Spring Break...

I love, love, loved Spring Break this year. We stayed close to home and just enjoyed all there is to do in Vegas at this time of year. We spent a couple of the days just playing with friends at our house. The kids are good to run around and play out back, inside, or on their bikes and machines in the front yard. We visited our favorite parks and even had a picnic for dinner with dad one night. Blake and I enjoyed a few afternoons playing tennis while Ethan was at a friends house. Keaton is so good to play with balls and run around the court while we hit back-and-forth.

We enjoyed the Springs Preserve with friends and a few cousins.





And one day we visited Bonnie Springs. This is a small little community (if you call it that?!) about 15 minutes from home. It has an old western town, all inclusive with a jail, shooting saloon, shops, petting zoo, and plays. The kids watched one of the melodramas and ran around. I had to include the picture of Ethan shooting a gun even though it is blurry. There's a sign in the saloon that says "No Flash Cameras". I thought that was weird and didn't follow directions because it didn't make sense to me. When I took the picture it set off all the electronics in the room- apparently the guns put out a laser/light that would set off the targets and then they'd react. Uh, so does the flash on the camera. There were things flying everywhere. It scared the kids and everyone else in there. Ooops. I guess it was a good thing though because the kids didn't want to spend any more quarters in there! We finished off the trip to Bonnie with a picnic at a park- the same park that the kids did their triathlon at last summer.











One night we went out to a really cool new mall that has a park in the middle of it and a big piece of grass to picnic on. We took sandwiches and ate dinner and played there and then when it was time we went to Horton Hears A Who. It's so fun to do those sorts of things with the whole family. I'm excited for summer time!

Exceptional...

Ethan gave the primary talk last Sunday. The lady called to remind me on Saturday. Good thing because I had forgotten! (It was funny because in the message she left she said that she figured that I remembered and was sorry to call and remind me...he he he.) Anyways, I got it ready on Sunday morning. Thanks to my mom and her fantastic family home evening Christmas gift (she gave me 70+ different, complete kits on all sorts of topics for FHE. All homemade and fabulous.), Ethan had a talk with lots of visuals to keep the kid's attention. My point to this blog is that Ethan got up there and did a great job. He even included emotion in his words. Several teachers pulled him aside to tell him what a great job he'd done. One teacher told me "That is an exceptional boy." I agree.

I finally followed through with getting the boys some ties. They've been asking for months. I prefer the polo shirt look at this age so I was dragging my feet. They were so excited to wear them. Blake is very picky about tight clothes so he didn't like the shirt that I'd gotten to go with his tie. He chose a plaid shirt to wear with his orange tie. It was great and they both looked spiffy. Ethan was pretty sure that his tie made him answer the questions correctly in his primary class.

Meet Our New Friend Spikey...

So Blake wanted a haircut with spikes and I just wanted to keep it long. Alexis, the girl who cuts their hair, said that she'd compromise and do something that would satisfy both of us. (By the way, Blake has called Alexis using my cell phone. I only become aware of this when I hear him carrying on a conversation in the other room and I go in to investigate.) She cut it a bit shorter than I wished but Blake loves it. The funny thing is it is still a tad too long for spiking- or as Blake calls it "fohawk". I love the smile he gets when it's combed. He told us to call him "Spikey".





Keaton had his hair trimmed and he always does so good. I made a big deal of it and now he wants his hair combed every morning when big brothers are getting ready. Several times a day he runs his fingers on the top of his thin head of hair and says "haircut" and I know that's my cue to make a big deal of his hair. I must have given him enough "wow"s and told him that it looks nice frequently enough because he started saying "haircut....nice". He is so dang cute- and a genius (like his brothers). I'm just glad that Ethan doesn't want to cut his hair. I love it! He's my surf dude.