Easter, Swimming, and Other Such Niceties

I just couldn't help but add a quick photo blitz to the blog covering quarter 1 of a great 2016 year. We've had a lot of ups and downs in our lives lately, but January through March were basically the best. Here are some highlights:

We were able to see the inside of the new Provo City Center LDS Temple as a family--twice! The kids were well behaved and allowed us to feel the peace and spirit available in temples.

Dustin's work provided tickets and hot dogs at a Utah Grizzlies hockey game. The noise was a bit overwhelming for the girls' ears, but we had a blast.

Next, a few mug shots of the belles of our golden house. From sun-up to sun-down we have a rockin' time:

And picnics are a new favorite activity--there are weeks where five of our seven lunches are spent outside (many thanks to Dustin's co-worker Chris who gifted the girls matching lunchboxes and fueled this fetish).

I had to include a shout out to the preschool our neighborhood organized and pulled off with spectacular success.

Rosie dove into swim lessons this winter and, after some tears and terror, managed to transform into a water-loving A+ student.

Easter with cousins was smashing good fun all around. 

We finish up with a wonderful LDS General Conference weekend, complete with sweet roll making with Nana.

Halloween

Rosie was a spider...we all were, but she actually enjoyed it :)

Monster Mush for our Halloween breakfast (green milk, purple blackberries, and orange oatmeal)

I love sunny weather near Halloween. One of those idyllic moments in the life...short lived :)

Ghost pancakes--they can be any shape, and 3 chocolate chips (eyes and mouth) are much healthier than the twelve it takes to make a jack-o-lantern grin.

Our cookies actually turned out this year--no horror-story piles of crumbs and kid saliva.

In the process of making ghetto family costumes.

And hanging up spider webs.

Cutest kids ever!

Perfect Summer Days

Here's a glimpse of some perfect moments we have had this summer. It's great to have a 3 yr. and a 1 yr. old who both love walking the river nature trail near our home and taking advantage of Free Fishing Day in Utah. Ah, the idyllic and quixotic snatches of time we can reach out and pluck from a delightful summer breeze...

(fishing with Grandpa)

(and Bridal Veil Falls)