Aviary

One day during Jared's spring break we went to the Aviary.  It is not super close to our house, so I feel like it takes some effort to go.  Ha ha.  But Jared and Maggie both love it!  It is not as cool as the zoo, but they have so many amazing birds that we have enjoyed it every time we have gone these past couple of years.

 We saw a peacock with it's feathers fully extended!  I love all the peacocks that are wandering around and perched on top of roofs.

 This picture was in front of the ibis cage.  You can't really see the ibises, but they are beautiful red birds native to South America.

There is a toucan in the background of this picture.

I didn't get any pictures of the eagles, the hornbill, the condor, or the owls, but we loved those, too!    (Click here to see the post about our trip to the aviary a year ago.  It includes a few cool videos.)

March in Review

I just realized that I need to catch up on some things before I start blogging about the whirlwind of birthdays that our family has.  

This first video is Maggie practicing her very first talk that she gave in March as a sunbeam in Primary.  The topic: I can gain a testimony of Jesus Christ.  She did a great job during the actual talk, but I'm sure it was hard to hear because she was too close to the microphone, practically licking it.  Ha ha.  For this practice video, she was a bit camera shy and speaking very softly, but here you go anyways:

Here is Evelyn napping.  The silly rascal took off her own shirt before she finally fell asleep.  She is really starting to fight her morning nap, something that is very tragic for both her and me.  We more often than not have a very tired and grumpy baby during the day.  

This was Jared's "trap" for a leprechaun for St. Patrick's Day.  Jared thinks that putting a bunch of green things together will lure the leprechaun to leave gold treats (gold chocolate coins and Reese's peanut butter cups). I guess it works!  I forgot to take pictures of our St. Patrick's Day activities.  However, the evening before we had an amazing green party (complete with games!) planned by Grandma Stout, and the day of we had green jello, green eggs, and green waffles for dinner.  It was fun.

Spring means we get to play on our awesome playground in the backyard. Evelyn LOVES the swing!

Maggie wanted a picture, too.  She is such a sweet girl!

Cute Sayings

We finally bought a new computer, so I can hopefully get back into blogging more regularly.  Yay!

I have just been thinking about a few cute things Jared and Maggie have been doing lately that I wanted to record:

1. Jared pretends that he can control the weather.  He will wake up and say things like, "Mommy, the reason why it snowed last night is because I turned my snow machine on.  I need to turn on my heat machine to warm things up."  (I think this is loosely based on Snow Miser and Heat Miser from The Year Without a Santa Claus.) Jared talks about this so much that he even had a cute 2nd grade girl in his carpool slightly convinced that he does, in fact, control the weather.   :)

2. Maggie likes to "tuck in" her dollies and stuffed animals.  I will walk into my room and see some of her toys lying on my bed and tucked in under a blankie.  I will also find her doing this in other random places in our house.  It is so cute.

3. Maggie loves to play hide-and-go-seek with Alan and Jared.  Maggie will tell Alan where to hide and then pretend she doesn't know where he is.  "Where can Daddy be?  Is he in the closet? No...." Then she will find him and pretend to be surprised at where he hid.  When it is her turn to hide she will tell Alan where she will be.  It is so funny.

4. Maggie knows all of the sounds of all the ABCs. She is on the verge of being able to sound out three-letter words like CAT and BOX. Maggie also says things like "W starts with the letter D, and Y starts with the letter W!" (She's right--sound it out for yourself!)  She can spell her own name.

5. Maggie is obsessed with Frozen and has a lot of the songs memorized.  She is so cute!  She wants me to do her hair in an "Elsa braid" every morning.  I am just trying to figure out which of the dozens of Frozen toys out there should I buy her for her 4th birthday in May (???)

6. Jared wants a magical snow globe for next Christmas that will grant him wishes (Anyone seen Elmo Saves Christmas?) He talks about all the wishes he will make.  One day he asked me if I would rather be an eagle or a snake.  When I said eagle he said, "Well, Mom, after I get my snow globe for Christmas, you might get your wish..."

I can't think of anything else right now.  Maybe I will add more to this post later.

A Post about My Girlies

Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks of my sweet girls:

 Evy loves the "play" the piano while Jared is practicing, too. Life is a bit crazy now that she is so good at crawling.

 I love Evelyn's open-mouthed grin.  She seems to smile all. the. time.  It's awesome.  I also really love this beautifully smocked dress from my mom that Maggie also wore.

I love this picture!  

This was the best picture I could get of my cute girls on Valentine's Day.  These matching shirts were Christmas presents from Grandma and Grandpa Stout.

Evy watching Maggie ride her new bike

Maggie got a new little bike and I finally put it together a few days ago.  We had a couple of warmer days this week, and Maggie has had fun riding it.  (You can't see them, but yes, there are training wheels.) I can't believe how this girl has grown up lately.  

I just love my two princesses.  I can't believe how time flies (Evelyn will be turning one soooo soon!) I am so grateful to have them in my life.

Another Fun Visit

The first weekend in February we were lucky to have Kent and Janice out for a short visit because of some exciting things happening with Alan's brother Spencer (that should be a whole different post!) This was the first time that Kent has been together with all of his children (at the same time) in like 25 or 26 years.  It was a really great visit.  We also loved spending a little bit of time with Alan's sister Marilyn, who lives very far away from us. 

We went to a fancy buffet together at the Grand America for lunch. This is Jared's monster face.  Thanks, bud. 

Now Maggie's not looking.  Well, we tried.

We have loved getting to know Kent and Janice and are anxious to see them again sometime soon!

January 2014

I really hate January.  As my mother-in-law says, you could take away the six weeks between New Year's and Valentine's Day and not miss too much.  I completely agree.  I hibernated during most of the month.  Seriously. Anyway, here are a few pictures. 

One afternoon I took the kids sledding.  Evy looked super cute bundled up.  Our sledding trip didn't last too long since Maggie had to go to the bathroom AGAIN.  

Here is Maggie playing princesses with her cousin Summer:

I finally moved Evelyn from the little tiny baby tub to the big tub with Maggie.  Here is her very first "big girl" bath.  In the second picture, she is smiling, not crying.  Ha ha.  She LOVES baths and always tries to lunge in the tub before I'm ready to put her in.

Evy pulled up to standing early in January.  She's so cute, but now nothing is safe on tables or couches!!

Jared got to dress up like an old man for the 100th day of school.  This was the best we could come up with on short notice: flannel shirt and these silly glasses.

Here's to January being over!!!!!!

A Fun Visit!

Kent with his two sons

About a week before Christmas we received a phone call from Kent and Janice with such a wonderful Christmas surprise: they were going to be coming out our way for a visit during the Christmas break!  We were so lucky to have them stay in our home, and I know that we (and Alan's brother, Paul, and his wife Courtney) had such a wonderful time with them getting to know them even better.  

Maggie and Evy in cute matching clothes.  Janice has good taste!

Our kids sure loved our visitors!  Kent and Janice were so nice to play lots of games with Jared and Maggie and give them lots of attention.  

The night before Kent and Janice had to make their long drive back home, we all went out to eat (sans children) at The Melting Pot, a restaurant I had always wanted to go to!  I was blown away by how fancy and yummy everything was.   We had such a great time with great food and wonderful company.

(Sorry about the blurry picture.  The food is in focus!  Ha ha.)

We were sooooooooo glad that they came and are excited to see them again soon!!