2012 In Review

It was quite an eventful year for us.  It’s nice to have some proof that we did more than just build our house!

Daniel: Turned 1, heart healthy (!!), surgery for tubes and to open his tear ducts, normal hearing (!!!), sprouted at least a dozen teeth, got his first haircut, learned to crawl, learned to cruise, learned to stand unassisted, learned to blow kisses and play Peek-a-boo, learned a few signs…oh, and won the popularity contest everywhere he went.

Caleb: Turned 4, broke his nose, had surgery to fix his nose and place ear tubes, crammed a broken plastic pipe into the back of his mouth, got lots of scrapes and bruises, fell off his chair at every meal, cut his hair and Daniel’s too, cut his finger open with a box cutter, started preschool, perfected every ninja move in the book.

Rachel: Learned to read, turned 5, graduated from Preschool, lost her first two teeth (in the same week), started Kindergarten.

Josh: Ran the Wellsville Mile, earned his Bear in Cub Scouts, turned 10, participated in his first Pinewood Derby, started 5th grade.

Emily: Participated in the Young Writers’ Fest, went to Girls’ Camp and won the “Giggler” award, started 7th grade, earned her Faith in God award, turned 12, started Young Women, gave her first Sacrament Meeting talk, spent lots of hours babysitting, got her first 4.0.

Heather: Went to Girls’ Camp, said good-bye to the most amazing Young Women in the world, spent countless hours painting, made lots of meals, did lots of laundry, put lots of miles on the Suburban, and is in the process of filling 2 million finish nail holes (and we won’t mention anything about getting her first ticket).

Jared: Started the process to become a Certified Valuation Analyst, was appointed to the board of directors for the Sunshine Terrace Foundation, was released from the Bishopric, did 99% of the finish electrical work in our new house, and did a lot of sub-contractor babysitting.

Lego Olympics

Josh had a birthday, and we celebrated in style!  He got to have a friend party this year and chose a Lego theme.  (I’d like to thank Pinterest for guilting me into thinking I have to go all out for parties now-a-days.)  I found some great ideas and went to work making a banner and treats and coming up with games and activities to keep 10-year-old boys entertained.

We did Lego-style Olympics (thus the medals up above).  We tested their speed by racing Lego vehicles that they each made.  They really liked that!

We tested their accuracy by playing Lego Toss.

We pushed them higher in a speed-building contest to see who could build the tallest tower.

We tested their endurance by having them pick up Legos with a straw.

We tested their creativity with Lego head drawings.

And just for fun, we did a plain ol’ guessing game.  How many Legos do you think are in this jar?

The answer: 109

I think the boys (and Emily) had a lot of fun.  It was a blast to see them creating and playing and having fun together.  It was good to see all those Legos being put to good use!!!

The hit of the party?  Well, I think it was those yellow chocolate-covered marshmallow Lego heads!  Go figure!?!

Under Construction...and the Primary Program

Please excuse the mess I've got going here. I got bored and decided to change things up a bit. Only problem is that I never have enough time to work on it. So be patient...things will be better soon!

On another note - today was our ward's Primary Program, and my first time participating as a chorister. It was amazing!! I always love the Primary Program - it is so simple, yet so profound. The kids always do so well, and today was no exception. As we were ready to start, the other chorister and I concluded that we were both extremely nervous (and it didn't help that the Stake President was there and sitting right next to me)! For me, though, the nervousness melted away as the kids sang the first song, "I Know that My Savior Loves Me." It always gives me chills to hear them sing that song (good chills). From that point on, I really enjoyed myself. Josh's part was telling about his baptism, and Emily's part was telling about the miracle of feeding the 5,000. They both did awesome, and I was so proud of them. We finished the meeting in perfect time, and the kids did a great job singing "Come Follow Me" for the closing song. When we were done, Pres. Cook turned to me and said, "How in the world do you get them to sing so well? Do you bribe them??" to which I responded, "I don't know. I guess they just like to sing!" In my book, that is SUCCESS!!

An Eventful Week

We have had lots going on this week, so buckle your seatbelts! This could be a long ride!

First off, Emily got her hair cut on Saturday. She wanted to donate to Locks for Love again, so I agreed to a short haircut. I always have a sad moment when that much hair is gone, even if it's not my own. But Emily was very glad to be free of all the length! She ended up having 11 inches cut off! Her hair was not quite as long this time as it was the first time she donated, so she ended up with a pretty short cut, but she looks adorable! Here is a picture of the front - ignore the goofy face!

