Spring Update

This past spring has been very busy, thus my blog posts have been few and far between.

There were school programs.  Savanah participated in her class poetry program.

 For one of the poems she had to "bandage" a fellow classmate. I was such a proud mamma and nurse.

They also had a 2nd grade program. Savanah is right in the middle.

There were dance recitals. Vanessa danced in all her glory not smiling once. It takes a lot of concentration you know.

April Fool's Day dinner was burgers and fries. They don't even look realistic but the cookies, frosting, green coconut, and caramel fudge "fries" were a big hit.

There were dangly teeth,

that finally fell out. Yeah! (I hater danglers.) Here is a look at the photo Vanessa took with my camera showing off the loot of cash she got from the tooth fairy.

The tooth fairy resorted to putting money under her pillow at any time of day because she kept forgetting to do it at night while Vanessa was asleep.

There was LOTS of spring soccer. Enough to warrant it's own post. Stay tuned......

There was a friend that move in. Random.

There were field trips. I went on the kindergarten field trip with Vanessa. She LOVED the fact that I rode the bus with her.

The kids enjoyed visiting the local zoo.

We celebrated the last day of school. Yeah!

Of course, we didn't miss our annual bon fire burning all the work from the school year.

Something about s'mores cooked over burning kindergarten papers that makes them tast even better.

 AJ joined the all-boys-braces club. You are looking at a nice $12,000 investment right there. (They all better marry cute girls after the money we spent on their smiles.)

Our orthodontist, who drives a Porsche for which we contribute money to on a monthly basis, makes a mold of their teeth. When you look at their teeth outside of their lips,  it is makes them look even worse. Then the orthodontist holds up the mold and with a smile on his face and says, "Only $4000 to fix this." Okay, tha may be a slight exaggeration but you get my point.

There you have it. A season of fun all wrapped up in one post.

We Must Be in Utah

Today there was a family fun run at school. Aaron was working in the temple and Savanah was at her cousin's birthday party so it was just part of our family having fun. That is, if you call running in the freezing cold fun. Here are four of my more just before the race.Esteban took 1st place in his division. Ethan took second. AJ beat his previous record and they were all happy with their times. They had lots of fun and that's what it is all about.

I pushed Vanessa in a stroller. She was excited about this even though I'm sure she was freezing. I put the time keeper on her leg so she felt special. At one point, I stopped to walk and she asked me why I was going slow. She got out and ran for a few minutes but, that didn't last long. I didn't even check my time because I'm telling you, it was pathetic.

After the race, AJ had a soccer game. Soccer season started a few weeks ago. I have been looking forward to sitting on the field as the sun shines down on my face. I think sometimes I forget live in Utah. It was rainy and cold. The referee said they only cancel games if there is lightening. I told him I saw lightening, but he didn't believe me for some reason. In Texas, they cancel the game if there is a cloud in the sky.

By halftime, it was snowing. The coaches both agreed to shorten halftime because it was so cold the boys were freezing just standing there. They finished the game but, we were all cold and miserable. Ahhh, you have to love spring in Utah!

Swimsuit Edition

Yesterday, the girls were literally running around the living room in their swimsuits. Yeah, it was snowing outside at the time.They stopped long enough for a little photo shoot. (My girls beg for me to take pictures of them, the boys refuse, unless it involves scarring or manly adventures.)I guess I'm not the only one with suffering with spring fever. The 2 feet of snow we got yesterday just prolonged my illness.

May, It Be.

As you all know, today is the first day of May. This is what we woke up to.I'm not the only one around here who is ready for winter to be over. I wonder when that will happen? In Utah, the snow is essential for people to have water during the summer. The more snow in the mountains, the easier it is to water crops later in the year. (I'm trying to look at it from a positive angle but, it's not easy.)

Happy People

The boys were out of school for spring break this last week, well, actually they were only out Thursday, Friday, and Monday. We'll take what we get.

We spent some time working out in the yard especially since the weather was great for most of the time. We met up with John & Suzie and the park one day. The boys enjoyed playing Frisbee. Vanessa and Madi tried to play with the Frisbee but, their version was more like bowling.
Yesterday, since Aaron took the day off, we took the kids miniature golfing. They had a special club for Vanessa. She didn't fare to well. Note to self: next time don't go during nap time. She's not even on a regular nap schedule but yesterday, she needed one. Savanah had a lot of fun. It was her first time mini-golfing. The fact that my score was closer to her's than Ethan's (who won) tells you what kind of golf day I had. Only Savanah would go golfing in Capri's and heels.We all got a little sunburned. After 10 years of "perma-tan" in Texas it is nice to have some color back in our skin, well it will be nice when that color in tan instead of pink.

We had so much fun! I'm grateful for the few days that we had to be together as a family. We needed a break from our normal routine and the warm weather made it even better. By the way, it's snowing again today.

Soak up the Sun

It snowed here yesterday, again. I'm ready for spring to finally get here. There is hope however. My crocuses are sprouting, which means warmer days are coming. I wanted to share them with you but, I don't kow if they bring as much happiness and hope to you as they do for me. I hope so at least in some small way.
This weekend is supposed to be warm and I can't wait to soak up the sun.

