Hooray for Spring!

Yes, we are glad winter is finally behind us.....

That means baseball games in the front yard......

playing at the park.....

and Spring Break!

For Spring Break we took a little road trip to St. Louis and had a fabulous time. Part of what made it fun was meeting up with some old Bechtel friends. We went to the zoo, the City Museum and the St Louis Science museum, and checked out the Gateway Arch. I just have to put a good word in for the City Museum......it was amazing! If you have active kids who love to run around and climb (I guess that's just the definition of "kid," isn't it?) then this is somewhere you need to go. We had to drag the boys out of there at closing time :) "Museum" is a misnomer, it is a huge indoor/outdoor play area with, among other things, a ten story slide (yes you read that correctly.) Tons of fun. I didn't, however, get many pictures as we were too busy keeping track of the kids. Here's one of Connor climbing in the skate park (no skateboards there, it was just a place for the kids to run around...)

So I guess I just took a break from picture taking that entire weekend. Oops. Anyway, for the rest of spring break, we slept in, went to the park and the Wonderlab, had friends over, and just relaxed. But I'll have to admit that I enjoyed the calm of a routine once the kids went back to school....

OK so this wasn't during spring break, but last week Kate, Owen and I went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum for playgroup. This is Kate at the Dora exhibit. I think this is a byproduct of having two older brothers, but she is pretty much obsessed with Diego and wouldn't even let me get her picture next to Dora. But can you blame her? Rescuing endangered animals is just SO COOL.

March Madness

Yeah so I'm super lame with blogging lately. It seems like usually something will happen and I'll think I SHOULD BLOG ABOUT THIS, but for some reason I don't think that about anything lately. So all I've got is us messing around on the computer....

This is my favorite....

Jill

My mom would have been 61 today. It's amazing how ten years feels like an eternity and yet in some ways I can't believe I have gone so long without her here. In honor of the occasion I thought it would be fun to share a few memories....

My mom loved Coke. Not Diet Coke, but the original, full of sugar Coke. She went through several cans a day, but to say it that way is a little misleading. She would pour her can of coke into a glass that was so full of ice that I don't know how any of the drink could actually fit in there. And then she'd have a few sips, and that would be it until later in the day when she'd open a new can of Coke and start the process all over again. All I can think is that must have gotten pretty expensive over the years.

She loved to read the newspaper. It was a daily ritual. Never saw her open a book, but she really loved the paper. And People magazine.

She ate hamburgers plain. No cheese, tomatoes, or lettuce. And condiments were an abhorrence. She also ate pizza without the tomato sauce. I wonder if that sort of thing is a genetic trait, because Cameron and Connor only eat pizza without the cheese. I don't know which is weirder.....

She loved going to movies, and if she really liked the movie she would buy the soundtrack (it seems like movies always used to have soundtracks, didn't they?) and we'd have to listen to it for WEEKS.

My mom was the BEST if you ever got sick. She was so understanding and compassionate and always took such good care of us. Maybe it's because she dealt personally with a lot of sickness in her adult life and that gave her a lot of empathy??? I don't know, but I still really miss her when I'm not feeling well.

She loved sending cards to her close friends and family. Birthday cards, thank you cards, just-thinking-of-you cards, etc. She was just really thoughtful like that :)

She worked professionally as a still photographer for awhile when I was a teenager. I think that's really cool and wish I had inherited her photography skills.

My mom had a very simple faith. She wasn't the type that went around quoting scriptures or explaining complicated gospel doctrines, but she taught me right from wrong through her actions and how she lived her life. It was a very powerful way for me to learn the way I should live.

My mom was one of the most unconditionally loving people I have ever known. She was kind to everyone and fiercely loyal to those who were close to her. I knew that there were no expectations that I had to act or be a certain way, that just being her daughter was enough. That has always meant so much to me and still does.

Well, that is all for now. Happy birthday mom! I'm off to drink a coke.....

Christmas Adventures

So I'll be honest, a part of me was NOT looking forward to our Christmas trip to Utah. Traveling at Christmas can be SOOOOO stressful and I wasn't sure I had the energy to put up with it all. And things started pretty rough, with a 4am wake up and a race to get to the airport in Indy. We had a scare when we were told we could not fly with Owen without providing a copy of his birth certificate (what?!?!) So I had to stay back and wait in more lines while Keith went ahead with the other kids. Apparently I was able to convince them that Owen was under 2 - duh! - and I made it on the flight as they were finishing boarding. Whew! At that point I felt I had endured enough stress to last me the entire trip, so I prayed the rest of the trip would go more smoothly. And it did :) Really our entire vacation was close to perfect, and for that I am very grateful.

Our little Christmas nativity with Owen as baby Jesus, Kate as Mary, Connor as Joseph, and my dad and Cameron as shepherds. No wise men, since we have a biblical scholar with us who reminded us that the wise men most likely came at a later time :)

Mary and baby Jesus - so cute.

A very excited Kate on Christmas Eve.

Some of the Christmas day carnage...

Keith's brother Scott enjoying a litte mate (mah-tay).

After Christmas, we spent a couple of days in Blackfoot with some of Keith's family. Some of the adventures included a guitar lesson for Cameron....

And snowman building....

Once we arrived back in Provo, Connor kept insisting that he wanted to go hiking, so Keith braved the cold and took Connor and Kate up Provo Canyon. Cameron, Owen and I decided to stay home that day :)

Oh I love those mountains!!

Another highlight of the trip was the Johns reunion at Nate and Steph's house.....

Aunt Janelle with cousin Jada.

Grandpa with Kate and Owen.

Cousins opening gifts....

Part of our gathering was a bunch of Minute To Win It challenges (you'll understand this if you've seen the show.) We definitely had some laughs :)

Garrett getting all tangled up....

Yes we did some strange things....

The girl cousins had a great time getting makeovers and putting on a dance performance for us. They kept dancing and dancing and dancing....

Thank you to everyone who helped make our trip so perfect. We'll see you in June!

Fall - Part 3

OK I know it is a little embarrassing that I am just putting these pictures on here now, but what can I say? These were taken at a pumpkin patch when our friends the Bostons came to visit for Owen's blessing. It was kind of a hokey little pumpkin patch, but it worked and the kids had a good time.

On a hay ride. It was like 85 degrees that day. Sounds lovely right now, as this morning it was 12 degrees (!!!)

Maralee and Jack.

On the hunt for the perfect pumpkin.

Found it!

And the picture I most wanted to include was Owen's blessing day :)

I think I'm ready for Christmas now - bring it on!!

Hooray for nice people!

This morning was frantic trying to get the boys out the door for school (pretty much like every morning.) Winter complicates things because we have to locate hats, gloves, etc in addition to shoes and backpacks. But anyway the bus pulled up and the boys weren't ready yet, so all the other kids lined up and got on, while we just watched through our front door. Argh!! I had to walk away for a minute to collect myself because I was just so frustrated. But anyway, when I came back I noticed that the bus was still stopped in front of our house - he was waiting for us!! I guess the bus driver could see us through the storm door. So I rushed the boys out and I ran out too to thank the bus driver for waiting an extra minute so they could catch the bus. He smiled and waved as the bus drove off.

I love nice people.

Fall - Part 2

HALLOWEEN! So I lucked out because the kids decided they wanted to use their same costumes as last year (!!!!) I of course had to complete the Star Wars theme so I picked up a Yoda costume for Owen.

OK Keith decided to be a cowboy for trick-or-treating, but everyone else is Star Wars at least...

Apparently Yoda is happier when he's asleep.

Princess Leia is also a repeat of last year. I know I didn't need to include pics again but I just LOVE THE BUNS.