Trip to Fairview

While Dave was in Alaska, the kids and I went to Utah to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house. My dad actually flew down to help me drive to Utah with the kids. It was fun having him with us, so he could have some good "Grandpa time" with the kids. It was great having him help me drive too. I'm sure we could have made it by ourselves, but the trip was a lot nicer with him with us. Thanks Dad for coming!

We spent a few days with my parents. The kids had fun seeing the animals that live down the road, riding Mater (the 4 wheeler), playing with Emmy & Steven, etc. Here are some pictures that shows some of the stuff that we did.

Riding "Mater" with Grandpa.

Checking out a horse down the road.

Kate waiting patiently on Mater.

We celebrated Jack's birthday with some brownies on his actual birthday.

Jack got a little nervous with all the birthday attention. He would only let me sing Happy Birthday to him. He needed a little support from Kate when it was candle time.

My Dad and I went to the temple on Saturday morning. It was nice to go back to the Manti Temple, such a pretty place! We met my mom and the kids and Steven in Ephraim and had lunch at Fat Jack's, then went bowling. Unfortunately one of the bumpers had a leak in it, so we only got to use one bumper. Kate got frustrated after a few turns, but Jack went strong the whole game.

Jack figured out a new way to bowl towards the end of the game.

The kids visiting Ginger with Grandpa.

Jack and Grandpa with Ginger. The kids didn't want to ride the horses, only look at them.

Kate spent lots of time making Perler Bead creations

Steven finished at Snow while we were there and moved home for a few weeks. The kids had fun playing with Uncle Steven, especially on the Wii.

Thanks Mom & Dad for letting us come stay with you!

Dave's Alaska Trip

Dave took a trip to Anchorage April 29th - May 5th. He had a conference there, but he got to stay with Mike and Maggie and have a little "Alaskan" vacation. Geoff & his family drove down from Fairbanks to spend the weekend with them. Since Dave's not a blogger I'm posting some of the pictures Dave took. There are some great ones of Mike's & Geoff's families. The kids and I were a little jealous that Dave got to go to Alaska and hang out with fun cousins. At least we got to see some pictures. Here they are:










So, thanks Mike & Maggie for letting Dave stay with you and showing him the sights!

Jack's Birthday

We celebrated Jack's birthday a few days early this year, since we were going to be in Utah on his actual birthday and Dave would be in Alaska.

Starting out the day by opening his present from Kate. (His present from us finally came in June -- a kid-size golf bag.)

Jack wanted a basketball cake. I had a hard time getting it really orange, it's a little peachish, but I have a thing about using too much food coloring. Jack thought it was great as is.

Somehow Jack figured out that Kate had a friend birthday party on her birthday, so he told me that he wanted to invite his "boys" over. So, we invited the Nye's (Craig is his "boy") and the Morgan's (Keith is his "boy" too even though he's a little older) over for ice cream and cake.

Fireman Park

We took a little walk this morning to the nearby "Fireman" Park. I happened to have my camera with me, so I snapped some pictures of the kids playing. It was a beautiful sunny morning (and now a few hours later it's overcast and cool).

Just imagine the kids yelling back and forth really loudly.

While Jack and I were driving the red firetruck, Kate was pretending to be in a parade.

My calling in life...

Jack says funny things to me all the time and I always mean to write them down later, but then I forget when he has said. Anyway...This is a conversation we just had this afternoon. We were almost home from our walk to the golf course (so I could get some exercise and then Jack could hit some balls) and we were talking.

Jack (looking at his Jack-sized golf club): Daddy needs a big club. I need a little one. . . Daddy uses a big hoop, but I'm too little.

Me: But you can use your little hoop.

Jack: Yep.

Me: What size of hoop does Mommy use?

Jack (thinks for a second): You wash my shirt. And...wash my hands. And...make me chocolate milk.


At least Jack realizes a little of what I do everyday. I guess I'll leave the basketball to the boys.

Random Thoughts

Well, I don't have any wonderful pictures to post today. I just have a couple of random things to post about.

Kate got this game for her birthday from one of her friends. The whole family played it with her yesterday and it was pretty fun! A great gift for any 5 to 8 year old. I liked it better than the real Monopoly game. The game actually ended too! (I ran out of money first, so Kate won.)

Our Easter plans were disrupted by the ton of snow that we got this weekend. We were going to hide eggs on Saturday in the trees behind our house, but it snowed a lot on Saturday, so we had to hide a few in the house instead.

I finally finished scrapbooking Jack's 1st year yesterday. My goal was to finish it before the baby comes. Now I feel like I should work on the other years of Kate and Jack's life instead of just their first. We'll see if that happens.

Soccer season started again. Dave's coaching again, but this time there are 11 kids! That is a ton of 4 and 5 year olds (9 boys and 2 girls). I'll be glad when it's over.

And, most importantly (is that a word?) of all, Dave is done with his dissertation! I keep forgetting to call him Dr. Judi. Kate isn't convinced that he is a Dr. since he doesn't work at the hospital.

Well, I think that's about it. So long for now!

Kate's Birthday

Today was Kate's big 5th birthday! And it was a busy day for her and me. We started out by opening presents first thing in the morning (thus the morning hair and nightgown).
Today happened to be my turn to host preschool (I trade with 5 other moms every Thursday), so I combined preschool and a birthday party. We learned all about letter "T" and celebrated Kate's b-day. Here are all 8 girls (6 preschool girls and 2 friends) sporting their newly decorated Tiaras.
They also played Tic-Tac-Toe, went on a Treasure Hunt, ate lunch with Toothpicks, got a Thank you Treat bag, etc., etc., etc.,
After morning preschool Kate went to her normal afternoon preschool. She took more cupcakes to share with her class.

After school we decorated her "Sleeping Beauty" cake. I didn't get a great picture of it. All the pictures that Dave took of it when she was blowing out the candles show my not-s0-lovely stomach without my head.

Sometime while I taught two piano lessons, someone tasted a little frosting from the front of the cake. Lovely...

After piano, we went to soccer practice. Dave is the coach again this season, but this time there are 11 kids! (nine 4 or 5 year old boys and 2 girls).

After soccer, we invited our friends, Chris & Geneva over for dinner and birthday cake. Here's a back-side picture of Kate with her cake.
While Kate unwrapped her present from Chris & Geneva, I re-lit the candles for Jack, since he was throwing a huge fit. He thought today should be his birthday too.
Kate, Chris & Geneva
Kate sporting her new leotard and tutu from Chris & Geneva.
Kate put on a little dance recital while Jack joined me and Chris in taking some pictures.
It was a much anticipated day by Kate. It was a busy one for me, so hopefully she enjoyed it! When she was going to bed she was telling me that now she's almost 6!

Children's Museum

This week was Spring Break for Kate, so I tried to think of things to do every day. Dave was out of town Wednesday through Friday on travel, so it was just me and the kids. The weather here was really crappy -- super windy and cold, so we spent a lot of time inside.

On Friday the kids and I went to Albuquerque. We checked out the children's museum. I went to the temple and picked up a few b-day presents for Kate while Aunt Karen watched the kids. Then we picked up Dave at the airport and drove home together. Here are some pictures from the museum:

Too Much . . .?

Tonight we were watching American Idol and after the song that all the contestants sang, Kate said, "Mom, that song really touched my heart."

I think we've been listening to too much Paula...
Or did that song touch your heart too?

No More...

Yep, Jack is officially potty-trained. I was going to post last week, but whenever I'd say how great he was doing he'd have an accident. But he is doing great -- accident-free and diaper-free.

Anyway...That's about all I can think to post about. This week is spring break, so the kids and I will be having lots of quality time together.