Spring Break

After Easter dinner we got packed up and ready to leave on our Spring Break trip the following morning. Our original plan, and the one we told the boys, was to go to St. George and play in the pool at a hotel. This seriously was so exciting to them. They love hotels and they love pools. Then we'd drive the 1.5 hours to Las Vegas the next day and have a day trip there finding some family friendly things we could do. But, as it happens, we got on the road to St. George on Monday and almost got there when we decided we wanted to do something a little bit grander. Speaking in grown up code in front of the boys we decided to do this Spring Break right and keep on going to California. We just had to dig deep into our vocabulary to talk to each other with the kids listening. It was pretty funny, actually. Try it sometime. Try to have a conversation using really big words or phrases to mean every day things in front of kids and see if they understand. Anyway, we had to call and cancel our hotel reservations in St. George. And as we cruised right on past in the car, Andrew kept saying "Mom! Mom! I see St. George. I see the signs. You're supposed to turn off the freeway!" He was distressed. But we got to Las Vegas and stopped for some dinner. It was at this point we told the boys we were headed to Disneyland. Oh what whooping and yelling we had in the car. Greg and I are planners and it was unlike us to just decide on a whim to drive all dang day to California. But we did it. We tried getting a room at the Disneyland Hotel but found it was $1,000 a night (day of prices). We decided our "On a Whim" Vacation budget didn't quite stretch that far. But we found a hotel within walking distance to the park.
And what a day we had. It started off pretty slow in the park and we got in all the big rides we wanted to do. We walked right on to Indiana Jones and Splash Mountain without having to wait in line at all. That's NEVER happened before. So we had a great morning. It picked up quite a bit after lunch time and lines got longer. But it was still a fabulous day. I love how family friendly Disneyland is. Other than big rides like Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, and Splash Mountain we took the baby on everything. Greg and I took turns taking the boys on bigger rides. When we went to Disneyland the last time, Andrew begged and begged for a "double-bladed light saber that you build yourself." After going on the newly designed Star Tours ride, he finally got his wish.
It's such a magical place and we love Disneyland so much. We drove home so Greg could be back to work on Thursday, after staying at the hotel in St. George that we had originally planned on. The kids finally got to go swimming. Elizabeth hates the car and is not a good traveler. That was the only flaw of the trip. We all are a little deaf because of her incessant screaming in the car seat.



So long in the car!

Didn't even bring a port a crib. Poor baby had to sleep in a nest on the floor.




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St. George pool at last!


We stopped in Ontario, CA on our way back home. It was on the way and we couldn't resist. This is the apartment where Greg and I lived for 3 1/2 years while he did his Pharmacy schooling. Nathan was born while we lived here. It kind of felt like coming home. We had such a great ward there and good friends.
Anyway, we're home now. Fast, quick trip. I didn't even pack enough clothes for us since we changed our plans after we'd left home. Crazy! Hooray for spontaneity!

Happy Easter

We had a lovely Easter Sunday. I'm so glad Greg had that Sunday off from work. It's nice to have him home on Sundays! We attended our church meetings, then got right to work after church getting our Easter dinner ready. Greg's parents and siblings joined us that evening for our dinner.

Pretty girl in her pretty Easter dress. She's the only one I took a picture of. Crazy morning getting ready for our Easter dinner.

We had a quick little Easter Egg hunt in the backyard. Everyone was still in their jammies and it was a little chilly.

Untitled Post

We attended a very chilly BYU baseball game last night. Each Spring I gear up for the start of baseball season. I learned early on in our marriage that Greg was a fanatic about baseball. Football season is a close second and basketball season is something to do while we wait for baseball to roll around again. But it's fun and our boys love to go with their Dad to games. And the evening was made all the better by Cosmo coming to see us and give hugs. Seriously, you'd think it was Christmas morning how excited the boys were to see him and hug him.







And honestly, isn't she the prettiest little creature in the world? Yes, I'm a bragging mother about my beautiful little girl. But man! She's precious.

