here's to the Garmin GPS in Los Angeles! We made it there, and we made it home. And no one was killed in the process. I don't know how people live in LA and don't have a GPS. Without Dave, I would have been lost. Thank goodness Britt came along to cheer the kids while I mapped out our destinations.

Happy Birthday, Grammy! We had fun and we're STILL wearing our dresses. (yeah they kind of stink now) :)

The Zoo... Two weeks ago

Some pics from our recent trip to the zoo. My cousin's little boy, Gage, came with. He is an energetic little kid - and the only time he rested was while he slept for 20 minutes in the stroller during this shot... :) My girls loved the time with him. Here is a host of us giving him cheetos. Sorry, Ash. :) Our favorite event for all of us was seeing the jaguar that they found in southern arizona desert caught in a rancher's trap. The girls are all still talking about him. Soph had a lot to say about him too...

Vday Shirts

Thanks for the shirts and jewelry Grammy! You made our day!

Beth is 6!!!

Valentines was a great day filled with terrifying reality - Beth has turned 6. That is two years away from getting baptized! She is SO old (don't tell me what that means about me and Dave). We celebrated with Dutch Babies and strawberries for breakfast (what else?), and a hot dog roast at the park for lunch. The park was a great move, I must admit. i loved not cleaning up my house after. Then later on in the evening Dave decided to go get Beth her free dozen from Krispy Kreme. The perfect end to a fun birthday.
Here are some pics.

This is Beth and the guitar cake Dave and I made her. She loved it.

This is Kate bringing Beth out to open her birthday present - a new bike. She looked like a circus clown on her old shorter one. Here is Beth and some of the kids at the party waiting for their turn to eat.

It wouldn't be a party without Red Rover!

And finally, the family at Krispy Kreme! (This is Kate's favorite outfit. It doesn't matter what I think - obviously).

Happy Birthday to my favorite little Valentine!

From Kate: Mom, remember that we can't get to heaven because of the grail? The what? The grail. Beth, tell Mom - Heavenly Father put a grail over our heads so we can't be there. Yeah - remember Mom? So we forget?

The Plan of Salvation according to a 4 year old. It includes a grail over our heads to keep us out - and help us to forget.

Votaws in the Spring

Why do I always feel like time on the computer is completely inefficient way to accomplish ANYTHING. I have always loved writing, but something about typing takes the passion right out of it. Dave would completely disagree.

Beth had to get glasses last week. The Dr told us that she has a "lazy eye". Not what you want to hear about your oldest beautiful girl. But it isn't what one might think hearing that name. She just has one eye that doesn't "read" to the brain because her sight is so different in the two eyes. This being said, she got her glasses and loves them because now she can SEE - I feel like an awful mom for not taking her in sooner. So if the glasses don't "turn on" the eye in a month, she'll get to be patched on her good eye. We're glad we caught it.

On the morning we went to pick up her glasses, she asked to have her hair cut. I refuse to be part of some mother controlling power struggle (although I would love to have been). So I cut it. Although I am TOTALLY sad, she looks beuatiful. And I must say, quite a but older. :)

Finally, (every time I close I think of my HS English teacher Mr. Vogt - who taught us how to wrap up a thought. I wonder where he is) we put in our garden. It will look nice once some of the seeds grow. I love this time in AZ. Beautiful!

We had some friends over last night and enjoyed Dave's masterful BBQ. That man is amazing in front of a grill. When I was growing up, eating chicken off the BBQ was always a charcoal like experience. But Dave makes it all so perfectly tasty! I think it must have something to do with patience. Something my gene pool runs inordinately short on. And Dave has in mass abundance. All in all it was a fun night - right up until the wall shelf almost fell on our friends' heads. Good way to end an evening. Dave has always hated that shelf there. I hate I told you so's...