Zoo

We are trying to get in the spring activities before it gets too hot. One of those was going to the zoo. Josh got off work just a little early so we could go enjoy the 75 degree weather and check out the animals.

 We took a little pit stop and had to ride the carousel, which both kids loved just as much as seeing the animals, haha

 The last stop was going to see the gorilla. He stopped and looked straight at Lyla and just stared at her for a minute or so. It was a little scary but Lyla didn't seem to mind much, she just looked right back at him until he walked away.

Alyse is Moving

Mary, Alyse and I have now been friends for about 6 years! We went to school together and were in the Elementary Education program and became good friends. We moved away for law school and when we got back to Utah I was excited to hang out with these sweet girls again. Since getting back from WA we live far away from each other, and all 3 of us have had a baby this past year so we haven't hung out as much as we would like but still do see each other. 

To get to the point, Alyse is now leaving on her own adventure to OR (hopefully returning one day!) where her husband Bob got a job. Bob finished pharmaceutical school this past year and then just recently got a job.  So we got together one last time and had a little going away party and enjoyed a BBQ at our house. I made a little door mat with a big B on it for Barber and a sign that said Good Luck in Oregon. We will miss Alyse, Bob, and her sweet baby Olivia but hope that she will come back to her roots sooner than later!

Thanksgiving Point

 With the great spring weather we are having, we took advantage of it and went to the farm at Thanksgiving Point. Mac was in pure heaven and giggled so much at every animal that he got close to.

We get a free pony ride with our season pass and I'm not sure I have ever seen Mac happier, which is saying a lot because he is usually pretty dang happy. He squealed and laughed and smiled the whole entire time. It was the cutest thing I ever did see, or hear.

1st Dance Recital

Lyla has been taking her first Ballet/Tumbling class this past 2 months and finished up with a little "recital" on Thursday. It was just in the gym where she took the class at. My parents and Cindy came to watch and it was quite hilarious. She knew all of the moves, but has a hard time staying concentrated on the teacher. 

 Getting ready by stretching

 Her cute little class

 Practicing their moves for the recital

 Lyla and her teacher, Miss Ellie. 

She was SUPER proud of this certificate and couldn't wait to show all of us after she got it.

 We went back home and ate ice cream to celebrate her hard work.

Here is the video of her recital. Its quite hilarious, but adorable all at the same time. I can't decide if my favorite part is her sweet little body doing the dance poses, forgetting to stay in line, or when the teacher says "get on your sticker" she gets distracted and bends down to see if she can pick the sticker off the mat.

Children's Museum

 We hadn't been to the children's museum in a really long time and last time was before Mac was old enough to enjoy it, so we decided to go this past Saturday to check it out. 

He pretty much loved every minute of it and played for hours on everything. Didn't get a ton of pictures, but here's a few

 If only we had a mini vacuum that really worked at home!

 He loved this cute little piano and it had the smallest bench I've ever seen. It was pretty adorable watching him "play" or better yet, pound, on the keys

Lyla of course loved it too and spent most of her time in the store shopping for food and pretending to be the cashier

Mothers Day

First the weekend started out on Saturday with lunch, a quilt show and shopping. Grandma Roskelley and my cousin Allie were in town so we all got together and had a lot of fun. 

 Saturday night we spent the night with Gma R at my parents house. We played in the yard and enjoyed the sunshine and beautiful sunset.

 Grandpa needed some chapstick, according to Lyla, so here she is making sure it gets applied correctly.

 Sunday morning before church we played out in the yard with the new water table that my mom got for her birthday. The kids loved it

 GG opening her Mothers Day present. I made her a family birthday calendar.

 Lyla picked this card out for Grandma weeks before Mothers Day and could not WAIT to give it to her. When she finally got to give it to her her eyes got all big and said "Look Grandma! Here's your card!" and was so excited to finally get it out and show it off. She also colored inside for Gma.

 Mom opening the picture book I made of her as a child, a mother, and a grandmother

Wally stopped by for a little while and chatted before going to his in-laws for dinner. Then Cindy, Allie and Dave came over and had dinner with us. It was a great Mothers Day, nice and relaxed, and was fun to have Grandma in town.

Lyla is Reading...

Ok, so she can't actually "read", but she recites this book almost perfectly and I finally got it on video after several attempts. She started telling me one day that she wanted to read it and over just a few times she could tell me the whole story. This book is one of her favorite right now and was given to her by Great Grandma Roskelley on her first Christmas.

Lyla Sassy Mae

This picture is all encompassing of this little girls huge personality. A little sassy, super cute, independent, loves all things that are girly like shoes and painted nails, and knows how to put on a show when someone is watching. I just love her so much and I'm really enjoying her cute 3-year old self and all that comes with it.

Today she told me:  "Mom, either play with me, or go to time out"  My own parenting of giving her choices and consequences is coming out, haha. It gave me a good laugh.

Our Spring Yard

We have our own yard for the first time this year and have enjoyed taking care of it and making it look nice. Tulips are one of my favorite flowers so we planted some bulbs last fall. I was so excited to see them come up and see if they really would grow and turn out like I had imagined. 

When they came up this spring they were so beautiful. And little did I know the owner or previous tenant had planted some other bulbs before and a few others came up all over the yard. It was a nice surprise and we had our own little "tulip festival" right in our front yard!

These are all the ones I planted. There were even more on the other side of the yard and around all the trees. Aren't they so pretty?! Loved enjoying them for the short time they lasted.