The Backyard

Maybe you remember when our backyard looked like this:

Or maybe not.

But either way, we have done a TON of work on it and now we can actually enjoy hanging out in our own backyard.

Like making shadows!

of birds.

And families!

This is Weston and the little apple tree- so excited for some golden delicious!

Hyrum and the Peach tree- yes please! We also planted a nectarine, grapes, strawberries and lots of shade loving ferns, iris, bleeding hearts, Lily of the Valley, hostas, astillbe, honeysuckle and more!

And, our favorite Pa helped us build the best garden boxes around- check these babies out!

Oooh, garden time is getting near and I am craving some zukes and cukes! Thanks again, Dad!

Sunny Days and Cousins

When the day is beautiful and sunny, we are outside.

And the park is always more fun with our cousins, especially with these crazy kids!

Even Aunt Kristi is getting in on the monkey face action... Spring Time- Love it.

10 Months Old!

Afton is 10 months old! She is just such a fun little babe with the silliest personality- you want proof? Look at these pictures:

My Pretty Girl!

Afton is standing up to everything, walking around things, biting chairs, pointing to everything, she does "Big Girl!", understands lots of words,

is getting better at petting the kitty and not pulling out his fur, knows how to turn up the music and dance away, she can wave, do squishy faces, open all cupboards and drawers,

make messes (of course), and eat lots of real food.

She is getting more attached to mom- when I go out the door she yells, when I take a shower she cries at the door... Great. But I love my little monkey baby!

And we shall call her Princess Messy Pants...

Of course, I could never be talking about THIS sweet little babe...

Or could I?

Turns out, Afton is not always the little angel, especially now that she crawls, stands up to things, opens cupboards, opens drawers, pushes buttons and her favorite: turns up the volume on the music. (Though, it sure is cute when she starts dancing along...)

You don't believe that she could ever deserve the name Princess Messy Pants? Keep reading...

This is just one example, of course.

The next example, I must say, makes me happy. How could I not love a girl that loves dirt like I do? (Remember how Hyrum hated the grass on his toes? Afton is not that sort...)This is her helping me ready and plant our flower beds:

Pure joy! And, yes, a bath was necessary in both cases...

So long, Aquarium...

Our passes for the Living Planet Aquarium expire this week so we took one last trip up to say good bye to our favorite fishies...

Afton LOVED it- this was actually her first time to come with us. She squealed and waved to all the fish she saw! (and you can see my hair cut!)

Here are my favorites:

I could watch these animals all day long...

Thanks for having us, Living Planet Aquarium!

Family Party time!

Cindy had her spring break last week so she and my mom came up to the Northern country to be with the rest of us and to help Dad look for a house- I just can't wait until they are up here for good!

So, one night while they were here, we scheduled the church gym so we could eat pizza and run around- band run around we did!

A little basketball, football, 'tag on the lines', dancing, karate... you name it!

Lexi

The hot sweaty boys- yuck!

Add Weston

Me and a babe

Cindy and Lex

And the cutest Lydia!

The not so cute Robby

Bry-dye

I love it when my family comes to play!

April Fools!

Remember when Friday, April 1st, was 70 degrees outside?

It was just fooling us!

(Notice all my tulips just getting ready to bloom? So excited!)

Happy Spring time! (Ha!)

Happy Birthday to Zachary, of course!

What does a bathroom shower have to do with Zach's birthday? Usually nothing, but this year, we used his birthday as an excuse for a little get-away (Afton included) to a nice little cabin in the woods. A very large, expensive, expansive cabin in the Heber, UT Wolf Creek Ranch kind of woods... This shower was just the kind in every room.

(We actually didn't even use it though, because downstairs, connected to the work out room was an awesome steam room with a rain shower... Oh, I'd take one of those in my house any day!)

And this was the fireplace, flat screen TV included in each room. Each room also had it's own thermostat, too.

Down in the valley, it was a nice 55 degrees. Up in the mountains it was bitter cold and the snow pack was INCREDIBLE. It's no wonder the pillars holding up the porch were massive stone- look at that snow!

Sadly, I didn't get pictures of the rest of the amazing house but it was just fun to get some R&R, read Dr. Suess's biography, watch some much missed Disney channel and TLC and eat Zach's yummy creations.

Oh, did I mention we were not alone? Rick Walton (the friend of the Kimball's who own the place) also came up- he had the keys :) but it's not like we even saw him- the house is that big. He's actually a famous children's book author who has met pretty much any other children's book author in the world...Luis Sachar, Gail Carson Levine, Shannon Hale, Brandon Mull, Robin McKinley... Name 'um, he knows 'um! Click here for a list of his awesome books! http://www.rickwalton.com/navbook.htm#Picture Books

Anyway, getting back to Zach's birthday- #31! He celebrated at Toucanos with his family on Thursday, at the cabin on Friday and Saturday, at Sunday dinner with his family again, and then with just our family on Monday night- before and after class (he is one hard working guy!) and then just Zach and I went to dinner on Tuesday night for one last hurrah... We stretch our birthdays to the max!

Blowing out the re-lighting candles...

And they are lit again! He had to put them in water to finally get them out... Notice the decor? So, Phineas and Ferb just happens to be our favorite Netflix at the moment. Thank you Disney store for letting us hear "Curse you, Perry the Platypus!" every time Dufenshmirts gets bumped!

We love our daddy!