Our past month

Yes, the first few pictures are from Easter. A little late getting this posted, I know.:)



The church playgroup the week of Easter was an Easter Egg hunt. It was such a nice day too! All these little cuties are within a few months of each other. I thought it was too cute that they were all sitting looking at / eating their eggs they had found.:)

We also dyed Easter eggs with some friends that week. I had to post this picture, even though the timing was a little off. Dylan was giving his little friend a kiss. I think Dylan is a little smitten with her. She is so cute, what little boy wouldn't be?

We dyed Easter Eggs outside since the weather was so great. Here are the kids kicking back, waiting for the eggs to color.

When they got bored waiting for the eggs, they gave each other rides around in the wagon.

On April 6, our family headed up to the Peter Whitmer home in Fayette, NY to celebrate the 180th anniversary of the organization of the LDS church. It was a memorable experience to be there on that day.

During the kids spring break, we headed up to the play museum in Rochester. Unfortunately, many other kids had spring break off as well, so it was a little crowded. We still had fun though. They had a new exhibit of Lego's when we were there. This ghost prisoner made eerie sounds that quite intrigued the kids.

This dragon was made entirely out of Lego's. Scott and Madeline have loved playing with Lego's more recently, so they really liked this exhibit.

Scott and Madeline, our superheroes!

This picture was too funny, in my opinion. We had Scott and Madeline's old car seat in our house for a few days, before taking it back to the storage unit, and the kids loved playing with it. Scott and Madeline kept buckling themselves it in, and then making me come over and get them out. After a few times doing this, I got a little tired of getting them out, so I told them to stop buckling the straps. When Scott did it next, to teach him a lesson, I told him he could just sit in the car seat for a few minutes until I felt like coming and letting him out, and continued what I was doing on the couch. Scott had buckled himself in the seat while it was behind the couch, and so after a few minutes he comes crawling around the couch, on his hands and knees, still buckled into the seat. I burst out laughing, then had to grab the camera. He cracks me up.:)

Since this is our last spring here, we hiked up Buttermilk Falls here in Ithaca. We had seen the falls from the bottom, but never hiked all the way up the trail. It turned out to be raining the entire hike almost, but we had a good time anyway.:)

I'll apologize now for all the pictures from our hike, but I just loved them and couldn't decide which ones to post. They are all from different parts of the hike up the trail. It was so picturesque. The entire time hiking up the trail, we got to see the water running through the gorge, and many little waterfalls. So pretty.

Our kids were such troopers. They hiked the entire thing, well except Dave holding Dylan through about half of it.

The walls of earth were so saturated with moisture, they were dripping into the gorge. We thought this one was especially cool.

Even though it was raining, we are still glad we were able to hike it. It's kind of sad that we don't get to stay here in the summers to take part in all the outdoor activities they have here. We'll get a few more weeks now, and then come back again next fall to finish up our last semester.

Oh, Canada!

Here are some reasons why our family loves Canada:

1. They put on a good Winter Olympics.

2. Two words......Steve Nash

3. We are big fans of William Shatner and he is Canadian, so therefore we love Canada. Can you imagine Star Trek without Shatner as James T. Kirk? Forget about it!

4. Melissa's father, Richard, served a Mormon mission to British Columbia. We love Mormons and we love Canada, so therefore we love Richard. (I might have my logic backwards on this one)

5. When Scott developed a fear of bears last summer we told him he had nothing to worry about because bears only live in faraway Canada (yes this was a white lie, but hey, he was really scared of bears). Now he loves bears and can't wait to go to Canada.

6. The new LDS temple in British Columbia will be dedicated soon and is currently open to the public for tours. Check out the following article from a local B.C. newspaper:

http://bclocalnews.com/news/90154452.html

Cheers...ehh,

Dave

Gettysburg, Washington, D.C., and Mount Vernon

This past week, Cornell had their Spring Break, so Dave had a week off from school. And since we are nearing the end of our stay here in New York (Dave is done with school in Dec 2010), we decided to head down to Washington D.C. for a long weekend. On the way down, we practically passed through Gettysburg, PA, so we stopped there for a few hours. (Warning: Lots of pictures to follow, but I didn't feel like splitting it up in two posts:):)


Gettysburg was a lot of fun and a nice break from driving in the car. We toured the Museum first, and then headed out to drive around the different battle points in the surrounding area. My favorite part of the whole thing was sitting in this room at the very end, with a big picture of President Lincoln, and hearing a recording of the Gettysburg Address. It was pretty incredible.

Next we were off to Washington, D.C. The first day there, it was rainy, so we figured that was a good day to look at the Museums. We went to the National Gallery of Art, Air and Space Museum and the Natural History Museum. Inside the art museum they had these little areas full of flowers that we so pretty. I just loved them.

I could have a smaller version of this one in my house someday.:):)

U.S. Capital

Luckily, it only rained in the morning for the most part, but was kind of cold and windy the rest of the day. Had to keep out of the puddles of water you can see on the ground.

Washington Monument. Scott and Madeline thought this looked like a giant pencil on our map, so they kept asking us when we were going to the giant pencil.:)

Air and Space Museum.

I think the Air and Space Museum was one of my favorites. I loved seeing all the big planes hanging around, and the rockets and things as well. The kids were definitely impressed.

A big spider Scott liked at the Natural History Museum.

