My name is Luke

Here's the latest Luke-ism
This morning as Morgan went out the door, he said to Luke: "I love you son." Luke said: "My name is Luke Daddy, not son."

Surprise Birthday Party for Morgan

I have tried to have a true surprise birthday party for nearly 6 years now, but I just cannot keep a secret. Morgan has always had some suspiscions or something gave it away at the last moment. However this year, I finally got Morgan. Morgan's birthday is on the 13th but he has 6 huge tests starting next week. I decided to have the party on the 6th right after the last session of General Conference. We had the Petersons, Leavitts, Hales, and Bensons over for chocolate cake and homemade chocolate snickers ice-cream and chocolate chip cookie dough ice-cream. Happy 28th Morgan!

Luke could barely contain himself! He just loves birthday parties!
Morgan let Luke help him blow out the candles. I think that Morgan's wish was for help during the next 2 weeks. Please remember him in your prayers as he prepares for his finals.

My Favorite Face

I had some extra cake batter left over from Morgan's birthday cake and decided to make cupcakes. After dinner we were enjoying our cupcakes and how silly the kids looked with frosting all over their faces. I looked at Miriam's chocolate face and said, "There's my favorite face." I guess I hurt Morgan's feelings because when I looked at him, he had smeared chocolate frosting on his forehead! He wanted to be my favorite face! Luke had fun trying to lick the frosting off but decided that paper towels work much better! We have great times in our little family.

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk

The other evening, Luke placed his cup of milk on a table in our bedroom. Moments later, Miriam reached up and while trying to get it down, ended up pouring it all over her head. Here are a few shots from the aftermath of the spilled milk...

"What is all over me?"

Just look how soaked her poor little face was!
Spilled milk and all, I am still happy!

Old MacDonald

Quick story...
Luke asked Morgan to sing "Old MacDonald."
Morgan sings: "Old MacDonald had a farm. Ee-i-ee-i-o. And on that farm he had a ....."
Morgan pauses and awaits Luke to fill in the blank.
Luke sings: "Super Luke"
They both sing: "Ee-i-ee-i-o. With a blast-off here and a blast-off there,...etc. Old MacDonald had a Super Luke, ee-i-e-i-o."

Luke even introduced himself to our cleaning lady's daughter today as "Super Luke." He is at the funniest stage now. I will keep you posted with more funny things that he says!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Friends and Family! This Easter has been one of the most memorable. On Thursday night we began a new tradition. As a family we talked about the Last Supper, Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, and His Betrayal. We had unleavened bread and grape flavored Tang (our substitute for grape juice here in Dominica) as Morgan taught us about Jesus instituting the Sacrament. Then on Friday night we talked about the Savior's crucifixion and how they laid Him in a tomb. In Primary today, Luke learned about Jesus' resurrection and he kept saying: "They took His body" referring to how Mary first responded to the empty tomb. We hope to expand on this idea of making each day of Easter weekend special and a time to remember what the Savior has done for each of us. We would love to hear any ideas that have worked for your families!

Morgan, Kristin, Luke and Miriam Fife in Dominica

Friday morning the 3 little boys got together at our apartment to dye and decorate eggs for Saturday's Hunt.
Saturday our Branch's Egg Hunt was held at Cabrits. Luke was so excited to be with his friends. Here he is creating his own game of hopping down each step. He had quite the following of kids after just a few moments of playing. He's a great leader already!
Blake Benson is teaching Metz and Drake how to play baseball.
Luke and Miriam just waiting to get the hunt on!
Metz, Drake and Luke- the 3 boys! They are waiting to climb the hill and begin the Hunt!
Wow! A plastic egg! Luke would only keep the plastic eggs even though he found several hard-boiled eggs. He knew that candy was inside the plastic ones and nothing that he liked inside the other kind!

Hmmm....this one's a keeper.
Miriam loved finding eggs too.
Look another one!
Most eggs were on the ground, but the keen Luke was able to find this one in the tree.
Luke and Miriam with their eggs.

The 3 boys showing President White what they found.
Mmmmm, this bag is so tasty!
Mmmmm...this plastic egg is so tasty. I have just about given up on keeping objects out of Miriam's mouth.
Miriam loved the rice crispy treats that Sister White brought and I loved the one that Luke didn't eat!
We hope that your Easter was as special as ours. We love you all and miss you terribly.

Early Easter Carnival

This has been a baking weekend! Friday night I helped with RSO's (Ross Spouses Organization)Spaghetti Dinner by baking cupcakes. Luke and Miriam just couldn't resist eating a cupcake while I was frosting them. After they finished eating/destroying their cupcakes, I was so grateful that I had taken all their clothes off beforehand...Miriam was by far the messiest...
Then on Saturday, I had to bake cookies to take to the RSO Easter Carnival as well as hard boil eggs for the Easter Egg Hunt. There are no plastic eggs on the island so we all contributed eggs for the hunt. Here are pictures from the Carnival....

Luke got to make his own bunny hat.
Miriam loved wearing hers for all of 10 seconds...
Luke and Grace participating in the water balloon toss. Notice how carefully Grace tosses it to Luke...

then Luke throws it with all his strength at Grace! Obviously this was the throw that popped the balloon. They loved it!
Kids always find things to play with...

Luke decided to play inside the Ball Toss bin rather than throw balls into it.
Miriam wanted to go inside too, but Luke defended his fort well.
Now time for the Egg Hunt. I didn't find an Easter basket here so I had to get creative with Luke's water jug basket.
Luke was really good at finding the eggs in the sand.
Uh-oh. Competetion for eggs...
"What am I supposed to be doing again?"
Miriam inspecting the eggs that Luke found.