It’s Spring???

For all you Utahns this is not unusual, but for us it is… especially in March.

The girls couldn’t resist any longer. They got bundled up and headed outside. When Justin got home from work he went out to join them (along with all the neighborhood kids).

It’s now 8:00 pm, dark outside, still snowing, and they are still out having fun.

Our Visit to Utah

As many of you know, Thursday, March 13th my Mom's husband, Jack passed away. Jason and I took the first flight to Utah on Friday morning to be with her and Justin and the girls drove down and arrived on Sunday afternoon. The funeral was held that Monday morning. All of my Mom's seven sisters were in town for my uncle's funeral and were able to attend Jack's as well. It was great to visit with my extended family, but wish it would have been under different circumstances.

Justin was able to take the entire week off of work so we could stay through Easter. While we were there we were able to celebrate my niece, Brynn’s eighth birthday.

My sister signed us up for the Easter Dive at the local swimming pool. There actually wasn’t any “diving” involved since the younger kids gathered eggs around the play area in the shallow end. It was fun to watch and the girls had a blast. Carly lost track of which basket was hers so there was a lucky little boy with a basket full of eggs. Thankfully, some other kids must have gotten confused as well because Carly still ended up with some eggs to trade in for prizes after all. After the egg hunt the kids were able to stay and swim too. Lots of fun (except for the lifeguard jumping into the pool to save Carly’s life)… Justin swears she was fine – better safe than sorry.

(Abigail's wearing the blue swimsuit in the middle)

Easter dinner was held at my brother’s house. With two funerals during the past week, we’d all had our fill of ham and funeral potatoes so they made yummy kabobs instead. While the Easter eggs were being hidden in the back yard, the younger kids did an egg toss in the front yard. It didn’t take long for the seagulls to catch the scent and come clean up… it was like a scene from the old black and white movie “The Birds” (minus the bloodshed, of course).

Here’s the cousins after the family Easter egg hunt (minus three who weren’t able to be in town).

The kids enjoyed spending the rest of the evening sorting their candy and playing store (I think my girls got taken advantage of by their older and obviously more bargaining experienced cousins)… they didn’t come home with hardly any chocolate… lots of jelly beans though. :)

Jason got lots of attention from everyone and was willing to let anyone hold him. Yeah! Too bad I couldn’t pass him off to someone else at night. Jason quickly caught on that if he made any peep at night I would be at his side in a split second, willing to do whatever necessary to keep him quiet. This made for some long nights. Thankfully, our first night home he was back to his “normal” self.

(Jason met his Uncle Ray for the first time)

I'm grateful to have been able to go to Utah to be with my family at such a difficult time. Jack was a great husband and my Mom was his world.

J's Photo Session

I have a lot to blog about with our recent visit to Utah, but I need to attack the mounds of email, laundry, and mail that’s accumulated before I look through all the pictures I took. (We just got home last night) While out of town, I received a cd with pictures of Jason I had taken a month ago. He wouldn’t smile for the camera and kept sucking in his lips, but I think we still got some cute ones.

Hoppy Easter!

McTeacher Night

Last night was McTeacher Night at our neighborhood McDonalds. A portion of all sales went to our elementary school. The fun part is that the teachers and principal are working. Abigail’s teacher was on clean-up duty and her principal was manning the fry station. It was so fun for the kids to see the teachers outside of the classroom.

Abigail and her teacher

One More Do

Jason’s hair naturally just lays flat against his head. I don’t even comb it. Since we’re all about the hair lately, we spiced things up a little today.

I'm the Winner!

Haven’t we all had a conversation that went something like:

Woman #1: Oh, my house is such a mess!

Woman #2: There’s no way it could be nearly as messy as mine.

Woman #1: I’ve been in your house a thousand times and it’s never been a mess. You don’t know how messy a house can really be.

Woman #2: I’m sure it can’t be THAT bad.

