Grandfathers and fathers and sons

Last weekend was all about the boys going into the desert for Aaronic Priesthood commemoration while the girls stayed home and did pricess-y activities. I'll give them a little face time here at the beginning.

Here she is looking all growed up.
So the sun has finally warmed things up down here, and she couldn't be happier about it. She is addicted to her vitamin D.

N has been climbing up the walls like this for a while, so this was a major rite of passage for B to figure out that he could do it too.

Wondering what to do about this new environment.

After Friday night at Staker Springs (by the way - the San Rafael swell is the site of the Vulcan homeworld in the new Star Trek movie - see if you can spot Spock anywhere in these pictures), we went on a hike to see one of Butch Cassidy's hideouts. This one was famous because he could light a fire here and the smoke would rise out of the canyon half a mile away. Before I got there B had taken a sucker out of the Geo-cache bucket and started sucking on it. Wonder how long that was there.

Coming up out of the crevasse/ravine/canyon. We were lucky enough to have Grandpa with us to make it even more fun. He even got to remember his military days with some belly-crawling through some tough spots.

Butch Cassidy's table. It sounds good anyway.
A Blow snake we saw on the way out. It was very pretty. All the boys wanted were some lizards. I thought this was way better than lizards, but sadly, no.
We took the boys shooting afterward because they have been bugging me about it. Don't criticize the form, that's a heavy rifle.

All still alive. Thank goodness.

Wicked was incredible, by the way. Now we're getting ready for Louisville in June. Hooray!

Okay so we're not moving

I've been inundated with swine flu questions for the past 24 hours. I'd rather talk about these cute little piggies than infected yucky piggies. Here's a load o' photos.

We figured out with N (not true - he figured it out on his own) that he could learn to ride on a small bike a lot easier. Hence the pink.

Those are not cuddly blankets. Those are laser guns. Trust me.

Our Hollywood girl.

At the driving range with the boys. They were more consistent than me. The great thing about Price is that nobody was there, so we wandered onto the range and hit all the balls we wanted to.

Crazy weather day. This playing did not last long.

Uncle S after a folk dance performance. He was awesome. The kids did super. They were really into it.

Happy April Fools. They loved this joke. Kept them on all day.

Getting ready for a trip up the mountain with our neighbors.

As you can see, the boys were seriously under-helmeted. I sure am glad we didn't bonk any cabezas.

Oh, we support earth day in Price. M thought this was a missionary picture. No bikes in Paraguay, we were much too tough for that.

Getting ready to go swimming after the Draper temple open house.

Her smile will just melt you away. She's finally sitting up.

Celebrating anniversary 8 in style. We're going to see Wicked tomorrow for the real thing. I know, I'm awesome (doesn't matter if you don't think so, because she does.)

A good role model to grow up with.

Swimming.

It seems as if the kids are growing too fast. N has done great with soccer this year, extra cheers because we're further from baseball. A asked me the other day if I had ever broken my face. That's family support for you, eh? B keeps asking when we're going to have another baby. Don't ask B, don't ask.

We're moving!

This has been kind of secret. Really secret actually. But I applied for a job with the CDC, got it, and now we're moving to Atlanta. I start July 1. We're kind of freaking out right now because we only found out last week. We'll make it happen somehow.

The smell fire.

A found one of her toys the other day sitting in the top of a scented candle (of course we put it there on purpose). She was excited and ran in to tell everyone. Mom asked her where she found it and she said "I found it in the smell fire." We thought that was such a clever way of describing that. Yesterday B was in a bad mood all afternoon and after dinner he finally started cheering up. A said "Thanks for being so happy, B." What a delight. Some of the pictures I've posted make little B seem kind of somber. These are more like it.

Love the hair. Love it.

Our dynamite KNex windmill. I wanted to post the close up version to crop out the jammies, but Melody deserves credit, and we did go to a BYU basketball game the other day and it was pretty fun.

So this is not a flattering picture. But the thought is pretty cute. And I love A's mouth.

This is the boys' favorite activity nowadays. Anyone else remember sliding down the stairs in their sleeping bag? N made me go down and it about broke me and the stairs.

I'm not very good at this

I have quickly come to realize that I'm not very good at this. Oh well. It is what it is. We've had a sickness-filled January. First B, then A, then N, then little B, with a little parent whining in there as well. A has taken it the hardest and, by extension, us. She is normally the sweetest girl on the planet, but sickness changes her to Ms. Hyde. Maybe that's growing up as well. Sure hope not. N is really into basketball now and plays in even the coldest weather. B is Mr. Giggles. He has a great giggle, and when he decides to be the center of attention, it's a wonder. Little B is smiling all the time now, but laughing has her a bit concerned. She acts as if it'll all blow up if she laughs. She'll get there. Mom is nervous about hosting her first book club, and wants it to be memorable (she also wants the basement finished before then - ha!) I just started training for the June triathlon (I have to learn how to swim - someone should have told me ahead of time).
This is just to spite my lovely bride. That - and we own BYU right now.

I love her hair in pig-tails.

Blue lips - very exciting.

Hi. I look exactly like N did when he was this age (minus the extreme combover).

She does have blue eyes. Where in the world...?

The Greatest Game Ever Played

Yes, I went to New Orleans last week and watched the best team in America beat up on Alabama. It was incredible (thanks for the present Mel!). We basically went berserk from an hour before the game until we went to bed (way too late). It was fun to be there with family and friends, and fun to be in a game that was a little bigger than usual.

Go UTES!

Gary the Green-nosed reindeer

Last Christmas Auntie M gave us a Christmas CD featuring the hit track 'Gary the Green-nosed reindeer'. We never listened to it last year because it was past Christmas, but it sure has made its presence known this year. Who knew that rap could bring in such a wonderful Christmas spirit.

This is N forcing himself into the picture (you may notice a trend after a while). This is B's Lightning McQueen racebox. And yes, you can spend hour after hour in here spinning the paper plate, er steering wheel.

So there is a little tag on the back of this stroller cautioning the world that "This is a toy. This is not meant for real little people" (or something similar). Did that stop the adventurous kids from pushing little Miss B around in it? No. Did it stop the parents from letting them do this? No.

A was a little anxious to get in the tub. Just couldn't wait.

kids in costume for the 'Night in Bethlehem' ward Christmas party. N is too cool to smile. But A thinks this is splendid. It's like being Bo Peep all over again.

Us in the manger.Mary and Joseph. We were asked to do this by virtue of being the couple with the youngest child. Little Miss B was great, though this was probably the only time she was in the manger. That seems about right though. New mom and dad Mary and Joseph didn't just welcome the Savior of the World into their family and then let him sit there, right? Maybe if he was their fourth child... Speaking of real life manger scenes, M figured that Mary would have been pretty tuckered out after the donkey ride and labor, she wanted to hand Little Miss B to me while she slept on the rock/beanbag. Alas, it never came to fruition. The party was wonderful. It was a lot of work lashing the shops together with the young men leaders (and 1 deacon), but worth it when we ripped it down in 5 minutes flat. During the presentation we had a chance to go through and were impressed by the strong spirit.