100 things

we love...
(in no particular order)
1. each other
2. the gospel
3. friends
4. golf
5. photography
6. trains and cars
7. books
8. grandparents (all of them)
9. byu cougars
10. camping

four crazy monkeys

Nick and Alyssa are hanging out at our house for a couple of days while their dad has surgery. My little bro, Jacob, is here also while my Mom goes to Woman's Conference. Jace is loving the extra playmates and entertainment.

Today we headed out to the duck pond. After some duck chasing and pond wading we hit the playground. It was pretty fun to listen to the four of them play. They were all monkeys but each of them defined their own role. Jacob was the great king. Nicholas was a witch doctor. Alyssa was the first singing monkey and put on the very first monkey Broadway musical. And Jace was the monkey train driver that asked everyone what the wanted for Christmas.

So far we are all getting along. I talked Jared into watching all the kids tonight while I go to dinner with my mom, sister and some friends that are down for WC. That should be interesting!

I will post some pictures later about our adventures!

easter weekend

We spent Easter in Malad with my family. And no matter how many people show up, how crazy it gets and how big a mess we make (sorry mom!) I still love it. Being with family really is the best and I am pretty sure I love everything about my large and sometimes dysfunctional family.

Saturday morning we hit up the Easter egg hunt at Samaria park and came home with lots of goodies.


Almost all the cousins were there for the big hunt.


We saddled up the horses and took turns riding around the farm. I love that my parents still have a farm that Jace can experience and explore and love. Growing up on a farm (especially when you are little) really is a great adventure.


We colored eggs, found some treasures for sale at the old high school and ate at the taco bus. We had some intense conversations, played a great game and had a couple of late nights. I think Jace jumped on the trampoline for about five hours and was totally exhausted by the end of the day from all the hard-core play with cousins.

Sunday was spent trying to stay awake in church and eating some yummy food (thanks mom!). Malad valley is beautiful this time of year and, you know, there really is nothing like home sweet home!

sketch

My brother-in-law sketched this of Jace. It really is a priceless gift. Thanks Alma!

10 on tuesday

1. Thanks to UNC, I once again beat Jared in the NCAA tournament brackets.

2. Jace and I enjoyed a week long road trip with my mom to visit family in Idaho, Washington and Vancouver, BC. Jace was a suprisingly good traveler and had a great time playing with cousins (all boys close to his age).

3. Because of our road trip I have two episodes of Lost to catch up on before tomorrow night.

4. General Conference was great, as always. And I love that I got to watch it in HD (seriously, it makes a difference) on my comfy couch.

5. Jared's mission reunion was this past weekend. We enjoyed a light Brazillian meal and lots of catching up with old mission buddies. It had been about 3 years since the last one we were able to make it too. It was a great night.

6. We got Jace a pet goldfish which he named Nemo. On the way home from the store he told us, "When I get home, I'm gonna eat this fish!"

7. Jared's work celebrated their 20th year anniversary with a party for all their employees. They gave away some nice gifts and treated us to good food and games. At the party there was a ping pong tournament. Jared walked away as the champion.

8. Along with the nice gifts they gave each employee a new bag (small carry on suitcase). Jared has been recieving free bags for about 5 years now, from football, conferences and now work. And most of them are Ogio. Needless to say, we have more bags than we could probably ever use but of course we can't get rid of them because they all mean something.

9. Saturday I attended a lecture by Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods. It was excellent and so is the book. Definitely an issue that needs to be taken more seriously amongst parents and children.

10. A couple of things that have inspired me lately: this blog post and this create video. Seriously, they are both worth your time. And I watched two really great movies this past week: Marley and Me and Bedtime Stories.

Happy Tuesday!

Idea for 10 on Tuesday came from this blog.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Jared and Jace. They adore each other.


And the pure joy of a carousel ride.

I know this picture is blurry but it so captures Jace...always running!


Still running!

max & conner

These are my cousins Max and Conner.




Not only are they so stinkin' cute but they are happy, easy-going, super cuddly little boys. So glad I got to see them this past week.