Worth a Thousand Words

We often hear that a picture is worth a thousand words.  A couple of days ago I took a photo of each of our kids and I think these images really illustrate how kids change as they get older.

Dylan, at age 3, is still smiling.  I know he doesn't really want to smile, but he knows that I would like to see him happy in the picture.

Alex, at age 5, doesn't like to get his picture taken anymore.  He will rarely smile and usually gives me his dragon face.

Kennedy, at age 7,  wears a mask and is hoping I don't recognize her.

Dede at Red Butte

It isn't every day that I get invited to be a chaperone at an elementary school field trip.  In fact, I think this may be the first field trip I've been on since I was a teacher.  Kennedy's first grade class has been studying plants this year and they loaded onto a bus and headed to the coolest garden in Salt Lake - Red Butte.

We had a great time walking around the gardens and enjoying the amazing plants.  Kennedy and the other kids were so inquisitive and the staff did a great job showing the kids the beauties of nature.  After a short picnic lunch our morning was over and I had to head back to work.  It's unreal how fast time flies when you're having fun....

 

Mother's Day

What can you say about Mother's Day?  I love the fact that we get to share our appreciation with the special women in our lives.  The kids and I try to pitch in more and help with the morning routine.  Today we tried to provide Tara with special breakfast, french toast.  Unfortunately, early church meant that the morning couldn't be shared in bed - still, Alex and I were able to whip up a tasty treat for breakfast.

After breakfast we gave Tara her presents. The kids gave Tara some items for the yard - lawn chairs, and a new peach tree. For some out there these presents would probably give a response like, "WHAT?! A tree for Mother's Day?!  Where's the pedicure, the facial, the massage?!" I hear you, but Tara was really interested in planting a peach tree and the chairs have been on her list for months.

Church provided the mothers with a Primary mainstay, "Mother I Love You." After the meetings each of the women in the congregation received a rose as a token of appreciation. I thought it was a nice sentiment and I made sure to take a few roses to some of the ladies I home teach.

We wrapped our evening with a trip to visit June in Mapleton.  It's always good to get together with family and I know the visits are very important to June in this year of transition.  The kids had a fun time at Grandma's house and it was a great way to cap our day.

I made sure to call my mom and let her know how much I appreciate her. Being away from her family can be hard, but I think she needed the break after being in Salt Lake for much of the past month.  A phone call may not be much, but it's good to talk to my mom and I hope she had a good day.

I know I'm not the most appreciative husband, but I wanted to give Tara a nice Sunday.  The kids love her more than anything and Tara is a terrific mother.  Happy Mother's Day Tara, I love you....


 

Stake Olympics

As part of my calling with the Young Men I go to a lot of stuff - meetings, scouting, firesides, service projects.  The list never seems to end.  Today we held the quad-stake olympics at East High.  This event has been part of our stake forever.  With the numbers of youth dwindling, we've expanded to include three of our neighboring stakes and the tradition lives on.

For me the day was spent as  part of the support team.  We went all out for the kids this year.  Many wards bring out donuts and juice for the youth, but not us.  Ryan busted out the six burner stove and we made pancrapes - they were supposed to be crapes, but I think they turned into pancakes.  It was awesome and I spent a few good minutes flipping the jacks.

Our kids that attended had a blast.  I don't think anyone thought we were the greatest athletes in the meet, but we sure had a lot of fun.  The boys and girls ran, threw, pulled, and jumped their hearts out.  It was fun working with the other leaders and a great time to play with the kids.

I think my favorite part of the day was taking Alex.  I always try to include one of the kids in the events I'm asked to attend.  I was a little worried that Alex would get bored, as I knew it would be a long day.  I was totally wrong.  Alex was a trooper and he had a great day.  It didn't hurt that he loves Ryan, the YM's president.  Alex is a fun kid and he was in seventh heaven with all the boys and girls.

Looking for some Cache

We decided to pack up the car full of the crew and head out in search of adventure.  It's been an eternity since the kids came along on the hunt.  Truthfully, since I've had a million different projects over the past couple years I haven't done much caching either.  Tonight was a quick run.  We found 5 caches and all the kids got a new toy.  Finished off the evening with an ice cream and everyone had a great time!