Farewell

The last few weeks have been busy and filled with friends. Lance's high school friends were all in town at the same time, and there was much partying to be done before Dave went back to Virginia, Darren went back to Detroit, and Garrett went to Iraq. Since Garrett's trip was the longest we dubbed him the winner and got him a cake. A Happy Iraq cake.

It was delicious. But we love him and wish him a speedy and safe return. Rest assured that there will be an even bigger cake waiting for when he gets back.

There was also a Birthday party for Melina and a Birthday party for Randall. We only have pictures of Randall's birthday, though. Sorry Melina. There will be a picture of you later.

Documentation of the awesome swing at Randall's house. A photo of the three girls (River, Mariah, and Alex) with a less than co-operative Alex. And Randall's big moment. He blew them all out.

This is Dave at an unknown location for an unknown activity. And there is Melina like I promised along with Telina and Jannifer. Always delightful. And I do believe that is "Cheese" squirted into the Twin Hollow Park sign. Rebels.

There were many late nights, lots of food, and the occasional bodily injury (air soft pellet guns), but fun was had by all that will have to last until the next time we are all together. We love you all and miss you already.

My one year old teenager

My daughter is one about to turn two. She looks older than she is due to her height but lately she has been behaving beyond her years as well. For example, she has recently developed her own taste in dress. She has an opinion, and frequently says no to the outfit that I have picked out. She will then select another, usually a dress, and announce that this is the "pretty" outfit. She also thinks that everything is a phone, and walks around the house texting on her calculator and places multiple calls to daddy from her flip phone, otherwise known as my dental floss case. She has already been a bit spoiled with the sole use of an iphone, and has pretty dow eyes which she now knows how to bat rapidly while saying Pleeeeeaaaaasssseeee when asking daddy for things. (I am guilty of teaching her this. I realize that this could be used against me in the future, but I couldn't resist. She is super cute when she attempts to turn on the charm)

Also, I recently caught a glimpse of what I must sound like to my daughter. On our way home from my in-laws one night she was asking for her nightly bottle. We didn't have one in the car, but told her that she could have one when we got home. This apparently translates into "da lopa lopa dop bottle, no no no no no no no no no no no" as she consistently muttered this grumpily to herself the entire way home.

Here are some other incriminating pictures that point to the fact that my one year is as I feared a teenager.

Love of fancy shoes

Chilling out to music (with legs crossed for ultimate relaxation)

She loves video games almost as much as Lance. We have had to set time limits on iphone game time already.

She doesn't like to go anywhere without her friends.

Loves to help me put my make-up on each morning and knows what everything does and where everything goes. She also like to apply some herself occasionally. This particular shade is Cherry Starburst.

Is a whiz at Facebook. No just kidding. The keyboard isn't plugged into anything.

I should be worried, but right now I just think it's funny. If this is a pre-curser to my teenage Alex, we are sure to have a great time. I just hope she still gives me snuggles and comes crying to me when she gets hurt when she really is a teenager.

Birthday Boy

This is Lance. (the creepy uncanny valley version)

Lance just turned 30. The age of adulthood, responsibility, and the point at which the remnants of childhood are left behind and people start expecting you to act your age. After being a 20 something for so long, this can be a hard adjustment to make.

So for a big birthday of a big man with a big family (big meaning lots of people) you have to plan a big celebration. Lance has always had a secret desire to go sky diving. Knowing that a failed parachute could potentially be less hazardous to his health than me should he do such a thing, he has thankfully never gone. However, conveniently in Ogden there is a sky diving simulator that allows you the same free falling experience but without the potential of death. Much preferable. This along with big pancakes for breakfast, a fantastic game of frisbee golf with his buddies, and a secret dinner reservation with 18 of our close family and friends was going to make this the Best Birthday Ever!

Among Lance's more annoying talents is the ability to predict the future. He knows the ending to every movie within the first 10 minutes and he can guess even the most secretive of birthday plans. He typed in his iphone what he thought we were going to do and after the evening was over he would see if he was right. He was. Even down the restaurant we were going to. See, annoying!!! Good thing it was his birthday, and even though he wasn't really surprised he was still very pleased.

It started with a jumpsuit that was actually long enough to fit.

