A Zion Escape

Free at last

We started out our camping trip right-

at Grandma and Grandpa's, with hotcakes in the morning

Our first hike was a cold one- Hidden (snowy) Canyon

Our beautiful wind-down walk- Court of the Patriarchs

Fajitas bonitas

Frijoles Negros

Andrew: Harry Potter, and all the male voices
Meredith: Narration
Kate: All the female voices
We read over 200 pages of Harry Potter #6 between this night and the ride home.

Toasted bagles for breakfast

And, to top it all off, Angel's Landing

Two New Heroes

So this week I volunteered at a day care for refugees. No big deal, right? Go hang out with kids, draw some pictures, read some books, go home happy. Something like that. Overall it was a great experience, but boy was it fatiguing. I became a human jungle gym, had to break up some squabbles, had to keep them entertained doing handstands and somersaults, and hardly had time to sit and breathe.

This brings me to the subject of this post. Saran and Joseph (pictured below) run the day care every day from 8 to 5. They are amazing, selfless people. They are patient with the children. They laugh with them and play with them. They discipline them when necessary. They never seem mopey or dragging, despite the taxing job they have. I came to admire them a great deal. While I struggled to keep my head up from 8 to 12 there, they do it every day for twice as long, and I'm sure their wages are nothing spectacular.

So let's hear it for people like Saran and Joseph. People that put comforts and success aside to help little ones. These two heroes brought this scripture to my mind.

"And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward." Matt 10:42

Oh, and I built this house pretty much myself. It was harder than it looks.

So Many Choices!

Today Andrew was accepted to Emerson's Writing and Publishing Masters Program!
http://www.emerson.edu/writing_lit_publishing/graduate/MA-in-Publishing-and-Writing.cfm

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everybody!

May this green day usher in a new green season!

Tending the Sloans

This past weekend we experienced what it is to be the parents of five. We tended our cousins the Sloans, which proved to be an excellent experience.

Mary's satisfied face after checkmating Andrew in a bloody battle of chess.
After playing one round of hide-and-seek for 1/2 an hour, Andrew finally gave up. This is where Anna had been hiding.
How to get two girls to stop playing the Wii at midnight and into bed.
Daniel, Eden, Ariel and Anna enjoying homemade pear and toffee ripple ice cream. We decided that "ripple" is one of the least attractive words in the English language.
Andrew gave computer time tokens to them if they did crazy things. Anna decided it would be crazy to put Swedish Fish, Goldfish, and Animal Crackers on her pizza. Needless to say, she got her computer time tokens.

Eden made pancakes in shapes and sizes with skill second only to G-Ma Marshall.

At about midnight on Friday night, Andrew showed Daniel what kind of hairstyle would attract the ladies.

Beyond that we played Wii, jumped on the tramp in the hail, watched Mr. Bean, made a picnic that we had inside because it started snowing, and played Blokus. And while Joseph is not shown in any of the above pictures, he was with us through it all, and proved a useful resource when Andrew and Ariel tried to learn how to surf on a sting ray in Mario Universe.

Being a parent rocks.

Three for Three!!

It's been really fun to start hearing back from these graduate schools! Andrew has been accepted to the UofU International Communication Program, the BYU Masters in Public Administration, AND the Missouri School of Journalism! Three fantastic options!

Ultrasound!

The sun is shining, the grass is greening, the baby is burgeoning!
Life is good!


While we admire and respect any who endured the entire 11 minute version of the ultrasound (Rachel), this one shows the highlights. Special thanks to Joe for helping us put this little clip together on his Mac.