I have to admit that I was wanting it cut just as much as she was! Fights about combing/brushing have been too frequent and none too pleasant!

Tuesday was Jared's birthday, and we decided to try out our season passes to Lagoon! So he worked until lunch time and then we headed down. As we were half way through Sardine Canyon, Emily realized that she had her flip flops on instead of her shoes! They won't let you ride some of the rides without shoes, so she was pretty upset. We stopped at Wal Mart in Brigham City and bought her a cheap pair of shoes so she could fully participate. The things we do to keep everyone happy!

This was the first time that Caleb and Rachel had been to Lagoon. For the most part, they both had a lot of fun. Here's a blurry picture of Rachel during a ride, but you can tell that she's obviously loving it!

She got so used to us taking pictures that she would just start waving as soon as she got on a ride! She's got the parade wave down to a science!

Caleb enjoyed most of the rides, and really hated having to watch the ones he couldn't go on! He loved this little tug boat ride, and especially pulling the string to ring the bell.

Rachel gave the poor worker a heart attack when the ride was over! Rather than exiting the boat to her right (which was onto the sidewalk) she tried stepping out to her left, which would have put her into the water or up onto the island in the middle! We were both trying to grab her, (while I was trying to keep Caleb on the sidewalk and out of the water) but couldn't quite reach - if we stepped in the boat we would have sunk it! The worker finally got ahold of her shirt and we pulled her out onto the sidewalk!

Josh said he was going to be brave and go on Wicked this time, just for Jared's birthday. But, he chickened out (and we didn't make it down to that end of Lagoon). Maybe next time!

Josh and Emily were both really good sports about helping with Caleb and Rachel when we couldn't be on the rides with them. See? Josh knows we're trying to get Caleb to look at the camera, so he's being a great helper turning his head right where we need it! (I promise he's not choking Caleb!!!)
Emily got this great shot of Jared and Josh on Jet Star 2 just as they were ready to head down the first big hill. She didn't want to try this ride, so she was more than happy to be the photographer while I kept Caleb out of the garbage can and Rachel out of the flower beds!

We ended our trip with a visit to Denny's for dinner (kids choice). It happened to be kids-eat-free night, so everyone got fed and we only had to pay for two meals! Maybe we'll have to come on Tuesday every time!

We've also had our usual week-day activities - cleaning, bike rides, playing, fighting, yard work, whining...ahhh summer! And swimming lessons will start soon - yipee!!!

Speedy the Goldfish

How could I forget to mention Speedy?? I mean, seriously - he(or she??) has been such a fixture on my kitchen counter for the past 3 months (literally)!

It is with a heavy heart that I announce...um, no - there's no heavy heart here! The dang fish finally kicked the bucket this morning!!

And now I get my counter space back and don't have to look at the disgusting murky fish water anymore! And I don't have to clean up after two curious kids who seem to like the taste of fish food! {I just have to clean up after one child who really likes to eat cat food...ugh!} And I don't have to remind a certain child, who shall remain nameless, to take care of the fish!

I knew this would turn out to be a good day!

Spring Happenings

RESOURCEFUL

(toys double as step stools)

CREATIVE

(new uses for hard-boiled eggs)

ARTISTIC

(Easter egg hands)

BUSY, BUSY BOY

(wearing Emily's shoes)

THOROUGHLY CAREFUL

(more color on the egg than on hands)

TOOTHLESS

(no top teeth)

INNOCENTLY IMPISH

(no explanation needed)

MUSICAL

(orchestra concert - a terrific violin player)

(sorry for the horrible picture)

Peninsula

Should I be embarrassed that I didn't know that a PENINSULA is a piece of land that has water on 3 sides??

Should I be embarrassed that my 2nd-grader knew this, and I didn't??

Josh was spouting off geographical facts as fast as his little mouth could move (which is pretty fast!) today at dinner. Once of them had to do with peninsulas.

I also learned that Europe is the smallest continent, but has 40-s0mething countries and 60-something languages are spoken (he threw out exact numbers, I just can't remember them).

