Play Group

On Tuesday mornings Ammon goes to school and Peter and I go to play group. Last month we were getting a little over eager for warm weather to arrive, so here we are playing outside at 9:00 in the morning. It was still a little cool. The wind was bitter. But we still had fun.

Peter LOVES his cousin Kylie (who doesn't usually strangle him on the way down the slide). He absolutely worships this girl and I love seeing them spend time together. Their personalities seem to gel together just right and I love their tenderness.

Fortunately, we planned to go inside half way through our playgroup time, so we did get out of the cold. We ended up in the Riverton Library for a fun puppetshow. Kylie had fun holding one of the monkeys that Mr Crocodile ended up coming to eat.

Zoo

A couple of weeks ago my sister-in-law called and invited Peter and me to go to the zoo with her and my niece Kambria. I almost didn't go and had to cancel an appointment to make it work, but am glad for the trip. Krista brought the wagon and Peter LOVED it. He didn't ever want to get out so poor Krista ended up pulling him around all day even though Kambria spent most of her time walking.
It was the perfect day for the zoo. The weather was just right, the crowds were non-existant, and the animals all seemed especially close to us. I got a better look at rhinos, elephants, the cougar and the giraffes than I think I ever have. Especially the rhinos. It was fun.

Peter and Kambria both really seemed to like the giraffes. It was cute to watch them get excited about seeing the animals.

Taking the picture below was an interesting experience because once on this little statue, Kambria didn't want to leave. On the other hand, Peter was furious to have been removed from the stroller and pretty much cried until he was back in it. So it was a rough experience for the kids on both ends. Peter, because he actually had to get on it, and Kambria, because eventually she had to leave.

Overall it was a really fun outing (although quick since we did it while Ammon was at school and I needed to get back for him) and I hope we get to do it again soon! Thanks Krista!

Shadel Family Egg Hunt

The boys never tired of Egg Hunts and had fun participating in the third one of the year at Grandma and Grandpa Shadel's house. They borrowed my mom's idea of color coding the eggs. This time Peter was orange.

Ammon, of course, was still green. He LOVES green and would be devestated to not have that as his color.

We had a great egg hunt, complete with a yummy Easter meal. It was fun to be together with the whole extended family.

What It's All About

I feel like I can't really do this post justice. Obviously we had a busy Easter weekend with lots of fun, but none of it would mean anything if not for the resurrection of the Savior. It is so fun to have a holiday kicking off the spring time to remind us of the new life we can have both physically and spiritually because of the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
We spent a three hour chunk of the afternoon the same way as we do every Sunday - by going to church to learn of Him, to renew our devotion to Him, and to work hard on becoming more like Him.

It was a good day and I'm glad for the opporunity we had to worship and focus specifically on the true meaning of Easter.

Easter Morning

I couldn't believe it, but we actually got away with starting Easter morning with the boys eating breakfast. The Easter Bunny didn't provide much in the way of candy, but any candy is enough to make me squemish in the mornings. As usual, Andrew woke up before the rest of us, and he went to work on a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. Perfect!
The boys were most of the way through their meal when Ammon spied the Easter "baskets". I am horrible at keeping baskets from year to year, so the Bunny always brings his own variation of container with the boys treats to be left in. This year they were storage bins which are now being used to hold toys. Oh, what a clever Easter Bunny we have...
Peter had fun getting piled in the grass and having the one on one attention of a grass fight with Daddy. It was cute to watch. The two of them also had a good time playing with the ball Peter got in his basket.
The boys enjoyed hunting their eggs. Peter's were left in very obvious places (like the floor in the middle of the room) but Ammon had to hunt a little harder (see on top of toaster in the corner and behind the plaque on the window sill...) I think he enjoyed the challenge.
Church wasn't until 1:00 so the boys had time to play with the new playdough from the Easter Baskets. It was a really fun morning.

Coloring Eggs

Andrew helping Ammon while Peter cheered them on. He literally clapped for the eggs while they soaked in the dye. He had so much fun!

After our family party was over, I suddenly realized that it was just about bedtime the night before Easter and we hadn't dyed our eggs yet. In fact, we hadn't even boiled them! But, Easter cannot happen without our eggs, so I went to work and soon Andrew was dying eggs with the boys!

Ammon is to a point where he can work fairly unsupervised. It is fun to see him grow more and more capable every year. Peter, though requiring much supervision, was very bossy about the whole process. He loved it and insisted that he was not done even when he ran out of eggs. As a result, he had several eggs dipped in for a second coat.

It was a fun night. And with that, we ended our hectic but fun day.

Ammon working hard on his own eggs while Peter squealed in delight at his turning color!

