Spring break in Phoenix

For the last 2 years Karen has been hounding us to come visit her in Phoenix. We told her that when we had successfully turned Josie into a movie-watching zombie we would tackle the 12 hour drive and come visit. Josie finally hit that milestone so we took a road trip to Phoenix for Spring Break. What a drive! Holy cow, next time we'll fly.

The second we got out of the car we headed for the backyard pool. The girls stripped down and jumped in and were quite shocked to find out the water was only 68 degrees! They immediately jumped out...and got their swimsuits. The water was cold but they didn't care. They had waited for this moment for months and they weren't going to let the cold water ruin their long-anticipated swim. They didn't brave the pool again until a few days later when their beloved Nana Karen drug them out of the house and threw them in!! You wait Karen, it won't be long until they are bigger than you and revenge will be theirs! Wah-ah-ah-ah.

After such a long, cold winter and a spring that hasn't been much better, it was so nice to sit by the pool and soak up the sun. The flowers were blooming and the air smelled so sweet.

We checked out a huge park in Anthem which "is a planned community developed by Dell Webb in 1989..." Karen told us after Googling "Anthem, AZ" on her iPhone. It was hilarious. Anytime we had a question about the area whether it was size or population or history Karen was all over it on her iPhone. I think she may have given Apple it's "There's an app for that." tagline.

We hiked the Thunderbird trail. I think that was the first time Karen had done this since living there and her house is about two blocks away.

Interactive art in downtown Mesa.

The girls got cooking lessons from Nana Karen. They made homemade OREO cookies, Jello jelly beans and eggs, chocolate eggs and Chex white chocolate snack mix to name just a few. One of my favorite parts of the trip was all the fresh squeezed lemonade, OJ and grapefruit juice that we enjoyed everyday. Some of it even came from Karen's own backyard and it was soooo good.

On our way home, we braved the wind and made a detour to the Grand Canyon. That was the first time Mark and I had been there and it was pretty spectacular.

The picture below cracks me up. Emily and I were checking out the view from the guard rail and I turned around and saw a group of Japanese tourists snapping pictures of Lindsey and Josie. Those two thought they were in a magazine photo shoot. The group couldn't get enough of them and Josie and Lindsey hammed it up pretty good for the camera. Forget the huge hole in the ground. Look at these cute American girls! Click, click, click.

Josie Goes on the Potty!

Several times last week when Mark went to check on Josie before he went to bed, he found her buck naked. She had even taken her diaper off and was laying in her crib sound asleep without a stitch of clothing on. And she was dry! So on Monday I decided to try a little bit of potty training, not really thinking that she would actually catch on because she hadn't shown any interest in wearing panties or sitting on the potty.

She peed through two pair of panties within 10 minutes so we decided to go bare-bum and see what happened. I parked the potty next to her while she watched some cartoons and it worked! That day she peed on the potty 6 times! The next day she pooped on the potty 14 times! Seriously. Each day she has done so well except for a couple of accidents but that is to be expected. I am so happy for her but also kind of sad because my little baby is growing up and I don't want that to happen so quickly.

This is Josie flushing the potty after a successful attempt! Go Jo!

He's Everywhere!

I've told you before about Emily's nemisis JB. Well, she had her final basketball game on Saturday and guess who we played. That's right. JB's team! And guess who scored the first basket. That's right. JB!! What is up with this kid? So I sicked my fastest and best defender on him and shut him down for awhile. He did score one or two more times throughout the game but we actually kept up with them and the score went back and forth the whole game.

At one of the time-outs, I had to sub players so I picked a particular boy to guard JB. I told him that he needs to stick to him like white on rice or like stink on poop and you know what he said to me? "I know JB. He is the smartest kid in the school. He won the spelling bee...twice!" I thought, "What the heck? Is that spelling bee going to haunt me for the rest of my days? What is up with this kid? How can one kid be so smart and play soccer and basketball so well?" Super smart kids don't play sports! And athletic kids aren't super smart! Oh my heck...what am I saying? You get the picture.

