David Cook, David Archuleta, and Saylor

Zoo Day

We decided to go to the Zoo a few weeks ago. Sadly, every family in Utah had the same idea (probably because it was the first sunny Saturday in 7 months). Jan, Danny (her boyfriend), and Gabbie(his daughter) came.

It was crowded, but fun--all except for the part where Danny had to wait 45 minutes for a snow cone. Saylor's favorite part of the Zoo was the playground--she probably would have been just as happy at the local park, but at least we got to see a white alligator and a baby giraffe.

Fun, fun, fun. We don't always get the opportunity for fun family time like this with Snow's crazy schedule so we really enjoyed it. As an added bonus we were able to take home a monkey of our own!

Flower Planting Party

BEFORE

My Grandma is an amazing gardener--her yard is always lush and beautiful. Sadly, this gift did not get passed on to me. Everything that Snow and I planted last Summer died. For my birthday, my grandma offered to pick out my flowers and help me plant them. I know--what an amazing gift! I was determined that these plants thrive, so I went to my local nursery and spent an obscene amount on mulch whose primary ingredients are chicken manure and bat guano--yummy. First of all, working the aforementioned mulch into my clay soil was not a job for light-weights. By the time my flower beds were weeded and mulched I was exhausted and Grandma hadn't even come with the flowers yet.



She and my mom arrived with a trunk full of beautiful blooms. It was so fun to spend the afternoon planting with them, and the results were great. I will post some more pictures as the flowers continue to fill out and spread.

AFTER

Spring Update

I have to apologize for my blogging hiatus. I wish I had a good excuse for not keeping things current here, but I think I will just have to chalk it up to laziness. Our family is super excited that we have had some better weather. Saylor has turned feral--she would live outside if I threw string cheese out to her occasionally. Some of our recent favorite activities (and by our I mean Saylor's) include: 1. Coloring outside with sidewalk chalk. Saylor loves it, it is less fun for me because Saylor hogs all the good colors and insists that I draw nothing but snakes. We got some 3D Sidewalk chalk, which pretty much means you pay a lot for cool green glasses. Saylor has already worn the chalk down to nubs. 2. Yard work. This translates into me pulling weeds with a little tool while Saylor constantly asks "Can I turn, Can I turn". When she "helps" Snow outside he ends up giving her disgusting things to hold like snails and worms. I know my Mom is having a heart attack right now, but for the record, I washed her hands REALLY well afterwards. 3. Snow spent his time off for 3 weeks putting together a swing set--Seriously, what a good dad! As you can see from these pictures, Saylor couldn't be happier. She loves being cheered on while she slides. She is extremely tricky because she can slide on both her belly and her rear. Her real love is swinging. She will inform you that she wants to "go even higher" when you are pushing her. In fact, if you make the mistake of not giving her a big enough push she will say, "That's too little." and insist that you try again.

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter. We had a really nice one. My great -grandmother passed away two days before while she was visiting from out of state. Since the real funeral would take place in Arkansas, we had our own family memorial on Easter Sunday. It was really nice. Granny was 93 and had lived a full life. It was wonderful to get to visit together and celebrate her. It really brought home the true meaning of Easter for me. I have never felt so grateful for the gift of the Saviors resurrection and atonement. The Easter Bunny did not forget Saylor. She was thrilled to find a basket of goodies hiding for her in her "house"There was also some Easter egg hunting for everyone. My parents even hid some money eggs for us adult kids. Snow was the big winner who found the $50 prize egg. I am hoping he decides to take me out to dinner with it hint hint.
My favorite part of the day was during the kid's egg hunt.Saylor was making her way towards a big pink plastic egg, when a cousin who is a year older, ran ahead of her and snagged it. She snuck up behind him and took it straight from his basket without a word. It was pretty hilarious.

Arizona Vacation

Snow finally got a week off and we decided to spend our vacation visiting family in Arizona. We made the 11-hour drive to Eagar, Arizona. I got he bright idea to try to make the time go by faster by listening to a book on tape--but not just any book on tape--Twilight. BIG mistake. The sure fire way to ruin a girls love of this book is to listen to it on the road with her husband. Snow is still talking about how perfect Edward's face is. We did, however, decide that Snow and Edward have a lot in common. They are both sleep deprived, leaving them with dark circle under their eyes. They are both ill-tempered when they are hungry (although I don't have the advantage of a change of eye color to warn me). They both would prefer to drive fast, and of course they both have brooding good looks, perfect features, and chiseled musculature. This is a picture of Eagar. I am not sure which of those tiny dots is Snow's house, but you can imagine that this was a welcomed quiet retreat for us. So what does one do to entertain oneself in a town such as this?

Go shooting of course. You can see how natural I look holding this 22. Obviously I would intimidate any bad guy!

A person might also consider arm wrestling their siblings to combat boredom.Happily for Snow, the aforementioned muscles led him to victory every time. We also played a little American Idol on the PlayStation. If you think that I look like a dork in this picture, you would be wrong. This is me singing Straight Up by Paula AbdulThis is a picture of my perfect score while singing Straight Up. Simon said it was the best performance that he has ever heard. I am sending them a copy of this picture and I am pretty confidant that I won't even need to try out next year. I think I will automatically be in the top 24. We spent a good deal of time playing Killer Bunnies. It was really fun--we definitely recommend this game to friends.We did a lot of couch sitting and reading. There were so many people to entertain Saylor that I read a whole book in two days. These is my Words (Thanks for the recommendation Amelia, I really liked it)We played a few party games and at one point resorted to knocking over chap stick with our noses. I was the only one that could do it, I am not sure if that makes me talented or freakish.Saylor got to dye eggs with her grandma and auntie Naomi. She wanted it to be memorable for them so she spilled green dye all over grandma's carpet. We also celebrated Snow getting older. Mid-week we loaded up the car and drove the 5 hours to Tucson. We had a great time visiting with friends and Saylor loved spending time with her cousins.It really was a great trip. We got much needed relaxation and have to say a huge thanks to everyone for their hospitality, and for being such enthusiastic playmates for Saylor. We miss you already!!

Birthday Dinner

We did a lot of celebrating for Snow's 30th--My parents took the whole family plug significant others out to dinner. We also had cake and ice cream with Snow's family during our Eagar vacation. We wrapped up the partying by having some friends over when we were back in town. Let's just say it would be good for my figure if we don't see cake or ice cream for a while. We appreciate all our family and friends celebrating with us!