Snowball Tree

My icicle tree turned into a snowball tree.
I don't know the real name of this tree I love the round balls of white flowers. It is not very fragrant, but that's okay I just like looking at it.

Weed Control

Our house sits on almost an acre of land. A good portion of that is the pond, flower gardens, and the vegetable garden we are working on. I am so happy to have all these beautiful flowers that I didn't have to plant, I just have to maintain. That is hard enough.
Vanessa likes to "help" me in the garden. She came in with a beautiful bouquet with some of my

tulips. Wasn't that nice of her?

I told a friend about this. She told me when her daughter was younger she would pick tulips out of people's yards, ring their doorbell, and ask if they want to buy some flowers from her.

I spent hours this week pulling grass out of my flower beds. I was so proud of myself until I talked to my father-in-law (who is a master gardener) and he told me that just makes the grass come back even worse (at that point I felt like screaming). The only way to cure my weed problem is with chemicals.With young children and pets I was trying to avoid this.

I thought I had another good idea when I sent AJ, Savanah, and one of her friends to pick dandelions out of the yard before they went to seed. Again, my father-in-law kindly told me this will help a little, but it wasn't a "cure-all". Dandelions are a new thing to us. When you pick them, you'll discover a milky substance on the inside of the stem. A neighbor boy had Ethan & AJ convinced that is where skim milk comes from.

The Spring Road

You've seen my winter version of the road not taken. Here is my spring version.

This is a path through part of my flower garden. I like this version better.

My New Obsession

When we first moved back to Utah a year ago (yeah I can't believe it has almost been a year), I couldn't take my eyes off of the mountains. Now, it is the spring flowers. I enjoy walking through my yard looking at all of the new flowers coming up.


The previous owners did wonders in the flower gardens. I just have to maintain it. Hopefully I don't kill it all this year. I am learning to enjoy gardening. It is fun when this is what I have to work with.

I have decided that spring is an immense reward for enduring the winter. Although, I have a friend here that loves winter. She laments the day when the ski resorts close. (She'd never survive Texas). Maybe if she taught me how to snowboard than I'd feel better about winter, or maybe not. I'll just enjoy spring while it is here.

Eventually Easter

Yes, I know I'm way behind. I still wanted to write a post about our Easter break. The boys were out of school for the Thursday, Friday, and Monday surrounding Easter. It was so nice for all of us to have a break from school.

Wednesday night Esteban had some friends come for a sleep over. His friends are a lot of fun and like all boys that age, they ate a lot. They stayed up late playing Ghosts in the Graveyard. The next morning, Aaron and I noticed a couple of young trees the previous owners had planted were missing. The trees had been run over in the darkness. I guess we won't have trees growing in the middle of the yard. That is okay by me. On Friday, we went to the American West Heritage Center with the rest of Cache Valley for their Baby Animal Days. We weren't as interested in the baby animals (we have enough here in our own backyard). We did enjoy the tee-pee and pioneer homes. The boys were happiest after we found the candy shop and they purchased old-fashioned rock candy. Aaron has always "pulled" this family along. Saturday, we went to my brother Austin's house for their annual Easter egg hunt. I love watching kids look for Easter eggs filled with candy.

We colored eggs (something I never did growing up) the week before with Aaron's side of the family. The kids all had fun designing their eggs. When they were done, we peeled them and ate deviled eggs with our dinner.

We had fun being with our families, but it was strange to celebrate Easter without even one confetti egg being smashed. For the previous 10 years, I didn't think that was possible.

Frosting?

When Savanah woke up this morning, she announced there was "frosting on the barn". At first, I was confused, but looked outside and realized what she meant.Yes, that is snow falling. I hope my spring flowers survive.

Springtime in Utah

Here is the problem with springtime in Utah. Last week it was in the 70's and we enjoyed being outside. I would walk around the yard searching for new plants and flowers. I'm not sure what is a plant and what is a weed growing. I guess I will just wait to see for sure. I'll leave anything that has a flower on it.

This week it snowed again. Most of the snow was gone by the next day, but so are those nice sunny, warm days. I know the sun will be returning, but I have the feeling the snow will also at least one more time. I hope my little crocus' can deal with the weird weather of spring.

SPRING!!!!!

We are having unusually warm weather for this time of year. I am so ready for springtime and I am not the only one. I've noticed more people out walking or jogging. It is nice to have the kids play outside more. There are many signs that it's time for the seasons to change. The snow is all but melted. Some of the trees are already budding.

There are tulips, starting to grow. I can't wait to see how many more poke up out of the ground.

We discovered there are goldfish in our pond. I guess the poor things finally thawed out. The first day I saw only three, the next day there was over 20. I wonder if Snow White (the cat we inherited from Aaron's parents) also discovered the fish in the pond. I found her hanging out by the well.

The most joy I felt about the warmer weather was when I found this little flower.

There is hope after all. I am so grateful for spring. It has always been my favorite time of year and now, I am reminded why. I think it is a blessing from the Lord for enduring the winter.