Josh likes geography - in fact, he made sure we all know that it's his most favorite part of the day! Those are his words. Really.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

I have to get this off my chest - please don't hate me for it!

I really dislike Sundays. Really.

But it really has nothing to do with the Sabbath part of things. It's just that it seems like everything that can go wrong does go wrong! Every problem, emotion, and mess is magnified by what seems like 1000%!

Jared told me he loves Sundays, and I almost punched him! Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that he's more of a spectator to all of our "bliss" than he is a participator. {I'm typing this with the nicest of feelings, honestly! I love him to death and am so thankful is he worthy to get to go to so many meetings and watch us with a smile on his face from the stand! And when he's home, he really does do more than his fair share.}

I've been told {by someone who loves me very much, and is wise beyond his years} that I should record some of these moments, so that I won't forget about them {though I'd like to!} and can go back and laugh at them one day {can't wait for that day}. So, here goes...and feel free to laugh along!

Yesterday, the beginning of all our bliss: as we're ready to walk out the door to church, Emily decides that she's going to throw a fit {read: the biggest meltdown you've ever seen} because I, the cruel mother that I am, reminded her that she needed to put tights on! She went off screaming about how she hates to wear those shoes because they're too tight, and they fall off, and blah blah blah! I didn't recall telling her that she needed to wear a specific pair of shoes, so I told her to just wear her other shoes, to which she screamed that she couldn't find one of them! After 5 minutes of screaming and being frantic, she finally joined us in the van, wearing the shoes that are too tight, that fall off, blah blah blah. I asked her what her plan was before she was re-told that she needed tights. She didn't really have one! She went to church red-faced, teary-eyed and quite huffy! But thankfully she calmed down.

During Sacrament meeting - the continuation of our bliss: I had to take Caleb out to the foyer because he was being a stinker {read: nothing in the entire chapel would have satisfied him, because he's missing out on his nap}. Thankfully, I have a friend and her husband who sit on the bench with us, and they are LITERALLY my lifesavers. I would be in the foyer all the time without them! When I came back in, I couldn't see Rachel anywhere. As I sat down, I saw that she was laying under the bench in front of us, having herself a little Cheerio party. That, in and of itself, was not a problem. Caleb again wasn't satisfied with anything, so I put him on the floor. He headed to Rachel and joined in on the party. Within a matter of 10 seconds, the entire Cheerio container was emptied onto the floor {including all the powder at the bottom} and the Cheerios were scattered all over the place! I quickly got Caleb off the floor and told Josh to get down there and help Rachel pick up the Cheerios. I focused my attention on Caleb, to get him quiet, and then checked on the Cheerio party. I guess Josh was hungry, because instead of cleaning up, he was eating the Cheerios! Emily either wanted to be helpful or wanted in on the party, because she got down on the floor with them also! Who knew Sacrament meeting could be so much fun?!?! They managed to take care of every single Cheerio, and only the powder on the floor was left as evidence of their little party!

20 minutes before church ends, another moment of bliss {although this one I can, and did, laugh at} - The nursery leader brought Caleb into primary because he was poopy. He instantly screamed "Mommy" in his happiest voice when he saw me. Ok, so maybe it hasn't been such a cruddy day after all! I changed him, and decided to just keep him with me, since there were just a few minutes of church left. I stood up in the back, near a lady who teaches the oldest class of girls in primary. She and her husband are training a dog to be a seeing-eye dog, so the dog was laying on the floor at her feet, sleeping away. Caleb saw the dog and instantly went into his I'm-a-little-unsure-of-this-situation mode: he forces a really loud, high pitched laugh, all the while clinging to me as hard as he can! This made all the kids laugh, which made him laugh some more...can you see where this is going?!? He just kept on laughing, pointing, and woof-woofing until the closing prayer was said. I was sort of embarrassed, but mostly enjoying myself, because he was getting such a great reaction from everyone - adults included! How can you not love that?

As I read back through this, I'm wondering what the big deal was! The total time of absolute mania couldn't have been more than, say, an hour! I'll save the details of the rest of the afternoon/evening for another time. I'm sure you're laughing too hard to read any further, and I wouldn't want you to miss a thing!

New Room, New Ears, New Smile

It's been a pretty eventful month for us so far! Emily has a newly redone room, complete with freshly painted walls, chair rail, and a new quilt.

