Easter Activities and Girlisms

We had a stellar Easter weekend, complete with a ward Easter party, a family get-together in SLC, and a quiet day at home Sunday complete with an Easter lesson, Finding Faith in Christ, and decorating eggs. We really tried to emphasize to Kadence and Tayah the true meaning behind the holiday, while managing to incorporate one Easter bunny.

Girlisms:

"Jello beans!" (Kadence and Tayah)

Daddy/Mommy: "What's in Mommy's tummy Tayah?"
Tayah: "A baby beat!" (meaning the baby's heart beat we heard two weeks ago)

Kadecnce: "What are you eating Daddy?"
Daddy: "I'm eating...some vegetables." (otherwise known as a piece of candy before dinner)
Kadence: "Can I have some vegetables Daddy?"

Popsicle Photos!

Our Girls' Birthday Gift to Elizabeth

As we've mentioned here, one of Elizabeth's presents for her 30th birthday was a compilation of 30 entries from 30 family members. It was fun for her to read through these in her old age. We thought you would all get a kick out of what our little Kadence (and Tayah, who was there to chime in too...believe it or not, she agreed with everything big sister said) said as I interviewed her. These are all her words...the true feelings of two little girls for their Mommy.

Kadence and Tayah
She’s beautiful like a princess. She makes us laugh. Mommy gives big bear hugs and kisses. She always sings us songs and dances with us. She cooks good things like soup, lasagna, pancakes, sandwiches, and lots more. Mommy likes flowers. She always helps us cook and put on princess dress-ups. We go fun places like the library, the park, and to Maili and Haeli’s house. She takes us to Church while Daddy takes himself to the Church (and he sits up the stairs). Mommy reads lots of books to us. I like to watch movies with her. She do some work when I come down. Sometimes, we can do exercises on the purple ball. She does sewing. She can put the radio or music on. She sings “Beauty All Around,” “For the Beauty, “ “I’m a Child of God,” “Give Said the Little Stream,” “Wish Upon a Star,” “Cinderella song,” “Joseph,” ABBA, Emma, “I Love the Mountains,” and I don’t know what else. She makes yummy treats like Jello, pudding, and cookies. Mommy has a baby in her tummy. She teaches me ABC’s and numbers. I like the pajamas she puts on me. She makes cupcakes. She made a Cinderella cake for my birthday. While I fall down, she puts a Band-Aid on me. I like walks with Mommy and Tayah in the stroller. Sometimes I get out of the stroller because I was tired in the stroller and wanted to walk. I like playing in kitchen with Mommy. I like to play babies. Gramps is Mommy’s daddy and Granny is Mommy’s mommy. I love my Mommy so much!

So there you have...from the mouths of babes. In case you just missed it as you skimmed through this, our third baby will join our family sometime early October and we couldn't be more excited!

And no, we're not pulling another prank...

March Nuts and Bolts

First, here are some "action shots" of Kadence on her new Sleeping Beauty bike. She loves it!

And, here's our March family newsletter entry:

