Taste of Spring

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful spring day. 

We decided to take advantage of it and went to the park. 

 Ethan was at a Scout thing up in the mountains so it was just me, Jim and the girls.

Cute little Afton

5 year old twins (in absolutely non matching clothes) on the swing

Lilly very happy to be outside.

Oh yeah, we even took the dog.  He wanted some of our picnic lunch.

Our 3 daughters having a little lunch.

Even after we got home, outside fun still continued with a  little chalk art.

So excited for warm weather to come soon.....

 

The wall

With a little supervision I have mostly let Ethan decorate his walls in his room however he wants.

 

  I happened to go into Ethan's room the other day and noticed this wall. 

I stopped in my tracks noticing a couple things that made my heart proud.

 

Let me explain....

At a first glance it looks like very scattered decorations. 

But everything on that wall is important to him.

 

  Yes it has very typical 11 year old boy stuff (Lego calendar, Honor Roll certificate, dart board, Indiana Jones, etc.) But, looking closely I saw pictures from his little sisters.  It reminded me of what an amazing big brother he is to his 3 sisters.  He has put pictures that they made for him on his wall.  He put a note from Lilly (saying "I'm sorry") up on his wall.  He hangs them proudly in his room which I think says a lot about what kind of brother he is to these 3 sisters.  He is patient, proud and caring towards them. 

 

 

 

 

 

I love it!

Lucky

Just a couple pictures of Lucky hanging out with some stuffed animals on the Afton's bed.

I like the cocker spaniel peeking out from the side of his head :)

Afton wanted to get in on the fun.

Usually what greets you when you open our front door. 
 Me and a dog who just got woken up from his nap on the couch.

37

 

Another birthday for me. 

 

 37 is bringing a few more wrinkles, a few more grey hairs

 and realizing I am that much closer to 40.

 

BUT

 

Life is good and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Lost Tooth!

 

On January 11th Afton lost her first tooth!

 

I didn't even know she had a loose tooth and she just came up to me and said,

 "mom, this tooth came out." :)

My little girl is growing up.  Here she is minus one tooth.

THEN.....

Less than a week later another tooth came out!
This one was really wiggly for about 5 days :)
 

Her new smile!  Absolutely adorable.

Tooth Fairy Retreat
Now Lizzie being Lizzie has never been satisfied with just leaving a note for the tooth fairy. 
 She helped Afton build a whole "retreat" for the tooth fairy.  It includes couches to sit and rest, little foods to sample ( mini morsels of Reeses, crackers, etc.).  Lizzie even made a little cup and put some water in it.  There was also dabs of lotion to sample.  Under the white piece of paper is a canopy bed. She left out some stuffed bears to keep the tooth fairy company.  Oh, yeah and don't forget the car in case tooth fairy wanted to go for a little drive.  I absolutely love her creative mind and that she wanted to help Afton.

Ariel view of the "retreat"

Final view of how Lizzie helps Afton get ready for the tooth fairy.

Pre-Olympic Festivities

Due to a very chance and lucky encounter with Derek Parra (yes Derek Parra- Olympic Gold medalist) at a nearby Harmon's, we had free tickets to the Olympic Speed Skating Qualifier Trials last night.  It was awesome to share some of the Olympic spirit with our kids since none of them were born yet when the Olympics were here in Salt Lake in 2002.

 

Ice Arena



In front of some Olympic decorations for Sochi



Pretty handsome hockey player if I do say so myself :)



Afton getting ready for some hockey.



Pictures a little blurry- but they had a little bobsled race for the kids.
This is Lizzie.



Ethan's turn on the bobsled.

It was a fun night and definitely got us excited for the Sochi Olympics in February.

Antelope Island

To welcome in 2014 we decided to go on an adventure to Antelope Island. 

It was an absolutely gorgeous day and a fun day together as a family.

Walking along the trail. 
Amazed how my son is the same height as me.

On one of the mountains. 
Ethan is taking pictures with his new camera.

Absolutely amazing views!

Jim was able to try out his new camera also. 
 I like how the birds are just hanging out with the bison.

Cool shot with Jim's new camera.

We saw lots of wildlife- bison, deer, coyotes, and rabbits

My favorite shot from the day :)

Getting ready to head home.

Jim with his adventure buddies.

Stunning!