Scotland revisited!

Brian and I went straight from one castle to another! The day after we got home from Disneyland we got on a plane to Scotland! Brian had a business trip there and originally it was just going to be him, but the company decided to let me come along on them! We couldn't pass it up and we were both excited to go back!


We landed in Edinburgh about an hour before church so we made it there just in time to go to our old ward Sacrament meeting! It was so great to see so many friends and remember the good times we had there. It brought back many great memories and we were able to catch up with some of our close friends the next night as well.

My first day back I did the hop-on/hop-off tourist bus all over the city so I could go back and see some of my favorite sites. I also checked out a few that I never dared go to with all the kids! A highlight was touring the Britiania - the Queens yacht that they have retired. It was very interesting and I was glad I never tried taking the kids! A very full fun day! On Tuesday I met up with Norma for lunch - she's a close friend that lived near us and our boys went to George Watsons together. We had a lovely time visiting and went to the school to pick up Fraser, see how grown up all of Adam's friends are, and see some of the other moms!

That night Brian and I got to have an anniversary dinner at one of our favorite restaurants - la Bruchetta! It is such yummy Italian that it is almost like being there! We had a great evening!

On my last day in Scotland I took a highland tour. As much as I loved the city when we lived there, I loved getting out to the highlands and the countryside! It is just breathtaking and the pictures don't do it any justice! I was on a mini-bus from about 8:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and got to go up to Loch Ness through Pitlochery, over to Glen Coe, and back through Sterling! It was a wonderful tour and even though it was a lot of time on a bus it was SO worth it to see all the landscapes of Scotland! It was a wonderful day!

My return trip was the sour part of the trip! We were delayed in Edinburgh the next morning and made it to Paris just in time for them to close the doors on our flight home. I had a terrible time getting a flight home - I was originally to get in at 11:00 a.m., but ended up getting in at midnight! It wouldn't have been so bad, but my babysitter was flying out at 1:00 p.m. that day! I called Brian and he had to arrange it all while I was in the air. Thanks to some wonderful friends it all worked out and the Curtis family took our kids in various shifts! It was a rough end to a wonderful trip, but if anything had to go wrong I'll take what I got - the rest was perfect!

Disneyland!

In the beginning of June we took a trip to one of the happiest places on earth! The boys were beyond excited. They earned the trip by filling a container with marbles, which made the weeks leading up to the trip wonderful for us - they jumped to every opportunity to help!

Nathan loved the parades and waved at all the characters. He is such a little dancer that he loved dancing to the music in the streets!

Adam and Matthew's favorite rides were Space Mountain, California Screamin, Toy Story Mania, Indiana Jones, and the Matterhorn! They loved it all though and had so much fun just being together!

Another highlight for Adam and Matt was seeing Jack - their friend that used to live near us. They've really missed him and had a great time spending an afternoon together!

Nathan's favorites were Peter Pan, the Matterhorn, Buzz Lightyear, and the Mickey Carousel! He was smiling almost the entire time! He loved the characters - especially Buzz!

It was a wonderful trip! It was so fun seeing the boys rediscover the magic of Disneyland! Brian always teases me that I love it more than they do, which may be true! I love watching their faces light up as they see the characters they love and go on the rides that thrill them! Considering that Nathan still says (two months later) in every prayer "Thankful for Disneyland!" I think it left a lasting impression!

Grandpa Ginos' birthday!

For Memorial Day weekend we went to Wenatchee for the night to see Brian's grandparents and to celebrate Grandpa Ginos' birthday! It was great to see them again! The boys loved hiking up to 'Castlerock' with Brian and grandpa!

They love getting their hugs from GiGi! She is so good to them and they love going to their house to visit!

GiGi got Grandpa a Wii - the boys were SO excited about it and more than anxious to teach grandpa all about how to use it! I think they're jealous!

Grandma insisted that we put all 82 candles on Grandpa's cake! After the smoke detector went off Grandpa was able to blow them all out, with the boys help! It was a wonderful visit and the boys let us know that they want to go back soon!

Girls Weekend!!!

I love going to Women's Conference with my mom and sister! It is one of my favorite weekends of the year on the years I am able to go. Two days full of uplifting talks and having my spiritual bucket filled. It's always inspiring to see SO many women there just wanting the same things that I want and trying to be filled so we can get back to work! The best is that I get to be with my mom and Caryn for several days of uninterrupted fun!

This year we got the crochet kits - fun to do while listening to the talks. The humanitarian service project night is also another highlight of the conference!

We also got to have our cousins retreat the same weekend (since it was our turn to plan it)! It was great to get together with our cousins and second cousins on my mom's side at the Garff ranch. We had a great weekend playing games, chatting, sharing favorite book ideas, tying quilts for the moms, doing yoga with Michelle, and shopping in Park City! This is my 'Aunt' Kathy with her prized bunco white elephant gift (that I brought) - it sings and waves - a true treasure!

Good time and great memories!

Adam's Birthday!

Adam's birthday is April 23rd and since he was turning 9 and we have friend parties on the even years we got to have a family party day for Adam! We started it off with presents and cinnamon rolls! Adam thinks of his birthday as a national holiday and just enjoys every minute! After school he wanted to build his new Lego sets and then head to Pizza Hut for dinner. We then went to play glow golf! We all had a great time!

Adam's other request was that we could have Blizzards as the ice cream with his cake. He wanted a soccer ball cake, so I got to learn how to make a cake in a bowl! It was a super fun night!

Adam is just an incredible kid - he is such a happy young man and he is always trying to do his best and do what's right. He is a very social person and loves to be with people and play sports with his friends - his favorites right now are soccer and football! He loves to learn and tries to figure things out that he doesn't know or understand. We feel very luck to have him as a part of our family!

Easter!

At our house the Easter Bunny hides their Easter baskets and they have to search for them before they can collect the eggs! Nathan found his behind the curtains...

Matthew found his hidden in the ottoman...

Adam's was hidden in the washing machine!

That afternoon we went to the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt! It was fun for the boys and we got to visit with the neighbors.

Later that afternoon we colored our Easter Eggs, which is always a fun adventure!

On Easter Sunday it was Conference, so they didn't get to wear their Easter clothes to church, but we got a pic later. The actual Easter day was a nice relaxing day with cinnamon rolls for breakfast, wonderful Conference talks, and a wonderful dinner with friends!

Destination Imagination!

From December to February Adam had a blast getting ready for the Destination Imagination Tournament with five friends from his class. Their challenge was to see if they could get an object over a barrier and hit a target that they can't see. After many 8-year-old ideas (parents can't give ANY input) they came up with a very cool contraption...

They used PVC pipe to build the structure that held plastic pipes, through which they blew duct taped wrapped splash balls with an air blower. They had mirrors on the top of the pipes to see where to aim the pipe so they could get the balls into their target boxes. It was quite the adventure getting to that point and they had a blast creating it!

They ended up getting one ball in the target, but their were thrilled when they discovered they won the Spirit award for working so well together! They really did work well together and they had such a great time with the entire adventure!