Eli's adventures!

Skiing (pictures from April):

 1st time standing alone! 

Rock climbing:

 Anticipation

 1st time up a little nervous...

So we took a brake, hiked around a bit...

 2nd time up made it 10 feet!

Hiked around a bit more...

 Just like big brother

 3rd time up made it ALL the way to the top! 

We tried coaxing him down earlier but he just kept going!

I am so proud of Eli, not only of participating in a sport his dad and I enjoy, but more so that he was willing to try again and facing his fear until he over came it! What a great quality he has that will help him in many areas of life!

Now if only we can get him potty trained! That is a power struggle he seems to be winning. Any tips out there????

How to enjoy a hike...

 First you need a reliable hiking stick...

 Keep up with your group...

 Enjoy the shade...

 Keep the wild animals away...

Finally, collect treasures.

Dr. Seus Cake

So I decided to make my own birthday cake this year. I know it sounds kind of odd but what a better time to experiment and you don't have to worry about messing up someone else's cake.
Well... I went all out... I have never used fondante, made a layer cake, let alone made a 'topsy turvey' layered cake. Plus I was able to have 3 different types to cake to eat! I wasn't necessarily going for the 'Dr. Seus' look but no one has to know that. I think Whoville would be proud!

Easter

 The Easter Bunny came while the boys were in the bathtub so that's why they are just in underwear/diaper (we were lucky to get Eli's on; he was ready to run out naked!).

 Eli got a kite for Easter but the wind was quite slow so the boys enjoyed chasing Ryan around trying to get it in the air.

Oh, and here is a picture of Eli's sun-burned face he got skiing recently- more pictures to come.

Finally... after 12 long years...

We are now home owners!!! (Or at least mortgage payers)
We are so excited to announce that we closed on our new home yesterday! The home is in Sandy, in a great area. The school is one of the top in the state and we have been attending the ward (church) for the past month.
The only down side is that the current previous owners have yet to find a house so they are renting from us now. We have to be patient a 'little' bit longer and stay in our apartment (oh- did I mention we are currently living on State St- lovely... note sarcasm ). We wrote the contract through the end of June; after that their rent triples.  So hopefully, that deters them enough to move out by then. 
Here are some pictures of the place. (Note, being apartment dwellers we do not have much furniture to fill the place- we joke that we don't know what to do with so much space but I am sure that will be remedied quick enough.)

 Yes, those are chickens. They asked if we wanted to keep them. Um... no. (though they did share some really good eggs with us)

Just Cute!

 Teaching him to do laundry at a young age...

Unfortunately cleaning the toilet didn't go so well.