Spring Break

Oh man.  Spring Break was so great for us this year.  We haven't really done anything big or out of the ordinary since we have moved to Show Low so we have totally needed this vacation.  We were just going to go down to the valley and stay with some friends and do things that the kids would love, but one night we went to visit some friends, the Pratts, and we found out that we were going to go down on the same days and we wanted to do pretty much all the same things so we changed our plans.  We searched and searched and finally found this house in Phoenix that we could all rent together and we would split the cost.  The Pratt's came with their 3 boys and then their daughter from Utah flew down with her 2 kids, who are about the same age as our kids, and we all shared this 3 bedroom condo house for 4 days.  It was so great.  

We got there on Wednesday afternoon and stopped to see our friends in Glendale and then headed up to the house and just hung out that night.  Then on Thursday, we got up, ate and then got ready to go to the Phoenix Children's Museum.  What it was is this big huge place that like a museum had different rooms for different things, but it was basically a giant playground for kids.  There was so many cool things, the boys were in heaven.  We wore them out but it was such a fun place!  

Then on Friday we basically just hung out at the house and went swimming at the community pool.  There wasn't anything interesting at the pool but the kids had fun playing with the adults and the teenager boys found games to keep themselves entertained.  The night before we went to the pool for like a half hour when it was dark just to let the kids splash in the water and to get as much swimming in as we could.  Merrick loved to just sit on the steps and splash the water.  It was perfect for him.  But Kayton was amazing.  It took him a few minutes to be comfortable with going in the water, but once he was in he was so awesome.  We bought him a little vest floaty thing and he picked up on it so quickly and wasn't really scared at all.  We were so amazed how well he did.  He loved being dunked under water and jumping to us   and it was so fun to see him learn something new.  

Later on Friday night we invited some of our friends over that we haven't seen for a while and we had pizza and just hung out and talked.  I wish I could have gotten some pictures but it was so nice to have friends our age around to talk to.  

Then on Saturday, we had to check out of the house that afternoon so we got up and got things all packed up while we listened to the first session of General Conference.  After we got all done, we headed to Scottsdale and went to a Train Park.  Both Kayton and their grandson Noah love trains so we thought it would be so great.  And it was.  They had an indoor room that had a bunch of model trains driving around and also had models of the towns in Arizona where the train runs through.  Then outside was a carousel ride and a train ride and there was an actual train that you could pay to climb in and walk around.  We rode the carousel, but Kayton absolutely hated getting on the horses.  Nate just stood and held him most of the ride, but Merrick liked it. Then we all rode on the train.  It was just a little upon car train that drove around the park.  Kayton liked it a lot.  Afterwards, we played at a park they had there and got some popsicles because it was so hot!! It was such a blast.  

Then it was time to go home.  We stopped at Target to get a few things and then headed home.  We had such a good time and it was a great Spring Break.

He's got more tricks

 Merrick is really growing up.  He is pulling himself up to stand next to things.  He stand up next to the couch and the tv stand and he is usually standing up when I go in and get him out of his crib.  He is still army crawling but every once in a while he will crawl normally on his hands and knees.  He has finally figured out how to sit up on his own.  For a long time he would only sit up when we put him on the ground but it wouldn't last for very long.  Now he is so mobile and is a pro at sitting up by himself.

Nate's Concert

Nate's student teaching has been going really well.  He is having a lot of fun with it and he loves getting to actually do things in a classroom rather than being lectured in a classroom. On March 14th, he had the first concert of the semester where he conducted 3 songs for the different groups.  One for Beginning Band, one for Honor Band, and one for Orchestra.  I was only able to see the Orchestra one but he did awesome.  This was basically the high point of his student teaching and now he is suppose to start to phase out of doing so much teaching for the rest of the semester.  I am so proud of him.  He loved doing it too.

He enjoyed watching his daddy

Helping me

Merrick has been my big helper when I do the dishes.  Not really, but the last little bit he has heard me doing the dishes and he comes into the kitchen and just crawls on up to the dishwasher and just sits there and plays with it and looks at me while I do the dishes.  It's so cute!

Merrick Crawling

Merrick Crawling

This is Merrick's version of crawling right now.  We are trying to get him to get up on his hands and feet but he likes this.

Bathtime

My boys like the bath.  The playing part, not the washing part.  Merrick loves to just lay there and play with a few toys or let me help him stand up while he plays with the spout.  Kayton likes to play with the water while it's coming out of the spout in a cup.  It is absolute torture to get him in the bathtub, but he loves it after he is in.  Merrick likes it better when he gets to be in the bath the same time as Kayton.  They are just so cute together.  

Lunch with Daddy

It gets kind of boring here sometimes, so a few times now, we have gone to the school to have lunch with Nate.  We usually go on Thursdays because Nate doesn't have to go out to the elementary school on that day so that is their catch up day.  It's a lot of fun for Kayton because there aren't any classes there so he gets to play with some of the instruments there.  Mostly the drums though.  We love it.  

Such a hard worker