Spring 2014

 Spring flew by, and in review, I chose a few pics that showed some of the things we were up to.

Over spring break, Kate flew to California and hung out with her cool cousins there.  Meanwhile, the rest of us did things close to home.  Here are Audrey and Carson at the new aquarium together.  It was fun to see the new space, however, we were surprised how many animals had not made the move yet.  We were looking forward to a return trip, and taking Kate there as well.

Carson's birthday party was during spring break.  We celebrated a mine craft party with "Steve" birthday cake, mine craft - craft projects, a Foosball tournament, and of course, a little mine craft.  Fun night, Carson!

 Now for Easter.  We had fun Easter egg hunting, celebrating at Grandma's Easter Party, and other such adventures.  On Easter morning, the girls wore the dresses I made for them this year, and we had a sweet day.  It was an especially poignant day for me as I remembered my dear mom, and the very real hope that Jesus' Resurrection brings for being together again.

 We celebrated Kate's birthday party in May.  We wanted to celebrate before school ended and life got really hectic.  She chose a Frozen theme, and it was really fun to plan the party.  We did "ice castles", snowmen, and marshmallow shooters.  later we had a fight with the shooters and "snowballs" of paper in the back yard.  We danced to Frozen music videos, and did a relay race.  It was a ton of fun.  Kate is EIGHT years old now, I can't believe it!

 May was recital month.  Kate had her dance from the movie Brave.  She is such a beautiful girl, it is a pleasure to be involved with her recital.  Grandma took very good care of her the night of the recital.  And we hear that she had a ton of fun.

Travels:  Chad and I went to Chicago in May, the weekend of the recital.  So, we actually missed the recital.  But, what a sweet experience Chicago was.  We connected with several of our friends from Chicago over dinner in Hyde Park.  Then the next day attended many reunion festivities for the Booth Graduate School of Business 10 year reunion.  My how time flies.  It seemed as though it was just yesterday that we lived there.  I found myself thinking about where I would take Audrey the next week.  Then freak out, because 10 years has passed!  We had a nice visit that included a trip to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Giordano's pizza, and the old Hyde Park ward.  Wonderful visit.  Glad to go.  Meanwhile, Julie and Josh treated our kids well with BYU pep rally visit with cheerleaders and football gear and s'mores in the canyon.  I don't think we were missed.

Also, Chad spent a week in India in May.  He has crazy stories about running with monkeys, and such.  We are glad he made it safely back to us.

 We did a little hiking as well.  Over Memorial Day weekend, we found a moment to hike Adams' Canyon.  The waterfall was amazing, the hike was great.  The kids enjoyed getting out, despite the incredibly hot temperatures that day.  We thought it was a short hike, but it was probably more like 2-3 miles each way.  Poor Graham got worn out, but he did the whole thing!

And we did soccer, soccer, soccer!  This was Graham's first go at it.  He had a ton of fun, but he was most excited that the coach was his mom.  I on the other had was surprisingly nervous and flustered about coaching.  We all hit our stride mid season, and had some fun.  We are a very young team, but we learned a ton of skills.

Kate had a great season.  She scored several goals, like this one here.  Since she plays mostly defense, that is pretty remarkable.  Her skills are really coming along.  We have really enjoyed watching Kate improve.  Chad is her assistant coach, and one of his favorite jobs.

Audrey is still playing competitive soccer.  Her team jumped from Division 4 to Division 2, and their record shows the challenge that was for them.  However, we think they are on the verge of emerging as a great team.  It will be fun to see the games this fall.

May also saw the return of my dad and Elaine for a visit.  They stayed with us for a week.  It was fun to hang out with them.  Here Bruce is on a field trip to Wheeler Farm with Graham and I.  It was a neat experience to share together.  Thanks for coming, Dad!  It was Elaine's daughter's wedding.  Their reception was my kids favorite one ever.  They threw a very fun party, and I am sure that will be hard to live up to!

That is about it - what fun it has been.