Anyway, my team did so well. They had improved 100% throughout the season and some of them can even do layups now. I don't know what the score was. We may have won by a basket, we may have lost by a basket. I think we may have tied. I wasn't keeping score. (I know you don't believe me, but it's true.) But it was actually a really fun game and it was so exciting to see the kids doing things that I had taught them. Go Team 5!!

Oh yeah. Emily scored right at the end of the game. That was her first basket all season. She was so excited!

Snowboarding Trip

My friend and I were talking about her kids' piano lessons and their teacher last week and she told me that this particular teacher is so good that some parents take their kids out of school for their lesson because she can't fit everyone in after school. I thought that was a very interesting idea and since Friday was going to be a beautiful day and Mark had the day off we decided to take our kids out of school for their snowboarding "lessons". he he he

It was one of those perfect days that is great for spring skiing. When we were on the lift it was almost too hot so we took gloves and hats off but had to put them back on for the ride down the mtn. The kids did great again and Emily is really getting the hang of it. She even tried out the half-pipe a couple of times before she fell and hit her head on the snow. It was the end of the day anyway so we decided to call it quits. We're are renting helmets next time. I guess it takes kids a long time before they figure out how to ride "toe-side" so all of their weight and pressure is put on their heals which really tires out the legs. Lindsey's legs were really tired by lunch and she only lasted a couple more hours after that. It probably didn't help that she went to bed late because she was sleeping over with her good buddy Luka the night before.

This is us enjoying our chili lunch in the lodge.

We probably won't make it skiing again this season but at least we have something to look forward to when the temperatures drop at the end of year.

Josie's Latest Obsession

Josie likes to dress up in Lindsey's old dance costumes. But lately the costumes have become part of her normal attire. The second she is done with her breakfast she goes downstairs and comes back up with a costume and healed dress up shoes. She wears these all day long everyday! We go to the grocery store, out to lunch, to the school, to daddy's work...everywhere, with the tutu on. She gets quite a reaction from people who see her. "Oh! She is soooo cute!" "Is she in dance?" "What a beautiful tutu!" And Josie just eats it up. She is one funny girl.

Yesterday, she took a nap in her favorite tutu and when she woke up there was pee all over it from a leaky diaper. I thought she would be done with the costume since her fave was in the wash but no, this morning she went downstairs and found a new one. Doesn't she look lovely?

New Calling

About a month ago, Mark and I got called into the bishop's office and I knew it was something serious since they wanted both of us there. I had my fingers crossed that I was to be the girls camp director again but no, it was bigger than that...YW President!! My stomach dropped to my feet, I started feeling sick and dizzy. But of course, I said yes...maybe a little reluctantly but I did say yes. My councilors and I were officially set apart today and five minutes after walking in the door, I got a phone call from the Daughters of Utah Pioneers asking if I had any young women who could help them out on Sat. I couldn't believe it! They don't waste any time at all. I wonder how she got my name and phone number so quickly...probably the outgoing pres. So, the next few years are going to be really busy and really stressful but I hope we are able to have a really good time. We've got a good group of girls and hopefully there won't be much drama. Life as I know it is about to get a lot more complicated. If any of you have any great ideas or advice for me please let me know. I'm open to anything.

Spring Has Sprung!!!

We FINALLY had a warm day! And by warm I mean over 50 degrees. You all might think I'm exaggerating but I am absolutely not. We have not been over 35 deg. since the end of November then all of a sudden on Monday it shot up to 50 or more and the sun was even out. The picture is of the kids attacking a small iceberg that hadn't melted yet. Notice none of them have coats on. But don't get too excited for us because Tues it dropped back down to mid-30's and was overcast all day long. Today isn't much different. I'm excited to have finally turned the corner but I really hate those teaser days of Spring. Only three more months until Lake Powell!