Cousin Egg Hunt

This year for Easter, my family decided to get together in a more casual atmosphere the day before. We had a great and easy dinner involving sandwiches and chips. Of course, what starts out as easy with my family tends to turn into overdone so we had WAY too many foods to choose from and way more than we could eat. We enjoyed it in the days afterwards though, so it worked out well.

After we ate, the kids were ready to participate in the Easter Egg Hunt my mom was putting on for them. Each child had there own color eggs to find so they had fun running around in the back yard crossing paths and helping point out each others eggs as they hunted for their own. It was a brilliant success.

My mom was also mindful that we didn't want to give our children too much candy. So, instead of hiding candy in the eggs, she hid pieces of papers with numbers on them. Then, she brought them into the living room where she had hidden several numbered prized. That way they were able to get things from their hunt that wouldn't have fit in the eggs themselves. They got a visor with things to decorate it, pencils, magnets, cars, and other things like that. She also ended up giving them a fair amount of donuts and other pastries, which I thought defeated the purpose. But - oh well, what can you do? It was a good idea...

After the egg hunt we had a fun time decorating the cookies Aunt Krista brought. This has become a favorite holiday tradition and the kids love getting together and working on their cookies. I just love eating them!

South Jordan City Easter Egg Hunt

We started off our Easter weekend by going to the city Easter egg hunt. It was lots of fun. Last year Ammon's cousin Kylie was in his age group. With the way their birthday's fall, he was actually grouped with Carolyn this year. It is fun that he gets to hunt with his cousins. Although Carolyn is much more dedicated to it than Ammon is. Her basket seemed to be overflowing when she was done. Ammon, on the other hand, bailed out early and headed over to the playground once he felt he had found enough candy.

Peter enjoyed the hunt alongside his cousin Isaiah. Andrew monitored them both in their activities so I didn't get to see Peter in action. I saw the aftermath of him enjoying EATING all the candy though. Isaiah was a clever boy. Apparently he likes Dum Dum's so he specifically focused on picking those up.

After the hunt was over, we all walked over to a less busy playground and let the kids play there a while. They had a great time. Then my brother--in-law Jeremiah invited us over for some amazing waffles. He served them with syrup and freshly whipped cream - a combination I never would have thought of but that was amazing to eat!

It was a great start to a fun weekend!

Gale Center

Last week Ammon went to the Gale Center with his cousins Michael and Sophia. There is tons of stuff for kids to do there and they had a blast together!
Ammon enjoyed all of the activities while Michael fell in love with the fishing. That is what he did almost the entire time. Sad for him there are no real fishers in the family - someone is going to have to figure it out because Michael is in love with that sport!
After Ammon finished the various farm activities and Michael finally pulled himself away from the fishing activity, they enjoyed a fun game of checkers. The museum was a pleasant step back to simpler times. It was a fun afternoon.

Happy Birthday Peter!

My adorable baby is getting so big! 2 years ago we were just meeting this cute little bundle of joy. Now, I can't imagine life without him. He has a tender heart and joyful spirit! He LOVES morning time and is so happy and bouncy in the mornings. He loves to eat - especially cheese, yogurt, crackers and cereal. He sometimes talks in sentences. Sentences like: "I'm hungry," "Let's go eat," or, "I want food." He is a bit OCD which can be concerning at times, but mostly it is just really cute. He puts things back in their places, makes sure doors get closed, and is very particular about how things get done.

When I was pregnant with Peter I felt strongly that he was being sent to us very deliberately by a loving Heavenly Father. As I think back on these past two years with him, I still believe, just as strongly, that Peter's unique little personality was sent to us at just the right time. He is a great blessing to our family. Peter Joseph is precious, and having this little soul in our family has blessed our lives.

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Girl's Night Out

Jennifer, Peggy, Kara, Jenny

Every six months, as a part of General Conference for our church, the men have a meeting that they go to. It is always on Saturday night from 6-8. And the women - well, in Andy's family, they play!

This year was especially fun because we had all four of us together! I think that has only happened one or two other times since I've been married (largely due to the fact that Tim and Jen lived in AZ).

We went to Deseret Book where they have drawings and sales and just fun atmosphere complete with cookie samples being passed around. We shop till we drop and then...

Tim , Derrick , Andrew, Dale

... we meet up with our husbands for a late dinner and good conversation. We tell them about all the fun stuff we bought and they fill us in on the meeting they had and the things they learned. It really is a fun time for all and I am glad that it was all four couples together this year. Fun stuff!

Jazz Game

Andrew and I had a fun date night attending a Jazz Game last Saturday. Well, actually, we only attended half of it! We dropped off the boys and headed for dinner. I learned that the game started half an hour earlier than I had thought and we decided that rather than stress about getting to the game late, we would just take our time and enjoy dinner. We enjoyed a very relaxed, stress-free time at Chili's and then headed to the game. Don't know why we had ever even thought to worry about the time - we made it in time for tip-off.

