Magic Carpet Ride

So, Natalie and I "met" in San Francisco on April 30, 2002. Not that we really met then-- we'd been teaching at the same school for two years at that point, but we hadn't talked more than a few times, and that was pretty formal stuff. I picked April 30th as our meeting date, because that was the day we look back and say, "It began there." It seemed like we noticed each other for the first time.

For those of you who don't know the story, eight teachers decided to go to the International Reading Conference in San Francisco. It's sort of like Spring Break for elementary school teachers. So, four men and four women from our school squished into two hotel rooms (by gender, of course) and the adventure began. Over our four days there, Natalie and I definitely noticed each other. (I found out her ACT score was the same as mine, and it was true love for me-- who knew what she was thinking!)

Anyway, this video was shot on April 29th, the day before we "began." Check it out:

Clear Creek

Mark took our old camera and had a great time taking pics!

Mark went to Clear Creek on April 22-23. He had a great time with all of his friends. They rode the bus for a long time and then they packed into the cabins. Mark slept in the room in the back, which is supposed to be for the chaperones, but they didn't care. The first day they made a flag, a group name, and a chant. Later, they had to make a skit, which was "Where's My Porridge." Then they went out to the ropes course.

Here is the flag that Mark's group created. 

It was a beautiful place. 

The ropes course was one of Mark's favorite parts, and he was sad that they only got to spend 30 minutes on it. After the ropes course, they headed back to make the skit. After making the skit they ate lunch, and then they played Everybody's It tag in the big grass area. After this break they went on their hike, which was an out and back up the mountain. Following the hike they had another break in which they played baseball with a stick and a tied up handkerchief. Then they had dinner.

This is the ropes course that the kids went on.

Mark is all ready for the skit! 

Mark's group had fun together. 

After dinner they shared their skits and sang silly songs. Then they went outside for PE games. These games included Capture the Flag, and No Bears are Out Tonight. They headed back inside and spent some time in the blowup dome with stars inside. After crawling out, they all filed into the big room for a movie night, and the movie went until about 10:30. Then they all went back to the cabins, wondering if the Jazz had beat the Thunder.

Mark had fun sleeping in the back room. 

Nolan, TJ, Mark, Gavin, and Mason

In the morning they had breakfast, and started dissecting owl pellets. This was actually pretty interesting, because Mark found two intact skulls. After that, they went back to pack up and clean the cabins. Then they loaded all their stuff into the trucks and took a whole group picture before getting on the bus and waving at the other classes coming. Finally, they started the long ride back to the school, where Mom picked up Mark early. In all, Mark had a great time and really enjoyed his experience at Clear Creek.

There was still snow around Clear Creek at the end of April when Mark visited. 

Here is the whole gang of kids who went to Clear Creek--two 5th grade classes. 

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is always a special day. The boys work so hard to treat Mom like a princess. Her Mother's Day week kicked off with a special Mother's Day program at preschool. This is Mom's favorite day of the whole year. Seth gets all dressed up and takes care of mom. He pulls out her chair, and serves her food. It's so fun! Seth drew an awesome picture of Mom, and we took some fun pictures. The kids also sang some really cute songs for their moms, too. It was a fun preschool day.

Seth served Mom some delicious food. That bag contains a cute keychain Seth made. 

We took some fun pictures together. 

Seth really wanted me to have the lips, and him to have the mustache.  

Seth is a great artist. That picture looks like me!

Dad spoiled Mom and bought her a new cell phone for Mother's Day. It is the newest iPhone and she loves it. It takes the best pictures, has way more memory than her last phone, and she keeps finding new things it can do. The boys made the cutest gifts. Mom loved the cute books they wrote about her, and they were all so sweet and gave her baseball cards of her favorite players. Mark even found a Will Clark/Kevin Mitchell card. Those were her favorite players when she was little. They were so thoughtful.

Mom's first picture on her new phone. 

Mark made a book all about Mom, and painted some tulips for her!

Seth had already given me his preschool present, but he drew me another picture and gave me a Red Sox card.

Dax wrote the cutest book. 

On Mother's Day, Dad didn't have Sunday morning meetings, so he made Mom some delicious pumpkin French toast. It was really delicious! Seth even liked it and he usually doesn't like pumpkin things. Dax did not like it! We played games, and hung out. Church was nice, too. It was the last time that all the boys will sing to Mom at church since Mark is turning 12 this summer. They did an awesome job!

The pumpkin french toast was heavenly!

Mom sure loves these boys. (That iPhone takes nice pics, right?)

