We tried once again to catch a Leprechaun to find their pot of gold . . .













We tried to lure them with clover cups of Lucky Charms and when they went to pour the milk the lid would shut trapping them in.

































Ellie wanted to name the restaurant Lucky Leprechauns Eats, but there wasn't room at the bottom of the sign so it read Eats Lucky Leprechauns--pretty ironic.  She also made sure to decorate the restaurant with her art work--pictures hung all around.  :)  Can you see the leprechauns tracks, they snuck out a small whole we didn't see on the top of the box.  They also left footprints on a Leprechaun story Ellie brought home from school yesterday--maybe some recon work to see how much we know about them.  :)

Eating the Lucky Charms left behind by the Leprechauns.  Aren't there matching shirts great--Mimi made all of the granddaughters one.

Well the only other Irish thing we have going on today is the kale in our delicious Zuppa Toscona unless bowling has some Irish roots I'm unaware of as we may meet up with our cousins for a round this afternoon.  Wish you all the luck of the Irish!

Steve's Honda Accord has slowly being dieing for a long time.  It's 22 year's old and Steve has owned it since he returned from his mission.  It has been graffiti-ed outside our apart in Provo, stolen in Tucson and returned after 2 weeks, broken into and had the stereo stolen, the transmission went out in Phoenix while we were driving home from Christmas in Idaho while I was pregnant with Ellie, the radiator blew up once, and the AC died twice, and last fall it started making some funny noises while turning and we just prayed it got us through graduation and a move.  A few weeks ago while changing the oil Steve noticed it has a cracked joint which is making the noise when you turn and then almost the very next day a radiator hose sprung a really bad leak that caused me to drive him to work.  So I hopped online and started looking for a car that met his criteria--he wanted something a little sporty with a manual transmission--what can I say he thinks he's a race car driver.  :)  I found an Audi in Salt Lake that met his criteria for a reasonable price so I rearranged our date for the next day to go test drive cars (a big THANKS to Lindsay for taking our girls in the morning on short notice).  We made an offer and waited to hear back.  Well we finally heard back yesterday.  So this morning Steve road the UTA Trax down to Sandy and purchased himself a "new" set of wheels.  Let's just say he has had a hard time wanting to work since he got home--too many new things to try.


Couple of side stories--yes that is Ellie still in her pajamas.  She stayed home sick today.  She didn't sleep well because she had a plugged nose that prevented breathing.  There was no fever, but strep throat is going around so I decided to keep her home while her immune system fights this.

Second story, the Saturday we went to test drive the car we knew Jake was in Salt Lake so after we were done test driving we called him.  I asked him where he was and he said heading South on State street looking for a place to eat lunch.  Ironically we were heading North on State street from the Sandy area so we decided to meet up for lunch at the Olive Garden in the Fashion Place Mall.  Ironically Jake had met up with Venessa earlier at the Gateway in a similar coincidence.  :)

Well it all started on Monday, when my Uncle Kirk and Aunt Brenda dropped my Mom off for the day since they were heading to Murray for a doctor's appointment.  Mimi got here just in time to run the girls to school and then go pick-up Izzy so Nessa could go to the doctor.  We stopped and got some material to add sleeves to Ellie's Easter dress and then we came home and permed Lila's hair.












She was such a trooper eating her lollipop watching a movie while we pulled and rolled and squirted on the stinky perm.  It turned out cute--it adds a lot of body to her straight as a board hair and it is so nice just to wet her hair and go.  She loves to comb and comb through it so occasionally it is frizzed out.  After the perm, we had lunch and made a run to Hobby Lobby before she headed home with my Uncle and Aunt.

First thing Tuesday morning I received a phone call informing me that my cousin that lives down the street, Matt and Lindsay, had their baby.  So we picked up their kindergartener for school and told them we would bring over dinner for their family.  I also volunteer in Ellie's classroom on Tuesdays while Lila plays at a friend's house.  Ellie has a gym class in the afternoon and Lila and I usually do the necessary shopping at this time.  I had loaded my car with stuff my Mom brought down for Nessa so she could meet me in town and get it.  Unfortunately, I locked my keys in the van--seriously . . . thankfully Steve works close and was nice enough to swing by and be our hero. We quickly picked Ellie up and hurried home to finish dinner for the O's.

