March 2015

March was a great slow month.  I really loved it!  Darren got to start riding outside. I kept running inside at the gym, mostly doing speed workouts for my marathon.  We love where we live.  Our view from our kitchen window is amazing!

We got to celebrate cousin Beth's birthday.  The kids and I tried to find the holes in our air mattresses.  argh!  

Ella loves to make funny faces. She learned to do this because her Aunt Nellie encourages such behaviors.  This is also the same Aunt who tells my children to hide the dead stuffed lizard in random places!  hmmm....

Ella loves and adores and takes care of Abby.  Abby is so lucky to have such a great sister.  And I am so lucky to have Ella!  Ella write love notes to us all the time.  This one says.... To Tyler, I hope you feel better soon.  Tyler you are a great brother.  I love you more than anything.  

Our family project in March was to enjoy watching our friend Nathan Hampton build a mudroom locker thing for us.  We LOVE it!  The kids all have their place.   

Abby just wants to grow up and be like Ella.  

Haircuts, "hiking", helping paint, dressing up like a cowgirl, seeing baby chicks, and attempting potty training.  it was too stressful so we stopped.  

Tyler put on a play at school.  Ananasi and the Melons.  He was the narrator.

The kids spent sometime with their dad, going on walks, and night bike rides.

And my Dad retired.  Lots of years of working.  They leave for Mexico City to be a doctor for the MTC and all the missionaries in a few weeks.

Ellas Zumba Party

A few Videos from the party!  

Abby's 2nd birthday

Abby had her birthday in March.  She was so excited for it. and Is still excited for it now in May.  She wants to blow out candles all the time and sings herself happy birthday quite often.  We had puff pancakes for breakfast.  She blew out the candles several times.  

We talked to Aunt Nellie on FaceTime at one point in the day.  The kids like to make silly faces with her.  Nellie played Happy Birthday for Abby.  So for several times after this occasion, Abby would ask Nellie to sing Happy Birthday for her when ever we talked.  

We had lots of little cousins over to try out Mary Kay make up with Cousin Megan.  But it was also a birthday celebration for Abby.  She loved the candles.  We stopped at my moms house afters school to open a present.  Abby had to blow out more candles. 

Finally that night we got dinner and went to a park to play.  It just happened to be an extremely cold
so we didn't stay long.  And Abby wanted to get popsicles.  So we went home to our warm house to eat our cold dessert!

I tell Abby all the time how much we love her.  I tell her how lucky she is to have a really great brother and a sister who loves her so much.  I tell her how grateful we are to have her in our family.  We waited for her to join our family for a long time!

14 year Anniversary

Our 14 year anniversary was a beautiful day.  I love where I live for sure.  

A few days before our anniversary I posted this picture on Instagram.  I was excited my wedding dress still fit after 15 years.  Darren and I have been talking about our "15 year" anniversary for a long time.  We were disappointed we weren't going to be able to do anything big and epic for it.  (since we just bought a house... and that is epic)  My college roommate wrote me back... Long story short... Darren and I cant do math.  We have only been married 14 years!  But it took my roommate to figure it out for us.  

We enjoyed a breakfast date at Penny Ann's cafe in Draper.  Then we planned to do something that night but a friend from out of town dropped in ....and didn't leave.  So we visited with him instead of going out.  Next year... 15 years... maybe Costa Rica!

A note Darren wrote to my mom about me... tell her how much he appreciated what she taught me.  He wrote it about 10 years ago.  

Winter at the end of February

 We finally got snow the last few days of February.  It was the first time the kids have been able to play in the snow in our yard since we moved in.  yep... end of February.  But Abby and Ella loved it.  Darren and I went for a night run in the snow after the kids were in bed.  The dark and snow didn't allow Darren to capture how breath taking it was.  We were in the clouds over looking a beautiful valley.

 I am still doing cub scouts with lots of boys.  We got to go to Home Depot the other day and learn about tools. They gave us a free wood project for the boys to make.

 The beginning of February was warm... well almost all of February was warm.  Tulips were coming up and we didn't have to wear coats some days.

 My Dad has offered to babysit so Darren and I could go to the temple once a month.  The didn't know their Grandpa was an amazing artist until they spent a few hours drawing with him one night.

 We made Tylers Valentine box.  Its a skyscraper building.  Super tall.

 One weekend in February we drove down to Las Vegas to hike and climb and bike in Red Rocks State Park.  My friend Pam helped me pack.  She had to lay on the box so it would close.  But we got everything down there.  Since we didn't have service in the Park Darren and I didn't take any pictures.  So the only picture I have is me taking a picture of abby while while we were hiking so I could see if she was awake or asleep.

Darren has been training for bike races. I have been training for a marathon.  It was fun to try on my wedding dress one weekend and show Ella.  I could zip it up but I dont know if I could sit very well and BREATH in it!

We ski almost every weekend.  Sometime with friends, or Grandpa, Once with Uncle Ben.  I enjoy it so much!  

 A few funny pictures of Abby.  She found Q-tips. She loves the bubbles in the tub.  She is  a bit of a dare devil, going down ramps on her tricycle.  She takes good care of her babies.  She likes to sit on the potty which means, she likes to sit on the potty, not use it, but put lots of toilet paper down the hole.  I also continue to find our pet lizard in random places.  Last week it was in my fridge.  Thanks to Aunt Nellie who encourages this activity, my children find it very funny when I open it and jump!