My friend Summer organizes a huge Easter egg hunt every year up at Rock Canyon Park. The kids absolutely love it. Cael wanted a picture with the easter bunny who made an appearance at the end.
Cael was so cute to help Ava find eggs for her basket, even though he had every opportunity to run ahead and leave her in the dust.
The kids got a really fun Easter package in the mail from Grandma & Grandpa Hokanson. They are always so cute to think of us on every holiday.
The Easter Bunny left a trail of eggs for Cael and Ava to follow that led to their baskets.

Happy Birthday Cael!

Cael turned 5! We had a party for him at Jumpin Jacks, and then brought everyone back to our house for lunch/cake and to open presents. He felt so special, and had such a great time (this was his first party with friends). His little buddies that came were Cade, Brock, Bo, Trent, and Xavier. Then on Sunday (his actual b-day), we had a fondue dinner with his cousins. We love you so much Cael, you are the BEST big brother, example, and son we could've ever asked for.

a BIG week for Cael

Today we went to kindergarten registration, and Cael was so excited to be able to walk around the elementary school where he will be going. We peeked in every classroom, the library, the lunch room, and he just HAD to go in the boy's restroom to use the urinal. :) I think it's going to be really hard for me once he starts in the fall, and it's not that he's going to be gone from home much longer than he is with pre-school, but it just means he's really growing up and it makes me so sad at how fast that happens. Also, his birthday is on Sunday along with Easter. He's really excited to have a party on Saturday, and he loved passing out invitations to his friends today. At pre-school they did a fun little activity where they were given a newspaper page and a magnifying glass, and they had to look through it and highlight any letters they could see that appear in their name. He spent a few hours working on this even after he came home from school that day.

Is this Utah or Alaska?

I seriously can't believe how much snowfall we've received this year! It seems like every morning we wake up to a few new inches. The snow banks on our street in some spots are 7 feet high! Morning, noon, or night the kids want to be out in it playing, which wouldn't be so bad I guess if I weren't so pregnant. Anyway, I'm trying my best to enjoy the rest of the season, and trying even harder not to let my bad attitude rub off on Cael and Ava. I'm just so ready for the Spring, and for the new baby to be here.

In Loving Memory

President Gordon B. Hinckley -What an amazing Prophet he was. He will be missed greatly, but I know we will see him again someday.

It's her party she can cry if she wants to!

...and boy did she ever live up to that phrase. The whole day was a little bit rough. Anytime we would sing "Happy Birthday" to her she would get mad and scream "NO!", and if you happened to be standing close enough to her you took the chance of getting punched or kicked. Cael really found it amusing that he could get her upset in that way, so as you can imagine he was reminding her all day that it was her birthday. I'm still not quite sure why she was acting that way, maybe she just didn't want the attention. That night we all met at Brick Oven for dinner and a little party. She enjoyed that part of the day because of ALL the presents she got. She's so into princess stuff right now, so it was really easy to find gifts she would love. Thanks to everyone who made her day special. We appologize to any of you who called her and didn't get quite the "warmest" responses like you may have expected from a birthday girl...at least YOU didn't get kicked! :) We'll let her off the hook this time, because I think she was just trying to live up to the title of the "Terrible Two's". We love you Ava. You have brought us so much happiness!

Hooray for Uncle Scott!

Congratulations to the newest member of the Orem City Fire Department! You're awesome Scott, we knew you could do it!

12.05.07

Cael and Ava got together with some of their best little buddies and decorated ice cream cone Christmas trees. They had so much fun putting on the icing and candy, but even more fun EATING them afterwards.

We're having a....

Sorry... We'll all have to just wait and see! I had my ultrasound today, and the baby looks fine, but we didn't have the sonologist tell us the sex. Orginally Andy and I were both TOTALLY for leaving it a surprise, but just since last week I've been wanting to know. But he would NOT give in and let me find out. Since we do have one of each, and I have all the clothes I'll need for whatever it turns out to be, we thought why not do something different this time. I think it'll be fun. (Although deep down I was hoping she'd slip and say "he" or "she", but no luck.) We let Cael and Ava come with us, and they thought it was so neat to see. Cael REALLY wants it to be a boy or a dog. :) To those of you who said you're going to call the Ob Gyn yourselves to find out?...they said they won't tell anyone over the phone. :) So, we'll just have to be patient until April.

Halloween '07

Ava was a witch. (If she knows I'm going to take a picture, she'll hurry and look away - what a stinker!!)

Cael was a pirate again this year. Here he is at his pre-school Halloween program.

I LOVE the Fall!

It always amazes me how quickly the leaves change color once the cold weather hits. As we were driving home from Andy's parents' house in Star Valley Wy. last week, it seemed as if they'd changed over night. The drive (needless to say) was gorgeous. I think I can truly say that Fall is my favorite season. Although any time I state that the current season or holiday is my favorite to Andy, he always says "whatever, you said that about the last one." Maybe I do tend to overuse the word "favorite", but not this time!
Here are a few reasons why I LOVE it:
When I go outside I can sometimes smell the aroma of a burning log coming from someones chimney.
It's so fun to get out all my jeans and warm sweaters, and put my shorts and flip-flops away!
It brings back memories of heading back to school, which (surprisingly) I do miss sometimes.
Halloween! I love everything associated with it- my decorations, going to haunted houses, Halloween parties, costumes...
The mountains are breathtaking!
Being able to turn on the heat in the house again.
It means that Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner! (also 2 of my "favorites") ;)

