Just a blurp about our week

Taylor - Still has an ear infection we can't seem to get rid of. Its not too bad though because most of the time it doesn't hurt but she will be starting a 4th round of antibiotics today. She enjoyed going on 2 field trips this week at school. One to the Lieds Children's Museum and one to Anderson Dairy where she got ice cream! She does really well in school and gets all A's. We hope she will always maintain those kind of grades throughout her educational career.

Will - Bore his testimony for the first time in sacrament meeting last Sunday. Though we feel its important for our kids to express their testimonies, I try and encourage them to do it at home as I fear that their only objective in sacrament meeting would be to show off or speak in the microphone. This may have been Will's intent but he really wanted to get up there so I told Eric he would need to go up with him. When he approached the mic, he didn't say anything at first so Eric started to prompt him with words for him to say to which Will responded with, "I can do it myself" and then proceeded to tell everyone that God loves us and we love him and that Jesus loves us and we love him (his own words and not Eric's). I don't know about anyone else but I felt the spirit testify to me that Will has an understanding greater than I give him credit for and I was reminded for that moment of the love our Heavenly Father has for me and my little family.

Eric's parents were in this meeting as they were in town for a last visit on their way to their mission in Baton Rouge, LA. We loved hearing about the MTC and the things they have experienced so far and look forward to hearing more about their missionary life over the next 18 months. We love you Grandma and Grandpa and know you will be blessed for your service!

Reagan - Tells me everyday "I LOVE you Mom". After getting after her for coloring on the wall, she told me she didn't like me. But it was only moments later after seeing me sulk that she told me "I love you Mom!" again. She is a sweetheart and a stinker rolled up into one and I love her too.

Reagan and Lyndsee are going to be the best of friends

Lyndsee - Weighs 18 lbs. 11 oz. and is 26 1/2 inches long. She is 95% in weight and 75% in length and head. Its so funny to me because she weighs the same as Taylor when Taylor was one year old and we couldn't turn her car seat around yet. Lyndsee is sitting up and is enjoying toys which is nice for Mommy because they can keep her entertained for longer stretches. She's also talented at taking her binki in and out of her mouth.

Mommy - I'm excited because I found out that I get to participate in the Alumni Chorus for the Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus reunion concert which is part of the Temple Square Concert Series. I really look forward to joining my voice with others in baring testimony through music. I enjoyed 6 years with the MYSC from 1993 - 1999 and I look forward to stepping back to this very big part of my life and experiencing it again. Since I don't live in Utah anymore, I didn't know if I would be able to take part in this way but alas, I only have to attend the rehearsals the week of the concert. It will be so fun to be in the Tabernacle again and sing under Robert Bowdens' direction.

Eric - Has been running and biking again as he works to get into his swimsuit for summer. ;) He always works hard at work and at home and I just love my man.

OK so that was a little more than a blurp.

April's Highlights

The Easter bunny left eggs outside this year for the kids to find. It wasn't quite as warm as Reagan appears dressed for but she insists on putting one of her sun dresses on first thing every morning and this was one of those days we weren't going to battle over it since we weren't going anywhere and would just be relaxing and watching General Conference. We did enjoy the company of our friend's the Davidsons for dinner later in the day. It was a relaxing and enjoyable weekend!

Taylor danced again at the County Fair in Logandale. While attending the fair, we can't resist watching our kids have a blast by sticking them on a couple of rides at the fair.

Taylor and her friend Abi after putting on a cute performance.

Will turned 5 this year and had his first kiddy party. The theme was the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The kids enjoyed dancing to the music in the beginning.

Will got lots of fun presents from his 9 little friends. I had fun getting to know the sweet personalities of the kids he goes to preschool with. We wacked at a pinuta (I didn't try and take pictures at this point) and of course had some birthday cake.

The whole party!


Eric and I were fortunate again this year to be able to attend "Club". Solutions II sent us to Cancun again this year (not complaining--could you really?) and we had a VERY relaxing and wonderful time. I started to miss my babies at home a little in the end but I endured. It really is a GOOD thing to remember what its like being just the two of us. I always come home rejuvinated and ready to enjoy being a mom again.

Eric and I standing out on our balcony.

The ocean and beach look just like a postcard not only in this picture but in real life. When I compare Hawaii with Cancun, I say that Hawaii is more beautiful in its landscape but Cancun has the most beautiful beaches/ocean.


We took one day to drive inland to Chitchan Itza. I love looking at these old ruins! I was however disappointed with all the merchants they allow on the grounds here selling their "stuff". I thought it detracted from the area and just seemed strange to have people beckoning after you while you walk from one ruined building to another. We didn't experience that when we went to Tulum or Coba the years previous.



The last morning we were in Cancun we decided to go parasailing. I like adventure and thrill rides but for some reason Eric and I both got nervous the 24 hours leading up to this venture. I have to laugh because we must be getting old.

Standing on the back of the boat.

A view of the resort from up in the air.

Enjoying the ride!

Whoa! The boat below that's pulling us along.

