April

Talia lost her first tooth at the Tiger exhibit in the San Diego Wild animal park. It was an exciting event and another indicator that my little baby is growing up.



For any who don't know we took an extremely spontaneous trip over Spring Break to San Diego. We had a wonderful time and made lots of fun memories. Some of the things we did included Sea World, San Diego zoo, the wild animal park, Old Town, La Jolla and the tide pools, a couple of fun authentic restaurants , and lots of beach time with boogie boarding, kayaking, and just plain splashing around. We were also able to hit an In-and Out on the way home and even visit with Craig's brother Ty who is selling home security systems in CA. I do have to say that we would have been toast if it hadn't been for Craig's Iphone and the GPS software. We did get lost a couple of times, but probably would have just stayed in the house if we hadn't had it's assistance. I loved observing the hillsides of flowers, and all the lush and different foilage and flowers that the area seems to grow so easily. Breck got such a kick out of the lemon trees.




The weather was gorgeous and perfect for hitting the various parks; only one day was a little too warm. Since the little houses we rented were within walking distance of the beach we hit them every afternoon after we couldn't walk or look at things any more. I loved having the additional privacy, laundry facitilies, and a little yard to hose off the sand, and a couple of bedrooms so that we could separate a little for sleep time. We didn't do much cooking, but definitely enjoyed not having to eat out all the time.



Capriel loved the beach and just wallowed in the sand. We love this picture capturing her most common activity-running. Capriel loved the whole trip. The drive down was pretty long for all of us, but we could nearly always bribe her to sit down or go to sleep at night by telling her that we were goign to see the dolphins, or the elephants, or the water. She was at such a fun age to share this trip with.


Breck turned 10 in San Diego. She had told us much earlier that what she wanted most for her birthday was to go to the beach. That's not the real reason we went, but we were glad to take her. She loves new experiences and became a pretty good little boogie boarder. Even though it wasn't that warm, she would ride the waves MUCH longer than any of the other children. She just doesn't care about getting dirty or cold. She also enjoyed searching in the tide pools for the shells and crabs and anemones. She is growing up too quickly and is such a help. It was fun to see her be able to relax and enjoy life as a kid. During the school week she can get pretty stressed and somber and sometimes has a hard time having fun. She is so much fun and is certainly the leader of the children.



Craig turned 33 this March and we celebrated with his traditional salmon dinner.




We also had a great Easter after we arrived. Getti and Dave came and hid eggs for the kids.

The most exciting thing about this picture is the hairdo that Capri is sporting. For some reason during the trip she let me put hairties in and even kept them in for the most part.


This was the Meal in Jerusalem meal that Getti organized for Easter lunch. It was fun and the kids were surprised at how good most of the food was. Craig cooked a mean fish that most of the kids actually enjoyed. Thanks to Getti for a fun experience.


This is Craig acting as the head of the household starting the meal off with the hand washing ritual that probably wouldn't pass any health codes today.


Tali had her Spring recital recently. She is loving book two and learning so fast. She will play both of these songs on Saturday for Federation (kind of like ajudications.

Let's see -other recent happenings.

We are toilet training Capriel. I'm not sure we're doing very well, but tonight she actually had a bowel movement in the toilet all by herself. She loves to tell people that she is wearing "underweeahh" and can often be spotted without pants on after an accident.

Craig and I and Tali made 25 pints of strawberry jam. We also got 3 yards of mulch delivered which we are slowing distributing.

The weather has turned gorgeous after three weeks of cancelled soccer games due to snow and very miserable weather. We are almost drunk with sunshine.

I am spraying my tulips like crazy- so determined to actually see them bloom. We are also digging out the grass in the small circular mounded bed in front of the front window.

A fun story about Landen's last soccer game. He got kicked by the ball very hard in the mouth (it split his lip) and after the impact and the "ohh" from the parents he proceeded to take advantage of the shock factor, and dribbled a couple of times and hit a nice goal from where else-the left side. He is playing pretty similar to last year and scoring like a mad man. However, he is also learning to pass and play with teamwork. I can't tell you how many times he has passed it right in front of the goal to a teammate who in turn fumbles it. We are proud of this development and his progress as a team member. It is pretty funny to listen to the parents and kids watching him play. Saturday, a couple of Dad's were talking about him and said after pointing him out, "I guess that's an example of how influential single players like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods can be on a game"
I get about as much enjoyment (and a little anxiety) watching Craig as I do Landen during the game. THe are both equally intense and involved in the game.