Payne Nation: April 2025

April is one of the months in St. George that feels close to perfect. The sun is always shining but it isn't quite as hot as the summer months. This is one of the months where people get out more and we get a lot of visitors for tournaments, Spring Breaks, etc. So naturally, you'll find me hiking...

Addy's cute poster to answer Henry for Senior Ball...

I also was able to chaperone Tess' class field trip to hike the volcano. It was fun to go and do this with her...

Lynn and Mary-Ann came down over Lynn's birthday. He is the best at picking cards for specific people so naturally we had to give him the biggest card we could create. We sure love this man...

Senior Ball with Henry. They are so cute and had so much fun...

Each year we have been trying to add to our Easter Week celebrations and specifically focusing on the Last Week of Christ's life. This year, we decided to re-enact each day from His life starting with the Triumphal Entry. We also did washing of the feet, Jesus cleansing the temple, 30 pieces of silver, talked about what Gethsemane would have been like, as well as the crossThis was a fun way to help the girls experience a little bit of what may have been happening during each of day His last week on earth...

Grandma and Grandpa Wayment sent an Easter package for the girls. It's always fun to get a surprise package...

Tess just loves animals. On her last birthday she got a bird that, unbeknownst to us, was sick. It died after only a week. This was such a difficult thing for this sweet, sensitive, animal-loving girl to experience. So much so that when we talked about replacing the bird, she just couldn't do it. It took almost a year before she was actually ready. And then she decided that it was finally time, for 2 birds...

Coloring Easter Eggs....

Ell's family, The Mitchells, invited us to their annual Easter Egg Hunt that Grandma and Grandpa put on. It was huge. Tons of eggs, games, prizes, and food. It was so fun for the girls...

Easter Day. After church the girls found their baskets...

Then we had a traditional Passover Feast which included lamb, fish, olives, chickpeas, dried fruits, nuts, figs, unleavened bread, and grape juice. This was such a fun and meaningful way to celebrate Easter...

Then we got to attend a Big Foot Hunting Party for West Mitchell. Such a fun idea...

Addy's 17th Birthday. This girl just keeps growing up into such a beautiful woman right before our eyes. She is adventurous, kind, a hard worker, helpful, knows what she wants, and is eager to grow up. She has a great sense of humor, thinks deeply about politics and beliefs, and wants to correct injustices in the world. It's kind of weird for a parent when suddenly your kid is closer to being an adult and interacts with you as one. She is fun to be around and we sure love her...

Through Tess' school, some of her class participated in a Young Doctor's Program. Each week they would go to Rocky Vista Medical School and learn about different things that doctors know and do. At the end of the program they held a graduation and it was so cute to watch these kids in their doctor's coats...

Afterwards, I checked Tess and Ell out of class and we headed to House of Jump to celebrate. It was awesome because we basically had the whole place to ourselves...