Then on Wednesday we watch Lila's friend so his Mom can volunteer in the classroom.  I went visiting teaching in the afternoon.  Then Ellie has a sports class that we drop her off at and Steve brings her home on his way home from work.  Usually I go home and start dinner, but this Wednesday evening got a little busy because I had to run to the store to get supplies for all of our company coming and Steve now has EYO scouts on Wednesday evenings.  

Thursday Lila has gym class right after we drop the girls off at school and then we came straight home to fix lunch for Steve's sister Melanie and her family of 9.  We were excited to see them and grateful they stopped by on their way to Manti for a wedding. We had a nice visit and enjoyed lunch together.  The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins.  

I also received a call from my Grandpa and Grandma Olenslager who said they were going to Las Vegas to visit my Grandpa's brother and they wanted to stop here and visit with all of their grandkids since there are four of us here with our families.  So I called around and got a little party set up for 4pm Friday.  Unfortunately, my Grandpa got really sick and they could not make the trip so we hope to be able to have a get together with them another time.  However, Friday meant I still had a Girls' Activity Day to prepare for and my parents were coming into town that evening to celebrate Jake's birthday.  I was trying to squeeze in a workout on the treadmill while Lila rode her bike around in the basement.  She went up to get her coat and next thing I heard made my heart sink as it was the sounds of thuds and cries.  I jumped off the treadmill to find Lila in tears at the bottom of the stairs.  Of course she would have to fall down the non-carpeted stairs.  Her little face had a bruise and scratch from her nose up to the middle of her forehead.  I felt so bad.  I'm so grateful Nessa and Izzy could come down and stay with my girls while I went to Activity Days.  My parents arrived we had dinner and visited for a minute before everyone headed off to bed.

Saturday, I got up early and took my Dad to pick-up our Bountiful Basket and then I cooked breakfast after which we decided to head up to Nessa's house and do a little sledding in their backyard.  When we told Ellie we were going sledding she got so excited which I thought was interesting since she has never done it before.  We bought a sled and away we went.










As you can tell from the pictures, we had a blast!  It was a really small hill, but was perfect for our fist adventure with the girls.  Ellie quickly learned you stay off the sledding trail and would hike down the hill to carry up the sled for everyone.  It was so fun to watch her--she has grown-up so much and it makes me smile to see what a wonderful little girl she is.  She stayed out long after everyone else went inside and was going down on her stomach or backwards just having a ball.  We told her we would try and take her to a big sledding hill and she lit up with excitement.

We had hot cocoa, a fruit platter with dip, and a 7-layer dip to enjoy while Izzy took a nap.  Jakey showed the girls how to use Robin Egg candies to make blue lipstick.




We then went out to a late lunch for Jake's birthday at Texas Roadhouse.  Where we had an interesting family discussion.  After which we came home to finish baking sugar cookies, one of Jake's favorites, instead of a cake for Jake's birthday.






My parents and Jake headed out that night for their homes so we bathed the girls and put them in bed in preparation for Sunday which would be an early day since Steve's sister Stephanie, who lives in Salt Lake, had invited us down for her baby, Sam's blessing at 9am.  It is also her birthday and earlier in the week I had thought about making her a Miami Beach birthday cake which is a Moore family tradition.  I forgot until that evening so at 10pm I sent Steve to Walmart to get whipping cream and I began baking.  A couple of times while I was baking Lila cried and I would have to console her.  I tried to go to bed around 11 pm, but Lila did not sleep well Saturday night.  I don't know what was bothering her, but she was up every 20 minutes screaming I continued to try and console her without much luck.  So she and I did not get much sleep.  On Sunday we got up early, ate breakfast, packed up our stuff and headed to Salt Lake for the baby blessing.  I was not for sure how Lila's mood would be without getting much sleep the night before, but she was a trooper. As we were getting out at the church Ellie said, "I really can't tell Gabe and Oliver apart.  I just always say Gabe and Oliver." :) We enjoyed their sacrament meeting and then went to their new home for lunch.  We enjoyed visiting with them and Doug's family who came down from Logan for the event.  It was a very nice Sunday.  Lila keeps talking about baby Sam and how she got to hold him. 





The week was very eventful--we enjoyed everything and love seeing family, but it all seemed to come at once.  I'm hoping to enjoy a more normal routine this upcoming week.