Good Day Sunshine

The warm weather has hit the Carolinas. The girls' favorite thing to do is ride bikes right now. The minute we pull into the garage and Ella sees her bike she is ready to hop aboard. Technically the larger bike is Ella's but she won't give her trike up yet. She has gotten really good at riding and thankfully she also listens and stays within two houses on each side of ours when riding. (Which is very good since the trike doesn't have brakes and after two houses the road really slopes in downward!

Ella and Audrey will do just about anything to get to go to the "Sand Park" more commonly known as North Meck Park. They beg to go at least once a week. They did so good after their last dental appointment that I bought them buckets and shovels (thank you Target $1 section!) and we headed to the park.



This past Saturday we had a Stake wide Day of Service. Our ward cleaned up one of the local parks and helped remulch all the tree and flower beds. They were expecting severe thunderstorms so we talked to the girls about how it might rain and asked if they would still be willing to clean in the rain. They were still excited to go rain or shine. So we got the girls some rain boots, pulled out their Dora gloves and princess shovels and headed to the Park. I didn't take any pictures, but one of our friends, Allison did. See her blog here.

The next day the girls wanted to head out to the front yard to pick flowers. They pulled up their boot straps and headed back out!










I couldn't help but post a bunch of these pictures. They are such beauties I had to show them off.

Halfway to Seventy

"The only thing that comes to us without effort is old age. "

Tom's birthday was last week. Normally we celebrate Birthday Week in our house, but this year Tom wasn't around a lot for celebration. He has been working a LOT, which is good, but we didn't have much time to do any "partying". On Saturday we went to the Melting Pot for dinner. I felt almost like it was MY birthday since we were going to one of my favorite places, and Tom got the cheese, entree and dessert he knew I would choose. You have got to love a man that spoils you on HIS birthday. Afterwards, we went to the mall to get his presents. I had them picked out but I was too worried to buy them without having him decide/try them on. He definitely doesn't have time right now for worrying about going to the mall for returns. On Sunday we had dinner and had bought a Cold Stone ice cream cake. (Not on our P90x approved diet, but birthdays don't count) The girls helped us pick out the cake and loved singing to their daddy.

I am so lucky to be married to my best friend. Even though I don't gush or swoon, I know he realizes how much I love, admire and appreciate him for everything he does. He makes me a better person and I hope I do the same for him. Tom, I LOVE YOU!

Zoo Pals

During Spring Break, several families in our church went to the Zoo in Columbia for the day. It was one of the hottest days of the year so far! The girls absolutely love the zoo and they really liked going with friends. I wish I had got a few pictures at the petting zoo portion. They met a baby goat that a zoo keeper was walking on a leash named Cooper. I think the girls could have hung out with Cooper all day.

Looking at all the animals.


Climbing, posing, and playing with friends.

Riding the Merry Go Round. Ella looks scared to death, but she was making her excited scream noises when she is really happy. And a picture of the whole group!

One of the girls friends, Calla, has a bunch of fake snakes. Ella and Audrey have fallen in love with them. So we ended up coming out of the zoo gift shop with a 3 ft plastic snake for Ella, in purple of course. Audrey came away with a 5 ft blue snake. And I am sure I will need to hide them when Tom's parents visit next since Grandma is NOT a snake fan. The girls sure love them though. I thought they would get sick of them but after 3 weeks, the devotion is still going strong.

Unca Tauch

The first week in April, Tom's brother Todd came out to visit us. We didn't bust out the camera much while he was here unfortunately. Audrey took right to him, which is unusual for her. He quickly became "Unca Tauch" (Todd doesn't SEEM that hard to say but maybe to a two year old). Tom and Todd went golfing a couple times. Todd got the same cold bug the rest of us had and so that wsn't the most fun. One night we went bowling as a family. The girls have been begging to go again ever since. Even though we didn't get out much, hopefully Todd got a little R and R while he was here, even if it was just to feel better from the cold we gave him.

Hope your feeling better Unca Tauch!

Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail

The Saturday before Easter we decided to take the girls to a place called Rural Hills to go on an Easter Egg hunt. The girls really loved it and we had several of our friends from church there too. It was their first year hosting the Egg Hunt so it wasn't too crowded which was nice. They also did something a little different. Their eggs were empty then you came back and turned them in for candy. Ella is still very cautious about walking on uneven ground (ie, grass, any type of slopes, leaves, etc). So Tom grabbed Audrey and I took Ella. The empty eggs were a plus for us because the girls got a lot of candy even though Ella only collected 8 eggs. (Did I mention cautious??) After hunting for eggs we went home and got to listen to General Conference. What a wonderful time of year. My favorite talk was probaby Elder Ballard. I was just so inspired.

On Sunday we were able to listen to conference then the girls went with Tom to pick up Tom's brother Todd from the airport. Todd came out for a week to see us. While they were gone the Easter Bunny showed up. He brought the girls gardening gloves and their own shovels. There were fun braclets, rings, and dinosaurs in the eggs. They loved it! I decided we need to have Easter Egg hunts more often. It pushed Ella a little out of her comfort zone but she goes out willingly if she knows she is getting something in the bargain. And she did much better then just 8 eggs at home.