Sundance

This past weekend David and I went up to Sundance to quietly celebrate his turning 40 (shhh, it's still not officially until Tuesday).  We did some shopping on Saturday, spending way too much time at Nordstrom Rack, and not enough time at Inkley's in SLC.  David bought some sweet sandals, and I got my macro lens for our camera.  I think we spent a hefty amount of time this weekend playing around with the new lens, time that was well spent.  (you can click on the photo to see it much larger).

I'm going to be going to classes learning what in the world I'm doing with the camera and hopefully getting better at the technical aspect of photography.  

We spent the night in a Mandan Cottage and woke up to over 5 inches of snow.  The best part of staying at Sundance on a Saturday night is the Sunday Brunch the next morning (oh my goodness!)  

It was an awesome weekend reminding me over and over again why I married this man who is getting to be an old geezer.

Faith is like a coconut seed

We had a Family Home Evening lesson a while ago about how Faith is like a seed.  We read in Alma 32 about planting a seed and then having faith that it would grow.  Well, while we were in Hawaii I picked up this teensy little coconut "seed" (at least it looked like what a coconut tree seed should look like) and we brought it home.  Max and Jane were convinced that we could plant it and we could grow a coconut tree for our home in Utah.  When we did the lesson on faith the kids decided that they were going to put the plan into action.

David got the "seed" and planted it.  It sat on our counter next to the sink for the next THREE months (driving me nuts having a pile of dirt just hanging around), but two days ago the darn little thing popped up.  I couldn't believe it.  I showed David and told him that lo and behold, the seed has sprouted.  We were going to grow a coconut tree!  

It was then that David told me that Jane had put some apple seeds into the pot as well. So either a coconut tree or an apple tree is going to be growing next to our sink (my money is on the apple seed).

Best Dollar Spent

I think this would have to be my favorite purchase from China.  David and I took a fantastic trip this past September to China and Korea.  While we were in China we spent one evening on the street of WangFuJing.  It's a very popular shopping district in the heart of Beijing.  While we were there we stopped into a book store.  While David was checking out the travel section I wandered back to a small section in the back of the store that had some "English" children's books.  

There were plenty of cute, colorful books, but one stood out to me with a picture of a little kids bum.  I stood there with the biggest grin you can have with your mouth open while I read this book.  There are plenty of other pages (fairy poo, robot poo, piggy bank poo, etc), but my favorite is the snowman poo.  I bought every copy they had and at $1 a piece it was a steal.

The Bike

Here is the bike.  It's a Roubaix by Specialized.  I've only been out on it once, but it was great.  I was told by quite a few of my neighbors (who are avid road bikers) that I WILL fall.  I was given advice such as "make sure you fall away from traffic" and "if you have a choice, fall opposite the chains so you don't get scars" and so on.  Well, I have to admit that as soon as I figured out how to clip-in I was pretty confident that I would be okay, and I was for a while however.....I fell.  

It wasn't bad enough to fall, but I fell right at a busy intersection of traffic (right at the end of 1120 N. for those of you familiar with AF).  I clipped out on the right side but my weight was on the left and as I started tilting left I had the distinct thought "here goes my first fall".  I was smiling and shaking my head as I stood up, but the damage was done.  By the time it was all over I had a small scrape on the palm of my hand, and 6 bruises (most of which are on my hiney).  

It's going to be fun to learn this new skill-set.  I really did enjoy myself and am looking forward to ride #2 (minus meeting the pavement).

One Year Ago

It was almost a year ago exactly when we took our first family trip to Moab, Utah.  It's such an awesome place and we had a great time.  I'm starting to feel the itch to go again and the weather has been so great lately that it may be time to start the Summer a little early.  

Jane asked me one night if I would sign her up for "camping classes".  She and Max are looking forward to camping out a lot this Summer.   My idea of camping is not exactly the same as David's (I like a blow up mattress in my tent).  We'll see just how many times we go, but it's looking promising.  

Watson

We have a dog.  Every kid should have a dog....at least that is what I told myself when we got our dog.  Watson doesn't exactly like kids however.  He tolerates Max and Jane (and even Blake most of the time), but he stays clear of most of the neighborhood kids.  

