Wonderful Vacation !!

So very many thanks to Dad & Linda!! We all had a fabulous time - it couldn't have been nicer. Jake proclaimed "I don't ever want to go home." And he has already asked to go back, or at least to have Kelli & Johnny visit us. The week included lots of swimming, looking for shells, boogie-boarding (Jake's shins are all bruised up from this activity), jumping waves, playing, walking, eating, watching the sunset on the horizon, drinking, driving the golf cart around, fishing, and enjoying each other's company. The kids (minus little Annie) went on a fishing boat through Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge and everyone caught some fish (mostly sheephead.) Brian may have to take his son on future fishing excursions.

There are too many pictures (95 of them), so I'll upload them to Kodak Gallery.

Rachael - how cute & little they were

My screen saver is a a slideshow that rotates pictures I have saved on my computer. The other day it showed some pictures when the Wilson's visited us in Denver. The kids look so little -- and Annie was still an infant. Well anyway, I thought I'd post them as a trip down memory lane.

We are off soon to Florida with the whole McVay clan and looking forward to it!

Busy with the Neighbors

Well I can't think of much to report, beyond the day-to-day that keeps us all busy. Thankfully, we have found ourselves on a very friendly street, with great neighbors and lots of kids. When we are outside, other neighbors will come out, or vica-versa. There is an age range of the kids, but they all play together. Anyway, attached are some pictures from the street's trip to the park on Friday. (There were 4 moms, 1 dad, and 9 kids). Jake is pictured with his "buddy" Landon, who is 5. They were pretending to be pirates, which explains Landon's facial expression. Those two are inseparable. The girl with pony-tails is Evie, who is the friend little Annie likes to talk about about (though she is closer in age to Jacob). I didn't capture Lois, Alex, Hunter or Jeffrey, but they are always running around as well. Hopefully this trend continues and our spring and summer are filled with BBQ's and kids having fun.

Spring

We've been enjoying mostly mild temperatures for a bit now, and we're hopefuly that Spring is at our doorstep. The other weekend we put the grill and chairs into Brian's pick-up truck, headed out to the beach, and enjoyed a BBQ in the sand with our neighbors. There's been bike riding, trampoline jumping, and walks. How nice! Yesterday, the kids decided to go to the "rock climbing" instead of the beach. Attached are some pictures. The desert plants are coming back and starting to turn green and bud. I'm excited to see the desert bloom here in a little bit. The lizards have come also out of hibernation and it was fun to see them again.

Beach in January

It's still cold here, but we went to the beach on Sunday and Monday anyway. Just treated it like a big sandbox, and the kids had a great time. It was in the 40's, but sunny. (a bit windy on Monday, which made it colder.) There was no one around, a dramatic change from the summer when nearly 2 million visitors come through. On Sunday, in fact, practically the only other living creature we saw was a coyote. He crossed our path, turned and looked at us briefly, and rambled on. I forgot there were coyotes here, but then remembered a common symbol of the southwest/desert is the howling coyote next to a saguaro cactus. That makes sense.

Weekend & Front Page

Little Annie and I made the front page of the 'Lake Powell Chronicle'. We go to story time at the library, and the paper came by to take pictures. online at: http://www.lakepowellchronicle.com

The weekend was good, but quiet. We went to a birthday party (a friend's 40th) and little Annie wanted to dress up. She was the only one, as we all wore jeans. On Sunday, we went for a bike ride, did some puzzles and drew on the easel. The two shared one easel rather nicely, only because Annie is right handed and Jake is left-handed. The images in red were drawn by Jake, and they are "him on the sidewalk and a baby" and the image in green is by Annie. They wanted me to take a picture, as they like to display their artwork. In fact, their bedroom has no less than 10 pictures on the wall.

Bedtime Buddies

Annie has recently decided that she doesn't like the dark, and a night-light is not sufficient. We, as parents, have refused to leave the room fully-lit. (Note: Annie & Jacob share a room.) So, in a good big-brother way, Jacob has decided to help her through her fears. We can hear them talking, laughing and Jacob telling her it is "ok" well after the lights are out. One night, Jacob climbed into bed with little Annie to make her feel better. (They both eventually fell asleep, picture #1). Then a few nights later, when Annie was particularly upset about the dark, he told Annie to come over to his bed. (They both eventually fell asleep, picture #2). Then we put a stop to that, since they were staying up too late. But it was sweet, while it lasted. Annie still does not like the dark, but is more accepting of it (mostly.)