Caleb has "new" ears after getting tubes put in on Tuesday (the 5th). He had a lot of fun playing around while we were waiting for surgery - had everyone in love with him! Everything went well, and we can already tell there's a huge difference in him! Isn't he just the cutest?!?!
And Josh finally lost the tooth he'd been working on all Christmas break! It fell out during math (on the 4th) and he got a big thumbs up from his teacher! Now he kind of looks like a vampire who's missing his vampire teeth!!

December Happenings

Some of the things we did during December:

Jared, Emily and I took a trip to SL to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert. It was fun to see Grandma and James singing! We gave the choir two thumbs up, and Natalie Cole was less than impressive...sorry Natalie! Here we are waiting in the freezing cold before the doors were opened.

Emily had her very first orchestra concert. She started playing the violin this school year, and she is picking it up so fast! She really has a lot of talent for music. She sure has learned a lot in 3 short months! It was neat to hear everyone play together - there were over 3o0 kids up there on that stage! An amazing logistical feat! I promise she's in this picture somewhere towards the right side!

We also went to see Santa Claus. Rachel has been completely fascinated with the concept of Santa, and talks about him like they're best friends! One day she told us all, with complete and utter excitement, "Ho Ho's getting happy at me!!" When it came time for the real thing, however, she was a bit more reserved!! Thankfully she didn't freak out, but you can tell she's nervous because she's chewing on her coat!

Caleb, who is Mr. Friendly, was more than happy to go sit on the lap of this strange man dressed in a very bright red suit with a fuzzy, shaggy thing hanging on his face! He was just as happy as could be the whole time, and even had a great big grin on his face! I wasn't able to capture any smiling, though, because I had nervous Rachel hanging on my leg!

And Emily and Josh were more than happy to tell one more person everything they wanted for Christmas, and to get a free candy cane for doing it!

We had an extended Ripplinger family Christmas, where Josh managed to get a goose egg on his head, and upon arriving home, Rachel was one big rash from head to toe! Never did figure out the cause, but thankfully it went away with a dose of Benadryl.

We also had a Larsen family Christmas party at Grandma and Grandpa Farnworth's house. It was fun to get together, but we missed not having Greg and his family there. Within 5 minutes, the kids had re-arranged all the Christmas presents into piles of presents that belonged to each child! We ate some delicious prime rib, and had fun playing in Grandma Farnworth's toys. Here are the kids dressed up in a wig that I remember playing with as a kid!

I made a promise to my mom that I would not post the picture of her posing with the wig on, and I intend to keep that promise! {but if you'd like to see, let me know and I'll email it to you!!}

We also made and decorated a gingerbread mansion! Jared almost burst into laughter when he saw how big the pieces of the house were! Hey - this is my first time ever making houses out of anything besides graham crackers! Cut me some slack! But seriously, it was huge!

And to wrap up the month, we saw a live nativity on Christmas Eve, opened a lot of presents on Christmas day, and reflected on just how thankful we are that our Savior came to earth as a precious baby all those years ago!

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!

Nativity Fun

Emily and Josh decided to put on their very own Nativity last night. It was so cute! I think they just copied some of what they saw at our Ward Christmas Party, but they did a great job! Emily really had to convince Rachel to participate (as a shepherd), and they brought all the stuffed animals to help too! They came up with the costumes on all on their own (mostly from the dress-up box). Here are some pictures:

Emily is Mary

Josh is Joseph (don't you love the bandana beard?)

Rachel is a very reluctant shepherd (I think she looks like an angel)

Josh is such a loving daddy!

Emily is a calm and loving mother (although there was a bit of a struggle over who got to hold the baby!)

(Caleb watched from the sidelines!)

Merry Christmas!!

Celebrate!!

This is the 100th post for our blog!! Yea!! It's only taken me 3+ years to make it!

I wanted to do something special for this post. Something to knock your socks off and make you want to actually keep reading this blog (all 4 or 5 of you).

But I can't seem to come up with anything. NOTHING!! My creative juices have all dried up!

So I'll just give you a cliffs-notes version of life around here lately. I have not taken a single picture, as every time I go to use the camera, the battery is dead!

Rachel has almost completely given up naps (well, she's about 50/50). Caleb is trying to give them up too. He has napped less than Rachel this week! Add it up - you get two cranky kids and one very insane and cranky momma! But they're too cute to be mad at!

