She aint heavy, she's my sister

The girls and I went to the Zoo again yesterday, we got a membership because it's a great Zoo and good exercise. We were really blessed that it stopped raining just as we pulled up to the Zoo so hardly anyone was there and the weather was gorgeous. After walking around for a couple hours the kids started to get tired and BethAnne started to complain that her foot hurt (her doctor thinks it just a minor flat foot kind of issue, we're probably going to get some inserts for her shoes). BethAnne's too big for me to carry and she didn't seem to be hurting too much so I said we just had to be brave and keep walking and we would get to the car soon. A few minutes (and a few complaints) later, I turned around and saw that the girls were a little ways back and Grace had her arms tight around BethAnne, it looked like she was giving her a big bear hug. At first I was concerned because Grace can be a little aggressive physically, even with positive expressions of affection. But BethAnne was smiling big and saying "Grace you can't carry me, I'm too big. Grace it won't work." Grace tried and tried for a minute or so. She wanted to carry her big sister so her foot wouldn't hurt anymore. I was so touched and also amused because of the impossibility of the feat she was determined to perform. It's times like this that make it all worthwhile.

Love,
Aubrey

Soccer!

Eva started soccer a couple weeks ago and absolutely loves it. During her games, she has a smile on her face literally the entire time she is out on the field. It is so fun to watch! Most nights, as soon as dinner is over, Eva pulls on her shin guards and cleats and she and Jeff (and Aiden tags along too!) run outside to practice.

P.S. As you can see in the background, Jeff finished building the shed last summer, but it still needs to be painted (so far it only has primer on it).

Bear and Eagles at the Zoo

Enjoy! It's much cooler in person, but I wanted to share anyway!

P.S. Their bald eagles are ones that have been hurt that they rehabilitate and release back into the wild.

More from the Zoo

Here is a picture of one of the bears we saw today. Being there so close to it was amazing, it's hard to show that in pictures. We will post some cool videos of some of the animals later.

 

Here are Mark, BethAnne and Grace in front of the Elk habitat.

 

They also have a fun indoor play place at the Zoo with a neat nature themed playground, a pretend animal hospital, and other fun things to do. We had so much fun!

 

 

Everything else is going well here. We love and miss you all!

Love,
Aubrey

The Zoo!

Dear Family,

We had a lot of fun at the Zoo today! I really love the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Today we got to see some of the animals we didn't see last time. We especially loved the bears and the bald eagles.

Here is Joy this morning, so cute!

 

Here's a Peacock the roams the zoo freely, I saw it last time with its feathers all out.

 

Here's Grace on the Carousel, possibly the kids favorite part of the Zoo.

 

Here is a picture of some of the bear habitat. One thing I love about this Zoo is that they give the animals such big and beautiful spaces to live in. It feels almost more like a nature preserve than a Zoo. More to follow...

 

I only have a few minutes to type, but here's a few cute pics from our fabulous weekend in Boise. I really wish I would have gotten a picture of my 4 boys chilling in the Ann Taylor dressing room for well over an hour while Chrissy and I tried on a bunch of cute clothes. Here we are at the zoo. Chrissy and dad made it extra special.

And here's Jugle Gym Jon. Thanks for the great weekend Mom, Dad, Chrissy and Jon! I can't wait to see your house in a few months, and I'm even more excited to see Suzie and Aubrey and their families. We will have a great time!

It's Spring (Part 2)

And speaking of Aiden, he is a big boy now - he is potty trained! We had spring break a couple weeks ago, and decided that was the time to make a concentrated effort, and just get it done. And we did! Mommy is so relieved.

Aiden loves joyschool and playing with all his friends. Here is a picture of all the kids at my house.

Aiden knows all his letters, but writing them is still pretty hard for him since his fine motor skills aren't quitethere yet. He's good at drawing straight lines though and has gone through sheets and sheets of paper covered with his drawings of big "H," little "l," and little "i."

And Xander is still darling and sweet as can be. He is super friendly and grins at anyone who looks his way. He has recently started "speed rolling" to wherever he wants to be, so it's time for us to start thinking about baby-proofing the stairs.

Jeff is working as hard as ever, and the warm weather has inspired him to start tackling our numerous household projects again. He has recently been working on remodeling the basement bathroom that we totally gutted a couple years ago and then just sort of left. It's turning out beautifully; I'll post pictures of it when he's done.

Here's a picture of me in case you've all forgotten what I look like (I'm usually the one behind the camera). I'm getting excited about planting the garden. I'll be even more excited once I get all the dirt in the garden beds turned over. We have tons of clay in the soil out here, and right now it's hard as rock - serious exercise to get it all ready for planting. I went to a community education class a few weeks ago about spring gardening and got some good ideas. Other than that, I'm just busy and happy being a mom. We're super excited to see you all in July!

It's Spring! (Part One)

Well, I guess I blew my resolution to write every month, but I'm back on the wagon again and vowing to do better. Springtime has come to our neck of the woods, and I love it! Everything is green and warm, the flowering trees are beautiful, and the kids can play outside. Aiden likes to play outside more than Eva, although she likes it a lot too, especially if mom or friends come outside with her. I've had the following conversation with her a few times:

Eva: Mom, can I watch t.v.?

Me: No.

Eva: Why?

Me: Why?

Eva (in a half-grumble): Because it's a beautiful day outside.

Eva still loves kindergarten. Her class spends a lot of the school day doing "centers," which are just various activities in different parts of the room, i.e. computer, housekeeping (pretend kitchen), building blocks, art, etc. Eva spends most of her time at the art center and makes all kinds of amazing pictures and masks and crowns that she designs herself. They also have a book-making station, and she's brought home some great books that she has written and illustrated all by herself. She is so creative! A few weeks ago, she woke up before me and made the sweetest card that she gave me after I got up. Here it is:

Last month was Eva's birthday, and she turned the ripe old age of six. We had a big birthday party (Eva loves, loves, loves parties!) with nine other kids at our house. It was chaos, but happy chaos I think.

Eva got a music player from one of her friends, and Aiden immediately claimed it as his own. Luckily, Eva is a really good sharer.

To be continued....

Vancouver Temple Open House

 

 

 

 

Yesterday we went to the Open House of the new Temple in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. It is a beautiful temple, especially inside. It was a really neat experience and it was wonderful to show the kids what it's like inside the temple. We were there for about an hour and a half, and it took us about 7 1/2 hours travel time (including multiple stops) but it was well worth it. There were so many volunteers helping with the Open House, I was so impressed with their friendliness and willingness to serve. There was such a wonderful feeling there.

In other news, things are at a cross-roads at Mark's work because they are re-organizing to get ready to start work on a new version of Office. So we are looking at different opportunities within Micrsoft here in Redmond and also maybe in Utah. We are really hoping something opens up at Microsoft in Boise, but so far it's not looking very promising. But anything can happen, especially if we're patient. We are really grateful that Mark can work for such a great company and we know we can be happy wherever we're at. We'll keep you all posted.

Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Aubrey