Spring Break in Utah

Jim had to go to Hawaii for work (I know, sad, right?)  So I took the girls to St. George while they were on spring break.  Madison had a couple softball tournaments so we got to see her in all her awesomeness!  Mike came up from Mesa with his 3 cuties and Summer lives nearby in Mesquite so Michelle and Lena got to play with their cousins.  We even got an interesting surprise when Jim had to come back from Hawaii for a few days because of complications with the job.  It was a fun trip and I loved seeing everyone!  Now I just wish Jim would hurry back home because we miss him terribly!  Anyway, here are some good memories from the long trip!

Grandma Moore and Lena watch Grandpa work in the garden.

Michelle helps Grandpa in his garden.

Great Aunt Carol and Uncle Gary and 2nd cousin Jacob were also visiting for Jacob's birthday.

Lena watched Michelle play at the park.  She didn't like it much.

The blue slide in the background and the ADORABLE outfit Jim brought back from Hawaii made Lena's blue eyes POP!

Walking an easy "hiking" trail at Zion's Canyon National Park.

Uncle Travis and Michelle--loving the outdoors.

Michelle says "cheese" for the camera.

Ahhh, my sweetheart and me take a break on the trail.

Michelle plays with Ryan and Maya while Grandpa works on his sprinkler system that seems to have sprung a leak.

Father and son and son.  Andrew, Mike and Grandpa Moore.

Michelle and Maya are new best friends (for now)

Ryan looks out for Micki.

Jim is wearing a Hawaiian shirt!  I NEVER thought I would see that!

Keeping Memories

Memory keeping is an important part of family history.  It can also be a lot of fun.  I never did enjoy traditional scrapbooking much, but I have started to love digital scrapbooking with photoshop!  I even started an enrichment group in my ward.  We get together and talk about ideas for scrapbooking and photo albums, journals and mementos.  Here are a few of the pages I have done so far.

SICK of Valentines???

Happy Valentine's Day!  Well . . . sort of happy.  We all got packages from Grandpa and Grandma Jackson, and that WAS exciting.  Michelle and Lena had fun opening and playing and reading stories.  I made Valentine Cupcakes and delivered some to neighbors.

Unfortunately, both girls were sick.  And Michelle's is getting bad enough that she had to get an iv in her arm because she is so dehydrated.  The cool thing was, we didn't have to go to the hospital!  We went to this cool place where they hooked up the iv and told me what to do to flush it when it is done and now she is sleeping away happily in our bed.

Michelle Reads Scriptures

Michelle has started taking her turn during family scripture study, and it is pretty cute, though it is hard to put on camera because as soon as the camera comes out she thinks it is time to play, detracting from the point, but I had to catch it at least once.

Weekend Fun

This past weekend we went to Island Park to see all the gorgeous snow!  First, we decided it would have been a miserable place to be before the time of heaters and cars!  Then we had some fun in the snow.  Michelle LOVED sledding in the makeshift sled.

We came home for church and afterward the girls were playing in Michelle's room.  Lena was talking up a storm and having a ball on the floor!

Playtime

Michelle was so cute having a tea party by herself I tried to catch it on video without her noticing me.  I got it, but I only got the end of it, of course, not the cutest part . . . still.  She loves her new table she got for Christmas from Santa.  She plays everything on her table!

Lena has been playing a lot more lately too.  She is sitting up all the time, and even makes little attempts at crawling (thought that milestone is probably still a ways away.

Welcome Home Colby

My "little" brother Colby came home from New York just before Christmas.  He spoke in church about his mission this past weekend so we went to listen.  He had some wonderful, inspiring messages!  I didn't even realize until we were driving home that I didn't take ONE picture the whole time!  There were a lot of kids running around and a general chaos.  Michelle LOVED playing with all her cousins, and they liked playing with her too.  Everyone liked holding Lena and telling her how beautiful she is.  I enjoyed watching Colby interact with people, still a little in his post-mission weirdness phase.  He started school at University of Utah and is generally back in the swing of things.  Anyway-- Welcome Home Colby!  It's good to have you back!