  9. Bake for 40 minutes, or until eggs are cooked.