Ragnar

In the beginning...

Dave and his sister and brother and a few cousins started the drive up to Logan...

They anxiously waited to start...

After a few runs and a late night, they took a little break for food and "rest".

 Here's Dave running his last leg!

And the whole crew!  They all did amazing. 

Dave's Birthday

Since Dave and I have birthdays one day following the next, we take turns planning the celebration. It worked perfectly that I was on to schedule this year--which happened to be when he turned 30!  So I thought I would go big.  It took me a while to figure out what I would do…but then it hit me!  Dave LOVES basketball and I love to surprise people and so it began…

I wrote him 6 notes, each note a clue in words and with a picture of where he would need to find his present and the next clue.  Here's the first picture:

So we went to the trunk.  I had a picnic dinner there and the next clue of where we would eat.

To the park we went. 

After eating I gave him his present (frisbee golf disc) and the next clue.

Off to the movie theater! Here I gave him a fake present of movie tickets to throw him off of what I really had planned!  Next clue?

Walmart, where he got to pick out a tool that he needed. Next...

In his briefcase he found a technology accessory with the next clue.

Dave quickly got this…off to the church gym. 

I was a bit nervous about people showing up and on time and Dave being surprised, etc. Here's the invitation I sent out to our family and friends.

But all turned out beautifully--thanks to our dear friends who helped put things in order while I was away.

                   

 

So as we were walking over to the church, Dave was trying to hurry because we had the "movie" to get to.  We walked in to the church, Dave opened the door to the gym where it was dark. But he saw that there were people inside and almost walked out because he thought we were interrupting something. But then the lights turned on and everyone yelled surprise! It was perfect.

Dave had no idea!

                  

Here's a picture of my dad giving me a high-five over the victorious surprise!

 and then of course there was basketball playing.

It was a wonderful day even. I love Dave and all that he is. It was so fun to plan this for Dave.  But I was so grateful for all the support from family and friends.

The Zoo

This was Aliyah's first experience with Hogle Zoo.  School had finished for the year so Dave took a Friday off and we made a day of it.  The Zoo is so much better with kids.  It was so fun to see Aliyah experience seeing these animals in real life--not just a cartoon!  

We went to the bird show.  Which she loved.  There was one bird that flew RIGHT over our heads and whether we felt the birds wings/tail or just the wind from them flapping it was close.  Aliyah put her hand to her head and couldn't figure out what had happened.  It was a fun show.

One of the highlights for Aliyah was the Carousel ride.  She wanted the bear but the bison would do--and it was on the outside for optimal picture taking!  She loved every minute of it.  

And she cried and cried when she had to get off.  

The other highlight was one of the buildings that had animals in it.  She was completely fascinated by the orange monkeys and the birds.  

Aliyah working on her apple...

just like the giraffe and his leaves.

They had a number of lego exhibits throughout the zoo.  These were "face boards" were also built of legos.  As you can see she loved the orange monkeys...

but not the gray ones as much!

We loved the zoo and we loved being together.   When we ask Aliyah what she saw at the zoo she says, "We saw elephants, and....fish."

Nothing better than being with family!

Everyday with Aliyah

She seriously makes us laugh constantly.  Who knew a two year old could have so much character!

Here's Aliyah doing her stretches...she learned this from Dave--not that he stretches like this, but that Aliyah knows that dad does stretches and this is how it translated.  Looks pretty good to me!

Aliyah also loves to read books.  She memorizes books within the first few times of hearing them read. She'll entertain herself for quite some time looking at and reading the books aloud. 

One of our favorite pastimes this spring was to fly a kite.  We get pretty good winds and have a nice grassy area outside our home.  Aliyah likes to chase after the kite's tails, hold the string...and run around not paying attention to the kite at all while we hold it. 

 One day while Aliyah was holding the kite a cute old Asian couple walking around the neighborhood took pictures of Aliyah!  It was funny to see them SO interested!

Right after this picture Aliyah let go of the kite.  It was carried by the wind to the other side of our building!  A tree caught the string and we were able to get it down.  

It's the small things that make life so enjoyable!

Thanksgiving Point--Tulip Festival

The end of April we went with our good friends to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day.  We loved being outside, enjoying the warm weather, and visiting with friends.

Loving the water 

and Daddy

Looking for fish

Beautiful Flowers

To be a child...

Aliyah's got it made...

She gets to drink the milk out of cereal bowls that are bigger than her head

and wear a dress day and night...always, no matter what...because she is a princess.

This is her singing Cinderella's "A Dream is a Wish"...but it's just snips not the sounds but I think it's still cute to watch her mannerisms.

While We Were Away

Aliyah got to play with cousins ALL WEEK long.  Here are some pictures of her on Easter.

 

The Easter Bunny left her Cinderella slippers and necklaces.

  And the girls of the house

We were so excited to see Aliyah after being gone for 6 days.  The journey home was rough--delayed flight which made us almost miss the second flight--but we eventually made it.  When we picked her up I think she was pretty excited, but she wasn't excited to come home with us.  She was perfectly content staying and playing with cousins.  At least we knew that she had fun and was well taken care of!

It was a wonderful vacation-much needed. But there's nothing like being home.