Saying Goodbye

The worst part about May (at least till next year) is graduation. Every year a new group of freshly graduated dentist pack up and move away to destinations far away. We gather and say goodbye and wish them all well. In years past there we some sad goodbyes, but nothing that compares to this year. This year we say goodbye to the Johnsons, Andersons, Millers, and the Blooms. A few years ago they took pity on us as the only Members in our class and made us honorary members of theirs.
The first to leave have been the Johnsons. This was a tough goodbye mostly because our kids are such good friends, playing together everyday after school. We all walked over to Ritas and had a treat.

Jared and Isaac

Anna and Lexi

Audrey and London
After our little treat we walked home. Jared and Anna both cried and cried. The following day I found Anna sitting in her bed holding a picture of Lexi just looking at it with tears in her eyes. After picking up the kids from school Jared stayed in the car I went to check on him and he was crying. When I asked him what was wrong he answered, "I've been holding it in all day. I really miss Isaac" It has been a few days now and everyone is getting a little bit better (Even Kevin after saying by to his boyfriend Andy), but it still breaks my heart.
Fair well Johnsons we will miss you (Andersons Blooms Millers we will miss you too!)
Good luck to everyone!

Pinewood Derby

Building the car.

Lining it up just right.

Awaiting the results.

The rest of the pack.

Lots of fun.

Happy Late Easter

DECORATING THE EGGS:

OUR SESAME STREET EGGS:

(Oscar, Elmo, and Cookie Monster)

BASKET DISCOVERING:

EASTER SUNDAY BEST:

Primary Arts Night

Jared and Anna's school held a Primary Arts night for each grade. It is a night where the children display their artwork and show off there musical abilities. Anna's group put together a little musical play called Under the Sea. Anna's class sang a song called "We are sharks" It was so fun to see how intothe music Anna got. She was shaking her fist and hips to the beat.

Jared's group performed on the recorders. He had practiced (relentlessly) his song everyday the week before and his class did a great job.

After the shows we went out to Rita's for some Italian Ice to celebrate.

The Plan

Don't you just love it when you make a plan and then everything goes wrong? I am sure Heavenly Father just shakes his head and sighs at our big plans and then hopes we will be able to enjoy our journey as the plan gets thrown out the window. This week is Spring Break for the kids and we planned to take them to the National Zoo in D.C. We had been before and really enjoyed it. Thursday Kevin only had an early test scheduled and the weather was perfect so we planned on loading up and driving down to see the animals. We made it to Connecticut Ave in good time and then about half way down the street all traffic stopped. There was road construction, city trash pick up, crazy pedestrians, you name it and it was there. The kids handled the delay well being silly in the car.



I thought of taking a picture of Kevin, but in the interest of safety decided against it. About 40 minutes and 2 miles later we saw the entrance to the zoo where there was a nice man who's only message was:

So after turning around, consoling some disappointed kids, and 40 minutes later we ended up here:

I can't tell you how nice it was to get out of the crazy traffic with all its stress and noise and come to the temple. We didn't stay too long, but long enough to feel the calming effects of the Spirit. We walked the grounds and looked through the visitor center. Jared, having recently heard our proposal story, insisted on seeing the place where Kevin asked me to marry him. The grounds have changed a lot since then, but we found roughly the spot and took a reenactment picture. If you look closely Kevin is offering his wallet and I'm taking it. Jared thought it was hilarious.

11 years 4 months later and now we have these sweet kids.

After the temple we got a late lunch at Chick-fil-et and to be honest that stop got the most thank you's and smiles. After we got home we planned on going to the park near our home and playing some catch and frizbee, however when we got there they had just sprayed the ground with fertilizer. Instead we made our way to some tennis courts and played there.
The Boys:


The Girls:



The Old Plan: Take family to the Zoo for a fun filled day of making family memories
The New Plan: Take family on an adventure where we learned to adapt with good attitudes, feel the spirit, and enjoy each others company while making fun family memories.

Sleepy Anyone?

My Name is Audrey

Hi my name is Audrey and I just turned TWO!

My Brother and Sister made a Birthday sign for me...

and my mom made some yummy Elmo cupcakes for me.

My Grandmas and Grandpas sent me some really fun presents. They know how much I love Elmo and all things Sesame Street and I am stocked with Elmo books, stickers, clothes, and even a pillow! I love them so much and I carry everything around with me in my new Elmo backpack.




After dinner I got to blow out my birthday candles. Did you know you shouldn't try to touch a burning candle?

You can bet I wont be trying that again!

Thank you to all who made my Birthday Special!

Jared's April Fools

Jared wanted to "get" his teachers and friends for April fools. Where we live Pro football is serious business and with the Ravens practice facility just around the corner from our front door EVERYONE is a Ravens fan. Every Friday the WHOLE town is dressed in Raven colors, seriously the WHOLE town. One of the teams rivals happens to be the Steelers. So Jared came up with this...

When I dropped the kids off at school the teacher on carpool duty read the sign and said, "oh really! Number one fan huh?" Jared promptly did this...

She then said,"Its a good thing or I'd send you home" Kidding of coarse-kind of.
He had fun with his little April Fools trick fooling most of his teachers and friends. What a funny guy.

"I Do It"

Don't worry about me mom, as you sit on the couch with your book, I got this!

Audrey's Obsession

Somewhere somehow Audrey has discovered Elmo and she is in love. This little girl walks around the house singing, "la la la la, la la la la, Elmo's world." She begs for Elmo everything; movies, juice, music, books, crackers, and clothes. We got her some Elmo PJ's and she has been over the moon for them.

The only problem with these PJ's is that at some point they have to come off.

Poor girl, no one understands her pain.