Easter

We had a really nice Easter this year. It came at the end of an already busy week, but it was great to get together with family. We love that. Saturday included an Easter egg hunt at both grandmas houses. At my mom's we saw some of my nieces and nephews and their kids that I don't see all that often so it was fun to catch up with them. S had a fun time with 2 cousins close to her age. Of course, she didn't want to leave at the end. There were more older cousins at Nathan's parents' and they found lots of eggs really quickly. I think S liked being outside as much as anything.

Sunday morning S and I colored Easter eggs and she helped me decorate bunny cupcakes and a bunny cake (okay, well, actually she was taking a bath while I did the cake =) She squealed with delight when she saw her Easter basket that morning. Nathan slept most of the morning. He's still getting used to this getting-up-early-every-day work schedule. And he usually has to get up early on Sundays, too! After church my mom and sister came over for a typical ham Easter dinner. We had a nice time visiting.

A tradition that I have tried, but not very successfully, to establish on Easter mornings is to get up and watch the sun rise. This year I kept going outside to check on the sun's progress. It was a bit cloudy and I didn't catch the exact moment the sun broke over those majestic mountains, but I saw it soon after. I love to remember how Mary got up while it was "yet dark" to visit the tomb and anoint the Lord's body. At that point Christ's death seemed like such a tragedy, and I think those saints maybe even felt like Christ's mission on earth had failed. But I love, just like the sun bursting over the mountaintops, how all that sadness and disappointment was swept away as Mary and then others witnessed the miracle of that first Easter morning when Christ rose from the dead, when He overcame it all! Their sadness was turned into joy, and, oh, what joy!! I love that Christ appeared first to Mary--such a personal, tender reunion. How grateful I am for the miracle of Christ's atonement! It gives me hope that all can be made right, that I can be made right.

Easter sunrise

the hunting begins...

S enjoying her candy

just look at those cuties!! I love it

Pre-hunting picture --the best we could get!

I love this little sweetie

cute lil' bunnies

I think I'm being hunted...

my little sweetie

Adoption Video

We're excited to share this video about our family. It was created by our sister-in-law Angela who offered to share her talents to help us in our adoption efforts. We're very grateful and indebted to her and to many others who reach out to help and pray for us in this process. Thank you so much!

The video gives a glimpse into who we are. 

a little getaway

So we had some very shocking news in February when Nathan went to work one day and found out that he and half of his team were being let go. It was very unexpected. Things seemed to be going really well for the company, but it was a startup and I'm learning--through hard experience--that startups aren't always extremely good at predicting where their business is going. Anyway...thankfully Nathan is in a good field with lots of job opportunities. He started getting calls from recruiters the same afternoon. Finally he had to start telling recruiters he couldn't work with any more of them! I will spare you all the details, so "let me sum up" by saying he received 4 job offers. We struggled with deciding which one would be best and eventually chose the one that seemed to offer the best opportunity for him to develop his skills and grow his career. He starts soon and is very anxious to get back to work!

The job search proved to be very stressful. Once he accepted an offer and declined the others and we knew life wouldn't be quite so unpredictable we decided to GET AWAY. And, by the time we left, I was SOOOOO ready for a break!!!

We ended up deciding to head to southern Utah. We stayed in Springdale just outside Zion National Park for 2 nights and then a final night in St George. The first night was a nightmare: S couldn't sleep and complained of pain in her ear so she and I made a middle of the night trek to Hurricane for medicine. It was around 3:30 am when I finally got to bed. Talk about a miserable start to a vacation! Ugh! We slept late the next day (and every day thereafter).

We opted for a room with bunk beds at the Springdale hotel.
S was in HEA-VEN! She loved playing on them (I just wish
the sleeping on them had gone better!)

Eventually we made it to Zions and enjoyed the river walk. S wanted Daddy to hold her a lot of the time. She was enthralled and nervous to see cactus. At one point I asked her what her favorite part of the trip was and she said, "the cactus" :) We saw some curious squirrels up close, climbed some rocks, threw rocks in the river, and enjoyed the beauty of the red rock canyon. Nathan brought his camera and enjoyed capturing the sights. That day we drove the Kolob Terrace while S slept in the car and the remainder of the day we walked around Springdale and ate.

a beautiful spring we saw on the walk

S and I watching the squirrels

hello squirrel!

because you can't just walk past a perfectly good puddle!

Nathan's handiwork: Kolob Terrace Drive

Nathan's handiwork: Kolob Terrace Drive

hello cows. yes, they're very photogenic ;)

We were all feeling more revived the next day and set out to hike to all 3 of the Emerald Pools. I think this is my favorite place in Zions. It's a nice hike: enough that you feel like you actually did some hiking, and I love to go hiking, plus the waterfalls and pools are beautiful, the evergreens against the red cliffs are stunning, and the size of those cliffs is just incredible! I loved being there again. S loved it, too. This time she didn't want to be carried and she didn't complain about the hiking at all. She loved playing in the sand, dirt, and puddles and she chattered happily as we hiked along. So fun! We also visited the Weeping Wall and then drove through the tunnel and past it a ways. 

ah...I love this place!