Rachel says some of the funniest things. And sometimes, it's just the way she says things that makes me laugh. Like, "This is my favorite book!" with as much excitement and energy as you could expect from a 2-year-old. The book was some Christmas craft book that has been sitting around. Definitely not an exciting book! She also came running in with a doll and said, "I found my Rachel!!" How can you not love that??!?

Caleb is getting a few words too, like kitty cat, what's that, and num-num (with a hand motion, which means he wants more). He only has 5 more Sundays until he can legally go to nursery!!

Emily is counting down the days until her birthday. For any of you who don't know, it's 5 days away. She wants everything, and I mean everything! So, if you were wanting to get her a present, rest assured that you can't go wrong! (But please don't run out to buy one for her - PLEASE!!!) Oh, and she's starting to wonder about how babies get in their mommy's tummies (I have dreaded this for the past 9 years!!). She informed us that there is a lock on the mom's tummy that you unlock, which obviously lets them in! Chuckle, snicker, giggle!!

Joshua is trying to lose a tooth. By trying I mean he wiggled it to the point that his mouth was sore enough that he had to call me to come get him from school! (OK - I'm not that easy! I gave him some ibuprofen, fed him lunch, and took him back to school.) I think he's got another pesky root that doesn't want to give in. Which means we're probably going to have to make yet another trip to the dentist!

I got a new calling as the primary chorister. Hmm...never done that one. I pity those poor kids who have to listen to me "sing" the songs. I think the singing genes skipped me!

Jared, after working 2 late nights at work last week because of the 6-month extension deadline for income taxes, is now trying as hard as he can to find work to do. ??? ??? Why can't the government have taxes due all year long, according to social security numbers or something like that?? Wouldn't it make more sense to spread it out a little?!?! I think I might just email them my plan!

The garden is dead!! I've never been so happy to see a plant die in all my life. Next year, we will not be planting more than 6 tomato plants!

I hope you have enjoyed this installment of "As the World Turns in the Ripplinger Home." Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode!

And a Child Shall Lead Them...

We partied (haha!) as a family at Apple Days this past Saturday. {haha! because Jared and I had just spent the day canning peaches, so we were pretty dead!} For those of you who don't know what Apple Days is, see this post. We didn't make it to the parade this year, but we did have lots of fun going down the huge inflatable slide, getting treats, and roaming around.

This is Emily and Josh doing the beanbag toss:

{Notice Rachel chilling out here at the bottom!}

Then Rachel took her turn to show them how it's really done.

I can't believe I didn't think of that!!!

Back to Routine

School started one week ago! Emily is in 4th grade (yikes! where did my baby go?), and Josh is in 2nd grade (yikes again!). I can't believe how fast the summer went! And we didn't even do anything terribly exciting as a family this year, other than reunions. But we have enjoyed a lot of time together as a family.

It is good to be back to a routine - sort of! Life seems much more pleasant (for me at least) when there is structure! Everyone knows pretty much what goes on in a day, and there is plenty to keep us all busy. But, it is always nice to not have to be ready so early, to enjoy carefree mornings with the kids, to just BE! I always miss that once school has started!

I was pretty impressed with what the kids accomplished this summer. Emily read all 700+ pages of Harry Potter #4 - and it only took her 6-7 weeks!! Josh read and read and read, too. He started the first Harry Potter book, but we had to return it to the library before he finished it. We'll have to go back and get that one soon because he keeps begging me to take him (always after the library has closed for the day)! Emily finished off one set of piano books and is cruising her way through a second set, and Josh is making good progress on his set. They both got very good at cleaning the bathroom, and more importantly, keeping it clean between cleanings! And Rachel and Caleb have turned into quite the two-some! If he's not bugging her, she's bugging him! But they hardly ever do anything apart!

I have loads of pictures -when I get some time I will do a picture post!

Happy Birthday Josh!!

Joshua is 7 years old today!! Can't believe it's already been 7 years since we brought our little boy home!

We've had a great day today. Josh chose crepes for breakfast, and we put cherry pie filling in them - yum!! Jared was home for the morning (because we were getting some gravel and a shed), so Josh was able to open presents this morning. That turned out to be a great thing, because he got to spend the day playing with all his new stuff. Surprisingly, I think his favorite gift was his Webkinz snake, which he named Stripers. We got to go out for lunch (Sonic), and we had his favorite food for dinner - SHRIMP!! Can you believe a kid his age loves shrimp??

