spring break

for spring break this year, the kids wanted to go to the phoenix zoo. we spent a day warm in the sun and enjoying the animals. the kids loved the bike we rented and dave loved the work-out riding up the hills.

we then headed to utah where we tried to mix a little business with pleasure. dave did a few more job interviews. then we headed to powder mountain. we stayed in a condo and watched march madness and did some skiing. it was a great set-up with the skiing right there, a basketball court and swimming pool. tim and holly came up and it was fun to swim and hang out with them. kai went skiing for his first time and ripped it up!! it is his new found sport...he LOVED it! it was great spending a week together.

heaven

first scout derby

things i loved about abe's first pine wood derby:

-the desire abe had to do it, and dave finding a way to work with him and get it done.
-abe decked out in his scout uniform.
-kai wanted so badly to be involved...he took his own car with hopes that he would get to race and as luck had it, they had an uneven number of cars so kai got to be an honorary scout for the night and race his car. he was thrilled and every bit as competitive as the scouts.
-watching abe watch the bishop write the brackets on the chalk board.
-watching dave and all the other dad's talk and secretly want their cars to win.

three!!!

max is three!!! his birthday was a sunday, so his party was passing out treats at nursery. convenient. he loved opening presents. abe and kai both wrapped up some of their things that max covets and gave it to him. i thought it was selfless and the best kind of gifts. max opened kai's very first and was so excited we could have stopped and max would have thought it was a great day. we gave him a baseball tee and it was entertaining watching him. it says, "batter up?" and max yells, "yep!!" then whacks it so hard, we all take cover. he wanted a cake with orange frosting and baseball players. he was thrilled to help me make it. it is fun to watch him get bigger. he is very expressive and vocal. he thinks about things and it's fun to watch him process the world around him. he simply is delightful...unless it's time to get in his carseat--he either throws a fit, or he starts to make deals, such as, "me swing four times like this, then me get in." my patience level then depends on if we get through all the deals or if we simply have a few deals then a fit or just a fit. we are so happy to have our max.

happy easter

easter was memorable. we went to our friends' mom's house in camp verde and had an easter egg hunt. it was unforgettable watching max, holding up his way-too-big-because-they're-kai's basketball shorts, search the big yard for eggs. it was fun to be with wonderful friend and it was WARM!!!
sunday consisted of finding easter baskets, eating our traditional conference breakfast scones, and enjoying conference together...and eating all our candy in one day!

april fool's day

sadie had dave cast her arm for an april fool's joke. at school she told everyone she broke it rollerblading. one teacher told her she was very convincing. the next day, dave cut it so it would slip off. she stood in front of the class and said, "i had a miraculous recovery!!"

her friends signed it and took turns wearing it. it was a fun joke, but by the end she was happy to tell the truth!!

max

max will only be two for a few more weeks. i am trying to savor it.
here are a few joyful moments with max:

i walked past kai and max who just finished setting up connect four--when max says in his two year old, as competitive-as-possible voice, "Game on".

max was standing in front of his drawers with the top one open, crying. i asked what was wrong and he (crying) holds up the only pair of socks in his drawer and says, "these are not my awesome socks, these are my dumb socks."

"so much" -- it can be i love you.. or i want that.. everything is so much.

"all night long"-- he is a snuggler! he will put his arms around my neck and say, "all night long"