Catching up on vacation

We spent a little less than a week (not long enough) in the Beehive state with my parents.  My Dad made this amazing cake for a party.  It was so adorable and it tasted pretty good as well.
It was so wonderful to get to spend Mother's Day with my Mom.  My Mom is the hardest working, most talented, most generous woman I know.  She is my best friend, my coach, confidante, and inspiration-I love you Momma.
Dan and Maddie got me two new games for Mother's Day.  One of the games I have been requesting for the last three years.  I was pretty happy.  Not to mention that my gourmet Mother's Day was catered by my incredibly talented Father.  Seriously the man is a genius in the kitchen.  I love my hubby but there is no real comparison in the cooking department.
Beautiful princess is modeling the amazingly cute skirt that my Mom made for her.  My Mom also made me a really lovely skirt as well.  I will have to take a picture wearing it sometime.
It was so beautiful in Utah.  The weather was perfect and we had a great time.  We helped plant the garden, played at the park, smelled the flowers, fed the horses, sheep, and cows, and had a great party with some of my Dad's co-workers.  We were sad to go but with the move looming less than a week away we knew it was time to go.

Moving Day

Tomorrow morning the packers come and we say good-bye to our home of five years.   I can't believe it is here.  I am very excited to start this next adventure but sad to leave behind my dearest friends.  Wish us luck and off we go -see you on the other side.

Is that okay?

We have been working with Madison a lot on her evening prayers.  She usually races through them so Daddy will tell her a story.  She always throws in a "bless my food" even though we remind her before the prayer that there is no food to bless.  Maddie has been getting a little better at remembering to be thoughtful.  Here is her latest prayer:

M-........Thank you for Mommy and Daddy and Papa and Grandma......bless my food (pause) for my animals...is that okay for my animals momma? 

T-Yes baby that is okay.

Even stuffed animals need blessings.

Vacation in Boise

We have been having a great time in Boise.  Here are a few pictures of what we have been up to.

A little family bowling.  Madison loves to bowl and her favorite part is waiting for the ball to pop back out after she has thrown it down the lane.  She is not the center of attention or anything.

She is a lot stronger than she looks.  When we would try to help her she would give us a look and tell us that she would do it herself.  We had a great time!

We also took advantage of the cool springtime weather for a nature walk with the grandparents.
The nature center that we visited had areas where you could see the fish in their natural environment.  It was a refreshing change to the standard aquarium.  
They really did a great job of allowing us to appreciate the beauty of nature while still preserving the individual ecosystems.
Madison and I fell in love with this beautiful dogwood tree that was blooming across the street from Grandma's house.
A little trampoline time with Daddy was probably the highlight of the trip for Madison.  At first she was a little nervous to be going so high but by the end of the trip she had changed her tune.
Maddie would beg Dan to "please do humungous jumps Daddy." We need to invest in one of these someday.

Welcome Home Aunt Alicia!

We were really fortunate to be able to make the trip to see my sister-in-law come home from her mission in Paraguay.  She looks beautiful and it is easy to feel the sweet spirit she brought with her.  Maddie had a great time reading books with her and playing Mario Galaxy.

Madison was tiny last time she saw Alicia so she wasn't really sure who she was holding this sign for.  She looked a little lost.
Alicia getting her first hug from her Daddy.
Alicia's nickname with her sister is fatty-don't ask me why since she is anything but.  It was fun to welcome her home.  I haven't been to a homecoming since I came home myself.  We are glad you are home Alicia.

Choices

The other night we were sitting around the dinner table eating dinner.  Dan was trying to get Maddie to eat some food that she simply didn't want to eat.  He had tried several different games/enticements to get her to eat when she looked at him and said, "Daddy that bite is not a good choice."  I couldn't help myself I started cracking up.  If you had any idea how often we use the phrase "that is not a good choice "you would understand how funny it was to have our words turned against us.