spring break in photos | part 2

We went to the art festival.


Not only did we enjoy the sun, but we ate up the festival food which sadly ended up being sub-par.




Flowers because I'm craving them today.


They did surprisingly well listening to conference while coloring.


Bella of course ended up taking notes...all four hours.


Can't let Easter go by without coloring eggs.


Every time her mom took a picture of her she'd say, "lemme see" or something like that. So cute.


egg hunt.




Bella took a break from notes Sunday morning and colored with Tess instead.


On the way home Adam had copied lyrics for the girls and we had a family sing-a-long. I was surprised he thought to do it in advance, not to mention he's not a big singer. Of course it was songs he could get behind. We had a lot of fun.

spring break in photos | part 1

The drive down that seemed a bit crazier than normal.




How ironic to be in a desert and enjoy green grass. Delightful.






She found the letter M on one of our walks and asked that I take a picture. In fact she said, "Mom, hurry quick, it's the letter from my name."


While everyone back home experience winter weather we thankfully had excellent weather. Warm enough for outdoor swimming and getting a little sun-kissed.


nothing quite like napping at the pool.




I find palm trees to be very intriguing.




Each morning we went on a walk together, a favorite place of theirs in the neighborhood with a stream and pond. They ran around, tried to spot the biggest fish and attempted to skip rocks. I so enjoyed this time with my girls.




I have never in my life seen a plant/flower like this. I don't even know what it is, but I loved it's uniqueness.

random thoughts on a spring break saturday morning

-I feel slightly bad everyday I hear about the weather back home and know that I'm enjoying delightful spring like temperatures. I'm so glad I didn't stay in town to face the snow. It would have been completely depressing to spend spring break indoors.



-It's been so nice having nothing I "have" to do and have been able to find time to read. I'm almost half way through The House At Riverton and am really enjoying it. It's too bad I won't be able to finish because when I get home I probably won't find time for a while. I have a bit of anxiety thinking about what's waiting for me at home. I've been pushing it out of my mind since last night.
-Speaking of last night Chris, Amy, Adam and I went to see Clash of the Titans. UGH. What a disappointment. I wanted to see it because I grew up watching the original. Loved the original. It was a love story, but unfortunately the 2010 version is based on revenge, however, that isn't what makes the movie lame. Right now, I can't put my finger on it, but I was instantly bored and could have easily walked out. What a waste of an evening without kids.
-Megan slept with me one night and instead of getting out of the bed on her side where she wouldn't disturb anyone, she rolled over me, got right in my face and said, "good morning mom", and then ran out. Got to love their enthusiasm for a new day.
-I've been running in the mornings since I've been here and it's harder than I thought it would be. Another reminder when you don't keep up with something you loose it so quickly. It has been nice though and beautiful watching the sunrise and enjoying the spring color. I will miss the blossoms and green grass. Hopefully it won't be too long before it looks like that at home.
-I'm really looking forward to General Conference today and tomorrow.
-I've really enjoyed hearing the kids from a distance play together. Right now they're playing house and going to school. Megan and Estee are fighting over who gets to take what to school and I'm hearing a lot of "It was mine. I had it first." and Tess is stepping in trying to make everything good again. I find it very endearing.

spring break has offical begun | st george here we come

I'm hitting the road and heading out of town today in search of spring. We were going to leave on Tuesday afternoon, which turned into Tuesday morning, which turned into this morning. I was lying in bed yesterday afternoon thinking, why in the world am I not leaving town Monday? So we are. The girls were super excited about skipping school and spending the week with their cousins, well, except Bella who was concerned she needed to let her teacher know.

I'm looking forward to this break myself. I need sometime to just relax, read and not thinking about everything I need to do in the coming month.

What are you doing for spring break?

photo mischellany

Megan and I play a lot of "go fish". How in the world is she beating me? I rarely win...maybe that's why she wants to play so much.


Adam was out of town several weeks ago and I took the girls to see The Lightening Thief. Sadly I was bored, perhaps you need to read the book so it doesn't feel so choppy. They really liked it.


Seeing the goggles at the edge of the pool just made me happy.




Something about this photograph I just love.


Earlier in the week I may have looked at this photo and said "It's been far too long since I've pulled out the paints", but today after a conversation with Adam and Jill about 10,000 hours I'm thinking, "I have a lot of hours ahead of me to get where I want to be." Luckily today it doesn't feel intimidating. Why can't that feeling last?


I've been helping out in Tess' classroom with junior achievement the last three weeks. Even though they're a great class, I'm still so impressed with teachers...it's a tough job.