one of my favorite pictures

playing in the sand

waterfall at the uppermost Emerald Pool

At the Weeping Wall

View driving up to the tunnel

on the East side of the tunnel

We made it to St.George that night and S finally got to play in the pool for a while. She's a big chicken in the water--like her momma--but she loves being in it. I finally got to soak in the hot tub for a little while, too.

eerie-looking girls in the pool

On our last day we went out and had a big, yummy breakfast and then found a park for S to play. I did a little shopping and then we started home. We took a detour to drive up Kolob Canyon, which I'd never done before. It was, in a word, gorgeous! We also took a stop in Beaver at the cheese factory and loaded up on cheese (although not the huge $45 cylinder of longhorn cheddar Nathan wanted! :)

us at Kolob Canyon

It felt really great to be home again, but it really was good to get away from the cares and demands and stress of life, too. It's amazing how easy it is to let the little cares of life grow out of proportion and weigh so heavily upon us!

Valentine's Day

This year I was the one in charge of the Valentine's date for Nathan and I, and as I was thinking about what to do (during the cold, dreary month of January when I needed something to look forward to) I thought it might be fun to do something with the other couples in our neighborhood. I brought up the idea and everyone was interested in doing a progressive dinner together. One neighbor offered to have the kids all hang out in their basement and she provided pizza for them. It was pretty easy to plan and it turned out really well! Everyone had a great time and a couple people mentioned to me later that they'd like to do it again.

I delayed us a couple times. Yes, I spent most of the day getting ready for the evening and, yes, I was still late to the first house. Ugh. Then when we came to our house I had prepared the main course and it wasn't finished cooking like I'd hoped (but then, I tried a new recipe--because I always try new recipes when we have company!--and it took longer than expected). Oh well. Everyone shared their story about how they met and got engaged. Our neighbor played the piano and sang for us, and then I had Nathan play his guitar and sing as well. It turned out really nice. We had delicious dessert crepes at the last house. I think everyone had a great time. It was fun going to each house and it was a good size of a group, not too small or too big.

On the actual day of Valentine's Day I made little scavenger hunt for S with a treat and hearts with notes on them at the end. She loved it. I made one of Nathan's favorite dinners for him with chocolate peanut butter cheesecake for dessert. After dinner, we visited my mom and sister and then Nathan's parents. It was a very nice day.

All of us at the progressive dinner (first house)

progressive dinner (at our house)

The scavenger hunt begins

...and it ends at her dollhouse

chocolate peanut butter cheesecake...yummm

Provo City Center Temple

I was able to get tickets to the Provo City Center Temple open house. My Mom and sister, Lori, came with us and we had such a nice time there. The temple is simply gorgeous. I loved the herringbone wooden floor, the stained glass, the domed ceilings, the long staircase going up all 3 floors. It's just amazing. It feels modern and pioneer-ish at the same time. I have good memories of stake conferences there and going to a Messiah sing-in once. I'm glad it could be restored, and for such a great purpose.

We also had a great time being there with Mom and Lori. The weather was nice so we walked around and enjoyed the grounds. There's a special feeling there.

S and Aunt Lori

I love this close up of me, Mom, and Lori

snow, snow, snow!

I guess S sang "Let it Snow!"  enough times because we have sure had the snow this winter. I'm grateful for the moisture. I would much rather have snow in January than, say, endless rain in April (not that January snow prevents April rain, but somehow in my mind it should). We've been able to go sledding with cousins a couple times and that has been way fun. S was pretty brave. She preferred going on her own most of the time (she's not a real dare devil, nor is her mother). She's also found that starting up snowball fights can be great fun. And, of course, snow is a handy, readily available snack!

hmmm...snow is tasty

S and cousin sliding after sledding
(I love how they're trying to hold hands)

I love this cute girl!

Jeff snuck over and did most of the
shoveling for us one snowy morning

just playin' in the snow

ready to sled!

S starting up a snowball fight with Aunt Teresa

Teresa and her sweet girl

ice castles

I grew playing a song on the piano called "Ice Castles" (also a movie, but I just knew the song) so whenever I hear of ice castles, that's what comes to mind. However, there are other kinds. Elsa's ice castle is what comes to S's mind =) But, there is also an ice castle in Midway that we were able to explore one frigid night recently. It's one that is created and you pay to go see. Nathan's brother, Andrew, and his family were in town for the week so we were able to go see it with them and their mom. Very fun! although...very cold. I bundled S up well and was happy that I wore my snow pants. I just wish I'd grabbed my snow boots as well. I was also very glad for the hand warmers we grabbed at the last minute.

I was excited to go at night because they turn colored lights on under the ice. It made for some cool pictures. The slot canyons, tunnels, and water falls were fun. You walk in a mix of snow and sand and it's several inches deep, which made it hard for walking, especially for Mom. S and I had fun exploring (we seemed to keep getting separated from everyone else). Teresa bought us hot chocolate and treats and the break helped revive my ice cube toes. S wanted to go on the ice slide then, but found she couldn't handle the long wait in line so we gladly headed back to the car to warm up.

We sure enjoyed having Andrew and Teresa here for the week. We love spending time with them!

S was caught mid-yawn :)

Our group

fun silhoutte of Andrew and family

Andrew and their cutie

Nathan and his mom