I've been through the desert on a horse with no name....

This is a pelvis bone of either a cow or a horse.  Both the boys brought it for show and tell this week to school.

They tried to see how much of the skeleton they could piece together.

Last weekend Richard and the boys went out to the west desert to go help shear sheep.  They don't actually do the shearing- they have a bunch of leather-skinned New Zealanders do that part in a big shearing trailer.  They went to help, but didn't get the chance because the weather was so icky.  The had a fun time anyways riding four-wheelers, finding old bones, playing cards and ultimate frisbee.  Richard brought the boys back on Sunday morning and then he headed back out (it's about a 4 hour drive) to help for the next two days so they could get it all done.  For those of you who have never seen how the process happens, my next post will be a video essay of the shearing process.  Its really quite interesting.  I'll have to wait for Richard to help me with it though, because I know I will not explain it correctly!  

Kater-poosie just got tubesies!

Kate got tubes in both ears this morning. After taking her to the Dr. last week and finding both ears full of fluid and on the verge of infection, we decided tubes would need to be the next step. She was a good girl (especially for not having been able to nurse after 4 am) but was not very happy after the operation when they brought her back to me. The Dr. said that her ears were full of fluid and that she really needed the tubes. I felt good that we had made the right decision (to continue being a revenue stream for the healthcare profession-Richard) for our little girl. Hopefully this will make a big difference for her to not have so much pressure in her little head. And maybe she (and us) can start getting some better sleep! The past week has been terrible as far as sleep goes and I'm thinking it can only get better from here!

Gladiators ready!

I know these are "in" this season, but I personally think they would look terrible on me. However, I took Emma to Target today to pick out some summer sandals and she chose these. They look darling on her! I used to have a white pair when I was in like 8th grade! And has anyone else seen "hirachis" back in style this year? Ugly. Yeah, I had a pair of those in 7th grade, and so did my mom and I think my dad even had a brown pair. Doesn't it feel good to break out the flip-flops again and drastically cut down on the sock load of laundry! Holy cow, I am always amazed at the amount of socks our family wears in a week! Here's to sandals and warmer weather!

In the words of Daniel, "Let's exhibit some more!"

We had fun at the Bean Museum, even though we had to drive through a blizzard to get there!

Kate had a great view of everything from her carseat.

Just lay your head sideways. Sorry. Daniel and the enormous Kodiak!

Two beautiful striped creatures!

Daniel is trying to "howl", not blow.

Landon and what is it, a Jaguar.

The three bears!

This is what we woke up to on Thursday morning! Spring break, whatever! Our neighbors giant weeping willow was cracked in half by the weight of this very wet snow. Apparently we got the worst of the storm because other parts of Lehi had no snow! Crazy April showers!

The Copper Mines

Our kids have the whole week off for Spring break and it is snowing! We didn't really plan anything and we are feeling a little stir crazy. Today we are headed to the Bean Museum at BYU- its free and its indoors! Yesterday we went to IKEA so I could buy a high chair and so the kids could play in the play place, which they love. (Landon was about an inch taller than the maximum height but he still got in.) And, dang it, they were out of the high chairs that I wanted. Monday we went to the Copper Mine. The kids were really interested in all the exhibits and we watched a cool video and got to see this amazing hole! Its one of the only man made things that can actually be seen from space.

The kids looking at all sorts of rock and minerals through the microscopes.

This hole is 3/4 mile deep and almost 3 miles across!

This is a wheel from the giant trucks that haul rock and dirt from the hole. Can you believe the size - just imagine how big the trucks are! Each wheel costs $25,000 and only lasts about a year. Wow! We were glad we got to go see this amazing place!

Happy Easter

What a cutie pie!

The lovely soft boiled eggs (because I messed up) that we colored that no one would eat.

Landoni- who spent Easter afternoon with a fever and sleeping. He seems all better now!

Daniel- whose hand is still green from reaching into the cup full of dye instead of using the picker upper.

Emma- wearing a lovely ensemble of pink camoflauge and flowers. You should have seen her earlier with brown suede boots to complete the look. Yes, she wore it all day.

Kates cute shoes that she cannot keep on her feet for more than 5 seconds. See the little sheepy? People always give us cute sheep clothes for our babies.

Isn't she darling?!

Whistle While You Work

So today I was feeling like I might not have enough to do during the day. I mean, I love doing housework so much, sometimes I just wish I had more to do. You know, more laundry, more sweeping, more dishes- all of that. This sitting around watching TV and eating bon-bons is starting to wear on me. So it's just been one of those days and I was wondering how I was possibly going to fill up the rest of the day. But then I got a great idea. And it was fabulous, I mean, it was really just what the Dr. ordered. It provided me with so much more unnecessary work and took up so much more time than I really even had to spare! It's quite simple really, for any of you who may be trying to fill this same void. Just take a jumbo jar of pickles and drop it in your laundry room. Yep. I'm talking stinky, pickle juice everywhere- even under the dryer. Little tiny shards of glass all over the floor and carpet. Even pickle juice sprinkled over a clean basket of laundry that is now being rewashed! So I'm tellin' ya. You want more work? You want more laundry? You want more scrubbing, mopping and vaccuming? Then this nifty little trick might work for you too!