03.01: We enjoyed a wonderful Stake Conference. Elder Madsen of the Seventy was our visiting authority. Elizabeth and I took in the adult session and I had a Priesthood leadership meeting in the morning. It is always great to sit together as a family, although two hours is hard for the little ones! I also went to some friends’ baby blessing.
03.02: Our Family Home Evenings have been really fun lately, as the girls manage to sit for a brief three minute lesson, followed by scripture reading. Tayah has just started to ”read” her one verse…so fun!
03.04: Wednesdays are always great, especially with our favorite show: Lost. If you are into this show, we need to talk and get your theories on things!
03.05-03.06: We took in the BYU President’s Leadership Council meetings, including a stellar presentation by the University Photographer (absolutely fascinating montage of photos over the past 30 years), some short films from the Animation department (Professor Kelly Loosli), a fun cocktail party-type dinner at the Museum of Art, and lunch with Elder Ballard. I am always glad when Elizabeth can accompany me!
03.06: Later that night, we went to a sealing session as a bishopric. What neat experiences.
03.07: Our Daddy/daughter date saw us going to…McDonald’s…Kadence’s favorite! As a birthday gift, the three boys took Dad to dinner at Legend’s Grill and the BYU/Air Force game. Although BYU played horribly bad in their win, we had a fun guys’ night out.
03.08: Kadence and Tayah were persnickety during sacrament meeting. Heaven bless the 1:00 block. We had a special ward mission fireside to discuss member missionary work.
03.10: Elizabeth and the Young Women have had a lot of fun activities recently, including the Draper Temple Open House.
03.13: Friday the 13th! Other than that, an absolutely normal day! We have a weekly tradition of going out to eat Friday nights. Tonight was an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. Not good.
03.14: The Jazz had the most monumental choke job of all time, blowing an eight point lead…twice in the same game. So goes my Jekyll and Hyde team…
03.15: Had a fun dessert get-together with our wonderful friends, the Gordons.
03.17: The Luck of the Irish was good for the Smiths, as we had a great day, complete with green food all day.
03.20: Elizabeth hit the big 3-0, what a milestone! She had a constant barrage of phone calls, e-mails, and well wishes. I came home early and we went to Red Robin for dinner. She received some splendid gifts, including a soon-to-be-completed book of 30 entries of stories and thoughts by the 30 people who love her most—parents, siblings and siblings-in-law. Quite a fun day for the world’s best mother and wife. We love you!
03.21: Jam-packed day: canned food drive, Telefund basketball tournament, and a family dinner at Dad and Donna’s to celebrate birthdays for Dad, Kadence, Aubrey, and Elizabeth. Kadence came away with, among other things, a new bike and she’s loved it! For our date, Elizabeth and I went to a concert featuring Noteworthy, a female a capella group of BYU students. Entertaining, but not our favorite.
03.22: Another busy day. Because of the Draper Temple Dedication, we only had two hours of church and were in charge of getting the chairs all set up. We were running around frantically, so it was great to sit and learn during the peaceful dedication. Later that night, Elizabeth and I a youth fireside.
03.23: This week was our student giving campaign called Choose to Give. In the freezing cold weather, our office sponsored a free BBQ for the students, complete with visits by President Samuelson and other administrators. Nothing like 35 degree weather and a BBQ!
03.24: Carissa, sporting a new haircut, had a great band concert.
03.25: Elizabeth went with the youth on our quarterly temple trip to do baptisms. Great kids!
03.26: Kadence was our brave little soldier as she underwent umbilical hernia surgery. She was so good and the surgery went smoothly thanks to great doctors and nurses who helped put her at ease. She was loopy right after and didn’t initially recognize us. We spent the rest of the day recuperating together as a family. We’re so proud of her!
03.27: I attended the BYU Board of Directors meetings and later that evening we went to a special dinner for bishoprics put on by the Stake Presidency. They came some inspired counsel to our wives…how special these women are!
03.28: When does the busyness ever end? I spent five hours for Scouting training and then Elizabeth went to the General Young Women’s Meeting. We’ll see each other sometime in the near future!
03.29: An 8-to-8 day at church, including a bishopric fireside on the Law of Chastity (always a fun topic), Home Teaching, and Home Teachers.

Wow…this makes it look like we had an eventful month! Random updates: Kadence is still doing great potty-wise, I’m still doing two jobs (although we got approval to fill the position) and we’re one happy family. We love you all!

Birthday Bashes

In an effort to catch-up and to hopefully get back in your good graces after our April Fools caper, here are some photos of our recent birthday fun! Here is Elizabeth and the girls. We gave her some fun presents, including flowers, a book, a CD, two Willow Tree statues to add to our ever-growing collection, and a special collection of thoughts I compiled--30 entries by the 30 people she loves most...parents and siblings on both sides, as well as Kadence, Tayah, and me. We'll share one or two fun entries soon. We are so grateful for Elizabeth and all she means to us!



Here's Kadence and Grandma Sarah with Kadence's new bike! She loves her new bike, as does Tayah because she gets Kadence's old one. We had a fun family party to celebrate four birthdays, Dad, Kadence, Aubrey and Elizabeth.



Here's the cake Moms made for the birthday group:



And finally, here's Kadence with one of her many dolls. Her big gifts were her bike, dolls, Princess toys, and tons of hugs and kisses. We love our Kadence and it is still hard to believe she's three!

Thanks for Playing Along!

Needless to say, April Fools Day is a personal favorite!! While Hawaii would've been a marvelous experience, watching everyone's reaction was priceless. Perhaps you'll see us venture over to the islands one day, but until then, our joke has been served!

Wonder if you all will ever believe anything we say (Elizabeth wants me to change this sentence: Wonder if you all will ever believe anything I say :)!

Big News: We're Moving!

We never saw this one coming, but when something is right, you have to do it. I was offered another position within LDS Philanthropies to help the work over at BYU-Hawaii. Yes, I've only been doing this job since December, and we haven't found someone for the Telefund yet, but I've always had a special place in my heart for BYU-H and the incredible students over there. I've been there four times and it's amazing!

In three months, we'll be packing up our house and moving to the islands. It is quite a change, but as we've discussed it as a family--including our girls--we're all on the same page. Elizabeth has been behind me since we found out last week. When we told Kadence and Tayah about the ocean, the weather, the great food, etc., they seem pretty excited, but a little sad to be separated from their friends. After all, we told Kadence, she's already been there and she loved it then (granted, she was only eight months old)! We broke the news to our family last night and while they are a bit shocked, are being extremely supportive. We also told our bishop and he was just as surprised. It'll be hard leaving our neighborhood, ward, and our callings, as well as our dear friends. Thank goodness for the Internet and blogs, right?! We hope you will all support us in our new adventures. This will give me a chance to use my Japanese a lot more and will give the girls a cultural experience they just can't have anywhere else. Plus, it gives you extra incentive to make that trip to Hawaii you've all wanted to go on, correct?

We've got a lot to do--selling our house, finding a place to live in or near Laie, and getting all our affairs in order, but thankfully we've got time. We don't move until July 1 and today is just...



April 1st! Happy April Fool's Day everyone!