David came to me one day a couple weeks ago and said "I put a bead in my nose." He was quite calm and matter of fact about it. I said "Oh you did? Let's see." And sure enough I could see a bright neon green bead (which was actually a very tiny BB for a gun) right up in his nostril. I thought it would be a cinch to get out since I could see it. Unfortunately David has no idea how to blow his nose, so when I asked him to blow into a tissue, he sniffed as hard as he possibly could, rocketing it up into his sinuses. Not knowing quite what to do, we decided professional help was needed. It being a Saturday, InstaCare was our only option. So after dumping the older boys at the neighbor's house, we went and got the little BB extracted. The doctor came in to the exam room and the first thing he said was "You must be three, right?" Apparently three year olds are the most common age for inserting things into noses and ears. David did so well to hold still and let the nurse and doctor get the bead out. It was pretty high up in the nose, but he found it and got it out. David sat silently in the chair, but had little tears rolling down his cheeks. I snapped a picture right as the doctor pulled the bead out. You can see the little green bead in the last picture.




Hopefully we learned our lesson and won't be putting things up there again.

The Big Catch Up

I have been a negligent blogger for a couple months now. We are still alive and kicking. I'll let the pictures I've chosen speak for themselves. Hopefully they have an interesting story to tell to those who read my blog. Sometimes Blogger and I have disagreements about the quantity, quality and order of my pictures. We'll see if we're on good terms this evening

CITY CREEK
Since we drive up to Salt Lake at the drop of a hat, it was no skin off our nose to go check out the new spectacular City Creek center in downtown SLC, just one block south of Temple Square. AMAZING! It's mostly full of super expensive stores that I do not shop at, but it's always fun to window shop and people watch. The Tiffany's store and the Rolex store were interesting to scope out and see the kind of people who shop there.

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THE BABY
A lot of growth and some important milestones have been accomplished by this little darling. She is an independent sitter. She FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY consented to drink from a bottle. She jabbers nonstop and says a pretty good DaDa. Whether intentional or not, Greg's mighty pleased. Also, her hair is out of control, but I will not cut it.




SPRING PRACTICE
Each Spring we trot out to LaVell Edwards for the open practice and take a peek at this year's football team and see how they're shaping up.




MEIN FUß
Owing to a wet floor and some silly shoes, I slipped and sprained my ankle about a week ago. I had it x-rayed and found it wasn't fractured, thank heavens. But it's still swollen and gross looking. Kind of looks like an elephant leg.


And here's the last two pictures that need to be shared. The beautiful woman holding Elizabeth is her namesake, my cousin Elizabeth. She is poise, intelligence, kindness, love, class, and elegance personified.

And whoa....she's a chubby bunny!

Good night.

Our First Derby

Andrew just competed in his first Pinewood Derby. He placed right in the middle of the pack (of 18) and we picked up some tips on how to make his car a little more aerodynamic for future derbys. Despite not winning or even coming close, he still had a good time. It reflects his easy going nature and I'm proud of him for taking things in his stride. He had fun watching the cars come down the track and being with his Cubscout Buddies. Greg is the Cubmaster and also has a very easy going, non stress approach to planning these functions. A lesson that I can learn from him..

A Post About Her

My girl is just a few days shy of six months old. Something that I'm NOT happy about. It is going by too fast and it seems like each day she is doing something new and growing right before my eyes.
She is beautiful. I hear it often enough from perfect strangers. Like waitresses who sit down at our table (on the job) to exclaim over how pretty she is and talk about her.
She is sweet. She has the silliest personality and giggles all day long. She loves her brothers to come talk to her in silly voices and make her laugh. She loves her daddy to kiss her bare tummy and make silly noises on it. She puts one palm on my face whenever I hold her on my hip. It's like she just needs to constantly touch me.
She's got two razor sharp teeth that make her smile even sweeter.
She is my tonic when I'm having a rough day. She's everything we could have asked for and more. She is the perfect addition to round out our family and make us complete. We all adore her.



Snuggling with her Uncle Paul

She LOVES the doorway jumpy.





Elizabeth Elaine Wilding