Fish Fever

Ben had another short, but successful, fishing trip on Saturday. He caught numerous trout in the 10 to 16" range and hooked what he thought was going to be the wall hanger he's always wanted to catch. It turned out to be huge carp! Man, those suckers are ugly (bad pun, I know).

Dinosaur Museum

We had a great time at the Thanksgiving Point dinosaur museum a week ago Saturday.



Rachel loved exploring the cave -- even when a little boy pretended to be a triceratops and tried to head butt her out of the cave.







The sand and water play area was a big hit.



The shark made Luke a little nervous, but he went right up to it when he saw his sisters weren't afraid.



The woolly mammoth hunting exhibit seemed a bit violent for kids and turned into an impromptu object lesson on where meat comes from.





Every little boy's dream: dirt, tools and nobody around to say "no."

Fishergirl

Dad took the day off on Friday and took Emma fishing in the afternoon. They went to a secret spot to catch rainbow trout that have just begun their spawning run out of a local reservoir and up a small stream.

Emma caught this beautiful 16" rainbow all by herself using her Barbie fishing pole! The biggest fish Dad caught was only 14".



When they got home, Mom told Emma what a good fisherman she is. Emma corrected her and said, "You mean fisherGIRL."





Rachel liked the slippery, slimy feel of the trout. Dad and Emma kept 4 fish (the limit) in all and mostly kept small ones because they are better to eat. The trout made a delicious dinner!

V-day

Hanging out outside waiting for dinner to be finished. Uncle Cameron was just coming around the corner honking the horn and caught their attention.

Valentine's kisses

My sweet brother Cameron brought each of the girls as well as me a beautiful carnation. Isn't that sweet? The girls were thrilled and they made a nice addition to our Valentine's dinner table.

The table

I tried making a from-scratch yellow cake topped with homemade milk chocolate frosting. Delicious and VERY rich.

Ben made a delicious Chinese meal for us, complete with homemade hot and sour soup--my absolute favorite!!! It was so nice of him to do that for us. Thanks honey!


Hope everyone had a fun and love-filled Valentine's day!

Luke Shakes It

Luke can't help but move his body when he hears music. It doesn't matter if it's hymns at church, Ben's guitar, or songs on the radio. He can't resist anything with even a hint of rhythm. Sometimes he subtly sways back and forth. At other times he goes all out with dance moves reminiscent of Axl Rose's sidewinding stage theatrics.

Emma's First Piano Recital

Emma had her first piano recital on January 23rd. She's been taking lessons since last September and loves it! She has a natural talent for music and is able to learn quickly. She's beginning to play songs with both right and left hand now and is so proud of herself. We are too! The two songs she performed were "We Love Music Class" and "Good King Wenceslas." We treated her to lunch at Chili's (her favorite restaurant) afterwards. A fun Saturday!

Fun with Aunt Ali

Wow, I sort of fell out of the blogosphere for awhile there. It seems like every January I don't take pictures, probably because I've overdosed on pictures at Christmastime. But I did take the camera with me on Monday when my cute little sister Alexandra was in town. We headed over to Kangaroo Zoo for some bouncing fun. The kids had a wonderful time with her--we only get to see her a few times a year. So this was a big deal!






We love you Aunt Ali!