Happy Easter

We had a nice Easter weekend, but I forgot my camera for part of the weekend so I didn't get a lot of pictures. On Friday I took Maria and Carly to Lyman. CJ had to work, watch Daisy, and needed a night to himself so he stayed back. All of my brothers were in Lyman for the annual Lyman High School alumni basketball tournament (they played well and took second) so I wanted to go see all of them and their families. We had a great time. Friday night we went and watched a basketball game and then stayed up talking and laughing. Saturday we watched more basketball, dyed Easter eggs, had a Easter egg hunt, and then my mom had stuff for the grandkids to make Easter baskets and then stuff to fill them up. Maria loved making the basket. She is very artistic and really takes her time and does a good job. We came back home Saturday night so that we could be here for Easter Sunday. We had a nice day. We dyed more eggs and had another egg hunt. Carly enjoyed all the excitement and pulled all of her great faces for everyone. It was a wonderful Easter weekend.

One of the many faces of Carly. She has got some personality that's for sure.

Carly and Maria showing off the eggs that they dyed.

Southern California

The week of April 10th CJ took work off, Maria took school off and we headed to Southern California with Jared, Carla, and kids. We rented a condo in Oceanside, California which was about a block from the beach. We had a very nice week and I realized once I got home I didn't take the camera out once. Luckily CJ just got a iphone and it takes good pictures so he had it on him at all times. I'm hoping that Carla has some more though because we really didn't take many. We left Friday after CJ got off work and made it to Vegas that night. We spent the morning in Vegas and then went the rest of the way to Oceanside Saturday afternoon. Sunday was pretty low key. We found a ward to go to and were hoping that it would be the ward that Jake was serving in, but it wasn't. One of the Elders had been companions with him though. Monday we went to Sea World in San Diego. It was a fun day. Maria had a great day and I actually quite enjoy Sea World. They had a few rides and no lines so the girls had fun doing that as well as seeing all the sea life. Tuesday was spent at the beach and around the condo. CJ was not feeling well so he spent the day at the doctors office playing the waiting game but got some medication to make the trip a little more interesting. He was feeling better the next day and so we went to San Diego and went shopping at my favorite store H & M. It was a little out of the way, but I'm happy that we went. We then went to Coronado and had lunch at a Mexican place CJ had heard about. It was very good. We sat outside and it was in an area with lot's of little shops lining the street. It was very nice. We were then going to go to the Padres game. We paid for parking got out walk up to the ticket stand and were already freezing, so we turned around and went back to the condo. It started to rain once we got back to the truck so we were glad that we had left when we did. Thursday was our day of delicious food. We walk down to the harbor in Oceanside and had fish, fries, onion rings, and fried zucchini at Harbor Fish and Chips. They were so good. They knew how to bread and fry things. We walked around the harbor got an ice cream and watched the boats. Oh CJ and I had gone on a run that morning while Carla watched our girls. There was a path that ran along the river and it was beautiful. It was nice not to have to get bundled up to go for a run. Then that night CJ and I went to a place in La Jolla called George's California Modern. I can't even explain how good the the food was. We had seen it on foodnetwork and had read that the chef there was one of the top ten chefs in the world. It was so good. Friday was spent at the beach and then we found a Turkish restaurant down the coast. It was pretty authentic, and I was glad that we went. They had my favorite salad (smokey eggplant) and it was delicious. That night we got things ready to go and Carla and Jared made dinner they made pad thai and spam and rice wrapped in seaweed (I can't remember what they called them). It was a very tasty dinner. On Saturday we drove all the way back to Utah with little excitement. I am very glad that we went and had a great time with Carla and Jared. We had a lot of late nights staying up and talking and CJ entertaining us with his musical ability. It was a very nice break, but like always I was glad to be home.

Maria on the giant bouncy place at Sea World.

Carly on the beach. She loved it. She loved to feel the sand on her feet.

Maria and Kate on the beach. Those are two very special little girls.

Utah's Winter Running Circuit

CJ and I signed up for the Ogden Marathon in May and so we are well into our training. CJ knew that it was going to be hard because of his surgery in February, but he was not expecting it to get infected and then getting the flu a week later. He was a little behind on his running schedule, but was still hanging on. We heard about a half marathon that was being put on by the Utah Winter Running Circuit and decided it would be good practice. It was on Saturday, so my parents came and watched Carly and Maria and CJ and I ran it. It was the first half of the Ogden Marathon. We ended up doing well. Our time was 2:04:10. We were both happy and enjoyed the rest of our weekend.

We didn't have any pictures of the actual race or after it, so we had Maria take our picture with our shirts that we got for running.

Carly Turns One

March 27th Carly turned one. We celebrated on Saturday the 26th with a little party. We had dinner and then cake and ice cream. Both sets of Grandparents were there along with Caralynn, Carla, and Michael (Michael's birthday was on the 26th). CJ smoked some pork for dinner and then we had sweet potatoes and macaroni and cheese, two of Carly's favorites. The cake was made by Maria and I and it turned out pretty cute I thought. Carly was not sure of what to do with her piece of cake that we gave her, but as soon as she realized that she could do whatever she wanted with it she was a happy one year old. Cake was followed by opening some gifts. Carly was a little confused throughout the day but liked that she was the center of attention. She is a very happy little girl and attention makes her even happier. It turned out to be a very nice day.

Carly happy to have everyone watching her.

A family photo.

Carly trying to blow her candle out. She couldn't quite get it out by herself, but her dad was there to help a little bit.

Carly happy with her cake and being able to eat it on her own.

Maria or Mozart?

Maria started to take piano lessons in February. She has done very well. Her teacher tells me each week how well she is doing and she has really enjoyed it. She doesn't mind practicing, but keeping Carly away from the piano is the hard part. Maria is good to let her play and gets her practicing done while I hold Carly down.

Carly Walks

The end of January Carly started to walk. She had just turned ten months and we knew that it was coming, but I was still not prepared for it. It took her a week to figure out that running was faster, and she has had bruises ever since. Usually on her head for all to see. She is pretty tough though. She does get mad when she falls but doesn't usually cry.

Catching Up

I have not been doing so good with blogging. I have felt like not much has been blog worthy. The past few months have been somewhat uneventful. We spent three weeks the end of February and the first of March with CJ at home from work recovering from his second parotid gland removal surgery. It was cold outside and so we were all experiencing a little cabin fever. One of the girls' (Daisy included) highlights was when it snowed to watch all the neighbors shovel their walks and driveways. That is how exciting our lives have been. CJ did buy a snowmobile so he has done that a few weekends and has taken Maria with him a couple of times. He will usually go in Wyoming and will check on Mitchy while there. Maria went for a ride one time when she was there with him. I think that she would love to be a full time cowgirl. Carly has gotten very busy the past few months. She gets into everything and then gives you dirty looks when you tell her no. She is very expressive and happy.

Maria posing with Daisy. She is wearing shorts and sandals. She can't wait for summer to come.

Maria, Carly and Daisy watching the neighbors shovel their driveways. Most of them have snow blowers so they like to watch it shoot snow everywhere.

Carly getting herself into a situation where the only solution was to cry for help. This is an hourly occurrence.

Maria on Mitchy.