St. Patrick's Day

We arrived back from Arizona on Wednesday evening and the next morning found us at dance and gymnastics. Abby showed off her new skirt made by Natalie and everyone loved it.

Lily fell asleep in her saucer thing. I had to capture it.
St. Patrick's Day was a lot of fun and began with some yummy green pancakes. The girls had matching cute shirts so naturally I had to take some pictures before our Ward party. The party was entitled, "Fish and Feathers" and the food was the best I've ever eaten at a Ward Party.
Here are the treats I made and took to the party.
They were gone by the time I got to them and I was only about the 15th person in line!

Arizona in March

Arizona is so nice in March! The weather was gorgeous and we really enjoyed seeing friends. The girls and I left on March 11th and had to return on March 14th to make it back for Abby's dance and gymnastics classes.

Natalie and the girls after our arrival on Sunday, the 11th.
Monday night we got to see our friends, Carric and Jenny Smolnik. Abby loved playing with them in the cardboard house the Taysom's had in their front room. We sure miss the Smolnik's.
Tuesday we stopped over at our friends the Jackson's for lunch. I use to teach Hannah and Cami piano lessons and we grew to love them so much.
We also stopped over to see one of the voice teachers I played the piano for. David Britton is the most wonderful man and I hope we will always stay in contact.
We try to get frozen yogurt each time we go to Arizona and this time was no exception!
Natalie made Abby a skirt for dance class for Abby's birthday!
Then it was time to drive home. Good times seem to end too quickly.

March Friends and Fun

In March we discovered preschool story time at the local library. Quite a few kids usually attend and there is always a craft after. Sometimes Abby gets to go to the video section and check out a new movie to watch for the week. She often picks something to do with Mickey Mouse. One week she even chose a whole collection of Pluto videos that included even classic old Pluto cartoons. She loved it!

Our friends the Weir's moved in and out of our lives way too fast. We loved hanging out with them but they too soon moved away. One night their girls, Mara and Lulu came over and played and watched a movie (with popcorn and everything). We miss you guys!
Matt plays basketball with the faculty at Bakersfield College on Fridays and so we decided to surprise him one day. Abby really enjoyed running around the gym.
We've been wanting to improve the look of the front yard, so we ventured over to Wal-Mart and bought some new flowers. Then we came home and Abby had so much fun helping to plant the flowers with her new Lightning McQueen gloves.
The house is an ever changing and improving being!

Trip to Utah

During the first weekend of March we all headed to Utah to attend the blessing of our newest nephew, Lincoln. My little brother, Brent and his wife Nicole had him in January and we couldn't wait to meet him. He is adorable! We left in the afternoon of March 1st (Happy Birthday Tiff!) and drove through the night. The van is so wonderful to travel in. We hit a lot of snow as soon as we entered Utah and we thought it would get better as we got further north, thinking it would be plowed. Unfortunately it only got worse! We finally arrive at my brother's in Midvale at almost 4 a.m. We were exhausted and Lily of course was wide awake! She slept a little, but both kids were up before 7.

That next day (Friday) we met Abby's birth Mom Amanda and her husband, Richard, and son, Bradley at a mall food court. We enjoyed talking to them and watching the kids run around. It took Abby a little bit to feel comfortable, but then she was running around as usual. We are glad we could see them and will be
forever grateful to Amanda for giving us the greatest gift.
Ready to meet up with Amanda
Amanda, Richard and Bradley
Amanda and Abby
Abby and Bradley
Cute little Lily!

After we saw Amanda we went back to my brother's house and my parents arrived from Washington and were already enjoying little Lincoln.
Lincoln and Nicole
Cousins!
Saturday morning we ventured down to Provo to go to the BYU Bookstore. It felt good to be on campus again and we wish we could have spent more time there. But we had time to get the girls BYU shirts and even found Abby an adidas warm-up outfit which she wants to wear every single day.
On the way to the Bookstore we stopped at one of my best friends home, Jerilyn. We lived together for so many years and it was so wonderful to see her beautiful family of boys! I miss her so much....
Uncle Matt and Lincoln
Saturday evening an unfortunate turn of events occurred. My parents came down with the flu. This was particularly challenging because my Mom cannot move about without assistance and so my Dad was not only sick himself, but needed to take care of my Mom also. they confined themselves to a room, praying no one else would come down with the flu. The saddest part was that they missed the blessing. They were too sick and as I sat in the blessing I wished I could trade places with them. In answer to all of our prayers, no one else got sick and my parents were able to get well enough to drive back to Washington. I was expressing my amazement to my Dad for being able to drive straight back to Washington after having the flu and taking care of Mom and he said, "It wasn't me." He explained that Brent gave him a blessing before he left and that he did not feel tired once and it was because of the blessing. Miracles happen every day.
Aunt Cynthia and the girls
Everyone getting ready for the blessing
Nicole and Lincoln before the blessing

Jen and Lincoln at the blessing
I am so grateful that we could attend the blessing and be with friends and family. We are truly blessed.

Abby Taps

I haven't posted a video in a long time. So I thought people (especially my Mom) would enjoy one. I filmed part of Abby's dance class the other day, so I thought I would show that. She is doing pretty well in dance now and they are preparing for a recital in June. They have a cute little dance and adorable costumes. Hopefully they will be able to do it on stage!