Random Photo Dump

I realized I haven't downloaded pictures off my phone for a long time.  So, here's my "life in pictures" post from the last three months.  Yep, your read that right--three months.

LAISSEZ LE BON TEMPS ROULET

I'm taking you all the way back to mid-February--Mardi Gras to be exact.  Some of the gals in my neighborhood decided to throw together an impromptu party...

We realized that there were several of us that were either from Louisiana or who had lived there before, so we couldn't let Mardi Gras go by without a celebration.  We had gumbo, king cake & of course beads.  It was just like being on Bourbon Street...well, except without the booze & hookers...but close enough!

GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN

Can I just say how much I love these little gals...

Ella is Vivvie's only girl cousin, so we have to get together every once in awhile so they can get their estrogen on.  And, look, they even dressed alike for the occasion...no planning necessary.

"I'VE GOT TO GO LOOKING LIKE A QUEEN"

Speaking of Viv & fashion, I had to show you this picture where she looks like she's straight out of "Gone with the Wind."  Which I guess is appropriate, since she was named after Vivien Leigh, the lead actress in the movie...

We just added an extra N & E to the end of her name because I thought it looked prettier that way, but it's still gone-with-the-wind-inspired nonetheless.  Ahhhh, "Gone with the Wind."  Three hours & 52 minutes of pure bliss!

THE PROBLEM WITH BEING MORMON IN UTAH

See these houses across the street from me...

They're not in my ward anymore.  Sad, but true.  They took 11 families, including ours, and put us in another ward.  It's not a completely new ward for us.  We were part of this ward when we first moved into the neighborhood.  Then, about a year later, they split us off.  But now, we're back again.  Ahhh, life in Utah.

MY BESTIES

I love these girls...

I live in the best neighborhood in the entire world.  I love all the girls I live around.  They are always there to help, listen, lend a Diet Coke or (as pictured above) go out to lunch.  Sorry about the light coming through the window...or maybe it's just our angelic halos???

"DADDY'S GOING TO KILL RALPHIE"

Vivvie's favorite place to hang out lately is in the kitchen cupboards...

She loves it in there.  Sometimes she'll play peek-a-boo with me while she's in there, but most the time she just likes to hang out.  But, with three wild & crazy brothers, can you blame her?  It reminds me of the little boy from "A Christmas Story."

A LITTLE SPRING IN WINTERTIME

Nothing like fresh tulips to help you forget that it's 20 degrees & snowing outside...

You just have to keep the shutters closed & cancel everything on your calendar so you don't have to go outside & face reality.

2ND AMENDMENT RIGHTS

We're big 2nd Amendment rights folks around these parts, as you can see...

Yep, just clinging to our guns & religion over here...

Ummmm, remind me never to get on his bad side...

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Mike & I finally went out for our anniversary date...oh, about 3 months late.  We started off with a trip to the spa where we received sparkling cider & chocolate dipped strawberries...

Then we got an hour long couples massage.  That's where I discovered I'm not a fan of massages.  Who knew, right?  I think it's because I already have my own personal masseuse (Mike) & get massages almost everyday.  *He* is way better at it than the girl who did mine...and he's *free.*

After our massages, it was on to an old favorite, P.F. Chang's, for what I like to call "heaven in a wrap..."

A LITTLE PIECE OF AMERICANA

I snapped this picture of my boys sitting at the ice cream counter at Thanksgiving Point...

Doesn't it look like a Norman Rockwell picture?  Love it!

NOTHING LIKE SNOW ON THE FIRST FULL DAY OF SPRING

I love waking up to windows plastered with snow, especially on March 21st (please note the sarcasm...)

'Nuff said.

A PRINCESS IN PIGTAILS

One of our neighbors gave us a bunch of princess dress-ups that her girls have outgrown.  Viv is in love...

I think this picture is the epitome of pure joy...

MAYBE SPRING REALLY IS COMING

Found this little bud on one of our trees just a few days after the big snowstorm pictured above...

It gave me hope.  That's what so great about spring--hope.

WHEN THE CAT'S AWAY...

I get the privilege of working with these lovely ladies each weekend, Amy Nay & Christine McCarthy.  One week a few weeks ago, our other co-anchor, Brian Mullahy, was out of town, so we nicknamed our show "The BROADcast."  Yes, it's sexist.  And, no, I don't care...

SLEEPING BEAUTY

Viv fell asleep like this one afternoon a few weeks ago while watching "Beauty & the Beast..."

By the way, she is obsessed with that movie!  Oh, and she dressed herself this day.  And, I'm pretty sure it was snowing, but she insisted on wearing shorts.  Hence why we were inside watching "Beauty & the Beast."

