Marathon

We are approaching the finish line of the summer birthday marathon.  Summer already is a so busy and fun with all the activities and outings, but throw a few birthdays in and it really makes the summer fly by.

Spud turned three in June.  We celebrated his birthday with a quick overnight camping trip.  He loved all the attention, and treats and the tractor ice cream cake that his sisters helped make.  He's the size of a 4 year old and talks really well, so we are glad he can finally say he is three.

 Curly celebrated her 10th birthday with a birthday bowling outing and donuts.  She is excited to be a "tween" and I think it has something to do with being able to go in the "tween" only reading room at the city library.  All she wanted for her birthday was a pogo stick and she proved instantly that she knows how to pogo!

 

 Lou had a big birthday weekend for her 8th birthday.  Her birthday was on a Thursday and her cousins arrived just in time to watch her soccer game and have birthday cake.  On Friday she had her BIG birthday party with about 22 friends and cousins.  The weather threatened her outdoor water party all day long but it turned out ok in the end (aside from the dud of a pinata that kept breaking of the hook before the kids could crack into it).  On Saturday she was baptized and we had another fun day with family celebrating her baptism (more on that later).

 

The end of the marathon is in sight with out final summer birthday arriving any time in the next week!

A bit of paradise

 

 In May we had the awesome opportunity of going to Mexico with T-man and Shar.  When they first invited us, we were a bit hesitant as I would be 7 months pregnant but I am so glad we went.  We had a blast!  

One of the highlights was visiting the ancient temples.  We had a great guide take us on tours of three of the area ruins - Chichen Itza, Tulum, and  Ek Balam.  We all enjoy history and antiquities and loved learning about the ancient people of the area.  Our guide also gave some interesting perspective to how these ancient temples relate to the Book of Mormon.

 

 

We enjoyed delicious food and seafood at local restaurants and people watching while we ate or relaxed on the beach.   At a close tie with visiting the ruins was swimming and snorkeling in freshwater, underground cenotes and in the perfect blue waters of the ocean.  Our favorite snorkeling spot was Akumal Bay where we snorkeled with sea turtles.  We also snorkeled in a natural aquarium with tons of fish, anenome and coral.

We could not have asked for a better vacation.  Good company, good food, good weather, a perfect combination of learning, history, relaxation, and excursions, AND it was just long enough that we felt relaxed and ready to come home to our kids.

Spring

It's rare for Spud to be too tired to eat!

 The last few months of school flew by in a flash and we are well into summer.  Here are  a few of the fun things that happened this spring.

The neighborhood girls and Spud taking advantage of the "warm" spring.

The rainy day fort we made under the stairs.

Crazy hair day at school

My darling daughters, with the help of dad, put lots of effort into a delicious Mother's Day Dinner.

Curly doing testing for her science fair project

Curly's Science Fair project

Lou as the Narrator and Unicorn in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe"

Curly and Lettie helping out at Pika's Be Green book opening.

More "Eat, Drink, and Be Green" fun!

With friends after the dance recital

Dancing Divas

 

Marchness

Our March madness consisted of projects, parties, and playing.  We did enjoy watching some basketball as well.  The kids really got into the final four because Fisher had them each fill out a bracket and the winner wouldn't have to do chores for a week.  Wouldn't you know, the winner was the kid who doesn't really "do" his chores.   Spud could care less, but the girls find this totally unfair.


Most of Fisher's free hours were spent working on the basement.  One of the main reasons we chose this house was for the unfinished basement.  Fisher wants to develop his handy man skills and give up all of his free time to finish it (mostly) himself.  With the electrical and vent work done, this month we began the drywall.  When the weather turned nice, we decided to put the drywall on hold to assemble the playground that has been taking up half a garage bay since Christmas.  The "12 hour, 2 man project" turned into a "20 hour, 3 man project" but after several Saturdays, the kids and the neighborhood are finally enjoying it.  We are grateful for the help we have had from family on the never ending projects we seem to keep accumulating.

The basement "backyard" swing

Gary helping with drywall

Lou can be a "bit" dramatic and one evening decided she was running away.  She packed up 3 bags and Fisher lent her his old down coat so she wouldn't freeze.  She lasted about 30 minutes on the back porch (she decided that was a good option so she could come in for food when necessary) before her desire for comfort overcame her stubbornness.

Ready to run

Fisher did enjoy his Birthday, even though he doesn't look it

In mid-March we had a family party at the LLL ranch. Many of our cousins, siblings, and other family from Utah made the trek for what was supposed to be a snow play weekend.  Since the snow was long gone, we enjoyed lots of game playing and visiting.  We braved the muddy roads, to venture out for some kite flying, zip-lining, and sliding too.

Spud Lightyear and Ariel Anni enjoying Aunt Pika's dress-ups

Tom, "the game King" playing Snake Oil with the girls

Easter Unicorn K-Rae

Paisley and Russ serenading

An exciting game of "Settlers"

And of course, there is every day life to be enjoyed as well.

Spud bonked his nose and "needed" a band-aid

Lou helping spud with Family Home Evening

We had some crazy weather in March

Helping Great Grandpa Lake as part of our Easter Week celebrations

Lou decided she wanted to donate her hair.  Isn't she cute!

February - Fun & Fast

We started February out with a visit from the Waters.  They were our first official over night guests in our new house.  We celebrated with some serious active play at Fisher's physical therapy gym and then home made personal pizzas.  It didn't take much to entertain the Waters.  The kids were thrilled to play non-stop and the parents so the parents could just visit. 

Spud is keeping me busy and I am constantly trying to find new activities that he enjoys.  One of his current favorites is the wheat bin.  It keeps him busy for quite a while and it also makes a big mess (which is probably why he enjoys it).

Berry is easier to entertain and enjoys quiet play, coloring, and learning time.  She is becoming quite adept at writing her name.

Paisley brought this cute lederhosen back from Germany and it fits Spud just perfectly.  He was quite the ham while we tried to get a good pictures of him.

The saddest day in February was the day that Paisley moved to Utah.  We have loved living in the same city as her.  We will miss her dropping by for lunch or to just say Hi.  We will miss going on outings with her.  She started her first job as the English content editor for "FamilyShare" at Deseret Digital Media.

 

We also celebrated my birthday!  Fisher took me skiing.  I can't remember the last time just the two of us went skiing... definitely pre-Arizona.  We were amazed at how many runs we could do in an hour and equally amazed at how tired our legs were.  I guess I am getting older.  We celebrated with the kids too.  The girls planned some fun surprises and insisted on making me breakfast and dinner and they did a pretty good job.  It was a lovely birthday.

 The combined fourth grade classes at Curly's school put on a musical about the Lewis and Clark expedition.  It was well done and very entertaining.  Curly is on the front row next to the girl in green.  Her role was an aid to the president.

And that was February.