Memorial Day

We hosted a little BBQ for the holiday and enjoyed lovely weather, terrific food (leave it to Mara to wow the taste buds!), and time to relax with family and friends.  Pictures of our afternoon: 

 

Ezra having a turn on the much-coveted bike (our only cousin squabble was over sharing the bike)

Troy and Teancum

Warren and Quinn

The perpetually smiley Gabriel

Tanya and Warren

Kick dirt, throw dirt, eat dirt...you know, the usual!

Teancum

Dallin and Troy and backyard soccer

Mara and Gabriel (notice the evidence of dirt eating!)

Dallin and Alissa

Preserving History

For Mother's Day I requested a do-it-yourself family picture shoot.  We have not taken many family portraits, and it seemed a good time to preserve our history.  We took our camera and an old tripod and made our way to the nearby park.

Ezra is a toddler--and a busy one at that--and was much more interested in going down the slide then sitting still for pictures.  But, my goal was to preserve our history, and a stage of life, and the reality is--he is constantly on the go, and happiest at play.  So, for what they are worth, we caught pictures of an active Ezra in true form.

We did get a few couple pictures, and managed ONE family picture.  Considering that our picture-taking involved setting up a camera, initiating a timer, running into place, wrangling a toddler to (at least) look at the camera, and perhaps even smile, ONE good family picture is quite a triumph.

 

 

        

Current Doings

Last Tuesday I had a chance to teach a Relief Society class on a gardening topic of my choice.  I put together a 45-minute Power Point presentation on the topic "Four Seasons in a Colorado Garden".  (Yes, I get excited about plants!!)  We discussed each season's best 15 or so Colorado plants (or at least my personal picks), with some design ideas and maintenance tips thrown in for good measure.  About fourteen people attended and most of my students were busily note-taking and asking questions through the entire thing.  A success!  Teaching said classes always gets me really itchy for my own bit of earth, but all in good time.

Speaking of bits of earth, I do have a yard-on-loan currently, and it is getting to be the time when I can plant again.  (May 15 is the potential last frost day here...statistically speaking).  Several weeks ago, I cleared out the weeds and pruned back some winter-kill parts on the perennials and herbs.  With any luck, in the next few weeks, the front yard here will be getting a small make-over.  More updates on that to come!

For the last week or more, my little occupant has been practicing her kick-boxing skills--at 3 a.m.  I tend to be a deep sleeper, but sleep goes out the window when I being pummeled from the inside! 

My sweetheart and I enjoyed a wonderful treat this past weekend.  We coordinated with a cute one-baby couple in our ward for a temple-trip babysitting swap.  They were were kind enough to let us go first, and we enjoyed going to a session together.  Our usual procedure is to take a family temple trip and swap Ezra-watching in the annex, which has worked very well, but it is so nice to be together in the temple.  (As an aside, our frequent family temple trips have taught Ezra to love the temple grounds.  He has become very familiar with "Moni" (the angel Moroni) who lives at the temple).

We are in a holding pattern in regards to our home search.  Patience is the name of this game.  The house we found is a perfect little starter home in a wonderful area, and it has everything that at this stage of life is really important for us: three bedrooms together, a family room (for toys) separate from a living room (for guests), a little yard for my green thumb activities, and storage space.  And, as an added bonus, it is cute!  The house is in short sale, and for better or for worse, it is in that awkward state known as "pending".  Our prayers have been very open-ended in regards to our ultimate landing spot; we pray that we will be where we are needed, and in the right place at the right time, and that things will be according to the will of Heavenly Father.  Time and experience has shown over and over to me that things work best when I am submissive and malleable to my Heavenly Father's wisdom and understanding.  We are trying to strike the balance between being anxiously engaged in the process while not counseling an all-knowing God.