Back To School

Cael just started his 2nd year of pre-school. His teachers this year are Mrs. Kelly and Mrs. Veater. He goes 3 times a week in the afternoon. I am loving the schedule this year because Ava takes her nap for almost the whole time he's gone. So I'm able to get a lot done during those few hours. It's so fun to see the progress he's made since last year. He's already excited about going to kindergarten next year, but I believe it's because he thinks he gets to ride the school bus...which he doesn't, because we live so close to the school. :(

#3

To answer some of your questions...yes, I AM pregnant. I've been feeling pretty yucky lately, but if this pregnancy is anything like my other two, the sickness should go away in the next few weeks (hopefully!). I know I don't even get it as bad as some, and I'm grateful mine only lasts through the first trimester, but the constant nauseous feeling can sure make the hours drag on. And it was a sad day when the smell of my favorite laundry detergent started making me want to hurl, and I was forced to switch. :) Also, this is the reason why I ended up not running in the 1/2 marathon. I had an appointment with my doctor 3 days before the race, and due to certain things (I'll spare you the details), he recommended I not run in it. So, luckily I was able to sell my spot, and Andy and Allyson ran it alone. Oh well, there's always next year.

Aside from all that, we did have a great time in Montana. I'll get around to posting pictures of that trip and Lake Powell...someday. Finally, I have to say it's been fabulous having so much help around the house, since I've been so sick. Our maid, nanny and chef have helped out a ton. I know, I'm so spoiled! ***totally kidding, I would kill to have just one of those at this point, I dream about it daily!

Splish! Splash!

Cael and Ava love their nightly bath, and I do too!! There are few things better than the smell of a freshly washed child. YUM!

our favorite summer treat

All summer long I've been buying a box of these every time I go grocery shopping. Cael and Ava LOVE when I let them have one, and I've discovered Andy loves them just as much. Although, for awhile I couldn't figure out why we were going through them so fast. I've known Andy usually grabs more than one when he hits the freezer, but the other night I came down from bathing the kids and found him with about 15 empty wrappers. I thought it was so funny, and he had no shame in telling me that he does that quite often. I guess for only 30 calories per serving- they aren't that bad of an indulgence. :D

A Night at the Museum

Here we are at the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. We did it all...the exhibits, the sand & water sinks, the pretend quarry, touched the bones, and ate at the deli and the ice cream parlor. And after all I saw and supposedly "learned", I can still only name like 3 or 4 dinosaurs (pretty embarrassing). Going there was quite the activity to top off our already VERY busy day, and yet after all of it, Cael was begging to go to Wal-Mart...of all places. He sometimes comes up with some pretty random ideas of things we could go do, just to get out of going home and going to bed.

Congrats Scott!

I just want to congratulate Scott for graduating from the Firefighter and Paramedic Programs at UVSC (the soon to be UVU). He has put in many hours and hard work to earn his degree. Scott, I know you would never admit to this, but you've already been a hero countless times in your shifts in the ER, and on the ambulance, and in fighting all those forest fires. Many people have been blessed by the service you've rendered. I'm so glad you are now able to do what you've always dreamed of doing. We are all so proud of you, and love you so much.

Mullet Showcase

So, Ava's over a year and a half now and her hair is taking forever to grow in (Cael's was the same way-he was bald till he was 1). Andy will not let me cut it though, because some friends told us once that if you just leave it alone, and give it a little time, it will all even out. Well, the other day I HAD to trim up her bangs because they would hang right in front of her eyes if I didn't have them pinned back in a barrette. I thought it looked fine, given her hair's struggling right now anyway. But, when Andy came home that afternoon, he pointed out the obvious...that I'd basically given her a full-blown MULLET! So, now I'm trying to look at the positive side to all of this...like- her hair will grow back, so I should really embrace this time that she has a quite coveted hairstyle (among some people), and- if I actually do it up with pony tails or something, it doesn't look that bad, and- honestly, who wouldn't want a hairstyle where it's "all business up front and a party out back"! :)

the 24th

I've always loved the 24th celebration that Spanish Fork puts on. The parade, carnival, fireworks and rodeo are all among our favorites. I ran in the 10K again this year with Allyson, and we ALMOST broke 50 minutes...we'll get there someday. :) The weather all day long was great, just a bit overcast and breezy, so we never got too hot. We watched the fireworks down at the softball fields with the rest of the county it seemed. Andy brought a bunch of the neon light sticks that we had left over from the 4th, and ended up attracting every little kid around to our blanket. After Ava and Cael had a few of their own, he gave the rest away (he's always the life of the party). The fireworks were great. We did however have to watch the finale from our car, as we were driving home. Andy always has some well thought out escape plan to beat the traffic jams after events like that. His exact words this time were- "okay... when I say GO, you grab a kid, I'll grab a kid, and then book it to the car" (which was actually parked only about 10 feet from where we were). But he's dead serious, and if I don't haul tail- I'll hear from him. :) It was a fun day. A shout out to the great state of UTAH! Happy 24th!

Timpview Class of '97 Reunion

7.4.07

We began the day with the freedom festival parade, which was surprisingly enjoyable because we had great seats in the shade. Ava loved all the pretty girls that would wave at her, and Cael liked seeing Cosmo (BYU mascot) on a motorcycle. We sat by my family and the Fullers (Scott's in-laws). After the parade we had lunch at Scott and Brittany's house, and then got ice cream at the mall. It was quite a relaxing day. That night, Andy put on a fireworks show on the street in front of our house. The Harris' and the Nerias were very gracious spectators, they cheered after EVERY single one he lit. :) The only injury sustained that day was when Ava tripped on the driveway and skinned her cute little nose. All in all, it was a great 4th.