First hike of the season

Okay, now we are getting way back. I was looking at the dates from these pictures and it was mid March! It was one of those days back in March were the weather seemed more like May or at least late April. Pa invited us up for a little hike in Little Cottonwood. It was a fun time (made even funner by the chocolates Pa was handing out as motivation). Here are a few pictures:

The real reason I am going this far back to blog about this is that if you look closely in the last picture, Pa is soaked from the waist down. He had crossed the creek with Eva and was trying to accommodate her choice for a path to cross back over when he fell in. He managed to hold Eva up in such a way that she was spared from getting wet. He, however, was not so lucky. I can't believe I almost missed a chance to tease him about this publicly! :)

Easter 2009

I felt that I needed to clarify that I was indeed talking about Easter of 2009 since so much time has passed and I'm just NOW getting around to blogging about it!

This year we got to double up the Easter celebrations. On Saturday we went to the Chamberlain's. We hunted, we gathered, we feasted... it was fantastic. The girls had a fun time playing with their cousins and gorging themselves on candy (I know you think mommy didn't notice those frequent trips back to the Easter baskets, girls, but I did!) As always we had a great time. The girls had fun showing off their fun skirts made by Laurie of Kandy Kisses. So fun!

The Search:

The Score:

The Stuffing of the Faces with Candy:

Then they got to dress up in their fancy new "princess" dresses from Nana and Goompa. Here's a picture of all the little girlies and their Nana. (I think my girls were just starting to come down from their sugar high in this one.)

Ready to Hit the Road

Last month my brother came into town to celebrate his birthday. Each morning leading up to his arrival the girls excitedly asked if we were "going to pick up Uncle Martin today?!" On the fine morning that I was finally able to say "yes," Eva was so excited that she ran to get ready. Minutes later she emerged from the bedroom baby in tow and ready to go:

I love the fact that she put on her bathing suit and her winter hat. I love this kid!

Musical and Creative

Our girls LOVE music. They love to listen to music, dance to music, sing along to music and they love to make music. We are all about encouraging them, too. I was so over-joyed when I saw cute little Naiya sitting on the sofa with her train singing a song with completely made up words and plucking away on her new musical instrument.
Have I told you lately that I love this girl?!

Arbor Day

Obviously Arbor Day has long passed, but I haven't been the best blogger the past few months, so...

On Arbor Day, Red Butte Gardens always does one of their free admission days. They set up booths teaching kids about plants and the kids even get a little tree to take home and plant. Bring along a picnic and you've got the perfect outing! Here are some pics from the day:

That's My Girl!

One of the boys I tutor brought a Hershey Kiss for each girl the other day. Eva was sleeping, but Naiya couldn't wait. I gave it to her and went back to tutoring. The next time I looked up, this is what I saw:

Not the Best Trip to the Ranch

For those of you who don't know, Jared's grandpa owns a beautiful property in the Sawtooth Wilderness near Atlanta, Idaho (Population of something like 10). We refer to the property as "the Ranch" (not because cowboys are moseying around lassoing steer). There are a few ways to get into the Ranch. The best way depends on the time of year, the snow-pack and if any natural disasters are have caused a road closure. When you go to the Ranch in the spring you pretty much know that you will have to go through Boise and then for a couple hours on a dirt road. It's a long drive, but WELL worth it. The scenery is beautiful and the actual Ranch is like your own private paradise. When we come up with the whole family, we stay in the lodge. When it's a smaller group we say in the cabin called "H-house" (named this because, looking down on it it is shaped like an H). Anyway... we decided to come up for a quick spring visit and bring my parents and my brother George (Martin was invited too, but he was too good ;). My parents met up up there and then left a couple days earlier to get back to work. It was just enough time to see what the talk was about, but not enough time to enjoy all the options. (It didn't help that it was raining a lot of the time.) Here are a few pics from the trip:

The view from the front door of the H-houseHanging out in the kitchen What happens when it keep raining and there is no TV:
When it was time for us to go, Jared backed the truck up to the H-house. Then he took the girls out to explore so I could get our stuff loaded up and the cabin cleaned up. Finally we were all loaded in, buckled up, and ready to go. Jared put on his shades, put the keys in the ignition, turned the key and... nothing. Checking that the car was indeed in park and that he had the right key, he tried again.... nothing. We went over to the care-takers' cabin and asked them to give us a jump. They did and... NOTHING. Here's a picture of the "Beast" preparing to be towed:

We ended up having to wait 4 hours for a tow then sit in a tow truck with the girls for 3 1/2 hours to get to Mountain Home, Idaho. Here, we proceeded to spend 2 1/2 extra days. I am sure that Mountain Home is much more lovely than just the view of the hotel. I guess I may never know, thought because it rained every time we even attempted to stick our heads out the door and we didn't have a vehicle to get anywhere. Lemme tell ya being stuck in a hotel room with two girls who "miss their snuggles and just want to go home" is tons of fun. (As is explaining to a 2 and 3 year old that we can't just walk home no matter how many times they ask mommy to "just give it a try.") We ended up renting a car and coming home without the truck. Then a week and a half later, Jared went back to retrieve the now fully functioning truck (thanks to some help from George!)
A bad trip to the Ranch is still better than a regular day at home, but after this "vacation" I definitely felt like I needed a vacation!!!

*Fun fact: 6 years ago today Jared proposed to me up at the Ranch! :)

A special reading nook

Since our basement isn't finished and mommy hasn't made the fun reading nook that I've dreamed of making for the girls, they took matters into their own hands. Here they are on top of what once was a changing table but is now a toy-shelf having an early morning read-a-thon. Hey, everyone needs that special quiet place to curl up with a good book, right?!

Learner's Permit

My girls are obsessed with wanting to drive a car... especially Eva. She is always saying "Give me some sunglasses and keys so I can drive." Whenever she gets a chance she is climbing into the driver's seat of the car. The other day I got out of the shower and couldn't find the girls. Then I realized the door to the garage was open and walked in there to find this:

As much as I love seeing Eva wear mommy's sunglasses upside-down trying to put the house keys into the ignition.... I decided that mommy needed to find a safer way for the girls to play "car." This is what I came up with (don't judged I had to think fast):

Yeah, along with just about everything else (eating, sleeping, playing kitchen, reading...), Eva likes to play car in nothing but her undies too.

The girls have been playing car ever since. They drive to the store and then raid my fridge. They drive to school and then color all over mommy's tutoring papers. Then they drive to mommy's house where they stay only until mommy realizes that it's nap time. Then they hurry and drive to Pa's house. Smart girls.

Rockin' Utah

I mentioned this great program called "Rockin' Utah" on my teaching blog, and last week we went on our first outing. It was up at the Wasatch Mountain State Park in Midway. We met up with the group and went on a fun little hike up to a vernal pond (I learned that a "vernal" pond is one that is only there during the spring and dries up in the summer.) We saw a lot of little critters and I even caught a frog (for a minute). Here are a few pics from our adventure:

Daddy hanging out

Mommy looking thrilled that both girls preferred to be carried by mommy at the moment.The girls resting at the pond - as you can see from the previous picture, the hike was tough on them ;)
At the end of the hike we each got a cool aluminum water bottle and we got these awesome binoculars for the family (so not a cheap pair!)

It was fun to get the girls up in the mountains again. I'd never been to Wasatch Mountain State Park (at least not intentionally). I highly recommend checking out the other "Rockin Utah" activities. Fun for the whole family.

Make Believe

A while back, I heard the girls playing pretend. They were playing Pa and Nee-ma. Naiya was Pa. Eva was Nee-ma. I heard them setting up their "house." I heard them getting their toys to play the roll of Quilla (who is my dog that does live at Pa and Nee-ma's house) and Baby Aston (who is my friends baby and does not live at Pa and Nee-ma's house). Then I heard Naiya say let's put on Pa and Nee-ma costumes. I gave them a minute and then I went into the room (dying of curiosity to see these costumes). This is what I saw:

Pa and Nee-ma... what exactly goes on at your house when we aren't around?! ;)

Seriously...

I don't know why it has been so hard for me to find the time/motivation to blog lately. I guess I got burned out a little. Tomorrow (oh wait, I guess today) I am leaving for Seattle for the weekend to celebrate my good friend Courtney's 30th; and I made it a goal to blog some of the stuff from the last month before I go. (The fact that I am still working on laundry and need something to do between loads helps.) I've always been one to put things off until the last minute, but it's getting ridiculous.
Anyway, I'm going to do a bunch of blogs and date them each a day apart so that they are a little spread out. I will not make any promises about blogging when I get back cause y'all know I haven't been coming through lately!
I would like to point out that this trip will be my first mommy only trip since becoming a mommy. It will also be the first time I have been away from the girls for longer than a sleepover at Nee-ma and Pa's house. (I'm not gonna cry... I'm not gonna cry... crap I'm already tearing up!)
Hope you all have a nice Memorial Day weekend! (Especially my mom and dad who were kind enough to buy my plane ticket and watch my kids... couldn't ask for anything more! You are the best!!!) Wish me luck!!!