Josh is such a great kid. He is a hard worker, a deep thinker, and very energetic. He has a great memory, and he loves to ask lots of questions. He can always make us laugh, and he is very helpful too.

Here's a look at then and now...

We love you Josh!! You are "totally wicked" and we're glad you're part of our family!

Just a Typical Day

Here are a few shots of a typical day around our house...

If Emily is not off reading, she is playing the piano! I don't have to beg and plead to get her to practice, I have to beg and plead to get her to stop!! She's great at multi-tasking too...see the cracker in her mouth?!!

Caleb's new favorite activity - climbing to the highest surface he can! Yes, he's standing on the cedar chest which is up against the railing, which is the only thing keeping him from taking a flying leap down the stairs! In a 5-mintue span, he has managed to climb onto the kitchen table, be removed, climb onto the cedar chest, be removed, climb onto the end table, only to be removed yet again! I hope I can survive this kid! In fact, I hope he survives himself! But how could that face not instantly melt you?!?

Rachel is synonymous (spelling??) with sweetness. She just bounces around with her ringlets bouncing right alongside! She has discovered how to be a little impish, though! You can see it in her eyes! She is usually the one showing Caleb just how fun it is to climb onto things, or she's right behind him encouraging him to go farther!

And Josh...well...just look at the picture! Would that drive you nuts?? He prefers to wear socks, and this is how he wears them 99% of the time!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day seems to have some unwritten requirement for unexpected excitement.

Last Mother's Day, I spent the day timing contractions and ended up spending the night in the hospital to get them stopped. I was 34 weeks along in my pregnancy. That was the beginning of several weeks of "bedrest" (as if!!!) and 2 more trips to the hospital before Caleb was born (thankfully he waited until 38 weeks).

This year, the excitement continued, only it wasn't pregnancy related (thank goodness!!!). Josh informed us on Saturday night (after all the doctor's offices were closed) that he was sick. After a run-down of symptoms, I was pretty sure he had strep....AGAIN (he just had it back in April). I did what I could - dose of Tylenol, hugs, kisses, reassurance - and sent him to bed.

When Jared got home from church at 1 p.m. it was off to InstaCare. Where we waited...and waited...and waited some more.

More than two hours later we walked out of there with a prescription for antibiotics,

and thankful to be somewhere other than there!

What do I want for Mother's Day next year??

THE MOST ORDINARY AND UNEVENTFUL DAY POSSIBLE!!!

Tooth Trophy

Josh had to get a baby tooth pulled last week, and a cavity filled. The permanent tooth was coming in behind the baby tooth because they weren't lined up. So the baby tooth would never have come out on it's own without the root breaking off.

I tried to use him as an example to get Emily to be a little more diligent about taking care of her teeth. Um, yeah. Right. It totally backfired in my face! I asked him if he thought Emily would like to go get her teeth pulled, and he said, "Sure! It didn't hurt a bit! And you get 2 tokens for prizes!!" Sheesh!! Since when are cheap little toys more precious than teeth???

The tooth fairy let him keep this tooth since it was kind of a "special" circumstance. He showed everyone he could, just like it was a trophy. I hope he doesn't plan on getting any more trophies!

Kid Funnies

Several months ago, the light in our garage was on the fritz and would sort of blink, like the light bulb wasn't completely screwed in.

Emily's reponse..."Hey, the light blunk!"

What a great new word!

-------

The other night we were reading scriptures as a family. Josh was super excited because we got to start a new book, 3rd Nephi to be exact. He begged us to let him read the first verse, and we happily agreed. Whatever it takes to get them excited, right?

If you look at your scriptures, the first word in the first verse of a new book always starts with a really big capital letter and then the rest of the word is capitalized.

(Go get your scriptures if you need to.)

In his enthusiasm, Josh interpreted the difference in size for this first word to mean that it should be shouted. If only I had a recording of this! Just imagine what it would sound like to hear - "NOW it came to pass...." with complete innocence and a huge amount of enthusiasm.
Needless to say, we all laughed through the first verse and then stopped to compose ourselves!

Jumping for Joy

This is what seeing the end of winter makes me feel like...