Happy Spring!

Oh man! We have been so busy around here! We have been enjoying nice weather for the most part so that means we have been playing outside a lot! The last couple of days have been a little chilly but today has been in the 60's! I think spring is here to stay!!! (we hope!) The last two weeks we have been going non-stop, we've had one thing after another. I haven't had time to sit down and blog. So this post is going to be long!

My friend Bobbi invited the kids and I to go to the zoo last week. The weather was perfect and the kids had a great time...for the most part...Brielle had her moments but overall I think we all enjoyed ourselves. We got to see a bunch of animals and I got a good workout from pushing the stroller around! Thanks Bobbi for inviting us to come! We had a blast!:)

The first two pictures are my attempt of taking a nice picture of the kids and I...as usual...no luck...I'm the only one who is looking at the camera...but then Braden started to cooperate...Liesl (Bobbi's friend) took these pictures and she also helped me out a ton with the kids! She was so good with them!

The panda bear was just chilling outside eating...I'm not sure what he was eating but he seemed to really like it!

I caught the tiger right when it was drinking from the pool! I am amazed every time I see a tiger, I think they are such a beautiful and magnificent animal!

The cheetah was just chilling in that little shelter and then all of sudden it stood up and started walking! This is another animal I think is just beautiful!

It was Scott's birthday the day we went to the zoo, but my poor husband had to go to school and had do his clinical hours with a doctor. So he missed the zoo. But later that day, my mom babysat for us and we went to dinner and a movie. It was nice to spend time with my honey and celebrate with him his 28th birthday!!! Now we are the same age!!!:) He caught up to me!!:) We went to Texas Road House! We were so excited to have found one here in Virginia. We saw it one time when we were driving by the highway and Scott said that, that's where he wanted to go eat for his birthday. The food was amazing! We got a really cool waiter and he gathered a bunch of other waiters and they sang the Texas Road House birthday song for Scott! I can't remember how it went right now! But it was awesome!

The waiter made Scott sit on this cool saddle while they were singing to him!

Our waiter was a hoot!

Here we are very happy that we found a Texas Road House in Virginia!!!

After dinner, we went to watch Duplicity with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. It was a really good show! We both enjoyed it and we were the only ones in the theater which was awesome!!! Overall, I think Scott had a good birthday, we didn't do anything spectacular, but we both enjoyed each others company, had great conversation during dinner and enjoyed our movie...I don't think it can get any better than that!!!:)

(Happy Birthday babe!!! I hope you enjoyed our little date!!!:) I love you!!! )

Since the weather has been so enjoyable we have doing a lot of this around here:

Brielle and Braden love the playground!

Brielle has been posing for pictures lately!!! It's so funny!!! and ADORABLE!!!:)

Eventhough, sometimes these two are a lot of work, I experience so much joy when I witness moments like this one! They are such good friends!

We had an Easter Egg Hunt last week with the playgroup from our ward. The kiddos LOVED it! They had so much fun! Since it was raining that day they had to move it into the chapel's gym. But the kids still had a great time. (We also had our own Easter Egg Hunt last Saturday at a near by park.)

The Cherry Blossom Festival was also last week in D.C. We met up with my good friend Daija, her little guy Bridger and also Daija's mom Vicky. (They were visiting Daija's brother who lives in Maryland) It was so nice to see Daija and meet Bridger! He is so ADORABLE! And it made me realize how much I miss my good friend Daija! Although our visit was short, I enjoyed every minute of it!!! I miss you Daija! Thanks for meeting up with us!!! (and thanks Vicky for treating us all to lunch! It was nice to see you too!)

I know I look very cheesy in this picture but Bridger is almost looking at the camera in this one and he looks so cute!

Isn't he so squeeeeezable??? His bright blue eyes are to die for!!!

I don't know exactly what Brielle is doing here...but I love Bridger's face in this picture...he's like, what the heck is going on?

I remember seeing a picture of this exact place with the statue and the cherry blossom in a booklet they sent us about GWU before we moved here...I remember thinking that is was incredibly beautiful! So we had to take a picture there!

sidenote: (I was looking through last years' calendar the other day-I hang a calendar every year and write birthdays, appointments, important things, etc,etc.(I'm sure a lot of you do the same thing)-I was looking through it and it hit me how much our life has changed in less than a year...Scott was waiting tables at Olive Garden and working at Qwest around this time last year...I was still teaching at BYU-Idaho...we paid $550 a month in rent...now we pay 3 times that amount!!!! Scott will be done with his first year of medical school in less than 2 months!!! man! Life sure changes!!! It's just crazy! and I get to see the cheery blossom right in front of me instead of seeing it in a booklet!!!) :):)

What a picture!! whaaaa ha ha ha!!!! Braden cracks me up, Brielle's face is hilarious and George Washington's head??? Where is George's head????

After lunch with Daija, Vicki and Bridger, they had to go but Scott was with us and I convinced him to come see the cherry blossoms again with us. So, we headed to see them again!

Isn't this spectacular???

Brielle posing for the picture!

My little sister Nya and I.

The cherry blossoms were amazing! Can't wait until next year to see them again!

On Saturday, we all headed to the park, had our own little easter egg hunt and...

