March Madness!

March has flown by so fast that I can't believe it's over.  When I was a child, I remember my parents making comments about how time flew by and I never quite understood what they meant.  Now, I totally get it.  It's crazy how one month can be over in the blink of an eye.

Jared and I have spent the better part of March planning our trip to Spain.  Jared served his mission in Bilbao, Spain and has always wanted to return.  With our 15 year anniversary approaching, it seemed like the perfect time to go.  In a few short weeks we will leave our kiddos for 11 days and have the trip of a lifetime.  I'm very excited and nervous all at the same time.  I've never left my kids for that long, so send lots of prayers our way that my kids will be safe, that we'll be safe and that I won't worry the whole time.  

We have enjoyed a couple of weeks of lovely weather.  It's hard to express how much we love the warmth and sunshine after a long, cold and snowy winter.  The first sign of warmth brought out all the kids bikes.  Sadie refused to learn how to ride hers last year, she wanted nothing to do with it.  She didn't get on it one time the whole summer.  This year I decided she had to learn.  I was so surprised when I put her on the bike and she took off.  The only instruction I gave her was to look up.  FYI..it turns out when you're looking at your feet on the pedals you run into things.  

 Once she saw how easy it was and how fun it was we couldn't get her off the bike.  That hasn't changed since she learned.  Every day she comes home from school the first thing she asks is if she can ride her bike.  One side note, don't judge me because she doesn't have a helmet on in these pictures.  She has one that she wears, apparently I was having a brain cramp that day.

With the arrival of the sunshine, the basketball came out.  The first really nice day Jared walked in the house from work, dropped all of his stuff and went right back out to shoot some hoops with Ethan.  I love that he's out in his work clothes playing with our son.  Their relationship is one that I love observing and being blessed to enjoy.  If Ethan grows up to be as remarkable as his father he will truly be a great man.  (Yes, that's Sadie ducking in the background.  Perhaps riding your bike on the basketball court isn't the best idea.)

Today we finished off March with Easter Sunday.  I always love Easter.

 I love getting the kids all dressed up in their new Easter clothes, it makes me really happy.  I'm grateful for what we celebrate at Easter.  I'm so thankful for Jesus Christ's sacrifice for all of us.  His life, His atonement, His death and His resurrection make everything possible for me and my little family.  How blessed we feel to have this knowledge and to feel His love in our lives daily. 

February Favorites!

February came and went without me posting anything about what we did with the month.  So, here's a seriously belated post.

We found out the end of January that Ethan's school teacher, Ms. Wardrop, was retiring and moving to Arizona.  She had married earlier in the school year and had planned to finish out the year, but all the back and forth to Arizona ended up being too much.  I can't say I blame her for her decision, but I was so sad to see her go.  She had been Jenna's third grade teacher and I think Ethan prayed for six months that he would get her for third grade.  It was a huge party at our house the day we found out he was assigned to her class.  Therefore, I'm sure you can imagine how happy he WAS NOT the day the note was sent home.  He got in the car and said, "Worst day EVER!" as he threw the note at me.  Then, my tough little boy cried the whole way home from school.  I did finally talk him down from the ledge and it turns out that the new teacher is great.  She's no Ms. Wardrop, but she's pretty amazing in her own way.  I took this picture at Ms. Wardrop's retirement party.  Are you wondering why this traumatic moment is listed under "February Favorites"?  It's because she was our favorite teacher!  She was an amazing educator who was dedicated to her job for 36 years.  We loved her and wish her the best in her new adventures.

 

After surviving what I consider to be the worst January EVER, we were ready for some sunshine and warm weather.  For President's Day weekend we headed down to Las Vegas to hang out with our aunts and uncles and enjoy some fun in the sun.  The kids always love going to the Ethel M Chocolate Factory and the adjoining cactus gardens.  They love running through the paths, knocking over crazy tourists (please don't ask) and hunting for lizards that are sunbathing on the rocks.  

You can't tell from the pictures, but it was 70 degrees all weekend.  That was a mere 50 degrees warmer than it had been all of January!!!  We were in heaven!

I love this picture of my adorable littles!  They were having a fantastic time laughing and playing together, it was awesome!

A trip to Las Vegas wouldn't be the same without a stop at Charming Charlie.  You'll have to excuse the poor picture quality, I used my phone and the lighting wasn't the greatest at the store.  Please note...Sadie insisted, "Mom, get the whole tiara in the picture."  Can you say, "Diva!"

Our lives are so busy that more than anything my kids wanted to do nothing.  They wanted to hang out at Aunt Carol's house and play in her yard in the sunshine.  Ethan had so much fun doing his "tricks" on the trampoline.  I don't know how she did it, but Sadie convinced Aunt Linda to bring her dogs, Audrey and Jack, over to play.  She had a fabulous time chasing the poor little things around the yard.

Sadie also convinced Uncle Eldon to sport this lovely hat.  You have to give the kid kudos for her powers of persuasion.

We had a fabulous weekend that was only made a little sad by the fact that we had to return to the arctic place we call home.  Fortunately, the weather in Utah would change pretty quickly so we all survived.