I had a similar conversation this morning and the competition was on. I promised a friend I wouldn’t pick up a single thing and when she came by she could really see my house in all its disastrous glory. When she arrived I took her on the brief tour. We walked past the Balloon Graveyard, through Polly Pocket Lake, and into Ground Zero.

It was an easy win for me. Of course she tried to argue, but we both knew she never stood a chance!

Instead of feeling embarrassment for my serious lack of household organization, I feel a twisted sense of pride. My friend can now return to her home with the comfort that it really isn’t THAT bad.

If anyone else needs a boost… me and my home are here for you.

Trading Do's

I guess it’s just human nature to want what we don’t have. Carly wants short, curly hair like her big sister and Abigail wants long, straight hair like Carly. Since Carly got to have her hair styled special yesterday for her birthday, Abigail wanted her hair done special today.

Is it just me or do they look so much different just by trading hair-dos.

Happy Birthday Carly!

Carly celebrated her 4th birthday today and what better way to celebrate than to have a party. Having a princess party was perfect for Carly’s first birthday celebration with friends. Justin was able to leave work early and thankfully his Mom was able to come and help as well.

Carly often asks to have her hair curled, but I rarely have the time. For months I’ve been telling her that we’ll curl her hair for her party. I think I’ll curl it more often. She was so cute!

The first guests…

Eagerly waiting for the rest of the guests…


Decorating princess crowns…

Everyone was more than willing to help open presents…

Carly was truly spoiled and loved every single thing she received.

(She’s so excited to play her new computer game – thanks Mom!)

It was a fabulous group of girls and they all looked adorable in their fancy clothes.

Shortly after the princess party we had a family get together. More presents, more fun, and more yummy cake.

Thank you everyone for making Carly’s birthday wonderful!

Our Bookworm

In honor of Read Across America Day, I’d like to dedicate this post to our family bookworm. Abigail has always loved books. Even before she could read she was reciting books word-for-word (her favorite was “Are you my mother?”) – this girl has an amazing memory.

I LOVE this picture of Abigail quietly reading a book when she was two.

Abigail was reading quite well shortly after her third birthday and there’s been no stopping her since. Abigail’s love of reading is on the brink of being an addiction. It’s not unusual for her to get so involved in a book that she can’t put it down until she’s read the entire thing.

Completely oblivious that I’m even taking a picture:

Abigail is thrilled that today at school she gets to spend most of the day reading books. We love our little bookworm and hope she always has a strong desire to read and learn.

Two Thumbs Down

Justin and I haven’t been on very many kid-free dates since Jason was born. Last night Justin arranged for his Mom to babysit and we decided to go to a movie. There’s a new “dollar” theatre nearby so of course we had to check it out. The only movie playing that sounded entertaining was “I Am Legend”. I checked out the showtimes on fandango and read their brief description:

Robert Neville (Will Smith) is a brilliant scientist, but even he could not contain the terrible virus that was unstoppable, incurable and manmade. Somehow immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City, and maybe the world.

So after a quick stop thru the Panda Express drive-thru we were headed to the movies. Twenty minutes into the movie I was ready to leave. I like suspenseful movies. What I don’t like is scary movies. Movies that leave you sleepless. Movies that make you want to leave the bathroom light on all night. Movies with horrific images you can’t get out of your head. Had I clicked on “read more” on the fandango description I would have continued reading:

But he is not alone. He is surrounded by ''the Infected'' — victims of the plague who have mutated into carnivorous beings who can only exist in the dark and who will devour or infect anyone or anything in their path. For three years, Neville has spent his days scavenging for food and sending out radio messages to find any other survivors. All the while, the Infected lurk in the shadows, watching Neville’s every move, waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind’s last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But his blood is also what The Infected hunt, and Neville knows he is outnumbered and quickly running out of time.

Knowing that Justin was enjoying the show, and being the selfless wife that I am, I sat through the remaining 80 minutes of torture. Eyes closed. Ears plugged. Crushing Justin’s hand. He owes me BIG time for this one. We’re watching “27 Dresses” next time.