Springtime Fun

The weather this time of year is a bit like a roller coaster. You never know what you're going to get. We have been trying to get outside to enjoy the warm days. Yesterday was fun because we picked Justin up early from school so he could play at the park with the kids for a few minutes.

Katelyn's new scrunched nose expression

The kids trying some different sliding techniques

First Presidency

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here is the picture of the new First Presidency!

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/church-releases-new-official-portrait-of-first-presidency

Our Fun Date

Justin and I had a really fun date last night. We got to go see the concluding night

of the National Dancesport Championship. They had the finals for the Amateur Latin, International Standard, and Cabaret! Cabaret was Justin's favorite and the International (Waltz, Fox Trot, etc.) was my favorite. But they were all really good. The only pictures that turned out decent are the Latin pictures.

It was such a treat for both of us! We took all the social dance classes and competed in the BYU Dance division of the competition when we were undergrads here, so it brought back so many good memories. But the most exciting part was to watch the amateurs compete for the national titles. It is so fun that BYU gets to host this competition every year!

Off to the show!

Here are the final couples warming up for the Latin Dance division.

And then the competition began! We definitely had our favorites.

Justin even correctly predicted which couple was going to win for both the International and the Latin championship. He's got an eye! Thanks for such a fun night Justin!

What a View!

One of the nice things about being in Utah is having the mountains close by. We enjoy seeing them outside of our bedroom window:

I'm just grateful that I don't have the view
from the kids' rooms
on the back side of the condo:

Lovely.

We have a cabinet making company behind us and they use their property to store lots of things! It doesn't bother me much because the blinds are usually closed in Katelyn's room for her naps and Brandon and Lindsey think it's pretty entertaining to watch the workers back there, especially when they have their fork lifts out or are bulldozing snow.

It definitely gives this place character!

Try This Out

Take this test and put in the comments how you do!

http://www.dothetest.co.uk/

Don’t read how others have done until you have taken the test.

Sleeping babies, books and singing!

Babies look so sweet when they're asleep. It's a good thing Katelyn slept through my taking a couple of pictures of her during nap time. I just couldn't resist those chubby cheeks!

Brandon used the laundry basket to transport a bunch of books for him to read during Lindsey's nap time today. Thankfully, he willingly put them all back when she woke up. Good job buddy!


While all of this was going on, Lindsey could be heard downstairs on the couch singing her little heart out. She has a "singing book" that she loves to sing with. It's one of her favorites, which is why the cover is tearing....I need to tape that! Mostly the songs are all her own invention, but they are so cute.

Going up to the Mountain

Brandon and Lindsey get very excited when we get close to the mountains here. We drove up to the "Y" parking lot (where the trail starts to hike up to the big Y on the mountain). It's a very short drive from campus and gives you a great view of the city and lake below. It was a chilly but beautiful day.

BYU campus is just over Brandon's shoulder.

Here's a look at the snow on the top of the mountain. When it gets warmer we will hike up to the Y on the mountain as a family. We are really looking forward to that!

Three years of Lindsey

My little girl is getting so big! Here's a look back at some favorites....

Getting so grown up now! We love you Lindsey!

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

Today has been a fun day for Lindsey. She's 3 years old!

We had a fun time celebrating.


Here she is opening Brandon's gift. She was so excited to get a purple bucket with a shovel!

And I just have to include a picture of the dress-up outfit I made for her. She looks so cute in watermelon! She and Brandon were trying it out by dancing together.

It is always fun to have family around to celebrate with us!


Lindsey is such a sweetheart. We are so grateful that she is in our family!
And I can't believe that she's three!

Tiny Toes

Brandon and Katelyn

Bathroom Amusements

This afternoon I heard Lindsey talking and singing to herself in the bathroom. When I looked around the corner to see what she was doing, I saw her sitting on the toilet with a box over her head. She kept it on as she finished up and washed her hands. I finally talked her into taking it off when it was time to go take a nap. Silly girl!

Bowling

BYU students get 1 free game every semester, so we decided to use Justin's yesterday.
It was a nice end to a long week! The amazing thing is that the kids did really well.
Here is a picture of the score half way through the game.
Brandon and Lindsey are beating both of us.
We all had the same advantage of using the bumpers. Now that is pretty crazy!

We were amazed at how well they rolled the ball down there!

Half way through the game, we got this neat contraption that helps the kids roll the balls easier. Lindsey really liked using that. She did so well with it that she ended up taking second place! Brandon used it a couple of times but decided that he liked going freestyle better. But his freestyle served him well. He still beat me! I guess I should try their methods next time.

Sidewalk Chalk

The kids have been dying to get outside to play. They bundled up the other day in full winter gear to play on the little patch of grass out back where the snow had melted. Brandon wanted to initiate his croquet set he'd gotten for his birthday in January. It was so funny!

Today we broke out the sidewalk chalk. The kids have been asking to use it for weeks now,
but it is finally getting a bit warmer outside, and the snow is melting away!

Lindsey loves to put her boots on herself,
but half of the time they end up on the wrong feet. Oh well!


We've all got spring fever over here. We're ready for the warmer weather.
(It's amazing how warm 45 degrees can feel
when you've been in the 20's and 30's and buried in the snow for so long!)

Seattleites / Amazonians in the Making!

I just received an internship offer from Amazon.com today.
I am very excited about working for them this summer. I also received an offer
from Intel a few weeks ago, but have been holding out for Amazon. Seattle will definitely
be an adventure for us. My first time there was for the interview and Jenn has never been there, so we will see how we like it. I think it will be a great summer for all of us, though. Any good advice out there for living in Seattle?

While I was out in Seattle, I met up with my cousins, Keith, Lisa, and Collins. They took me around to see the sites. I had a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed going up the space needle. Afterwards, we played a game called Ooga at Collins and Cameron's house.

Here are a few pictures I took when I flew out there to interview last week.
They put me up in the Grand Hyatt Hotel. It was a very nice place. Notice the blue skies. The weather was amazing while I was there!

Good Morning Kids!

Katelyn loves to see her brother and sister every morning.
She gets so excited! She shows her excitement by
squeals and kicking her legs as fast as she can.