My next piece of jewelry, The Hope Diamond.:):) Hint, Hint Dave.:)

The Smithsonian Castle

Our kids were troopers to walk as much as we did. But they did get a little tired and needed to take turns riding in the stroller and getting on Dad's shoulders.:)

The nest day was sunny and a little warmer, and the first day of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. We walked around to the monuments and memorials that day. Here we are in front of the White House.

When we got to the Washington Monument, there were SO many people out flying kites. We were a little sad we didn't have one to join in on the fun.

On our way to the Jefferson Memorial and walking through all the Cherry Blossoms. They were so pretty.

Jefferson Memorial in the background.

We liked the reflection of the Washington Monument in the water.

Japanese Cherry Blossom. I appropriately wore the scent from Bath and Body Works, Japanese Cherry Blossom that day too.:) I am so coordinated, wouldn't you agree?:)

Lincoln Memorial

Back view of the White House on our way to the American History Museum. We spent just a little bit of time at that Museum. My favorite thing was seeing the actual flag that inspired the writing of The Star Spangled Banner. Walking into the room, hearing the Anthem playing, and reading about the events gave me goosebumps. Definitely worth seeing.

Our last day, we went to Mount Vernon, which was George Washington's residence and estate. We toured the house and surrounding areas before heading home. We had so much fun, and feel so lucky to be living close enough to go and see our Nation's Capital. Definitely worth making the trip to go and see. :)

March Madness Baby!

Hello sports fans. The stars have aligned and both schools that are near and dear to my heart have won basketball games in the first round of the NCAA tournament. BYU, led by Jimmer Fredette, won its first tournament game since 1993. Yesterday, Cornell won its first NCAA tournament game in school history, and was the first team from the Ivy League to win in more than a decade.

Don't tell this to Melissa.....but if BYU makes it to the Final Four (yes its a long shot) I'm going to name our next son "Jimmer". :)

Dave

The last few weeks

I thought this first picture was so cute, because it is of my two red heads, and also because of the story behind it.


Dylan had woken up kind of early, so when I heard him at his door I got up out of bed to open it for him. By the time I got out of my room, Scott had already opened Dylan's door, and brought his blanket and some books out for him. I found them sitting on the couch, Scott showing a book to Dylan. Scott told me he could help entertain Dylan so I could go back to sleep if I wanted. Such a sweet boy.:)

A few weeks ago, we had a good size snow storm blow through. Granted it was nothing as big as some areas have been hit this winter, and we never lost power or anything, but it was the most snow we have ever had in one storm, in Utah or here in Ithaca. I, for one, couldn't believe how much snow we got.

Dave had to literally dig out our car.

There is no hill under all that snow, but it is the snow pile from clearing the parking lot and sidewalks. I wonder when the big snow piles will finally all melt. July?

Yes, that is Dave standing in snow up to his knees. Dylan would have been lost in it.

After digging out the car, Dave helped the kids build a snow tower. He made a clearing in the snow, so Scott and Madeline could help too. Dave got a big storage box and filled it with snow, kind of like a sand castle mold at the beach. It was pretty impressive.

Yes, this is a picture of the kids in swimsuits, while we still had a good foot of snow outside.:) They found all sorts of things to entertain themselves with, while stuck inside during the snow storm. They each took turns getting in the clothes hamper and rolling each other around the room in it. (That is Dylan's cute little bum coming out of the clothes hamper).

I loved this picture of Dylan wearing Madeline's princess shoes, while pretending to also be a Jedi from Star Wars.

A few days before Dylan's birthday, he got a birthday package in the mail. I think he had just as much fun playing with the Mickey Mouse box as any toy he got.:) Go Figure.

And yes, this past week my baby turned two. I can't believe Dylan has grown from this to being two. It makes me a little sad. I REALLY don't want him to grow up, but at the same time, I love every stage he goes into. For his birthday, Scott wanted to get Dylan his own batman toy (since he has practically taken over Scott's). Dylan has loved having his very own batman and bat mobile. He also got some fun puzzles, books, clothes (I particularly liked that gift myself), a Mr. Potato Head, Elmo movie, and a cool Jeep truck with an attached trailer and animals to go with it. It was a fun day, and the kids were so excited.

These last few pictures are all from the same day. While I was taking a shower, this is what happened. Dylan got ahold of the goldfish box and dumped it all. Relaxing shower, let me tell you.:) When I was finally decent to come out of my room, I found Madeline and Scott trying to clean up/ eat all the goldfish on the floor. Dylan was trying to help too, but mainly just succeeded in smooshing all the fish into the floor. Joy.

Later that same day, while Dylan was taking a nap, I had the twins go into their room for quiet time, while I was in my room working on some computer stuff. After a while, I was so surprised how well they were being in their room, when Scott walked in looking like this. He had taken his scissors, and cut his hair all over his head. I couldn't believe it. I thought we were past this stage. And, yes, that is marker all over his face as well. Go figure.

Needless to say, the next day we had to go get it buzzed all off to make it even. Madeline made a little snip in her hair too, but hardly noticeable. I realize it could have been much worse. At least Scott's hair will grow back quickly. And I guess I have no room to complain about it, since I did the same thing to my hair when I was 3 or 4. Except I cut off all my curls, and my mom cried when she saw me. Scissor privileges have now been revoked.:)