Dad barbecued for dinner, and Mom made her own Texas Sheet Cake for dessert. She really wanted something chocolate. Mom sure loves her boys and she felt very special and was treated super well on Mother's Day!

Mom and Mark Adventure in St. George

Mark is playing on a super league baseball team this year. They were playing in a tournament in St. George the same weekend as Seth's music recital. So Mom and Mark traveled to St. George while Dad stayed home with Dax and Seth.

Mark and Mom left around lunchtime on Friday, and arrived at the baseball field right on time. Mark played 2nd base in the first game and did an awesome job. Then in the last inning they had him play center field because a lot of these kids were hitting it to the outfield. He had lots of great plays, but one was really awesome. He caught a fly ball, and then threw it to first to get the runner who had strayed too far from first base. Double Play! He ended up playing a lot more outfield that weekend. They lost the first game and won the 2nd. Mark stroked two doubles in the 2nd game. Both balls bounced right in front of the fence. He had a great baseball day and even earned a game ball! We went back to the hotel and Mom let him watch the end of the Jazz game, which they lost big time. Then we went to bed around 11:00 pm.

Can you see the Road Runner in the background?

I sneaked around and caught a great picture of the roadrunner. We saw him both nights. 

Mark played really well the first day. 

We also saw Great Blue Herons flying overhead. 

The next morning we slept in. It was about 8:00 when we got out of bed. We showered and had a happy McDonald's breakfast. Mark's first game wasn't until 3:00, so we had the morning to adventure. Unfortunately, the IronMan Triathalon was being run in St. George, so lots of roads were closed. Everything that we wanted to do was blocked by the run. We finally settled on a Nature Park where we had fun seeing fish and birds. Then we tried a little hike that started in the nature park and headed up toward Pioneer Park. That is where Mark wanted to go, so we crossed the IronMan race and enjoyed Pioneer Park, too.

Mark loves exploring places like this. 

We saw a mockingbird who sang to us for quite awhile. 

There were lizards everywhere.

Mark was excited to hike with Mom.

Pioneer Park was a lot of fun. Mark really wanted to see a turtle, but it didn't happen. We saw lots of cool lizards and birds, but the best part was squeezing through the Crack. This was by far the skinniest little slot that Mom has ever squeezed through. There was one part where she wasn't sure she could make it. Mark kept encouraging her and was patient for 5 minutes while Mom decided if she could continue on. She did, and she was proud of herself for making it. Mark can't wait to take Seth and Dax. He said Pioneer Park was the best.

A picture from our breakfast at McDonalds!

Mark wanted to see a tortoise, but it was the heat of the day so there was no way. 

This squirrel was chowing down. 

The views were pretty from Pioneer Park. 

There were little caves and arches everywhere.

I have quite a few jumping pictures!

This was a new bird for us. A Black Throated Sparrow! It has a beautiful song. 

The Crack is really just a crack. I barely fit. 

Mark thought it was the coolest place. 

I only freaked out for about 5 minutes. 

Mark could straddle the crack once we climbed out. 

We saw this beautiful hummingbird, too. 

After our adventure, we ate at Roy's Pizza (of course) and then headed back to the baseball field. Mark's team lost both games. Mark played well in the field, and didn't hit quite as well as the night before, but he did okay. The game ended a little after 7:00. After a team meeting, and a quick stop at Wendy's for dinner, Mom and Mark and Alema (we took one of Mark's teammates home) started home for Lehi. We arrived around 11:30 pm and went to bed. It was a long, but fun weekend.

Roy's is our happy place!

Mom loves watching Mark play. He is a star!

Tulip Festival

Tulip Festival Adventure 2018

Every year we visit the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. It is Mom's favorite thing to do, so she drags the boys along. This year our lives were very crazy, and we almost didn't have time, but Mom wasn't going to miss it. We had to go without Dad, and the owl wasn't nesting this year, but we still had a lot of fun despite the fact that Mom didn't bring water or snacks, so everyone was dying by the end. In our memories it is going to look fun! Ha ha!

Dax claimed this flower as his favorite. 

Seth really liked this one! 

The theme this year was around Holland, so there were little wooden shoes hidden in the tulips. And these huge ones!

Mom's favorite spot for a picture is by the little creek.

This is why the boys like to come. They like feeding the fish. 

We like walking underneath the umbrellas. They were in a new spot this year!

There were lots of fun games set up since it was a weekend. 

Bounce houses and slides, too!

Mom even got a picture by the tulips. 

We always enjoy the Secret Garden, even when it's not very secret. 

The other reason they love coming to the Tulip Festival is rolling down hills.

No owl and owlets, but there was a goose with some goslings! 

This is where they were nesting. I hope those goslings are okay!