It's T-Ball Time!

Elena has been playing T-ball this Spring. It took her a while to get used to it. In fact, she kept asking why she was playing this instead of soccer, since she LOVED soccer, even though it took her a while to get used to that, as well. But now that she has played several games, she loves it too! The first few games she had to hit off the Tee, but now she is able to hit the coach's pitch. And she doesn't get as distracted by playing in the dirt out field as she did at first, either:) Her team's name is "The Bee's" since that's what it says on their jersey (even though that's what every team's uniform says...Ha!) Thursday is her last game, and she already recieved her baseball mitt trophy...it is her newest prized possesion:)

Our Easter Weekend 2011

The Friday of Easter weekend I had the chance to participate with some friends in the Good Friday service at the K2 church downtown. Their worship services include rocking out with a live band...pretty interesting:) We particiapted in the choir. It was a pretty neat experience. There were different monologues from people who were there during the time of Christ's death including Mary Magdelene and Judas. The whole experience made me appreciate having the gospel in my life and the knowledge of the magnitude and importance of this historic event in Christ's life. This service seemed to focus on the negative points of the event, whereas it is supposed to be such a significant and humbling part of His life...the reason He came. But I was still glad to have the opportunity to participate.
Friday night we took the girls to a flashlight Easter egg hunt. It was so much fun for the girls even though it was pretty cold. They both ended up with a ton of eggs. Then Saturday we went to our own neighborhood egg hunt. Since the girls had a lot of eggs already, we made them take it easy this time around :)

It ended up being a beautiful morning, and the girls had a blast!


Then Easter morning we woke to find that the Easter Bunny had visited.




All ready for church in our pretty dresses from Grandma and Grandpa!

Off The Road Again

The weekend before Easter we were invited by Austin's friend from work to join them in their annual Moab Jeepin' trip. We were so excited to go! We stayed in the "Needles" area. There was so much beautiful scenery. We stayed at "Wooden Shoe Arch" campground. The picture below is of the Needles, Wooden Shoe Arch, and some cool Indian petroglyphs:)

The trail Austin was most excited about was the Elephant Hill Trail. The first few miles were the roughest and it definately tested our Jeeps off-roading capabilities. Needles to say, she was a champ!!! (And I should mention that Austin's off-road driving skills were pretty impressive;)

This part of the trail was known as the "Silver Staircase"



Along the trail we were able to stop at several places that had inter-twining cave for the kids (and adults) to climb through...they LOVED it! Elena had so much fun hiking with the other kids and being outdoors.

Towards the end of the trail it lead to the Colorado/Green River Confluence, where both rivers meet. It was neat to see this and to see how different each river is just by the color of the water.

We had a blast!!!! Now we (especially Aus) have the Jeepin' bug:o) Austin can't wait to fine tune a few things with the Jeep then get her out on the trails again. So...

...until next year.

A Healthy Dose Of Intimidation

I dedicate this post to my awesome friends and neighbors who have encouraged me to do something I've always wanted to do but never have tried for. I have never been a runner. NEVER. Even when I was in school at my most physically fit, I COULD NOT run, and HATED it! Regardless of my daily required mile-long run, it took everything I had to finish it. Then I was pretty much useless the rest of the day:) My body was built to lift, lunge, squat, and press. But running, nope. I could get on a bike and ride forever, but to run down the street is asking a lot! So, here I am, training for my first 5k EVER! What!?!? I have been running pretty much daily for almost 3 months now. Regretfully, I am not even close to running a 5k (which I blame on my horrific running history, hence, the backround story) and partially due to a running injury which I sustained in my first few weeks of training. I haven't been able to run to my full capacity because of the injury and it has since gotten worse. Meanwhile, I'm icing, elevating, and finding other means of cardio to help in my training. I have 3 weeks left to train and come race day, I hope it's not the first time I actually run a 5 k...wish me luck!

Road Trip Across the Country!

I recently had the opportunity to help my SIL Jillian move back to Florida, and since I didn't want her to have to drive across the country by herself, I offered to go with. It was SO MUCH FUN!!! 3 whole days of nothing but girl talk and being kid-free (on my part anyway) was way better than I could've imagined. I don't have any pictures of the actual road trip because I kept forgetting:/ But I have pictures of the cool sight-seeing we did once we got there! One place I'll never forget is a resturant we stopped at in Louisiana called PreJeans's. They are known for their crawfish and since I'd never had crawfish before, I definately had to try some...It was AMAZING! I'm craving it right now:) Once we got to FL we unpacked a bit then went to St. Augustine, toured downtown, went to the beach, and got some much needed sun! This is the old army fort in the oldest city in the nation, with cute little Emmett, of course!

I love this picture with the boats and the awesome lighthouse in the backround.

This is the White Lion Bridge they just re-built and I'm glad I got to see it!

Me and Jillian in front of the white lions.

Thanks for all the fun and the much needed getaway...Love you!!!

Thankful

This is just another ramling post of feelings I need to express, so if you don't like to read the mushy...don't continue. Sometimes it takes not only our own trials but the observation of others during theirs to help us realize what's truly important in our lives. As we experienced one of the final blizzards of the season last week it brought with it a terrible tradgedy in our community. A young couple in our ward were hit in a head-on collision just outside our neighborhood, killing the husband. He was only 28. They had just started coming to church so not many of us personally knew them. But the ward was still completely affected. As I participated in his funeral service today, it made me realize how grateful I am for the gospel and the knowledge that families can be together forever. I can't imagine the heartbreak and sorrow his family is suffering through right now. Our Bishop, in his closing remarks, commented on a few of the things this young man did in his final week of his life that were actually preparing for this tradgedy. He obviously didn't realize why he was doing these things, just that he knew he should...which in turn helped ease the burden of his family. I believe Heavenly Father puts us all in certain places for reasons we don't understand but I know there are people we are meant to meet, help, and learn from. I'm so greatful for all of my close friends and neighbors who I feel I can count on in any time of need. I cannot express my gratitude for my wonderful husband and all that he does for me. My beautiful daughters are my whole world and I cannot imagine my life without them. I know that when the time comes for me or any member of my family to move on that it will only be a temporary seperation. However difficult the situation might be, I find comfort in the knowledge of being sealed to them for eternity. I'm so grateful for the life I have been given, the people who I have been blessed to share it with, and for the gospel and all the comfort and happiness it gives. May we all try to live our life to the fullest, giving service to others, and doing the things the Lord would want us to use our talents and abilities and the precious life He's given us for.

~More Kite Flying~

After the party, while Chanel took a nap, we all went outside to fly kites. It was really cold but everyone had fun getting the kites in the air. Even Natalie participated:)

They guys had a hard time getting the Avatar kite up and stay up...

The kids had a blast just being able to play outside for a bit and run around with their kites:o)