Building Walls

This is just one example of what we do to keep Carter from constantly climbing the stairs:

Sunday Morning Fun

I have been so awful at keeping this blog updated this year. Two kids are about all that I can handle - there isn't much time for anything extra. How does everyone else do it all??? So, I decided I would take a few pictures this morning since the kiddos were dressed up for church. It went interestingly . . . 

They sure love eachother. I hope they always do!

Stair Climber

A little over a week ago we noticed that Carter had climbed up onto the first stair. Well, the next day he climbed from the family room to the kitchen all by himself! Now his favorite thing to do is climb the stairs. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to get back down, so he falls or cries until we come and get him. We never bought a gate for Ashlyn, so we don't currently have one, but I'm afraid we might need to invest in one . . .

He was frustrated that I passed right by him without stopping to pick him up, but I had to get a picture!

Bryon's Wedding

I have to begin this post by admitting that none of these pictures were taken by me. They are from my mom's and dad's cameras. Thank goodness they are around to document the important events in our life!

Late Tuesday night my mom and dad and brother came into town. It was so fun for Ashlyn and Carter to wake up the next morning and see their grandparents! 

Dad was entertaining the kids right from the start:

Both of them warmed up to Grandma right away!

It helped that Grandma brought several cute new outfits for each of the kids AND she let Ashlyn wear her high heels!

Wednesday night we went to a wedding dinner at the Johnson home. We had delicious sweet pork burritos and then watched Kari and Bryon's wedding slide show. Kari's brother, Matt, put it together and it was perfect. I might or might not have gotten a little teary eyed. They're such a cute couple! The only picture from the night that I have is this one of Carter crawling around on the basement floor during the video:

Thursday morning we gathered at the Draper temple for the sealing. After the sealing Ashlyn was excited to put on her flower girl dress. Here is a view from the back:

Kari looked so beautiful!

I love this picture of Carter - he looked so precious in his little suit. We could barely get the top button done because his neck is so chubby! I think we were watching Bryon and Kari come out of the temple.

Ashlyn and Kari's niece, Addie, hit it off right away. 

A not-so-great family photo.

We went to Chuck-a-rama for lunch. Carter drank water like a big boy.

Ashlyn loved the fries and ice cream.

By the time the reception rolled around Ashlyn was pretty worn out. Luckily, Brad and I had plenty of people to help keep her occupied . . . like Lorie!

It was really fun to see friends and family at the temple and reception! 

Friday morning Grandma Cheney took Ashlyn on a walk to the park. 

Friday night we had a family party at the park. The big kids played croquet and I heard that it got pretty competitive!

Afterwards we all came back to the house for cake and ice cream and good conversation.

Carter got like a second wind around 9:30 at night and was laughing and squealing. What a champ! 

My parents left this afternoon and I think their trip was way too short! We miss them already!!!

Personal Finance Website

I just found a link to this Personal Finance site through www.byu.edu. The description of it on the home page was:

The purpose of this Web site on Personal Finance is to instruct members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and others around the world about personal financial management. This instruction is provided through a series of lessons delivered over the Internet.  While there is no college credit given for reviewing this material, there is a wealth of information provided that can help you learn about personal finance.  (There is an online course which utilizes this Web site for BYU credit.)  This Web site includes multiple lessons that are targeted at individuals with different experience and education levels.

The address is http://personalfinance.byu.edu/?q=node/5.

I just went through a beginning lesson titled, "Another Perspective on Wealth" and loved it! I am excited to go through more of these lessons. Has anyone else had experience with this site or this professor?

Happy Easter!

We have just had a wonderful weekend! Saturday we spent with Brad's family and we had a lot of Easter fun.

They got to dye easter eggs.

The kids played a musical game. Carter even got into the action!

You can tell that all the kids are loving it!

Grandma also had easter presents for them and an easter egg hunt. We all ate a hamburger lunch together too.

Grandma May gave the kids their Easter outfits. Here is Carter wearing his after church on Sunday.

I couldn't pick between these pictures, so I decided to post this one too.

And this one

We tried to get a picture of Ashlyn as well as one of Ashlyn and Carter together, but she wasn't being very cooperative. We'll try and get more pictures of her in her dress later. She loved wearing it and kept on calling herself a ballerina and "leaping" (I use that word loosely) into the air.

After church Ashlyn took off her dress and put on her swimsuit . . . backwards. 

On Friday night there was a family party for Kari and Bryon that was really fun. I enjoyed meeting more of her family.

Saturday evening Kirk, Kelly, Kyle, Casey and Kelly's mom came into town and we got to have them at our house for two nights. They are wonderful guests and we loved seeing them!

Sunday Kari and Bryon came over to have dinner with us and we always love their company. We're glad they still have more school left so that they can't go anywhere far anytime soon.

Most of all, we're thankful for this special time of year when extra emphasis is placed on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We are so thankful for the atonement in our lives and the knowledge that we will also be resurrected someday. Happy Easter!

Swing Sleeping

Last night the weather was so gorgeous that we decided to take a family walk to the park. We put Carter in the swing and he found it so relaxing, that he fell asleep. We didn't have our camera with us, but our friends were there and they had one. So, here are two pictures that they took:

I took him out and tried to lay him down in the wagon, but he immediately woke up and gave me this look like, "what do you think you are doing?"