At half-time Andrew turned to me and said, "I am not interacting with you as much as I envisioned - let's leave and just spend time together." We debated for a few moments, but decided to go ahead and ditch the game and hang out at the Gateway together. We had fun!

On the way out, Andrew wondered about where Therill Bailey was recording from. He was delighted when we walked right into the "filming studio" area.

We originally left the game thinking that we would ditch half-time and possibly the third quarter. But we enjoyed our time at the Gateway and never did go back. We felt a little foolish when we realized that we could have been there watching the Jazz fight it out in overtime with the Phoenix Suns, but ultimately, we are happy with our choice and enjoyed our night out on the town.

Chocolate Party

Last Saturday Peggy hosted a Chocolate Party. A bunch of people went and dipped a zillion chocolates. It was lots of fun. Ammon and Peter came by in the beginning because Andrew wanted to see the person who ran the party - it was an old neighbor of theirs from years ago. She was so nice and immediately offered to let Ammon be the first person to dip a chocolate. It was a cherry chocolate.
Ammon is such a little scientist - he loved actually being able to get involved and be part of the action. The chocolate was in the spinning bowl and he had to dip his cherry in ever so carefully as to keep it from getting swept away. I think he actually ended up losing his cherry in the vat of chocolate, but Diane helped him fish it back out.

It was lots of fun and Ammon couldn't have been more pleased with his accomplishment! After that, the boys left, and the women took over making literally hundreds of chocolates. We made 9 different kinds, but the mint truffles were my very favorite!

Shadow

Our good 'ol dog, Shadow, died last week. None of us really remembers how old she was. We just know that she has been a part of our family FOREVER. I am not a huge fan of pets, but Shadow was a good dog. We named her because of her love for people. She literally followed us around as if she was our shadow. She was always with someone.

My boys have known and loved Shadow all their lives. Grandparents have saved me from having to be a pet-owner myself. Andrew's parents have cats, and my parents had the dog. My boys love both and I love letting them play with both without having to have ownership of either!


Shadow died a natural death, which brought us a lot of peace and comfort. We knew that she was dying and we were planning to have her put down later that day. We feel much better knowing that she went in her own time and that she really had finished her life. I found it touching that even in her last hours, she was able to bring joy to those around her. She was a wonderful dog and we all miss her. Even Andy.

Catching Up on Last Week

Back in the good 'ol days when we thought Spring had come, Ammon and Peter had fun riding their bikes outside. Until Peter decided he was big enough that he should get to ride Ammon's bike too. It's a bit of a joke to have Peter graduate to a big bike since he still hasn't learned how to peddle his big-wheel, but Ammon was patient and they had a good time together. 03/18/2009

When Andrew headed home from work one day, we had walked over to the park so he came to meet us. Peter was excited to see him (he always is) and ran to greet him. 03/18/2009

It's so fun to see my three guys all snuggled up together. Ammon and Peter so adore their Dad and Andrew just dotes on them. 03/18/2009

One of the days was spent with a luxurious few hours at the park. Here is Peter with one of his cousins on my side of the family and one of his cousins on Andrew's side of the family. It is fun to have so many cousins nearby. 03/19/2009

Ammon had a special date with Grandma Peggy. She came to pick him up which made Peter terribly jealous as they drove away. They headed to the Gateway Mall where they watched a movie on the Imax and got Ben and Jerry's Icecream. Sounds like a fun date! 03/20/2009

Peter and I spent a day visiting Ammon's school. My camera died after taking this picture so even though we were at Ammon's school, I didn't get any pictures of him. But Peter had a fun time sitting at the tables and exploring the different activities. This was the snack table and it was his favorite. Yes, even as children, the best way to a man is through his stomache! 03/23/2009

Starting a Garden

This year my mom decided it would be fun to have a special place in the garden for the Grandchildren to grow some of their favorite veggies. We had a week of Spring and it was time to plant some of the plants that go earlier in the year and won't be hurt by the snow we have had pretty much ever since. Ammon, of course, was elated to participate. They are planting carrots.

In the mean time, Peter enjoyed having me push him on the swings as Andrew prepared dinner on the grill. It is amazing that just a few short days later, we are back to our winter-wonderland of snow. As I drove Ammon to school the other day I made some exclamation wondering what had happened to spring. Ammon piped in pointing out that it is clearly now winter weather. I added to the conversation, reminding him that we had just barely had all those beautiful, warm days. He finally concluded the dialogue by yelling out, "Make up your mind Weathermans!"

Oh well, it's fun to have the variety of weather. But those days outdoors just sound so appealing right now.