Easter Egg Hunt with Mom's Cousins

Exploring Heritage Park

The kids petted a real bunny.

Bekah played on a pretend train and minature size houses.

We road on a miniature replica of the Union Pacific around the park.


Benjamin and Bekah went on a "hike" up the hill.

Easter Egg Hunt

Easter turned out to be a very busy time for this year. The week before our neighborhood had its annual Easter Egg Hunt and the kids collected so many eggs they filled up their buckets.

Gymnastics at the University of Utah

Benjamin has loved doing gymnastics this past year. One of the bonuses of being a "gymnast" was that we received free tickets to attend a meet at the University of Utah. Benjamin thought it was cool to see the "big people" doing a lot of the same things he has been learning in his class. It was an adventure, to say the least, taking them to the gymnastics meet.

A Little Bit of Snow, A Lot of Fun Sledding

Our winter was very mild this year. We only had a few snow falls and most of the snow was melted by the end of the day. On one of Michael's days off, we had enough snow to attempt sledding on a nearby hill. Even with a little bit of snow we had a fun time sledding up and down the hill.

Ice Skating, Kind of . . . .

We tried to go ice skating at a sponsored event, but found out the skates didn't come in Benjamin and Bekah's sizes. So we skated around on our shoes, played hokey, went body bowling, and enjoyed yummy hot chocolate with friends.

Benjamin and his friend, Charly

Bowling for Soda Pop

Wearing our free T-shirts that make GREAT jammy shirts.

Bekah missed the soda but kept wanting to go again on the sled.

Hockey turned out to be dragging the stick across the ice.

But, she is dang cute doing it!

Benjamin hit the soda and was delighted that he got to pick one to take home as his prize.

Benjamin got a little wild when he tried to play hockey, and as always, he had a lot of fun doing it.

Watch Band Making

Mary's Creations

Joy's New Bangles

Charlynn's Arm Decor

For Valentine's Day we traveled to Idaho to spend the weekend with Mary and Gary. While we were there Mary taught Joy and I how to make these awesome beaded watch bands. It was a ton of fun to have some sister time. Thanks for driving, Michael!

Train Show

Look, Mom! I'm a train driver!

Benjamin's Lego hat inspired by the Lego creations at the train show.





Model of one of the first engines used in our area.




Lego buildings surrounded by train tracks.



Minature carnival attendees.

Watching the trains go around . . . . . and around . . . . . and around.

There was even a drive in movie on one of the displays!

Stagecoach train. It was the first type of train tried back East but proved to dangerous to maintain. Then they developed the more sturdy steam engines.

An impressive display of Hogwort's Castle straight out of Harry Potter.

Do you think we can catch a ride on the train to go visit?

Back in January we attended the annual miniature train show held here locally. We saw some awesome displays and bought some cool "train" souvenirs.

Some Resolutions Completed

I was briefly reviewing my New Year's resolutions and I realized I've actually completed some. Others have gone out the window given my current condition, but here is the update.

• Take a real family vacation and go somewhere exciting. The first week of April we spent a week in California and we visited Legoland, Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, the beach and Pacific Ocean, and the San Diego Temple.
• Figure out some way to combine 2 spring birthdays without minimizing the importance of each child and breaking the bank on birthday parties. We are actually going to have two separate parties over the next two Saturdays to try to keep life low key and not wear Mom out too much. Thanks to Oriental Trading we got some inexpensive and fun party favors.
• Potty train Bekah. We finally found the right motivator for Bekah back in February. She decided that if her friends could use the potty then she could too. Now she wears big girl underwear all of the time, even at night. We still have an accident or two once in a while, but for the most part she tells us when she needs to go and uses the potty successfully every day.
• Have my wisdom teeth pulled. Thankfully that was done before we found out we were going to be adding to our family this year. Yay for having less pain in my mouth every day!

Unfortunately, losing weight and starting a business have taken a backseat for now. I am pleasantly surprised that I have completed so many things I set out to do this year. The other goals are underway and that feels good too.

Daivd and Denise are Engaged!

We met this cute girl at Thanksgiving time when she brought David home to my parents' house for the holiday. On Saturday, I received a text message announcing their engagement! We are delighted and excited to be adding her to our family this year.

Goodbye Grandpa

Two weeks ago, my maternal grandpa passed away after 5 years on oxygen and 4 consecutive weeks in the hospital, in and out of the ICU. I was so blessed to have the change to visit with him one last time on Easter weekend. He was really weak, but lucid and in his usual good humor. I love him so much and I will miss him greatly.

One of the things I love the most about Grandpa was his ability to love unconditionally. He did not judge you based on your choices. He loved you first and judged the choices, if he judged anything at all. Another thing I love about him was his sense of humor. He loved to joke around and find the humor in any situation, unless it was sacred.

In 2001, Grandpa returned to full activity in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was sealed to his family for time and all eternity in December of that year. When I lived with him and Grandma the summer after I graduated I discovered his love and devotion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and serving others around him. I gained a testimony that big miracles do happen.

Another thing that happened the summer I lived with Grandma and Grandpa was I was able to see for myself how much they loved each other and still enjoyed each other's company, even after nearly 50 years of marriage. It was fun to watch them flirt and tease each other, something that we don't always get to see at large family gatherings.

Grandpa died one day shy of celebrating his and Grandma's 55th wedding anniversary. The funeral was held the following Tuesday and was a beautiful service. I am so thankful to have had him be a part of my life and love me so much. I will miss him, but I can only imagine the wonderful things he is accomplishing without the hinderments of an ailing body among the spirits who have already passed from this life. Love you, Grandpa.

We're Expecting the Unexpected

Yep. We are having another baby come October. Totally unexpected, but a blessing nonetheless. We were quite surprised to find out I was pregnant shortly after I had my wisdom teeth removed, and I thought the medicine was what was making me nauseated and exhausted.

Now we are almost 14 weeks along and the nausea has dispersed, but the pain started 6 weeks ago. I spend a lot of my time with my feet up and moving slowly because it hurts so much to walk and sit, but we are surviving. The good news is that we are 1/3 of the way done, and our looking forward to a safe arrival this fall.