Moments

A little journaling...

We had a great time at the Franklin Institute with Alisha, Autumn, Lincoln and Caeli on Monday. They shared their IMAX tickets with us and I loved the movie about the Colorado river... it took me back to Recreation Therapy days on the river!

I forgot the camera (so these are pictures from the internet and Levi's phone).
Some of the highlights were the giant heart

(Gideon was afraid at first, but he was fine as long as I went in with him), the Kidscience part with all the hands-on activities and the Planetarium movie about the sun. It was SO fun- thanks Alisha!

Both the kids fell asleep in the stroller before we got across the street to the Academy of Natural Sciences, so I walked down to Levi's school to pick him up and visited Reading Terminal Market while I waited... I love that place- if you ever visit Philly, be sure to go there!

When Levi finished we walked back down to the Academy and saw the butterflies, a few animals (we watched them feed dead mice to the little fox- yummy!), and the dinosaur bones.

SO fun! I'm so glad we have such fun friends and exciting places to visit.

That's a butterfly- crazy, huh! I wish I had a stealth mode like that, there's no telling what I could accomplish...

If I just kept up, I wouldn't have to catch up. And while the logic is undeniable...

March in no discernible order:

Levi's Birthday

Levi turned 30 this year... 30?!? So old!! I threw a surprise party and invited some friends from school. The whole time I was planning, I agonized over the fact that he was being too helpful cleaning the house, unloading tables and chairs from the van (?), and leaving the house the day of the party... but he really was surprised (and he really is that nice)! Yay!

NCAA Tournament- BYU vs. Texas A&M

We found out at the last minute that BYU was playing in Philadelphia... so we got tickets, picked up the guys from school and ran over to the game. Gideon and Joseph loved it (and so did I, although I was less than impressed with the BYU fans- not nearly as rowdy as I would have liked). The minute we sat down, Joseph looked down at the court and got excited when people cheered. He knew that whatever was going on down there was the reason we were there and he watched most of the first half that way. At halftime we snuck over to the BYU crowd seats- it was an awesome experience- I have so missed BYU sports!

The Philadelphia Temple

This is the site of the Philadelphia temple as far as I can tell- this parking lot is at the correct intersection, anyway. It's right downtown, and only about a mile from Levi's school. I hope we are here to see it, but I heard they weren't going to start construction for 4-5 years, so who knows?

Little Joe-Joe
Joseph is walking everywhere now- still a little wobbly, but he hardly crawls anymore. He found Gideon's bowl of Cheerios and was very proud of himself.

This is Joseph discovering grass- and this is his new "cheese" face.

Cold Applesauce face

Big Brother Gideon

Joseph wants to do everything Gideon is doing all the time... annoying for Gideon, but fun for us to watch them growing together.

Gideon made himself a kid-size car.

Finally got pictures taken, and finally have a decoration on the wall!

Grandpa and Grandpa

Grandpa and Grandma came through on the way to their mission in New Hampshire. It was such a nice visit! But more exciting is what they are doing for the next 18 months- what a great example for all of us.

My dad has a wonderful habit of doing home-improvement projects while he's here- and we now have curtains and blinds to protect us from all the evil "peeping tom's" who have been stalking us through our naked windows! Thanks again, Dad. And my mom did the dishes the whole time she was here... and folded laundry. Thanks, Mom- I'm glad you're not here to see the piles of clean clothes in my living room right now! On second thought, maybe I do wish you were here to see all those clothes...

Keeping the ER in business

While my parents were here (just after our DC trip) Gideon had a fever and was acting funny, so the nurse told us to take him into the ER. Right before we left, Levi accidentally sprayed G with warm chocolate milk and after that he was acting normal again. ? Hmm. We actually left without seeing a doctor because it was 3 am and they said it was going to be awhile.

But when I went back with Joseph a few days later- we did see a doctor (twice, actually) and got antibiotics for pneumonia. The doctor saw him and didn't hear the wheezing we took him in for (which had been going on for a few days and miraculously stopped 5 minutes before we saw the doctor), so she left to do our discharge papers and while she was out on the computer she heard his cough and came back in to listen again. And the wheezing was back. So I undressed him again, put on the little gown and they did a breathing treatment and chest xray. Such a huge blessing that we caught it so early... a little boy in our ward J's age was in the hospital for almost a week with pneumonia the same time.

Joseph made all kinds of friends while we were there, and I don't think it was hard on him at all- not so for the mom who had to hold him for 4.5 hours without letting him down or touch anything! :)

Homemade

I was trying to make a salted caramel frosting I saw online (without a candy thermometer or any experience), and I kept burning it- so I experimented with the hot candy a bit.

BLISS! (both pictures)

I've never tried hot-cross buns, so I made them one day- yummy! I heard it is tradition to make them on Easter... anyone know why?

I let Gideon lick the bowl when I made homemade marshmallows...

... and he shared when I wasn't looking!

Washington, DC
For Levi's Spring Break, we went to DC for a much needed temple session and some sightseeing. I was extra excited because it's one of my favorite places on earth! The spirit I feel there is different than anywhere else. I believe it's because it is hallowed ground due to the eternally significant events that took place there.
The weather was magnificent, as was the company... I can't wait to go back!
Can you see that poor little Gideon is asleep in the far reaches of the stroller? He started to get sick the first day and just got worse (he tested positive for para influenza virus when we got home)... he slept through the Air and Space Museum and most of the zoo. When he did wake up at the zoo, he really wanted to see a Hippopotamus and that was about it. So sad!
The Zoo