Wicked

My parents arrived in California this week to spend some time with Todd and family before heading to Utah for Conference. Debbie suggested they see Wicked since it's playing at the Pantages. The girl knows every word and has been dying to see it. Her husband Brandon had to go to Germany for a last minute work trip, and so she decided to bring Ellie down to visit from Seattle, since it is snowing there and it's 90 degrees here. That way we could all go to Utah to meet up with my parents on Monday as planned. Except that Debbie and I sort of invited ourselves to California to crash Todd's party and see Wicked with them. We drove all day Saturday (and listened to the soundtrack the entire drive) and met up in LA in time for the show. Alan was on kid duty (our boys and Debbie's girl) and is the hero who made it all possible. We drove back this morning and are now furiously packing to meet up with my mom and dad in Park City tomorrow. Can't wait to see you Mom and Dad!

Easter Morning

Major bed-head and two happy boys.
Happy Easter.

Easter Hike/Hunt

Nana and Papa planned an Easter Hike/Hunt at South Mountain. We all met there this morning and had fun on a short hike up to the egg hunt. Alex was a champ- not a word of complaint, nor did he ask to be carried. Will, on the other hand...not such a fan of hiking just yet. But he was a fan of the donuts- he ate 5.

I find myself becoming more like my own parents every day. I remember going on family hikes various times during my childhood- and I remember thinking to myself, " This is NOT fun. Why does my dad make us do this??" There may have been a time or two that I even said that out loud and maybe some whining and complaining were involved. Today I kept having thoughts that I'm sure my own parents had as they dragged all six of us around on different family adventures. I kept thinking how good it was for my son to be out in the wilderness (okay, so maybe there were some fancy condos that we passed on the hike, but at least we were outside!) and using his little body to climb a really big hill- I wanted him to know that he could do it and we could make it fun. We held hands the whole way and talked all about how it felt to have our heart race from pushing our body to do what we needed it to and how good it felt to be outside in the sun looking at the cactus and rocks and hills and at the top of the hike- we saw the entire city of Phoenix spread out before our eyes. Alex loved it and was such a great sport- I'm so proud of him.

Spring Break Day #5

Searching for eggs at our church Easter-egg hunt.

After the party, we came across the Easter bunny who just happened to be spending some time in our local Super-Walmart. How lucky for us! Will wasn't totally sure about sitting on his lap, but did manage to whisper to him, "I be good and you bring me The Bee movie?"

(Sister, I took this picture just for you.)
We finished Spring Break by meeting Alan for burgers, then heading to our local soccer fields where the adults of the East Valley were making it happen on the field. Boys loved it.

Spring Break Day #4

Something I wonder about: Why is my 2-year old the same size as my 4-year old?

The Arizona Science Center was packed. But so fun.
The minute we got home Alex was off to see "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who" with Nana and cousins. I sense a theme emerging from our spring break.

Spring Break Day #3

Swimming with cousins in cousins pool heated to 90 degrees.
Any maybe we are a little bit sunburned.

Spring Break Day #1

The Phoenix Zoo with Nana, Papa and cousins.

Jen's Visit

I had a great weekend with one of my very best friends, Jen. We met when I was living in Dallas and we were both new moms. Jen really showed me around Dallas... we had many fun adventures and also spent countless afternoons in the backyard with our babies. In many ways we taught each other how to be better mothers. I am constantly inspired by her, and had such a fun weekend with her all to myself since she left her family home. Her visit was NOT long enough- Come again soon, Jen. You know how much I miss you.

Our Sunday Afternoon....

...consisted of rolling down the grassy hill over and over and over...

...and trying desperately to fly one of these. It was so windy we broke both of our kites. But we had fun doing it.

100th Day and Star of the Week

Alex had his 100th day of school and was Star of the Week all in a one week span a while ago. I always get a kick out of school projects that are so obviously done by the parents but are passed-off as being the child's work. This poster is obviously Alex's production- the cutting and pasting, the choices of his favorites, the placement of everything, he even wanted to type everything up (which was accomplished with some parental help, I admit.) I'm very proud of this boy.

Quite the Predicament

He spent a considerable amount of time getting himself into this situation. What's your plan now, Will?