Spring is Here!

Love the spring trees in Provo. We got Kelly moved out and into her new apartment in Provo. She is Gratuated but hated to leave Provo, so she is staying and working and having fun for Spring and Summer. We will miss you Kelly. Love you!!!

Friends from the past!

We were really excited because after Kelly's Graduations, we were invited to go to Glen and Valerie Payne's daughter's reception on Saturday. It was held on University Ave. Beautiful building- the old Library in Provo. We haven't seen these good friends for almost 10 or more years. They have 5 kids all about the same ages of our children. Scott and Glen lived together with 10 other guys while attending BYU over 30 years ago. Glen and Val will celebrate their 30th Wedding Anniversary 2 weeks after our 30th Anniversary on May 12th. I think we look good for 30 plus years passing by. We hope to see them in May and go out to dinner with them. Glen had a serious accident a year ago, and so we were excited to see he was doing so well.

Graduation Day #2 April 24, Friday 2009

Kelly had another smaller group ceremony for her department in which she graduated from. She majored in English and minored in French. It was really cool to hear her name read. This was also in the big Marriott Center. Again the speakers were good and we were happy to be there too with her. She did have others there clapping when they called her name. Thanks friends of Kelly's for clapping for her. We were told to wait until the end and clapped for Kelly then. Because of that I only gave one small clap for Kelly when they called her name. Sort of silly I know. Kelly, it was great being with you this past weekend!!!

Graduation Day #1 April 23, Thursday 2009

Shelly and Kelly after the wonderful graduation. I think we both look pretty happy about the event that just took place. Elder Russell M. Nelson and Dieter F. Uchtdorf spoke at Thursday's large Graduation. I took notes...Elder Uchtdorf said to do 3 things: 1. Use Time Wisely 2. Continue to Learn 3. Always Seek the Spirit. I thought this was worth repeating, and good for all of us. They both were awesome speakers. Over 6,000 Graduates in the school. Below are two of Kelly's friends-Tara and Madison. They all met freshman year and lived close to each other in Helaman Halls. It truly is amazing how fast time has gone by. We are very proud of Kelly's accomplishments.

It was such a pretty day. The pink and white trees were blossoming all over the city of Provo.

Windy Day Wed. April 15th

Ryan drove home from Provo on Tuesday and came in Wednesday morning. I was happy to have him come down to the beach and play VB with my friends. We played 4 games. It was really cold and windy. We warmed up once we started playing. Each game I played with Ryan, I won. We played 3 on 3. Too fun. Happy to have Ryan and Rachel home for the summer. Kelly will be staying up in Provo till the end of August. She Graduates from BYU this Thursday. Excited for her!!! Congrats Kelly!!!

One more photo of Becca and I at Disneyland on her Birthday. Nathan loves this ride and was able to come a meet us there in the evening hours with Kevin and Amber.

Happy 15th Birthday Becca!!!

Rebecca got a year pass for Disneyland this birthday. Because of that I got to take her and enjoy the day with her at the happiest place on earth. It was really fun just the two of us. A little easier deciding which rides to go on. We went on a lot of rides, buy didn't do everything we wanted before our legs gave out. We were there for 11 hours. We got to meet Nathan, Amber and Kevin there for a couple of hours and go on Nathan's favorite ride Dumbo. Rebecca really wanted to meet some of the Princesses and so we did. Here are just a few below with Alladin included.

Kansas City, MO- Here We Come!

We have been gone for a time, Scott, Becca and I had a really fun trip to Kansas City, MO where the VB Nationals were. We went a couple days early and were able to see some church history sites, only 10 miles away, Liberty Jail, Independence, MO. Adam-Ondi-Ahman about 50 mins. away. We also got to see a real Steamboat Buried Treasure Called the Arbia Steamboat. It is a must see if you ever go to Kansas City, MO. We also found a little treasure called Baby Cakes.....wonderful cupcakes, we visited that shop twice. Lots of good times and food.

Also I have been trying to get caught up around the home....Becca's 15th Birthday-Disneyland, Easter, Matt's Birthday, Ryan and Rachel moving back in for the summer, need I say more. All good and fun things, not complaining here.

This is us at a Famous place to eat in Kansas City, MO. It was called Gates Bar-B-Q. The food was good. Not to healthy though. This is the whole UVU Men's Volleyball team coaches and some of the family members that came to cheer the boys on. They did really well in the Tournament. They tied for 9th place out of 48 teams. Really 100 teams. Only 48 teams are allowed to come and play in the tournament. Ryan did great blocking and hitting. The team and we were a bit disappointed because the team that won the whole tournament-Fresno State, we had creamed in Vegas 3 weeks ago at that tournament. The finals were sure a fun game to watch. Talk about hitting the ball hard. Ryan is the one blocking both those shots shown here. He is wearing Green and black, # 18.

Happy 75th Birthday Dad!

