Austin has been accepted into...

He will begin life as a college freshman at the U of A, Fall 2010. He has earned the Arizona tuition waver (by having good grades and exceeding on all areas of his AIMS testing) which will pay all of his college tuition as long as he maintains a good overall g.p.a..
Soon enough we will be looking for an apartment for him close to campus, buying him his own pots and pans as well as textbooks and most likely a U of A sweatshirt!
We are very excited for him on this next step in his life.

a trip to the temple with Reid

Loved that we got to accompany Reid to the temple (his first time to perform baptisms).
Because I am serving as a young women leader (and was spending my time with the 14 sweet girls that attended) I did not get to see him looking all handsome in his white baptismal clothes but James came along and was there with him the entire step of the way. This young man and the steps he has taken to be worthy to attend the temple are such a blessing!

Our entire group. Mesa offered us all a gorgeous spring day!

14 of the sweetest blessings in my life right now. (Molly was absent because of a drama rehearsal for the school musical. I really missed that she was not there.)

missing you

Dear Papa and Nana,
Thank you for playing with me during your visit. Please come back soon!
Love, Ryan

thank you and goodbye San Diego

the kids with their nana and papa (and Ditzy-doodle)
Thank you, San Diego, for providing us with such wonderful weather, for your beautiful beaches and green grass and trees, but mostly, for being the location where we could be together as a family.

our family, spring break 2010

We enjoyed the clear starry nights which were perfect for s'more making and a game of 'name your favorite movie"

thank you, San Diego, for having campgrounds that rent out fabulously cute fire pits for a mere $5-.


waving good-bye as my parents leave, heading to Washington. We miss them already!

pictures of a boy and his grandparents dog

Ryan loves to play with Ditzy-Doodle, my parents dog. She is very playful (unlike our sweet Violet). Ditzy made our camping trip that much more enjoyable.

San Diego's Fleet Science Center

A science center is always fun for a family of four science-loving boys (and one young woman who tolerates their interest).
We enjoyed a day examining the hands-on exhibits at the Balboa Park, Rueben Fleet Science Center.



Following the exhibits we watched an IMAX film, Great Places.

zoo souvenirs!

We gave each of the kids a dollar amount for a vacation souvenir. Molly chose a very cute bag from the zoo. Austin chose a t-shirt from the science center.
Ryan chose this adorable turtle (I'm thinking I may adopt this turtle as my own).

Chase is loving his panda (I'm loving how soft it is).

San Diego!

Here's a photo of our trailer and my parents motorhome camping. We only drove a couple hours the first day and camped the night just past Casa Grande, away from the city the stars were amazingly beautiful that night.

We arrived in San Diego the next day and hung out in our campsite there...walked the beach, enjoyed the sunshine.

The next morning we visited the San Diego Zoo!
First thing we did was take the 40 minute bus tour so we could see a majority of the zoo.

Then we watched the seal show (fun!), followed by a ride on the sky faire. SO HIGH! James, Chase, Ryan and I enjoyed the ride together.


We took the outdoor escalator back up to the zoo entrance so we could enjoy our picnic lunch. The kids loved the animals and I loved the GREEN - the plants, trees, grass - oh my! So beautiful!

Love this picture of Molly and my parents:


One last photo of the kids following our picnic lunch.

Austin's Eagle Project

Austin updated some storage cubbies at Sage, a day facility for developmentally disabled adults for his Eagle project.

Here is the 'before' picture:

And the 'after':

Austin repaired some of the broken (and missing) pieces and added an entire additional row of cubbies, both across the top and the side. Then they gave the entire project a fresh coat of paint. They were a hard working group of young men there to help Austin complete his project!

You might notice that some of the handles on the cubbies are placed on top and some are on the bottom. This is on purpose so that each cubby is easily accessible by it's user.

Following the project we hosted the group and enjoyed bbq hamburgers, chips, brownies and root beer floats (and not a veggie tray in sight - these are men after all!)

Apple diner/Nana's cooking

Just before spring break the first grade classes earned a special treat called "Apple Diner". Apple Diner is when the students can purchase a hot lunch and sit at special round tables that are outfitted with nice tablecloth linens and their (corn dog!) lunch is presented on china plates.
Well, Ryan always brings his lunch (he wants to bring his lunch) everyday of the year except on Apple Diner days. BUT, James and I both forgot to send him lunch money so he could not purchase his special lunch. SO - when he got home we had our own little 'apple diner'. He especially liked that he had his very own star shaped candle.

What will my boys do when their Nana is not visiting anymore?
The thing with my mom is that she loves to cook. She thinks nothing of making multiple 'special order' dinners each night. The boys have loved that she will whip up pancakes anytime they wish. And not just any ordinary pancakes but thin pancakes (more like crepes really) and she knows who wants blueberries cooked inside (Reid), who wants them just placed on top after the pancake is cooked (Ryan) and who wants them on the side (Chase) as well as who will eat them whichever way he can get them (Austin)!


We have enjoyed my mom's homemade spaghetti sauce, multiple roasts, ham, soups, chicken and rice casserole, sweet and sour chicken wings, salmon among many others. So yum!

butterflies at the botanical gardens

My parents and I had a lovely time at the Tucson Botanical Gardens seeing the wonderful gardens as well as the butterfly exhibit.


We thoroughly enjoyed the gorgeous Tucson day!


My mom makes a pretty cute butterfly.



Afterwards we enjoyed lunch at a local Chinese buffet.

Pinewood derby

Chase had a great time at the pinewood derby this year. My dad took him to his yoga session and then straight to the derby since I was with the Young Women at the BYU Young Ambassadors. James and Ryan met them at the race. Chase liked having his dad and his papa there with him.
He intentionally wanted not to shape his car but rather his design was to leave it as a block of wood! He painted it yellow and wrote "swoosh!" on the top and "bye!" at the back end of the car.

His score wasn't so bad for a little block of wood! Great job Chase!



It's pretty fun being a 10 year old scout!