Field Day

Amelia's school had field day, and I took some fun photos of the event. She was so excited, and loved every minute of it!

With her game face on.

Didn't you love these parachute things in elementary school?

Amelia with her best friend.

Watching field day really wears Colin out.

After the Show

Dinner at Maggiano's with Grandpa Chin and Grandma Debi who flew out just for the occasion!

Posing after the show with all the flowers she got. I think all these flowers might have been the best part of the whole thing for Amelia!

Holding the flowers from Grandma and Grandpa, and getting ready to give them to Amelia.

Debi let Colin pick out some flowers to give Amelia that would be just from him. He was really proud of these colorful daises and held them during the whole show.

Swan Lake

This year Amelia's ballet studio put on Swan Lake, and Amelia got to be a French princess. She loved her costume so much, especially the gloves! Here are some pics that Mike was able to take at the dress rehearsal.

Field Trip

Mike went with Colin's class on a field trip to a lovely nearby wildlife preserve. They had a great time checking out some animals and being together. Colin made a cool hat at school to wear on the trip, and here he is modeling it with Mike.

Jack-in-a-bed

Our last child moved out of the crib and into a toddler bed. Huge milestone!

Mother's Tea

My favorite part of Mother's Day since we moved here is the Mother's Tea at the preschool! Colin made me a darling pin and a wonderful card. Here are some photos from the event.

Colin with his wonderful teacher.

Chugging milk from a real teacup.

This year Colin wasn't interested in singing with his class at all. Here he is taking a break from the hard work of standing around!

Sarah's Yard

We spent a lot of time in Sarah's wonderful backyard with the kids.

Blowing bubbles.

Doing Easter egg hunts.

Firing stomp rockets and releasing rocket balloons.

Chasing down rockets. Once again, Amelia's hair seems to have it's own personality!

Easter in Indiana

We had a wonderful trip to Indiana during Amelia's spring break. It was a long drive for me without Mike, but totally worth it!

We were there during Easter, so poor Mike had to watch the kids find their Easter baskets like this.

Kids running in to see what the Easter bunny brought. Amelia's hair really has a life of its own!

Playing with the new toys.

All ready for church in matching outfits.

Amelia the Reader

At Amelia's school this year they've had a reading program that encourages the first graders to read over 100 books during the school year up to this point. Amelia read and read and kept track of everything, and managed today to earn the "Golden Apple Award." She got to go into school early to choose one of the library's brand new books for the librarian to put a name plate inside with her name and achievement on it. She also got to be the first person to check out the book, and got to take home a real apple and a little golden apple. The book is called "Miss Lina's Ballerinas." Here's a photo of her getting her name in the book.

Day in DC

Last week we took a little overnight trip to DC to check out the cherry blossoms. We really enjoyed it! We hit the road Thurs. night and put the kids straight to bed in our hotel room. In the morning we turned on the TV while we were getting ready and before I could change the channel the boys spotted a monster truck rally. They'd never seen one before, but they were positive that it would be great, so I let them watch it with the sound off. I truly think it was Colin's favorite part of the whole trip! We got on the Metro pretty early and made it to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms and the Jefferson Memorial (which I've never seen before). It was rainy, which added some excitement for the kids and kept some of the crowds away. We also made it to the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum before heading back to Philly. It was such a fun and easy trip that we vowed to go back soon.

Wild Animals

We had some time to kill one afternoon during Lauren's visit, so we entertained the kids by helping them whip up some animal masks with some craft stuff that was hanging around. The results were interesting, made even more so by the terrifying growling/screaming that they felt inspired to do while wearing them. (Note the animal jammies.)

Father's Breakfast

Mike and Colin had a great time this year at the annual Father's Breakfast at preschool. There's always food and a little program where the kids sing. Here they are getting ready to indulge in bagels, orange juice, and mini cinnamon rolls.

Standing around looking cool with his buddy, Albert, while he waits to sing.

"If you're happy and you know it shout..."

French Cooking

A lovely girl whose husband is also at Wharton set up an incredible French cooking class for a few women last weekend. Her brother went to le Cordon Bleu in Paris and graduated #1 in his class for pastry! We spent two evenings and then two full days learning how to make the most incredible food. We learned how to make stocks, butcher a duck, make beef bourguignon, duck confit, pot a feu, croissants, puff pastry, creme anglaise, and about a zillion other things. It was AMAZING! We ate like kings! Now that class is over, I've got to get straight to work practicing what I learned. My first serious attempt was the weekend when I made croissants. It was a very long process and I have a lot more practicing to do, but I was totally excited about it!

Mike's Party

The party was wonderful, and Mike really had a great time eating Mexican food and enjoying the beginning of his thirtieth year.

The dessert table, minus two trays.

At one point Mike's good friend and fellow Accounting PhD gave Mike a BYU t-shirt (Mike hates BYU) and then promptly removed his own sweater to reveal a matching shirt- Jimmer's number, of course. Mike said to quickly take the photo because it will be the last time he ever wears the shirt!

Cutting the cake.

Lauren hard at work on the quiz about Mike.

Mom and Dad in the kitchen.

The sibs and Sheri

The food.

Drinks and tropical fruit with chili and lime.

Favors- Macarons!!