Gettysburg

We had lots of fun in Gettysburg with Kim and Peter and the girls. Though we all learned that an educational trip is not what it was meant to be. The kids really enjoyed being outside and running around. Hannah always asked if we could go back to the hotel and swim, I think it was the highlight of her trip, though the pool was too cold for me. Katie wanted to ride the "alligator" at the hotel. Parker just wanted to follow the girls wherever they went and Maddy was just plain cute and smily.

They just opened this really cool visitors center that we tried to go through, but there were lots of people and the kids just wanted to run around so Kim and I couldn't read anything anyways. We ended up just went going some of the monuments outside and eating lunch and then playing at the children's museum. It was gorgeous weather. Warm and sunny. Sunday we woke up to rain, I guess it was our clue to go home.

On the hill at one of the battefield sites.
Katie loved to pick the flowers aka dandelions
Hannah thought Parker needed to go everywhere she went, they had lots of fun going down the slides.
The kids wanted to run down the hill, The grass looks decieving. Shawn called it a briar patch and the kids had to be rescued, they couldn't get back up the hill.

Wicked!!!!!

I am so excited! I decided for my birthday I wanted to see Wicked! I have been talking about it forever. I found someone selling Orchestra tickets at face value- by the way that is unheard of- No one sells tickets at face value because people will pay a fortune to see wicked except for me. So today we drove down to Long Island and picked up our tickets for the May 7th show. Did I mention that I am so excited to go!

bubbles

here is a video of Parker playing with the bubbles he got for easter.

our weekend

This weekend Shawn only worked 3 hours on Saturday! What a miracle he has been so busy lately. It was a nice break for both of us. We did some errands, went to lunch and then took Parker to play at the mall. Parker had lots of fun with Shawn there.


This is Parkers new broom- so he can start helping with housework. He has an obsession with brooms- he is drawn to them. So we got him one for Easter. This also his Easter outfit. Mom might recognize it- Aunt Pauline gave it to us when Parker was born. The top fit perfectly but the pants were big- like all 12 month pants on Parker. We had to roll the waist and then put his shoes on so his pants didn't fall off.

Windy Day

Wow! Look at the wind in Katie's Hair.

Hannah, our little beauty!

Hannah received a kite for her birthday. The day after her party it was a very windy day, so we decided to go out and try the kite. I couldn't believe it-it practically flew itself. Hannah spent about 30 minutes running around with it. I've never seen such great kite weather-perfect for a 4 year old learning how to fly a kite.

Hannah's Birthday Party

We had Hannah's birthday party at Galaxy Games and Golf. The kids played in the FunGym, played a couple games with their tokens and ate popcorn, ice cream and brownie pops with sprinkles that Hannah helped make. Everyone had a ton of fun.

Pre-Easter

Yesterday I took the girls to the store and let Hannah pick out her outfit for Easter with the money that Grandma sent her for her birthday. She picked a purple dress and the shoes you see here. I really liked a white skirt she picked with a yellow top, but in the end she really wanted the purple dress-(it was about a third of the price). She says the shoes click and she seems pleased with them-so thanks Grandma! She'll probably wear the outfit every Sunday, if not more often.

Katie's idea of a fun time

Here Madison is in her car seat with a whole bunch of toys Katie decided she needed...a pony, book, 2 balls, a rabbit, block and large toy.

Repost of pictures

Gone Sleddin'

We went sledding with some friends from the school. Katie was our snow bunny. She loved trudging up and down the hill and didn't want any help. I wish I had more pictures but our batteries ran out!

14 inches of Snow

The snow finally melted and although it was still pretty chilly, we let the girls go out and ride bikes on Thursday night. We didn't realize what we were in for this weekend.

It snowed 14 inches in Columbus. It snowed all last night and throughout the day today. It was too cold to play outside with all of the wind and the snow blowing in your face and way too deep for the girls to be able to enjoy. We need to plow a path through the back so that they can walk and dig without sinking into the snow. Hannah thought it was pretty COOL. Most businesses were closed except for the grocery stores and hospitals so we didn't go anywhere. We had a lot of fun just hanging out at home. We cleaned the house, watched A Bug's Life, made individual pizzas that the girls could put their own toppings on and then had cinnamon rolls for dessert. Surprisingly we didn't go crazy.
Church is already cancelled for tomorrow, so I'll have to think of some things to keep us busy for the day. Maybe we'll take some pictures.

how sweet

I just couldn't resist putting the ribbon on his head. He took it out of my hair and tried to put it on his head.
We have moved Parker's crib because of the "reading" aka eating the pages.

The Girls

Hannah and Madison

Katie wearing Kim's boots. She loves shoes right now and she can be found wearing everyone's but her own. You can't get the full affect of the boots from the picture, but it was pretty cute. She couldn't really walk-she looked like a true cowgirl.

The end of Winter (we hope!)

Here is a picture of Hannah and Katie after the most recent snowfall. We really hope it starts to warm up. We all want to go outside and play. Today it was 60 degrees and it is suppose to be warm tomorrow, but rainy :( then it is going to get cold again. We keep praying for spring.

Both girls let me do french braids last Tuesday morning. It was adorable and Hannah actually left hers in for about 2 hours. Katie left hers in for 2 days.

It was Beau Johnson's birthday (the oldest son of my roommate Katherine). They came to Columbus for the day and we celebrated Beau's birthday with him and some of his cousins. He wanted everyone to dress-up for his party so Hannah was riding a chicken and Katie was a princess.

Visit to Arizona

Our trip to visit Grandpa and Grandma Rose and Grandma and Grandpa Scott was quiet and relaxing. Both sets of grandparents are doing well. You would never know that Grandpa Scott had open-heart surgery a few months ago. He is like the energizer bunny. He walks both morning and night. We had to keep a brisk pace to keep up with him! Grandma Rose is continuing to feel more energetic. She accompained us to the Mesa Temple on Thursday morning. After our session we wandered the temple grounds and took some pictures. We also went into the visitor's center. They have a photographic display called "Reflections of Christ." As we walked amongst the various pictures we were deeply moved by the love of our Savior. The photographer captured the compassion and love of Christ in the carious pictures depeicting his life. After seeing the photos we watched a video sharing the experiences of the photographer and the crew. A lot of effort was put into this display and I hope all of you will have an opportunity to see this it. (They are hoping to have a traveling exhibit that will go to each of the visitor centers.)

While visiting Grandma and Grandpa Scott we made a quick trip to Mexico. Not much excitement happens in Quartzite where Grandma and Grandpa Scott live, but they love being there.

Parkers bike

I thought I had posted these pictures but I guess I didn't so here they are. Parker now knows how to get on and off his bike. I loves to push it and it light enough that he can turn it if he runs into something. Some days I will find him just sitting on his bike. Though today he made progress. He moved about a foot, though he was sitting on the bike backwards. And he stood on top of it again today, but got down when I looked at him We are going to have to work on this one.

all boy with a little bit of mommy's helper

Parker's latest thing is to carry around an airplane. Shawn has one too and Parker can fly it around for ever. Parker is not allowed to play with the other airplanes because he pulls pieces off of them. He is such a daddy's little boy.

But when mommy is around he can be my little helper in the kitchen. I put an apron on sunday and he kept pointing at it and pulling at it so I put it on him and he walked around with a hot pad until we took it off.