He's not a cuddly dog, but he has his positives.  He hardly ever barks.  He follows you wherever you go.  He makes for a fantastic vacuum after Blake has "eaten" his breakfast.  

But, the best reason for having a dog?  They have the unconditional love thing down pat.

Horrible Head Wound Harry

A while ago Jane woke up and came into our room and we noticed that she had a bloody nose during the night.  I went into her room to check her pillows/sheets/etc.  I couldn't find any blood.  A few moments later Jane brought out her bear.   I was a little worried how she would take it, but luckily Jane thought it was hilarious and immediately ran outside to show all her friends.  

 

Just the boys

There are so many times that I am thankful for my husband.  He and I are very different (let me count the ways), and yet the balance that it creates is many times serendipitous.  One of the ways that we are similar, however, is how much we love hanging out with our kids.  I would rather hang out doing something (going to the zoo, the museum, etc.), while David's idea of a perfect afternoon is plopped down on the couch and playing with the kids, and then taking a snooze (both of which he got to do yesterday). 

Happy Easter

After church today we sat around the dinner table and talked about what Easter is all about.  We started with Jane who told us that Easter is about Jesus coming alive again and having a body. We were quite impressed.  

Then came Max.  He told us that Jesus was in the tomb and then came out and had a body and people didn't believe Him so He proved it by eating things and letting people touch Him.  Again, pretty impressive.  When I asked Max what a "tomb" was he said: "It's a place where they put dead people, it is only one little room with one little bed and there is no t.v."  Yeah, poor Jesus all alone with no t.v. to watch while he waited to be resurrected.  

At least he got the idea.

Happy Easter!

Tradition

Every year that we have lived here we have gone to the city Easter egg hunt.  The kids love it.  It's absolute mayhem that lasts about 2 minutes and then we go home.   

After that we do our annual neighborhood hunt with all the kids.  It's always a fun day full of kids running around hyped up on sugar.  

(oh, and I got my bike.  I'll put in a photo later.)

Bye-Bye Winter

It feels like Spring is here.  The kids have been playing outside, people are trimming their trees, my son actually got a little sunburn on the back of his neck.  It's made me want to start something new.  I've decided that I'm going to get a bike.  A good bike.  A bike that would make me want to get out and ride.  

I'm not a big fan of working out.  I've never been an outdoor enthusiast, but I've been envisioning myself riding that bike on trails around here and I can actually picture it.  I'm "putting it out there" as we say in our neighborhood and I'm going to take the actions needed to make it happen.  

Jello-Fish

Doesn't this look like a bunch of fish trapped inside Jell-O?  

I took this photo this past Christmas while we were vacationing in Hawaii.  It's from a pond in front of a Buddhist Temple in the back of a cemetery near Kaneohe.  We took the kids there and they loved feeding the koi.  

Every once and a while one of our kids will say "When are we going back to Hawaii."  These are the moments when I realize that our kids are insanely spoiled.  I think the past is repeating itself however.  My own dad used to teach at BYU Hawaii and also at the University of Hawaii during Summers while I was growing up.  I distinctly remember begging to go back home and get off THE ISLAND.  Can you imagine?

(thanks for spoiling me mom and dad)

Scheduling

Dog groomer, morning car-pool, put Blake down for a nap, pick up birthday lunch for 7 friends, drop off lunch, pick up dog, put Blake down for afternoon nap, make dinner, go to cooking class with friends, come home and crash.  

That's today.  Mixed in to the day will be kids running in and out of the house, riding bikes, changing diapers,  fixing snacks, etc.  Does this sound like your day?  If so, aren't you lucky that you aren't stuck in an office on such a beautiful day as today?  

Blake started to clap on Monday night.  His "tricks" now include:  "Night Night Baby" (where he finds a pillow and puts his head down), clapping, and playing peek a boo.  

Day One.

It's time to stop just checking on other's blogs and start my own.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still obsessed with checking out my friends blogs everyday....but I started taking a bunch of photos lately and I'm wanting to share stories.  Let's face it,  I'm not one to sit down and write in a journal, but I want to share the funny events that happen everyday with my kids.  This is a great medium to accomplish the task.

I'm going to try and get a photo up every day.  We have an awesome camera and one of these days I'm going to learn how to actually use it.  

Let the adventure begin.