april around here

Nathan and Sawyer had a great time playing in a spring hail storm. Crazy kids.

Dave and I went out to dinner and then to see Captain America at the theater with our neighbors. We feel very blessed by the great people we get to live by.

Ben is now wearing underwear and continuing to delight us with his sense of style.

We enjoyed General Conference. Megan and Tim came over on Sunday morning and made crepes for us. Delicious. I managed to stay awake through 3 of the sessions but finally succumbed in the last. I am really glad they publish the talks so I study them again and again.

Spring Break was the second week of April. We stayed home and had a rather boring week. Oh well. Sometimes that is just the way it has to be. We did go to the aquarium at Emma's request. Unfortunately it was so crowded it was hardly enjoyable. We get to go back sometime this summer. Hopefully that will be a better experience.

We woke the boys up to see the lunar eclipse. They were too tired to be very impressed. At least we tried.

Dave served as a delegate at the county convention.

We went to lots of baseball and soccer games. Lots.

Our ward had an getting to know you activity for the adults. They requested pictures of us in our 20s for a slideshow. No one could believe it was Dave in this first picture. In truth, he hardly ever looked like that but it is such an awesome picture. Oh, we were so young and skinny once!

Dave ran another Thanksgiving Point half marathon. This year it was in the pouring rain. I don't think this will ever be my idea of fun but I think it is so great that he does.

I was able to get together with a few folk dance friends since one of them came into town. I am so blessed by the amazing friendships I still enjoy so many years later. It doesn't matter that we live miles apart or that we rarely see each other. We just pick right back up. We ate dessert at The Chocolate in South Jordan and talked, cried and laughed until it closed.

Keri, Michael and Josh came over for dinner the last Sunday. We had a delicious Asian buffet because Josh and Emma requested Orange Chicken. After dinner, Anne was brushing everyone's hair. Even Michael's which is in a buzz cut. She still got mad at him when he "messed it up." We thought she made Keri look particularly lovely. :)

a night on broadway

I am our stake's cultural arts director. As part of that calling, I am responsible for two activities a year. One is the Christmas Choirside that we do in December. The other activity varies in theme but usually happens in the spring. This year I proposed doing a stake Broadway revue.

I wrangled my good friend, Lisa, into being my assistant director. She was amazing and I could not have pulled this off without her. We began with a casting call in January. Stake members either came with a specific song that they wanted to perform or sang a church hymn/Primary song so they could be included in one of the three large ensembles. We had rehearsals on Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings in January and February.

The activity was on March 8. We did two shows and had a great turn out from the stake. I think we ended up with a great line up with a good mix of performers and Broadway shows. I was able to get a live band for several of the numbers with the help of the awesome and talented people in my ward.

Sawyer and Nathan were in the children's ensemble. They keep asking me when we are going to do it again. Emma felt forced into performing but I think had fun in the end. Dave loved the whole thing and spent lots of time singing his songs until all the kids knew them too.

More pictures here.
Videos of the shows here.

It was a crazy amount of work but I think it was a positive experience for all involved from performers to audience. I had never really been in the director position before. I thought it would be hard to watch and not feel sad that I wasn't performing myself. In reality though, it was awesome to sit back and feel great satisfaction at what I (with lots of help) was able to pull together.

leaves are falling

Just an ordinary day. I was sitting on the front porch playing a game on my iTouch. I was outside with Anne and Ben because it is the only place Ben seems to be happy lately. Anne had just begun to play with the pile of leaves when Dave got home from work. They grabbed handfuls of leaves, threw them in the air and yelled, "Surprise!"

What I should remember:
--Anne looking a bit like a ragamuffin. Hair all askew. Nose running. Somewhat mismatched outfit since I need to go shopping for fall clothes for her. She brought me that dress out of her drawer that morning and proclaimed herself a princess when I put it on her.
--Dave immediately going to play with her when he came home. He's a Super Dad indeed.
--The weather was beautiful today. Its supposed to turn cold tomorrow.
--Ben actually sitting in his bouncy chair contentedly. Those moments seem to be rare lately.
--Enjoying "Where's My Water" on my iTouch. I really love technology.
--Dinner ended up being a bit late. Dave reminded me yet again that the simple act of holding the baby or sitting outside with my toddler actually can count as doing something.

happy father's day

Dave is AWESOME! We are always happy to celebrate him on Father's Day. On Saturday we shopped for treats. While we were there, the boys also spotted an American flag swimsuit. They were so excited because then Dave would have a swimsuit to match theirs. I put it all together in a basket.

The kids wrote cards and left them for him on his plate. We enjoyed a good breakfast with pancakes, bacon, strawberries and orange juice. Dave likes his pancakes cooked on only one side. Have you ever tried a batter pancake? Would you ever?

cards and batter pancakes

Anne: I love Daddy because he gets in his car and goes to work.

Sawyer: I love Daddy because he is awesome because he runs fast.

Nathan: I love Daddy because he is my good soccer coach.

Slade: I love Dad because he is nice to me and does a lot of things for me.

Emma: I love Dad because he goes on walks with me and talks with me.

random snippets

A few random snapshots of life from the last three months:


Anne always keeps life interesting.

I have no idea what is in her hair.

Dave ran his first half marathon in April.

My mom brought me my wedding dress on a recent visit. Of course, Emma needed to try it on. She says she wants to wear it when she get married. We shall see. These pictures were taken with my brand new d7000. I finally upgraded my camera. I was so excited but it proved to be a huge disappointment. The camera would not focus properly. Out of 50 or so pictures I got maybe 3 or  4 in focus. Not good. I ended up taking it back. The salesman told me there was a firmware update that would have fixed the issue but I was too mad at the camera at that point. For $1200, a camera should be able to focus! So I still don't have a new camera and I'm back to wishing I could justify the $2400 price tag for the camera I really want.

I love this picture of all the kids on a beautiful day at the park.

I was released from my calling as Primary Chorister after serving this time for about three years. I calculated that I have been chorister for probably 8 out of the last 13 years. I haven't been in Relief Society for 10 years. I haven't been in Sunday School for 12. I am not looking forward to just sitting for three hours of church. I was released because I was called to be the Stake Cultural Arts director. I will be in charge of planning two stake activities per year (one of which is already planned). I'm not all that happy about going from a fairly demanding calling where I felt needed to one that I feel will require very little of me. Oh well. The Primary gave me this apron on my last Sunday. The notes are made from the thumbprints of the Primary children. It was very thoughtful and sweet.

One day, after seeing what I was wearing, Emma went and put on an outfit and curled her hair to match. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

These ones are just for fun.