A National Conference

Bob had his National Planners Conference in Boston this year. He was lucky enough to get in a little site seeing in between classes. He loved the skyline and sent us lots of picture texts so we could stay in touch.

The Old North Church....




Old Iron Sides....









And the best part of his trip...A Red Sox game at Fenway Park.





He says he missed having us there, but I know he enjoyed having all the Italian food, pastries, and lobster he could eat!

Momma's Little Helper

I love to try new recipes. Especially sweets and treats. So for our upcoming Spring Tea Party I decided to make Cake Balls. I followed the general idea from Bakerella's blog, but chose to make my Cake Balls strawberry.

They were easy enough except for dipping them in chocolate. I need to practice my technique and investigate chocolates for dipping.




Avery loved helping "sprinkle, sprinkle."



They turned out great...my next batch-Lemon Supreme!

To Dye For

Ethan informed me he wanted to dye Easter eggs this year. Gram did it last year with him and all the cousins. He remembered it being really fun and asked if we could do it. Of course!


Ethan did a super job helping to get the dye ready and the eggs boiled.




I was impressed with how patient he really was. He would check his eggs, but was happy to wait until they were bright and beautiful!




We had a great time! I think our eggs turned out perfectly festive! Now what would you do with 2 dozen hard boiled neon dyed eggs?

Spring Break

This year we got to have a fun filled week of Spring Break...and we haven't even started school in our house yet. My sister and her kids brought Gram down to play, sew, eat and scrapbook.

Nancy came to scrapbook her youngest son's first year. I took the chance to document Avery's fist year too. We stayed up late, scrapped, visited and loved every minute of it.

The kids had so much fun playing. We took lots of trips to Cabela's,





went swimming,






ate out lots, (Aunt Amy even took us to McD's for breakfast in our PJ's)








and thanks to my neighbor Jenn, we made our own cotton candy!





It took some practice, but shortly got the hang of it!





On the way out of town we took our cousins to the Candy Factory for a tour! The whole week was a huge hit! Can't wait for the next visit!

Sweets

A few weeks ago the kids and I took a few friends on the Sweets Candy Factory tour...We're big fans! It was great. We wandered through room after room of delicious smells and delightful colors. We feasted upon fresh strawberry taffy and chocolate covered Raspberry Sticks right off the line. The tour ends in the Sweets Outlet Store. We brought home giant huckleberry jelly beans, pearlized apple jelly beans, and of course the raspberry sticks and bags of taffy!

Windy Day

One windy day we took the kids to the park to fly our new kite. The wind wasn't very consistent so it took a little doing.





Ethan took a turn holding the string and loved to see Buzz flying high, but quickly lost interest and headed over to the playground. Maybe if the wind had cooperated better.



Avery had no interest in the kite, but loved the swings. This girl could swing all day!

Dragons Everywhere

Ethan is really in to vikings and dragons. He has a wish list a mile long of all the dragon things he's going to get for his next birthday...I don't think he understands how far away his birthday really is. He plays vikings and dragons every day.

One day I saw some dragon gloves in my Family Fun Magazine and knew we had to make them. Ethan was excited and helped me remember to pick up new gloves so we could make a pair.

He chose the colors of felt and buttons he would use and cut out the crest and wing pieces. It was hard for him to patiently wait while I sewed them all together.




In the end the gloves were a big hit! Both Ethan and Avery love to fly their dragons around the house. And I love crafting with my kids!

Southern Sun

Our family took a much needed vacation getaway last month. We joined most of Bob's family down in the sun of the south. Avery woke us up early Friday morning with a fever and a trip to the doctor before we could start our vacation, but it turned out to be an ear infection so after a trip to the pharmacy we were on the road.

We got to the condo right on time to join the cousins for a dip in the pool before Troy's BBQ dinner. Ethan was so excited to swim with all the cousins. Avery on the other hand was still running a slight fever and enjoyed sitting with Grandma more than swimming.

On Saturday we headed out to Zion's National Park. Bob was a real trooper and backpacked Avery for our hikes. Ethan was a super trooper and did lots of hiking by himself. He loved being on his own with his Buddies. He was so independent it made this momma nervous.

After so much hiking Ethan decided he'd had it and turned Daddy in to a regular pack mule.



Sunday after church we headed over to the St. George Temple Visitor's Center. It was perfect. We watched a little video, wandered through the exhibits and captured a few great pictures of the cousins.

Monday morning we headed over to Snow Canyon for a few last hikes and fun with cousins. Jenny Canyon is one of our favorite hikes. It's a short walk to a slot canyon filled with notches and holes to hide in. We also hiked up the petrified sand dunes.

We loved the view from the top!

Finally just before loading in the car Ethan and I ran down to the club house for a quick round of mini golf. He'd seen the course when we went to the pool and had been asking to go ever since. We had a great time and I'm sure he and daddy are in for a few tee times in the future!