So, there's some random pieces of my life that were captured by my phone.  Love little moments like this!  --Lindsay

How Did We Give Birth to a Couple of Runners?

I am not a runner.  In fact, I hate running.  I have had asthma since I was six-years-old & every time I have run since that point, my asthma flairs up & I have an attack.  So, you can imagine how much I run.  Ummm...never.  Mike hasn't ever done a ton of running either.  Well, he played soccer in high school & he was a pole vaulter as well--both of which require quite a bit of running.  But, he's never done a ton of running just for the sake of running.  Because of this, our kids have never done much running--other than the normal running that kids do when they're playing with their friends.

So, when my kids came home with a note about a school 5K, I was a little shocked to see how excited they both were to be a part of it.  My kids had probably never even run one mile before.  How in the world were they going to run 3.1 miles?!?  But, regardless, I paid the fee for both of them to enter.  I figured it was a fundraiser for the school, so it didn't really matter if they finished it or not.

As the 5K got ever closer, I encouraged my kids to start training a little bit for it.  They resisted. I tired to explain to them how long 3.1 miles really was & that if they didn't train for it, they probably wouldn't be able to finish.  They continued to resist...and to tell me that they would be able to do the race with no problems.  Yeah, uh huh, we'll see about that.  I had visions of them passed out on the side of the road at mile marker 0.4 mumbling that they couldn't go any further.

The day of the big race came!  The boys were excited & ready to run!!  Here's Aiden with his friend, Asher, at the starting line.  I love the race shirts that the school had made for all of them!  They even had racing numbers as well.  So stinkin' cute...

The 1st Graders were the second group to start.  They took off at 12:50.  Aiden was on his way!

The 4th Graders left at 1:10.  Here's Connor with his friend, Dylan, ready to start running...

And, with the go ahead of the principal, they were off...

While they were running, Cohen & Viv had fun playing on the playsets...

Before we knew it, in what seemed like no time, Connor was already back!  Here he is about to cross the finish line.  Look how red his face is.  This kid worked his tail off...

He crossed at 1:36!  Only 26 minutes after he left!!!  The kid ran 3.1 miles in 26 minutes!!!!!!!  That's less than 9 minutes per mile.  He & Dylan ran together the entire way & never stopped once to walk.  They were the first kids from their class to finish!  Way to go boys...

Then, shortly after Connor arrived, Aiden crossed the finish line at 1:39.  That's 49 minutes after he left.  Pretty impressive for a 1st Grader!  He did a mixture of running & walking.  Here he is at the end of the finish line.  He really needed to go to the bathroom, if you can't tell by the picture.  Hehe...

Seriously, how did Mike & I give birth to these kiddos?  They are apparently both great runners!  Connor was really excited about how well he did & has said several times since the race, "Maybe running is a talent of mine."  Ummmm...you think?  You just ran a 5K in 26 minutes, dude!

Here are my two little runners after the race.  I couldn't decide which picture I liked best, so you get both...

Love these boys & I'm so proud of them for trying something hard like this!  My kids have now officially done something I've never done before.  Maybe I'll have to step up my game & join them in the 2nd Annual Running of the Tigers next year...maybe.  --Lindsay

Our Daytrip To Moab

Yep, you read that right!  We went to Moab for *one* day.  We left super early in the morning & came home super late at night.  The kids were on Spring Break last week & we wanted to do something fun.  Unfortunately, our schedules wouldn't permit a vacation of any sort, but we had one day (Wednesday) totally open.  We decided Mike would take the day off of work & we would do something fun as a family.  

Then Connor came home from school with the dreaded 4th Grade County Fair Project.  Anyone who has been a 4th Grader in the Utah School System since the beginning of time knows what I'm talking about.  You are assigned a county in the state of Utah & you have to do research & projects about that county.  When I was a 4th Grader, I was assigned Cache County.  I remember writing their Department of Tourism or some county entity to get information about the county for my report & projects.  Well, you obviously don't have to do that anymore--thanks to the internet.  So, apparently, they've decided they have to make this project harder in other ways--by turning it into a huge (HUGE) production.  Each student has to do 3 projects about their county--and we're not talking small projects either.  Each of them will take multiple hours to complete, and require massive amounts of parent involvement.  Okay, let's be honest, the parents just do the projects.  It's basically parent homework.  Good times!

