Crew's Award

Crew was so excited that he got all "A"s and got to go to the "A" Honor Roll assembly. He believes that he is the smartest kid in his class (well he and Maya) and now he feels he has proof. Crew kept reminding me about the assembly so I would be there to see him get his certificate and sign the Honor Roll poster. Crew was even more excited that Papa and Dad got to come too. I didn't tell him before that they were coming so it was a surprise. Another good surprise was In n Out gave a free cheeseburger coupon too which means we are going to have to eat there soon. Yummy! As if I needed any more reasons. Already Crew keeps asking me when do we get to go to In n Out for his celebration.

Little Monkeys

Every day as we walk home from school we pass these trees that are blossoming and the kids love to climb them. The trees smell so good and are so pretty. I am glad that I took a picture of my little monkeys in the tree because the trees have already lost almost all of their blossoms. For once I got around to doing something before it was too late. Yipee!

Family Fun

For some fun, we headed out toward the red rocks. Gigi had told us that there were some petroglyphs up here and we just had to check them out. We hiked around, up, and all over these red group of rocks. We had a blast just hanging out and exploring.

There were a lot of petroglyphs on this rock and the kids got a real kick on being able to touch them and think about what they meant and why the indians might have drawn them.

Crew of course thought that these were lizards and had to have his picture taken with them.
Gracie thought that the indians drew this picture of a snake because maybe a snake was coming.
Layla really liked the petroglyph of mickey mouse but was concerned because he didn't have any eyes.
It doesn't seem to matter where we are, my kids love to play in the dirt!

You Can Do It, We Can Help...

The first Saturday of each month the Home Depot has a free kids workshop. The month of March the kids made a race track. It's a pretty fun activity for a Saturday morning. The Home Depot gives each kid a kit and provides glue and a hammer for your little craftsman to build with. You can see Crew's race track on his desk. The kids have had fun playing with their cars and tracks and they are really proud that they build it.

The Bike-n-Bang!

What could be more fun than heading out to the desert with bikes, guns, food, and family?

Notice Layla's huge smile. She was in love with the bikes. Little Layla couldn't get enough of them. There are more pictures of her to come.
Look at Gigi go! How many grandmas do you know that just hop on a bike and ride off into the desert? We are so lucky to have such a fun grandma to show us how its done and how to live life.
Crew let Gracie take his 50 for a ride. I wasn't sure how she'd handle the bike but she did great. I was totally impressed.
C-man couldn't wait to get on his bike and head out.

Layla was in heaven on the bikes! It was hard to get her off. She kept wanting Aaron to take her for a ride. Her cousin, Lily, didn't want to be left out of the fun. No we didn't let Layla take them for a spin (even though she really wanted to). These two were just sitting on it and pretending.

Gigi and the girls enjoyed playing in the dirt and building all kinds of desert masterpieces.
I don't know why Gracie climbed on top of the trailer but I am not surprised. I guess I should be asking why wouldn't she climb on top of the trailer.
Aaron had to try out his new gun he got for his birthday. The "judge's" performance was satisfactory. This is what happens when you shoot a milk jug full of water with a 410 shotgun. Pure entertainment and enjoyment!
I have found the gun that I am in love with; the Walther p 22. My father-in-law got this gun for my mother-in-law for Valentines Day. He told me when Aaron really loves me as much as he loves Angie then maybe Aaron will buy me a gun like that for Valentines Day too. Hopefully Aaron decides to love me that much next V-day or maybe by my birthday.

Crew had to have his turn too. He is already trying to decide what gun he wants. Sorry buddy you're gonna have to wait a few more years. Maybe he will be pacified with an airsoft gun in the meantime.

The kids had fun collecting the shotgun shells. Gracie said it looked kinda like confetti. So here is a picture of some of the confetti at our party! I asked the kids what we could do to make it more fun next time (I am always looking for ways to improve). Crew wants to be able to shoot more. He said the other boys (Papa, Aaron, and Jake) got to shoot more than him and thats not fair. Gracie said we need to stay the night and have a campfire and make smores. So looks like we will be having a bike-n-bang camp-out. I am sure that it will be just as fun.

Family Hike

Gigi found this really neat hiking trail and since we are always looking for something fun to do as a family, we all loaded up and headed out.  This trail used to be a railroad that carried supplies out to Hoover Damn when it was under construction.  The tracks have since been removed and now it is a nice and flat trail.   We had such an enjoyable time.  I am already looking forward to revisiting this hike.  

Of course my kids found the only stairs on the whole hike, which weren't even actually on the hike.
Crew walking with Papa (of course they are ahead of everyone else) and Gracie holding hands with her Gigi.  
Layla hitching a ride (mostly because she was so slow and had to look at way too many rocks)

After Crew climbed the side of the mountain Layla had to try but with much less success and many more tears.
Here is the highlight of the trail.  There are 5 tunnels that were blasted out of the mountain for the supply trains to travel through.  

Gracie really wanted Aaron to carry her back to the car.  This is the result of Aaron telling her no.  It couldn't be considered a true family outing without Gracie having a meltdown.  With this one she did not disappoint. 

Terra
&
Aaron

90% Compatible

♥ Terra and Aaron have been romantically-together for a long time. That alone demonstrates a degree of compatibility. Similar personality descriptions are a plus. Their shared faith will help form a bond between them. They both abstain from drinking, so that helps compatibility. The fact that Aaron is a big sports fan could be divisive, in terms of how the couple spends their time. The two share similar political beliefs, though. However, their astrological signs are not in harmony. They share a favorite season, and that is good. And their views on children are similar. Overall, Terra and Aaron are highly compatible. They are capable of having a beautiful relationship together. ♥

Take the Dating Compatibility Test

I am always worried that if we were to do one of those online dating things that we would never be matched up, that we would fail the compatibility test, and so maybe we shouldn't have gotten married. I was so relieved to take this test and see that we are compatible at least mostly.

Anderson Dairy

A girl from my ward set up a tour of Anderson Dairy.  It was neat to see all the machines and watch them bottle milk, creamers, and make ice cream.   The girls really enjoyed it especially the free ice cream you get at the end.  We enjoyed it so much we even went a second time, this time without Gracie, she was at preschool.
Here's the group.  Thanks to Melinda (the girl in pink and glasses to the left of me) for setting this all up.  It was fabulous!

OUCH!

While we were in Mexico, there was one day that was kind of stormy.  We still couldn't stay away from the beach.  There was a bit of a storm surge and so the waves were really huge.  Crew was trying to beat the waves and lost.  They came in too strong and fast and took him down.  His legs got cut up on the rocks.  I was really nervous because he was under the water and there were lots of big rocks around and I didn't know what was happening under there.  I was relieved when he surfaced and only had a scratched up and bloody leg.  It could've have been so much worse.  After that we called it a day and headed back up to the house to have some smores.  

Happy Presidents Day!

There is no better place to celebrate president's day than on a Mexican beach.  

My little marine biologist had to climb up here to check out what creatures were in the tide pools
Well Aaron couldn't let Crew have all the fun!
Here are my cute little beach bunnies
and the kids playing in the sand!