Made these tags to go on the party favors for Bella's birthday party. I have a thing for butterflies right now.

mystery plant

They found random seeds in the yard on Saturday and wanted to plant them to see what would grow. Megan was certain it was a watermelon seed, Tess wasn't so sure. They did agree on one thing though, it needed a marker so they could keep an eye on it.

she's 10!

It's crazy. It really is, that I've been a mother for 10 years. I knew the day would come when you would look across the table and see your little child, grown into a little lady, able to participate in conversations and yet still excited about the little things. She's definitely her own self full of her own individual ideals, but still enough mine that I'm allowed an opinion as well....wonder when that will change? Three, maybe five years.

Here is a list of 10 things I love and adore about the girl she has become...
(I could have gone on and on)



-She loves knowledge. Craves it.
-Her favorite TV shows are Nova, Everyday Italian, and American Idol.
-She has a fabulous memory. If you want to know what color shirt a character wore in a movie, you ask her. If you want to know the lyrics of a song, you ask her. If you want to know what day we left and come home from a vacation, you ask her. She knows. Seriously. I would trust her account above my own or anyone else's any day.
-She loves hamburgers and 5guys.
-She loves getting lost in the world of words. She's a reader. She's been known to write as well and even won the reflections contest at school this year for a poem she wrote.



-She likes alone time. I think it's something she needs daily to replenish her spirit. She's like her dad in that way and I have learned to love it.
-She's aware of what she's not good at and wants to improve. I'm not exactly sure where this comes from or if everyone has it and it comes at different times. It's not something that weighs her down, rather she's conscious of it and wants to be her best self.
-She doesn't loose control...ever!
-She has a strong testimony of Jesus Christ.
-She loves animals.
-She has the most beautiful color eyes. They're greyish-blue. Very unique just like her.


Doesn't she looks so old in this picture? I can totally picture what she will look like as a teenager.

Love your guts Bella.
I hope you have a magical day.
love, mom

fhe | game night

We played Scrambled States for FHE. It's a lot of fun for the kids, educational and easy enough that even a 5 year old can play. Basically someone asks a question and then you have to find the state card that corresponds with the question (the cards were scattered on the table). The first one to find the right card gets the point.


It started out good. Calm.


Adam and I had a good time watching them grab for the cards. They were all pretty agressive picking up the cards and each one they touched were somehow mangled (fyi there was usually always more than one card that was right so luckily no fighting).


Of course we had some bumps in the road when Megan lost several times in a row. We didn't wait for her to cry instead told her she could join us when she was ready. Luckily, it didn't take long to get her back in the game. I've found when you don't indulge it works better for everyone.


It was funny to see the answers they came up with. Some of the questions were like, What State's Capital City has a three letter word in it? Took a long time for them to find Topeka. Tess got that point.


By the end of the game it was quite loud, lots of laughing and cheering, and they all had made their way onto the counter. Exactly the way a game night should be...right? Bella was the one who ended up winning, while Tess and Megan tied for second. Not bad.

monday miscellany

-It's been a cleaning day today. Love Mondays.

-I never mind cleaning days when I'm listening to a book. I've been listening to Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese. I started it last summer and never finished, not sure why. I'm quite enjoying it today.


-Bella had a birthday party at the local rec center Friday after school. The highlight of the party for me was when the 7 year old named Dillon crashed the party. We were passing out pizza to all the girls when I noticed a strange boy sitting at the table ready and willing to eat. I asked him if he was suppose to be at this party and he said, "Yes, my mom dropped me off". I was laughing so hard about it I just couldn't kick him out, plus he was so insistent that he was suppose to be there. It's funny, it took a long while for Bella and her friends to notice him. Once they did they asked him if he was going to a girls or boys party. He said, "boys". As soon as he said it you could see something in his brain click. He scanned the room and realized it was a "girls" party. His face went bright red and ran out of the room. Good thing he got his fill of pizza first.

-Nothing like letting the fresh air in to help clean away the weekend. I am savoring these spring like days while they last. I hear it's suppose to snow tomorrow. :(


-Now that I have 3 hours a day to do my shopping when I need to take kids with me it's a wonder how I was able to do it all those year.


-I was sent the WC brochure in the mail last week. I have to say it was pretty creepy/crazy seeing my name in print, however, I am feeling a little more excited about it.

FYI for those of you who want to come to my class and my class only. I found out that unless you purchase a ticket through me you will need to purchase a day ticket which is $25. I am more than happy to get you a ticket for my class only I just need you to 1) email me, including your name and address & 2) send me $9 before March 31 (I will send a reply email letting you know where to send money). The tickets will be mailed to me and I will send it by mail to you. Now I don't believe these tickets guarantee you a spot. I can't imagine the class will fill up, but I know if it does they won't let you in so allow time for parking/walking.