...my brother bought some kites and it was so much fun! It was the perfect activity for a beautiful spring afternoon after watching the first session of General Conference. Seriously, can life get any better than this? General Conference, my family together flying kites, good food and lots of running from the kids letting go of their kites ha ha ha ha!!!! We had a great time!!!!:)

And I leave you with Brielle's BIG smile and Braden...

he took this picture himself...until next time my friends...kids are calling, laundry is waiting to be folded and dinner needs to be cooked...:)

Spring Break

We had one of the most memorable vacations last week. (I actually think this was the first vacation we've ever taken as a family, it gave me a glimpse of all the fun that we are going to have in the years to come). Scott was on spring break and it so happened our good friend Justin had his spring break on the same week, so we headed to Cleveland to hang out with the Heaton's (Justin, Stacey & Jack). We had such a relaxing and fun vacation! Justin and Stacey are such fun hosts. It's so nice to hang out with friends that you feel so comfortable with...every time we get together we have such a great time. We kept busy just the right amount and we were able to also relax...the best part of it all was being able to spend the whole week with Scott!!! It's so nice when he's home and doesn't have to worry about school. The kids and I love the time we get to spend with him! We did all sorts of FUN stuff while we were there...we got there Friday evening and we just hung out until very, very late...not such a good idea when you have 3 little kids that wake up early in the morning...but nonetheless, it was fun to catch up with Justin and Stace...On Saturday, we went to the zoo and rainforest, which the kids LOVED! Brielle was asleep for the first part and then woke up and enjoyed seeing all the cool animals...Braden and Jack were up the whole time and they both had a lot of fun watching the orangutans...

I love going to places like the zoo with children...I think it's such a great opportunity to expose them to real animals which they read about but then they get to actually see them...it's so exciting for them and so fun to watch their reactions...the orangutans put quite the show for us! Jack and Braden were definitely entertained!

It turns out that most of the pictures we took of our trip were of Braden and Jack...those two are sure cute!

Eating lunch after Church on Sunday...and Justin making faces...:) ha ha ha! this is one of the FEW picture we have of the adults...and the ONLY one I look half descent in...Scott is taking the picture...

Later that day, we went to a Bronze Sculpture Exhibit at the Kirtland Visitor Center. All I have to say is that it was AMAZING!!!! Every time I go to Kirtland it's always so spiritual. I just found out that the exhibit will be coming to Washington D.C.! We will definitely go see this exhibit again! Anyway, right outside the Visitor Center there is this little red building...I had to take some pictures of the kiddos in front of it! Brielle was really feeling a lot of love for her brother at that moment...wish it was always that way...it was pretty cute.

My Scottie and Braden getting ready to go play at the indoor water park.

On Monday, we headed to Sandusky, Ohio to the Great Wolf Lodge Water Park. We had such an amazing time!!! We all enjoyed it so much! Both Scott and I think this was so worth it! We got there mid-afternoon, played for a few hours, went to dinner and stayed the night at the lodge, then played the next day until about 2pm, we could have stayed longer but we were all exhausted! Playing in the water and making sure kids don't drown sure takes a lot of energy!!!:) But it was a blast! All of this fun was $100 per family, which if you ask me it's an awesome deal! Water park and hotel for one night both included, you can't beat it!

This little guy absolutely LOVED the water! He played hard the whole time we were there and cried when we left...Needless to say, Brielle and Braden were out on the drive back to Cleveland!

They were worn out!!

This is how much they've changed...this picture was taken last year in July on our way to D.C... and this is them now...just a week ago:

Are these 3 children ADORABLE or what? I can't resist but post a bunch more pictures of these three...my posts are always long anyway...what's a few more pictures right? of adorable, squeeeezable children...:)

And last but not least Braden showing us his belly...:) isn't he squeeezable?

Thanks for a fun vacation Justin & Stace! We had a blast!

Oh! and I also have a Brielle story: this happened a few days ago...

Braden did something naughty (I can't remember what he did right now) but Scott told him that he needed to go in time out. Brielle was right there and said to Braden: "Bwaden, you need to go in time out right now!" and then turns to me and says, "Can I put him in time out! I know how to do it!"

Diamonds & Happiness...

This morning, as usual, I took Scott and my mom to the metro. We were listening to the radio and they were talking about how Paris Hilton just ordered a diamond-encrusted dashboard for her pink Bentley. Everyone is always making fun of this woman and I've wondered if there is really more depth to her than the media portrays. It is also interesting that the media gives her the time of day, considering most of what they report is utterly shallow. I guess, that if encrusting her dashboard with diamonds makes her happy and she can afford to do that oh well...right? But, seriously...does that just sound extraordinarily shallow? (I tend to be a little too judgemental sometimes...) The reason I bring this up, however, is not to judge her. Interestingly enough, hearing about this made me reflect about what makes me happy.

Even though diamonds are wonderful, this definitely brings me long-lasting happiness:

Braden sticking a carrot in his nose...

Scott being with our children...sometimes he comes home so tired from school all he wants to do is rest...he lays on the kids' bedroom floor and they LOVE laying on him...and he LOVES it too!

Watching my mom love her grandchildren...and them loving her.

Watching my children be amazed every single time they see an airplane...

That mischievous little face...

This little boy being a boy...he is always saying that he wants to fly like Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story!!!

Watching my children be nice to each other...and Brielle pretending she can read...

AND...this...(by the way, Brielle came up with "the Barack Obama game" as she calls it, all by herself)...:)

Oh! and I almost forgot:

Braden found himself a little girlfriend...we had our friends Anna and Mike over for dinner on Sunday and this is their beautiful little girl Lillie...

They really liked each other...:)