Hillside Letter Hikes

Andrew has always been fond of letters on mountainsides.  Last fall we decided to start "collecting" the letters by hiking up to them and taking our picture at the top.  When we get home we put a pin on our map to remind us.  It has been a fun activity for Andrew and me.  So far we have hiked the Y in Provo, the FG in Fountain Green, and the M in Moroni.  We are working our way south through Sanpete County.  Here are some pics from our hike up the M.

Peter and the Barlows

 Everyone loves a sweet baby.  Grandpas and dogs alike.

Easter 2013

 Gunnison city Easter egg hunt.

 Pipping contest after a great Ham dinner at Gr and Gr Jaussi's house. (Bella and Caitlin)

 Isaac and Drew

 The whole crew gathered around the master pipper, Grandpa Clair.

 Josh takes on Grandpa...and loses.

 Zion is proclaimed the winner!  The pipper with the last intact egg!   Hoorayyy!!! and then...Grandpa gets tricky and pulls out a half dozen eggs he has been hiding.  Sneaky sneaky.  He pips Zion, and breaks her egg.   What will Zion do to vent her frustration?

 The first every Jaussi Post-pipping easter egg fight breaks out and Grandpa takes the brunt of the action.  I don't know if he has ever been so shocked in his life!  But you have to admit, he did ask for it!

Scanlons!

Friends, giggles, soda pop, books, playtime, candy, sleepovers, movies, dancing, playing in the dirt, and cupcakes galore!  That's what happens when you get together with your best friend.  ...Oh, and our kids had a pretty good time too! :)   

 

 Josh, Emma and Ali reading before bed.

 Duck cupcakes -- Andrea and I have never used the dipping technique, so we tried it out.  Not too bad for a first attempt.

 Originally supposed to be Mooses, then we decided on unicorns, and eventually ended up with Dragons.  Go figure.

 Andrea is my best friend.  We have been through thick and thin together and history counts for a lot!  We love to do gingerbread projects together and always enjoy working on ideas for those projects.  It always ends up in at least one uncontrollable giggling fit.

These cupcakes were our best of the day.  Just mini marshmallows rolled in sugar.  So pretty!

We are so proud of our Andrew!  He was the star of "Wodney the Wat" (Rodney the Rat who can't say his "R"s) for the first grade play.  He memorized his lines and acted so well!  We have a great video, but alas, I am still scratching my head about upload problems.  In the meantime, just know that Andrew is cute, talented, and a total stud!

Basement Project

We are working on finishing our basement.  It is a big project!  Luckily we have had alot of great people helping us out.  Joe and Daniel helped frame.  Daniel Mike and I installed all the trim.  Mike did all the electrical, I filled nail holes, sanded and calked, the kids are helping with priming and painting.  It is a big job, but it will be so nice when it is done!

Before sheetrock...

After sheetrock.   Let the painting begin!

Blessing of a Baby

Peter's blessing was the first of March.  It was such a lovely day!  We had lots of family come and Peter actually didn't cry during his blessing.  He is the first of our children to behave!  True, he was swaddled so tight in his favorite blue blanket that he hardly knew what was going on.  I made Mike promise to unwrap him to show him off to the congregation.  After the blessing, Mike fumbled with the blanket for a good 10 seconds then announced to the congregation that he couldn't get him unwrapped!  It was pretty funny.  

The blessing was very nice.  Peter was promised all the blessings of a righteous life, and happiness.  It was comforting to me.

 Adults love to eat, and gab....

 kids love to PLAY!

 More eating and gabbing adults...

I totally forgot to take any pictures of Peter on the day of the blessing.  Duh, huh!  So we had a little photo shoot a few days later.  This blessing outfit was worn by Michael when he was blessed.  It was also worn by Joshua and Andrew.  I love this tradition.  Caitlin was blessed in my blessing dress as well.  It is pretty special.

I LOVE this picture!  It says so much about the relationship between Caitlin and her little brother!  She is so angelic and sweet and attentive and loving.......and Peter has to endure the torture of it!

Spring Piano Recital

Our spring piano recital went very well.  This is a picture of one of my students, I thought it was cute.  I took video of the boys with their performances, but for some reason I can't figure out how to get blogger to upload them :(   Josh and Drew are both becoming such good pianists!  I was very proud of my boys, and all of my students.

Drew the Dancer

Drew is an awesome dancer!  He has been dancing for three years now and sure does love it.  His best buddy Lincoln has always been on the same dance team, so it is wild and fun.  Their team has taken two first places at competitions so far this year!