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!

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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.

Bunk Bed Fun

Brandon and Lindsey have been having fun playing together on the top of their bunk bed.
All they need is their pillows, a bunch of blankets, their teddy bears
and some books to read. Monday mornings like this are so nice!

Dancing Time

One thing that the kids love to do is dance to music. When Lindsey first started to dance, I was a bit worried because she imitated Brandon's moves. And as you will see, they're not very girlish at all. So as time has gone on, I am very glad that there is a difference between how they dance now. I of course had to show Lindsey a few of my moves.....to give her a better idea. Sorry there isn't any sound to the videos. The kids sure thought it was funny to watch themselves dance!

Play Dough

I had to make a bunch of play dough for a mutual activity tonight, and I was very surprised to see what Brandon had done all by himself. Good job buddy!

Da-Da!

Katelyn has started to "talk" more lately. Her latest is da-da-da-da. She especially loves to say it when Justin gets home from school at night. As soon as she hears his voice, she starts kicking her legs furiously and just wants him to hold her. It's so cute.

These are a little blurry, but they demonstrate her big open mouth kisses
and her death grip hugs. Watch out! She's pretty strong!

Carrots

Carrots are not Katelyn's favorite food in the world.

"You're not really going to make me eat more of that are you?"

Sorry baby girl. They're good for you! At least she likes
most other things so far.....especially the peas! Go figure.

Katelyn's first tooth

Katelyn is cutting her first tooth. Thankfully she hasn't been overly fussy, and I think her runny nose is due to her cold that she's been dealing with. We didn't even know until Justin felt it with his finger. You can't see it very well yet, but it's definitely there!
And as you can see, she still loves her tongue.

Looking back 5 years....

This month I've kind of been in shock that I am the mother of a 5 year old. I'm not ready for Brandon to go to Kindergarten. He's very ready and I know he'll do great. It's been fun for me to look back on his baby pictures. Here are a few of my favorites:

And last but not least: here's a little video of Brandon learning to walk.
Babies just grow up too fast!