April activities

We took a little trip down South to the Kartchner Caverns with Dave and Courtney and Kim and Mike. They cave was amazing and truly a wonder to see. You can't take picture inside the cave but this gives an idea of what the place looks like.We stayed the night in Benson and ate some awesome Tamales at the Tucson Tamale Company on the way home.

We also investigated a place called McDonald Ranch, up on Scottsdale Road and Dynamite with our friends. It was an awesome place where the girls got to ride on a pony, take pictures like cowgirls, and visit a petting zoo complete with bunnies. Leslie was totally brave enough to touch them and let the girls crowd around to pet them.

(Ada opted out of a pony ride and sat on the "yucky" hay bale)

J and I enjoyed some Chino Bandido with Dave and Courtney after the priesthood session of conference and loved their menu of Chinese and Mexican food served together with a snickerdoodle for dessert!

Sadly, my sweet cousin Kylee and her husband Brody will be leaving the state in a few months and we had a great dinner and visit with them. They have great things in store, but we've appreciated having them live close to us.

Finally, we enjoyed the traditional egg dying and the Easter egg hunt with the girls in their darling navy dresses that my Mom sent. We had a great dinner with D&C and K&M&kids too.  I love Easter traditions and we started a new one this year doing Easter in Eggs" where you place items in eggs that help tell the story of the death and resurrection of the Savior.

 

 

Run!

So I have to report that Saturday I completed a 15 mile run! I was totally nervous the night before and dreading it, and about 1 block into it I was ready to stop. But step by step I kept forging ahead and ended up having an awesome experience. I ran downtown and got some hill work, to run through a mountain, to be in the city, and to run on a shaded tree lined trail with a ton of other people. The esprit de corps of being with other people really buoyed me up and gave me hope that I can do this marathon thing. This weekend is the 20 miler and then it's down hill from there.

Let's Play Music

This is totally a promotional post for a wonderful music program that Lauren has been involved in this last year called Let's Play Music. It is a program designed for children to learn complex musical concepts during the music learning window (ages 3-9) before their finger strength, coordination and letter recognition are fully developed. The program presents these concepts in fun and totally age appropriate ways a 4 year-old can understand. It gives your child the chance to take full advantage of the formative years of learning to excel at piano skills when they are fully ready.


All I can say is that we have LOVED this program for Lauren. She has loved the things she's learned, the activities, puppet shows, and homework assignments and on her own has started gone from playing songs on her tone bells to playing little songs on our piano.  Her singing is much improved and she has learned relative pitch where she can sing a middle "C" at will.

Very sadly, her Let's Play Music teacher is leaving at the end of the summer and so we are looking into other options around the valley. I highly recommend this program for those of you who are planning on having your kids take piano lessons in the future, and if there is not a teacher by you (and you have musical skills and are interested in making some money) this is a great way to go. You can go here to find teachers in your area.

The end.

Easter Sunday

This Easter was one of the best as I spent many hours last week reading about the final week of the Savior's life on earth. I was preparing to teach a lesson in YW on Easter, and J recommended that I read the account of the Easter Story in all of the gospels. I used the religion 211 manual to aid me in study and spent time each day learning about what Christ taught, instituted, and prophesied before his death and resurrection. It was a very sacred experience and something that fortified my faith in His atonement for mankind and in the reality of His resurrection. I hope to prepare for Easter in the same way for years to come to remember again the sacrifice of God's Son. The "Easter Week" article in the April issue of The Friend was the outline I used to teach the lesson and the chronology that I followed in reading about the last week of the Savior's life. We read this account with our girls yesterday and I am grateful that they understood that Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of the Savior.

Auntie Jen & Kirsten

We were so lucky to have J's sister Jen come and visit us for a few days of her spring break.

 (Being a good sport to pose for a goodbye photo at the airport)

We loved having her here, hearing about Taylor, wedding plans, and her job teaching and coaching. We tried to be outdoors as much as possible and let her soak in some of our lovely springtime sun. We shopped, walked to the yogurt shop, went to lunch with J, hiked, played tennis, saw the Easter Pageant at the Mesa temple, and talked, and talked, and talked.

I got to know Jen well in the 3 (or 4???) Political Science classes we took the year J and I were dating/engaged and I have appreciated her openness, her support, her encouragement, and her vivaciousness ever since. She is a wonderful girl and will make a fabulous wife on June 25!

I also want to give a belated shout out to Kirsten, J's other wonderful sister, who visited us for a few nights in March. She came with her beautiful new baby girl to attend the wedding of a friend and we got to enjoy the sweetness of a new little baby again. Kirsten is a loyal girl with a calming nature. She is a patient person who is relaxed and loving to all children. I am ashamed that I don't have one picture of their visit (what was I thinking!) but am grateful that we got to see her for a few days too!

Cut the cable- Literally

Last week we cut our cable. 

We do not miss it one bit. 

All we recorded were kid shows and sports. 

We are not big TV watchers.

Since BYU is off for the summer so are we.

We got Apple TV and a Netflix account. 

Streaming is the bomb. 

Now we are paying $9.99/month versus the $85.00/month cable bill.

I hope we never have to go back.

Dead internet

Our internet died on Monday and my life went on hold. I can now say that I am an internet addict- to find out information, to schedule our life, to manage our finances, to prepare for lessons, to connect with people, etc. I depend on the internet to find and manage all this information and more.

Strange how 15 years ago I only had a dial up connection to the internet that was used occasionally to check something called email. How times have changed and continue to change where technology is concerned.

Celebration!

Today J turned 32!  With great timing the day after Conference, the night of the NCAA final, and the 73 degree weather, April 4 made for a perfect day.

We hung the birthday banner, opened presents first thing in the morning (because you shouldn't have to wait to open presents on your birthday), sent him on a sports Easter egg hunt outside his office building, took him to lunch downtown, and enjoyed Cafe Rio salad and Tres Leches cake for dinner while watching the NCAA final  (despite the boring game and disappointing outcome).

All in all it was a great day to celebrate a great man. J is the best father to our children and husband that I could have ever imagined and I'm so grateful for him. I love you J!

One of the best weekends of the year

 

It's time for General Conference!

I'm so grateful for the chance to hear the words of God's prophet and apostles over the next 2 days via TV, internet, and radio communications and for the strength it gives me and my family for the coming weeks and months.

Here she be

Our new dining set. We say goodbye to my parents old set tomorrow and welcome in this little beauty (with 8 chairs instead of 6). I'm excited for the meals we'll share and the memories we'll make at this table.  Now who'd like to come to dinner?

(Ashley Furniture photo)