Thanks to Aunt Marcy and Cousin Shaley for watching our pretty babies while we were gone! Who wouldn't miss this little chica?

Lyndsee in her little Mexican dress we brought home for her.

Sweetness

Lyndsee is 5 1/2 months and continues to grow and grow and grow. She last weighed in at 18.5 lbs. She has out grown all of her 3-6 month clothes.
She has started to enjoy playing with toys and brings most toys to her mouth for a taste. We are probably only weeks away from the stage when she'll be sitting up on her own and teething. I don't want my baby to grow so fast!
She currently is on her third round of antibiotics for an ear infection that doesn't want to go away and yet she shares plenty of smiles with me and sleeps through the night.
Lyndsee has discovered her voice and can get really noisy with all her jabber. She used to have such a little soft cry but since experimenting with her voice, she can really project now.

Lyndsee in her Easter dress

Will's Blanket

Will has a light blue fleece blanket that his Grandma and Grandpa gave him when he was born. He has loved that blanket for a very long time now. Five years! He used to need to sleep with it but I've noticed that he doesn't need to so much anymore. It is always filthy and the fabric is thinning and is no longer soft so it was probably time to say good-bye. He loves chewing on the dang thing and it kind of disgusted me. Anytime I asked Will if we could go ahead and throw it away, he of course couldn't bare to do it. So after a month of letting it sit behind the laundry room door unnoticed by its long time friend, I decided to say good-bye to it without involving him. I did take a picture of it because I was feeling a sentimental attachment to it as well. Bye bye blankie!

Death Valley is Alive and Well

We originally wanted to get out this weekend to camp but after taking all the girls to the doctor on Thursday to find out Lyndsee and Taylor still had ear infections, we decided to hold off on camping. Saturday morning we were all doing well so we decided to make a day trip to Death Valley National Park to see the wild flowers. We took a circular route that day so as to take in the most scenery possible. As we descended into the valley, we came upon a field of yellow wild flowers with many cars stopped to take in the same beautiful scene. The kids went crazy as we released them from their confines in the car with me yelling after them to not pick the flowers.

One little baby girl didn't listen to my instruction.

We left the wild flowers to head up through the deseret valley taking it all in as we went. Construction slowed us down and though we hadn't intended on using the movie player while in the Park, we had to give in so as to have some peace once again. The kids tummies were grumbling and we knew that we would have to eat our lunch at the next stop.

Badwater was our next stop where we had to make due because there was no places to picnic. Badwater is the lowest elevation point (282 ft below sea level) in the Western Hemisphere. I'm sure it gets pretty hot here during the summer but on this particular day, we were enjoying temperatures in the mid 70s.

After lunch we did a short hike up a canyon to a natural bridge and other interesting formations like this dry waterfall. It was here that we bumped into our friends Mike, Angela, and Jasper.

After the hike we went to Devil's Golfcourse. These formations have round holes the size of golf balls all over them. Try making a hole-in-one on this course!

IMPORTANT: DO NOT LET YOUR KIDS EXPLORE THESE FORMATIONS WITHOUT AN ADULT HAND TO HOLD!
The rocks are VERY sharp, jagged, and salt encrusted resulting in a very painful oowie for poor Will when he took a stumble.Speaking of encrusted, Reagan's poor nose has been for the last month due to what we have just started realizing is allergies. Though she had a good time, I'm not sure we had enough meds to help her out on this day of dust and wildflowers.

Reagan ready to go home.

Lyndsee wearing her new 6-12 month outfit even though she's not quite 5 months old.

Can't help but put another picture of this cutie on this post.
Death Valley is a huge national park so I'm sure we will need to get back there again to explore the mid and northern sections. We'll be back!

Taylor Looses Her First Tooth (Twice!)

Taylor, at the age of 6 and 3/4 years, finally lost her first baby tooth. Her adult tooth that replaces it, lost patience waiting around and came in behind it. Because of this, she doesn't have much of a gap. Eric promptly placed her tiny tooth in a sandwich baggy for Taylor to carry around showing everyone. It wasn't too much longer after this that Taylor lost her tooth again! We searched the house and outside looking for her tooth but with no luck. Below is the letter that Taylor wrote for the tooth fairy.

Being Spontaneous

As much as we could use our Saturdays to do home projects or catch-up on housework, very often (especially when the weather is nice like its been) we end up getting in the car and getting out to explore. Sometimes its a planned event and other times it is very last minute and spontaneous. We didn't decide to this little jaunt until half way through our day on Saturday and off we went. I love getting out for a drive because I can relax while my kids are stapped in their seats and Eric and I can just talk without too much interruption. We headed down to Laughlin stopping to explore Grapevine Canyon that has a good concentration of petroglyphs at the beginning. The kids loved getting out for a little hike and we all enjoyed getting out of the house for the day to enjoy the nice weather. We had never ventured down to Laughlin before so we went another 10 minutes down the road after the hike to eat out.

Hideouts are always fun!A natural spring (rare to the area)

Lyndsee enjoyed her front row seat.

Taylor and Will getting up close with the petroglyphs.