Followed by anxious anticipation.

He started of slow and a little rocky. . .

but after a while he could do all sorts of tricks. (No just kidding, that is the instructor)

And this is what happens when a skilled instructor lends a helping hand.

Turns out, this is a really hard skill to learn and Lance was congratulated on how well he did for a first timer. (I'll bet they say that to everyone. No just kidding, he really did do well. And to prove it, he was given a certificate of graduation.

I dub this the best birthday ever! (with a disclaimer to only include the ones I have been a part of)

And thankfully the affects of a 30th birthday have yet to take hold which is also much preferable.

Happy Birthday My Love.

Points of Interest

Alex has been blessed with naturally curly hair, which at her age has but one enemy. Naptime. I'm not sure what she does while sleeping, but inevitably when she wakes up her hair looks something like this.

Thank heavens for water and mousse.

Alex tore the front cover off of her Farm Animals book, which consequentially took the other half of both of these animals with it. Now when you open the book flat you get a chickendog. And it amuses me.

My younger brother just graduated from BYU!!!!!! What a smarty pants. He graduated, from what I understand, near the top of his class in Finance and did a fantastic job of walking across the stage. He shook everyone's hands perfectly. Way to go Corby (short for Corbin). We are so proud of you!!!

Alex likes to pretend she can read. . .

and is learning how to jump.

And did you know that Roller derbies exist in real life? It's true, they aren't just some mystical event. It is a real sport with real people in normal places like Layton. Lance was lucky enough to attend such an event and took some video for proof. Two things about the video: yes those are gold mini skirts, mine should be arriving in the mail any day, and it is Lance in the background cheering and talking as if he knows what is going on. He doesn't.

April Fool's Day/Easter

As is every woman's right, we have the ability to change our minds with little to no warning and without explanation. Mother Nature is no exception, which is why we woke up to this on the morning of April 1st.

Thankfully, this Springtime Winter Wonderland did not last very long and by Easter we were once again restored to warmer weather. I use the term "warmer" loosely to mean that there was no snow on the ground, however, our Easter egg Hunts were frigid at best and felt a bit more like Trick-or-Treating in late October than I would have preferred.

Despite the colder temperatures, the Easter Bunny did make it to our house, with bath tub letters, multiple spring dresses, some apple bits that Alex didn't care for, and candy for all.

At long last, I believe Spring has finally come. We have broken 70 on a couple of occasions, we finally got the last of our leaves raked up, and there are flowers blooming. Well, not our flowers, but someone else's flowers are blooming very nicely.

Yes, things are looking up.

Iowa

Recently our Brother and Sister in law moved to Iowa to finish school. We were their best friends and they were devastated. We had not as of yet managed to make it out to see them in their new home since they left, so when the Anderson's announced their plans to visit them over Spring Break, Lance quickly chimed in "Oh yeah, well we are going to visit them next week". There. That ought to do it. Favorite in-law position solidified once again.

So with our energy drinks and 4 grocery bags full of treats in tow, we began the 15 hour journey across the country. We decided to make the trip in one shot by driving all night. It actually worked very well, even though the idea terrifies me. Alex was a trooper and slept fairly well in her car seat, and by 10 a.m. the next morning we were there. A little worse for wear and in a questionable mental state from lack of sleep, but there safely nonetheless.

There was basement ball

(no picture)

walks to the flooding river (awesome)

a trip to the "Meat House" (also awesome)

a belated birthday celebration for Maren (awesome)

this roofing company (which I thought deserved some free advertising)

And last but not least a trip to the zoo. This was by far the most amazing zoo I have been to. It's Iowa and cold for part of the year, so all of the exhibits had to be indoors, which allowed them to create multiple exotic habitats. There was a rainforest, a desert, butterfly enclosure, aquarium with a undersea tunnel, and they had penguins!

(This barrel was for shooting fish. Turns out it really is easy.)

There weren't many cages, letting the animals roam around their respective habitats sometimes close enough to touch. But they frowned on actually touching.

The lions were fat and sleepy and the tigers were angry and awake. These were in cages.

Our trip ended with a stop at McDonalds, and you all know how much I love McDonalds. Awesome!

(thanks Maren and Rob)