The end of an era

Harrison ended his pre-school days in a blaze of glory.

First, a field trip to Wheeler Farm with great photo opps.

I love this picture of "the boys."

Mrs. Brown and her class.

My boys.

Then the cutest ever graduation ceremony with the cutest homemade caps. Oh, we will miss our preschool friends and especially Mrs. Brown. It was such a big year for Harrison and I can't believe how fast he is growing and learning and I'm so proud of him.

The graduate.

You should know this is Richie, Ryan,

and Harrison they're good buddies.

Can you tell?

So proud.

Summer begins

What is summer without a lemonade stand and a garage sale. We had a HUGE garage sale to put a close on a long chapter. The settling of Chris's granny's estate that took almost to three years to end. But, Granny would have loved to have been a part of this closing....a good old fashioned garage sale with deals beyond belief and family time with a little work and sweat, done mostly by Amy and Dane, to make some extra cash. If only we had a round of Bingo going to really set the stage, if only. She would have been so pleased. We miss our Granny.

Harrison and Carter set up their first Lemonade Stand and it was a big deal. Chris says I undersold the lemonade and we didn't charge enough. Leave it to my entrepreneurial-minded husband to point out the flaws in my business planning, the nerve! Anyways, Harrison and Carter sat at the table and drank most of the lemonade themselves, how's that for blowing your profitability! But, they sure were cute doing it...I even think they got a few tips.

The Stand.

Step right up and get your

ice-cold lemonade.

So sorry, the sippy cup

is only for the manager.

And so summer begins.

Beach time

We went to Laguna for a long weekend and had a blast. We did nothing but play on the beach and enjoy the time away. The boys loved the beach and we loved that the boys loved the beach. Give'em a shovel and a bucket and it means hours of entertainment. Gotta love it!

Here's the rundown, in no particular order and without my snarky comments...you're welcome.

Easter Bunnies on the Go

Here are some photos from the trip we took over Easter to Washington, D.C. where Oma (Chris's mom) lives:

First stop: Air and Space Museum.

This is Harrison staring up a space

capsule. You can tell he was

pretty impressed.

Cheese.

Another cheese.

Dying easter eggs at Oma's house.

More Cheese.

Oh look, the Easter bunny left a basket

full of fun things!

Checking out the goods.

Yes, we all wear Easter Bunny ears for the egg

hunt. What? You don't at your house? That's weird.

More bunnies.

Did I mention the cherry blossoms out in

full bloom, so beautiful. Look, wait...

Did Amy plan that? Shirt matching with the

blossoms? We got all the details put

together in this family, I tell you!

Proud moment here, there were fireworks at the

Cherry Blossom Festival and Harrison

is overcoming his TERRIFYING fear of

fireworks, he can now watch fireworks

with his hands cupped over his ears.

This is HUGE progress, and makes

for a really cute picture.

After very carefully planning and strategizing

how to get tickets to the White House Easter Egg

Roll it was a success! We all entered the

yearly lottery and Natalee won tickets and got

to have the boys and Oma go in with her!

So, while they were enjoying that event....

We ran off to Opening Day for the Nationals

Baseball team where THE President threw

out the first pitch which was also very cool.

And...

We were all exhausted by the end of the trip.

THE END.

***Special thanks to OMA for making Easter such a fun and memorable time for all of us! We love and appreciate you so much...no really...I mean really...REALLY. :)

Easter suits

Since we had General Conference on

Easter Sunday and not our normal

church schedule. I decided to

dress the boys up the Sunday

before Easter.

Here we have our two cute little boys

before they head off to church.

Harrison loved his little suit and obediently

posed for pictures. He was so excited to go

to church in a suit like his Dad.

Carter on the other hand, while also

somewhat excited about the thought of

a tie and jacket, pulled off the jacket

the minute we got into the building

and the tie was off about fifteen

minutes into the service,

never to return. Sigh.

So, thank goodness for pictures and the ability

to document the few minutes of put-together-ness

we had on this lovely Sunday afternoon. Cuteness.

Four

HARRISON IS 4!!

(Please be prepared for the usual gushing birthday post about my child)

I don't think I can even begin to tell you

how excited Harrison was for his

birthday weekend. It was bigger

than Christmas!

We had big plans including:

Friends party at the bowling alley on Saturday

Family party at the house on Sunday

Here we see Harrison setting up his own

bowling set to practice before the party.

No suggestion was made by anyone, just my

very methodical child getting ready for the

big event. I mean, wouldn't you do a warm up run?

He is definitely Chris's child...

Here are the party-goers or as Harrison

affectionately refers to them...

"my pre-school friends."

We made it to the party room for a

cupcake sports tower that everyone enjoyed

and Harrison successfully blew out his candle...

the second time around after his

little friend Bowman did it the first time!

Too funny, we all had a good laugh at that one.

The token parent shot. I've decided Chris and I

don't get enough shots together, so here ya go.

Afterall, not that long ago it was just us.

Okay, the Family Party started with the unveiling

of THE cake. There was a lot of back on forth

on what this should be and as you can see I caved.

Yes, I had to put the "Y" on the basketball.

I know it's a bit pathetic at this point...

But oh wait! The "Y" was the chosen piece of cake

by the birthday boy himself!!! Ca-chow!

The Family shots.

Oma and Amy

Natalee, Chris, and Carter

Helen, Leland, Alicia, and Brandon

Our little family in action. Harrison got

a bike and Carter had to also bring out his

bike to make sure there was fair and equal treatment.

Anyways, great weekend. Harrison is one

special boy. Some things of note about him:

1. He's a sweetie.

2. He's a good friend to others and my buddy.

3. He's a sports nut and loves doing sports stuff with Dad!

4. He's an old soul.

5. He's a lover not a fighter.

6. He's a good big brother.

7. His eyes are crystal blue and they hold my world.

8. He's a big boy for his age.

9. He's creative.

10. He loves his family and we love him.