Easter

Beckett enjoyed Easter this year. The only thing he didn't really like was getting his picture taken. Still, he looked awfully cute in his Easter outfit.

After church Beckett got a look at his Easter basket. He really liked that it had trains and trucks on it. (Pointing to the train Beckett says, "na na  na na." Like chugga, chugga.) My mom had the fabulous idea of using these interlocking toys as eggs. They can be arranged in lots of different shapes. Both Beckett and Nate think they are pretty cool.

Beckett got a bunch of new cars for Easter.

He read the cards his grandparents sent.

Happy Easter. This is the one picture we have with anything resembling a smile.

That evening we went to a friend's house for dinner. Beckett loved running in and out with all the big kids. He also loved Nick's hamsters. He stood at the cage squeaking at them.

This morning, the day after Easter, Beckett gathered up all his new cars and parked them on the Bungalow book.

Then he clapped for himself.

Open for business

Mom snagged this photo that perfectly captured the moment last week when we went to the farm and fed the baby goats.

Defense Prep

10 days and counting.

A Walk in the Woods

Beckett and Nate went for a walk in the wide, wide world.

A Few of Beckett's Favorite Things

Puzzles. They are a real hit right now. I bought Beckett a new puzzle that makes sounds when each piece is put in its place. He was so amazed the first time he tried it.

Climbing. He can climb this ladder all by himself. He is already playing on the 4th and 5th grade playground. He's going to be so over it by the time he gets to elementary school much less 5th grade.

 

Juice Boxes. Mostly because the straw is awesome. Apparently it's also awesome to push the straw into the juice box even if that means you can't have any more juice.

Shoes. Beckett brings us his shoes so that we'll put them on him and then leave the house. Sometimes if he can't find his shoes he'll bring us our shoes.

Cars. Recently cars have become all the rage over here. Beckett crawls on the ground and pushes them around. He drives them on his head.

Helping. If it's a chore that includes taking something out of something else or putting something into something else I can usually convince Beckett to help. He's already pitching in with the laundry.

Super Why! His love for the Super Readers is undiminished.He especially likes to sit at the desk to watch it. Sometimes pushing the mute button on and off.

Being a Daredevil. The kid is fearless and fast. We must watch him like a hawk.

Thanks for peeking.

Sometimes I think Tyra* reads YA Fiction

* or at least someone on the ANTM staff.

First they did a vampire photo shoot. Maybe with this 2010 shoot ANTM was a little late jumping onto the vampire bandwagon, but vampires are still plenty popular. So much so that I'm not even going to bother to list any of the plethora of YA vampire novels.
The next season they did a fallen angels photo shoot.
It made me think of all the bazillion angel novels out there of which Alexandra Andornetto's Halo Series and Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush, Hush Series are just two examples.

I haven't read either series, by the way, but I do think Ann's photo would make a nice cover for a YA angel book.

Then this season on ANTM they did this crazy walking-in-a-bubble runway show.

Matched anyone?

Run

Last night at the gym this kid ran 400 meters (1/4 of a mile) in 4 minutes and 30 seconds. And he wasn't even winded. To put things in perspective, I ran the 400 in about 60 seconds in high school. Pretty soon I'm going to have to start jogging if I want to keep up with him. That's why I am so tired all the time.

Once a Runner ...

Saturday of our runners reunion went as follows.

First, remember this mountain:
We climbed it. Actually before we climbed it Kristen, Jill, Melanie, and Nicole went running. I stayed home since a) I no longer run due to injuries and b) I knew we would be getting lots of exercise that day. No one needed to run that morning, but once a runner ...

So it was a beautiful day for a hike up Camelback. There were lots of people on the trail.

Climbing the mountain.

Then the climb got a lot harder and we were scrambling up rocks and boulders. People were starting to look us either with admiration or with incredulity because, well, did you notice that Kristen, Melanie, and Nicole are all pregnant?

They proudly bear their bellies.

Here we all are atop the camel's head with an excellent view of the city below.
We made Jill do a yoga pose because, you know, she does yoga and the rest of us inflexible runners think that is pretty awesome.
So, the hike was hard. Kristen said it was her last hike before she has her baby. I said maybe I was glad they were all pregnant so that I could keep up with them. Jill said that if she had known the hike was that hard she wouldn't have brought us, and that she kept thinking how those husbands would kill her if anything happened. Nothing did. In fact, Kristen, Nicole, and Melanie whupped many a hiker.
Saturday was the day of exercise. After a quick lunch and quick showers for some we headed out to Kristen's friend Kriti's house. Kriti and Kristen did Econ together at BYU and now Kriti, besides being a super amazing businesswoman, wife, and mother, teaches Bollywood dancing. She taught us a dance.
Going to learn Bollywood is not exactly what most people do on a vacation, but it was awesome and funny. And hey, remember all those crazy things we used to do when we were running together at BYU? Well, this fits right in. And Bollywood dancing is good exercise. Since we are all amazing dancers we wouldn't be surprised if we were asked to be extras in the next Bollywood Mega-film. OK maybe dancing isn't our forte. In fact, Jill's roommate Summer was definitely the best of the bunch.
After the lesson we checked out Kriti's beautiful yard and glorious orange trees. Those were some good oranges.

Dance poses.

We might have coordinated our outfits. We might have insisted that Nicole borrow one of Jill's shirts so she would fit into the color scheme. Surprised? I didn't think you would be after reading this.

Here's the whole gang with Kriti the fabulous instructor.
That night we went to a fantastic burger joint (and that is high praise from me because KC has the best burgers) and then chatted into the night. The next day we went to Jill's ward. We made a fantastic dinner of wonder salad and artichoke pizza. Then Jill drove Mel and me to the airport, but I didn't go home. My flight kept getting delayed. I started thinking about how late I would be getting home, and how I would have to shovel snow off my car which was in long-term parking. Ugh. So I changed my ticket and made Jill and Nicole come back and get me so we could have one more night together. It was the right decision.

I'm already looking forward to the next reunion.

So long for now.