Connor was assigned Grand County--home of Moab and Arches & Canyonlands National Parks.  Nice county to be assigned, right?  Way better than Juab or Millard Counties.  Sorry if any of you folks live there--they just seem like barren wastelands of nothingness.  Anyway, one of the projects the kids could do was an advertisement or commercial for the county.  So, we chose to use our one open day of Spring Break to take a mini-vacay down there & film a commercial--specifically focusing on the recreation you can do in Grand County.  We went to multiple locations & took video of Connor doing various fun things.  The commercial starts out with Connor standing by a Grand County sign while he says, "Looking for somewhere fun to take the family this summer?  Why not Grand County?"  Then it goes into the various shots of him having fun, like riding his mountain bike on one of the trails while saying, "You can ride our trails" and him standing by jeeps as they 4-wheel while he says, "You can go off-roading on our slickrock."  And so on & so forth with multiple different activities.  I'll have to post the final copy once it's all edited.  I think it's going to be really cute--super cheesy--but still really cute.

One of the things we wanted to highlight about Grand County is the hike to the world famous Delicate Arch. You can't go to Moab & not see Delicate Arch!  It is amazing!  So, we made the long hike to see it.  And, I was so impressed with my kiddos!  They did the entire hike (all 3+ miles) all by themselves.  I knew Connor & Aiden could do it, but I didn't know if Cohen could make it without being carried at some point.  But, he surprised us all & walked the entire way!  Here's the kiddos at the beginning of the hike...

Then Mike & Viv jumped in the picture as well...

Right at the beginning of the hike, you cross a little stream.  Much to our surprise, we noticed these huge frogs down in the water.  The frog is kind of hard to pick out because he camouflages with all the reeds, but can you see the big thing?  Who knew there were frogs in the middle of the desert?

The boys & I hiking away...

And Mike & Viv bringing up the rear...

Vivvie rode in style while on the hike, as you can see.  Our neighbors lent us their really cool & fancy backpack baby carrier.  Viv loved it!

More hiking.  This is right at the steepest part of the hike.  It looks like we're hiking on Mars, doesn't it?  I love the desert...

And then--we finally made it.  It is such an amazing site!  Pictures don't do it justice...

Here's our attempt at a family self portrait...

We even talked a German tourist into taking a picture of us.  Apparently, the kids were no longer in a picture taking mood...

Then we filmed Connor's little tidbit for his advertisement.  It was pretty cute.  Mike started on a tight shot of Connor while he said, "You can go on a hike..." then Mike zoomed out to reveal the arch right as Connor said, "...that ends with a view like this!"

After getting all that business out of the way, Mike took Connor & Vivvie underneath the arch.  (Aiden & Cohen didn't want to go because they were scared they would fall, so I stayed back with them.)  Here's Connor & Viv sitting at the base of the arch...

And here they are standing right underneath it with Mike.  That gives you a better perspective of how huge this thing really is...

Once Aiden & Cohen could see that Mike, Connor & Vivvie weren't going to die, they decided they wanted to go under the arch as well.  So, when Mike & the other kids got back, we switched and Mike took Aiden & Cohen over as well.  Here they are at the base...

And underneath...

After our long hike to Delicate Arch, we were tired, but we couldn't leave Arches National Park without going to our favorite arch, Sand Dune Arch.  I didn't get any pictures at the arch, but I did get pictures of the boys on top of the huge rock that is right at the beginning of the trail to Sand Dune Arch.  The boys have to climb on this rock every time we come here...

After that, we stopped at Balanced Rock on the way out of the park...

You can't go to Arches & not get a picture of you balancing Balanced Rock...or at least attempting to get such a picture.  Haha...

At this point, it was dinner time, so we drove into town & ate at one of our favorite restaurants in Moab, Pasta Jay's.  So yummy!  It's right across the street from the local quilt shop "It's Sew Moab" (brilliant name, eh?), so the boys insisted on getting a picture by the sign for Nana, since she always wants to come here when we're in town.  Aiden said, "Nana will be so jealous that we went to her favorite store without her."  Haha...

So that was our quick little daytrip to Moab!  It was short, but tons of fun--and we were able to kill two birds with one stone by doing one of Connor's projects while we were there.  I don't know if I've ever taken a trip for a school project before.  I'm pretty sure that's a first for us.  He better get an A, that's all I have to say!  --Lindsay

Easter Weekend

We had a great Easter weekend! It started out on Friday night with our 2nd Annual Roasting of the Peeps! Last year, it was a pretty small party.  We only had a few of the kids' friends over for it.  But, this year, it became a much bigger celebration as several of our neighbor families came to join in the fun...

So, you may be wondering what "The Roasting of the Peeps" is all about.  Well, it's exactly what it sounds like.  We roast up those cute little sugar-coated marshmallow bunnies & chicks...