Hope your Birthday is wonderful just like you Dad. Looking forward to seeing you on Easter!!!

Looking good for 75 years old.

SPRING BREAK!

Nathan and Amber came by today on a beautiful spring day during spring break. This picture says it all. Special time together. Nathan had fun running around in our little backyard park. He played a little VB with Becca, shot a few hoops and kicked the soccer ball around a bit too. Just was so great to enjoy the spring air and sunshine.

Run Zorro Run

I love this photo of Nathan running after Zorro. Zorro knows he needs to keep moving or something might happen to him. Nathan's feet sometimes like to kick Zorro. Zorro loves to come around Nathan when he has food. Nathan does share too. So they have a love/hate relationship. You should hear Nathan say "Zorro" he says it so lovingly.

Nathan, Becca and I have all had little colds. No fun. We are hoping to feel better soon. We had a great day even though we were not feeling totally great. We hung out in the back yard. Nathan helped me plant some California poppy's, can't wait for them to come up. They are one of the happy flowers.

Nathan loves this fort/slide and can go up and down all by himself now and really feels happy about that! Can you see the simple joy on his face. I love listening to him and the happy sounds he makes. We weeded the shaded side of our house. A very small area. I asked Nathan to help me. He was gleeful and laughing while he was doing the pulling of grass/weeds(not by the roots). Such wonderful joy in children. I love to see the joy they have.

Amber and Nathan on the fort.

Nathan's bright Buzz P.J. top that he wore all day. It was a P.J. kind of day. No VB, it was still a great day.

Happy Birthday Mom!

We took Mom out to lunch yesterday, Kris, Nathan and I. We went to a place called Jacaranda. Not sure if that's how you spell it. Mom you look great! Have a wonderful day with Dad today. Love you!!!

Mom & Kris

Nathan was a little under the weather. Hope your feeling better today!

Fun Weekend in Vegas

We got to watch Ryan and his team UVU play in a pretty big tournament this past weekend. The did really well. They came in 5th place out of 40 or more teams. This will help them in their seating for the Nationals in a couple of weeks in Kansas City, MO.

Here is Ryan's team and coach Dave Richards. They only have 9 players on their team. Ryan is playing middle position.

Coach Dave Richards, Shaun, Kolby, Ryan, Tim, Brenton, Clay

Girl(not sure her name), Tyler, Mike and Andrew.

All great VB players! Very nice Young Men too.

Becca and I had fun at the Forum Shops near Caesars Palace. We went for a couple hours before Ryan's games started on Saturday. You know we had a blast. Here is Becca outside of a replica of Trevi Fountains in Italy.

Rebecca and Ryan got to pepper together before Ryan's 1st game.

Rock Star on St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone. Nathan got to visit his mom's 1st grade class today. It's a big day with checking to see if the kids caught any leprechauns in the traps they had set. The kids went wild and all wanted to high 5 Nathan. He was pretty darn happy to be there too!!! He was having fun exploring the room and checking out the book shelves. Wasn't too thrilled when it was time to leave. We won't be doing that any time soon.

Here is Nathan high fiving all his new friends.

Nathan Playing Volleyball at the Beach

Nathan needed some personal sand time to show case some of his volleyball skills.

Play date with Nathan, Claudia and Kathryn

Today was gorgeous down at the Redondo Beach Open Air Market. Kathryn and Claudia met Nathan and I at the Open Air Market. Lots of great finds. Oranges, flowers, feta cheese! Here are these two beautiful blondes with Nathan. Lots of fun just being out and visiting with these two good friends.

Nathan and I walked down to knob hill before Claudia and Kathryn came.We watched a few of my friends playing VB. It was hot and sunny and beautiful. Nathan made me walk down to the next free court so he could throw the VB up in the air, and over the net. (He is not able to do that himself yet). The ball goes up about 2 inches. Then he wanted me to do it. Here he is thinking about how he is going to throw the ball up and over the net.

Here I am with Nathan on our Knob Hill court. Just couldn't resist taking a photo of Nathan and I. He will only be under two years old for 3 more months. He's starting to say many more words now. Just started saying his own name, and pointing to himself. Too cute! He says it "Naa". It is so fun seeing him change right in front of my eyes. Here is Rita walking toward Nathan. I play VB with Rita on wednesdays. They were sharing an extra ball they had today with Nathan.

Backyard Photo Shoot

These were two really cute photos I got of Nathan today. Nathan is 21 months now. We just were hanging out in the backyard and I grabbed my good camera. It was really nice weather today with the cool breeze and the sun shining brightly. I love these spring days. Got a bit of weeding done. That has been a while since I've done that in our backyard. I'm looking forward to planting some Dahlia's Becca picked out along with some sweetpeas and a Humming Bird mix to attract Humming birds. I'm hoping that's a winner. Nathan conquered the fort ladder all by himself today for the 1st time. He loves going down that slide and sitting under the fort with Zorro.