Yes, it's a little morbid to roast something that has eyes starting back at you--especially when it's a little bunny or chick, but have you ever tried a roasted peep?  Delicious!  So delicious in fact that it's pretty easy to get over atrocity of firing up a helpless little pastel-colored marshmallow animal.  In all honesty, I'm not much of a peep person.  But, when they're roasted, the sugar-coating caramelizes & gets crunchy, while the insides get soft & gooey like a normal roasted marshmallow.  It's quite the divine little treat!  Everyone's a fan, including Miss Viv...

After all our children were on a serious sugar high & they ran off to play night games, the adults sat around the fire & chatted.  We even heard a few songs on the ukulele from the talented Cajilig family!  It was a fun night.  Our peep-roasting party is quickly becoming a springtime tradition.  Can't wait for the 3rd Annual Roasting of the Peeps next year, which I'm sure will be bigger & better too!

On Saturday, we went to our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt.  Our HOA puts this egg hunt on every year at Easter & the kids love it.  Unfortunately, Aiden started throwing up & Viv came down with a random fever that had no symptoms, so just Connor & Cohen went to the egg hunt this year.  They were given strict instructions from the sickies to collect enough eggs that they could share when they got home...

The big kids & little kids were separated from each other & had their own hunts, so I left Connor with the big kids & took Cohen over to the 5 & under area.  Here he is ready to find some eggs...

Once they yelled "GO," the kiddos were off.  It was quite the mad house!  I only got one picture of Cohen before I lost track of him...

 

When I finally caught up to him, I was surprised at how many eggs he had snatched.  He found plenty of goodies to take home & share with Vivvie...

 

Then we found Connor who had done the same!  There were way more than enough eggs in that bag for both he & Aiden.  Would you say I have a plethora of Easter eggs?

Then we ate some cookies & headed home to share the loot with the under-the-weather-kiddos.

Luckily, by Easter morning, everyone was feeling like themselves again!  Thank goodness!!!  When the kids woke up, they found a note from the Easter Bunny saying that he would come to our house while we were at church since we go at 8:30 am.  When we got home, we found that the Easter Bunny had in fact made a visit to our house.  The kids found presents in their Easter baskets.  Connor got a new scooter (his was either lost or stolen a few days ago); Vivvie got a princess tiara, earrings & high heels; Cohen got a Ninja Turtle; & Aiden got some Skylanders Legos...

Everyone was thrilled about their gifts--except Connor who thought it was dumb that his Easter present was something he already had two days earlier.  He said that if the Easter Bunny really knew him, he would know that Connor wanted something besides a scooter.  I told him that maybe the Easter Bunny knew how disappointed he would be once Spring Break was over & he was the only one in his walking group that didn't have a scooter to ride.  Connor didn't believe me.  But, I'm pretty sure he'll change his tune one week from now.

Viv, on the other hand, was obsessed with her present.  She didn't take the tiara and earrings off for hours...

After admiring--or loathing--their presents, it was time to head outside for the egg hunt.  The weather was so beautiful yesterday that the Easter Bunny was able to hide everything outside.  I love outdoor egg hunts!  They are so much better than indoor ones.  The kiddos had a blast running around the backyard finding all their goodies...

Once all the eggs had been collected, we were able to talk the kids into taking a few pictures in their Easter clothes.  Actually, I pretty much slacked this year in the Easter clothes department.  I had already bought Viv's dress the year before for a really good deal & then I never got around to buying my boys clothes, so they wore Easter clothes (or ties, in Connor's case) from previous years.  And, guess what?  They didn't care one bit!  Who knew you could not buy new Easter clothes every year & the world would still go on?!?  Love my super cute kiddies...

Vivvie got bored of pictures pretty quickly, but we happened to get this really cute picture of the boys after she walked off, so I thought I'd throw it in because, hey, this world needs more pictures of good lookin' men...

That evening, everyone headed down to my parents' house for Easter dinner.  I even got to go down there for a few minutes in between shows.  After dinner, everyone went over to the park for a few minutes to enjoy the nice spring weather.  As the kids were playing on the playground equipment, Viv kept stepping on her dress, so Poppy improvised by tying a big knot in the back of it.  It looked so funny, I had to take a picture of it...

After the park, it was back to Nana & Poppy's house for strawberry shortcake & visiting.

It was such a fun weekend!  We got to hang out with great people, eat yummy food & indulge in lots of chocolate eggs--plus the weather was perfect!  Does it get any better than that?  I love Easter!  It is one of my favorite holidays.  It's a wonderful time to remember the life of our Savior, His resurrection & His ultimate sacrifice for each of us.  I hope you had a great Easter as well!  --Lindsay