Five and the owner of a big bike

Peter Gordon had his fifth birthday today and it was a good one. He had a bunch of friends over this afternoon and played in the backyard in our inflatable swimming pool. They had a blast. He got a bug catcher gun, a water gun, some dinosaurs, binoculars, a puzzle and some other fun stuff from his friends. This evening we had a little family party for him and he had cupcakes and orange dreamsicles. He got some golf clubs from Grandma Susan and Grandpa Pete, some basketball shorts from the girls and a bike from Mom and Dad. He loves his new bike. It is 18 inches tall and he is still figuring out how to get on it but once he is on he is a speed demon. He loves to be outdoors and is always on the go. He makes life interesting.

I'm a big girl too!!

Emily had a couple of breakthroughs over the weekend. Chantel has been working on potty training with her for the last week and she is finally starting to get the hang of it. She gets pretty excited about going in her little toilet and loves to high five everyone after a successful try. Emily also decided that it was okay to go to nursery by herself. In fact when I went to pick her up and said it was time to go she said "No" and scurried off to the other side of the room. I hope she is as excited about nursery next week. We'll see.

The Gift of Flowers

Last year about this time my Dad gave Chantel a gorgeous orchid to brighten the house. We enjoyed it for several weeks and once the blooms had fallen off Chantel decided that she would try to nurture it through the year to see if she could get it to rebloom. Her efforts have been rewarded with four beautiful blossoms and the promise of a few more.

I have been thinking about why flowers are the gift of choice from men to women. I think that it may have something to do with the desire to give the gift of life. Flowers are something that are very much alive and bring joy to the receiver. The kids and I gave Chantel some flowers for Mother's Day and they really enjoyed planting them with her. I love to cut my roses and arrange them in beautiful bouquets on the kitchen table. There is something simple and elegant about flowers. They never fail to brighten a person's day and they are always welcome. Everyone deserves more flowers and happiness in their lives.

Birthday fun

Emily got a train for her birthday and a bike. She loves both of them. She had to have some help blowing out her birthday candles.

Becca got several new shirts for her birthday and has enjoyed wearing them. She has also thoroughly enjoyed her monkey bedspread and her monkey pillow.

Rose bushes and dreams

Several years ago when Chantel, Becca and I were living in Portland, Oregon one of my favorite activities was to go to the rose gardens. I would walk down the aisles and admire the beautiful and fragrant roses. I even started a list of the roses that I hoped to own someday. The very first rose on the list was an orange beauty called Octoberfest. After moving to Provo I took up rose gardening and had a small rose garden (3 roses). When we moved to Springville I increased the size of my rose garden and now have 18 roses growing. One of the roses has significant meaning to me--it is Octoberfest and it is also my newest rose. While we were in Boise Chantel, Mom and I started talking about roses and I told Mom how I had always wanted to have Octoberfest. She said that she had just been at Edwards and that they had several there. We headed down to Camels Back park to let the kids play and Mom insisted that we stop at Edwards and she bought to Octoberfests--one for me and one for her. I got to plant her rose when we got home from the park. Last night I planted the rose she bought for me and am hopeful that it will bring beautiful blossoms to our backyard. In some ways it is ironic that I rose garden. I used to hate weeding and working in the yard. Now I find it therapeutic. In fact this morning I spent several hours out weeding the roses and other plants in the yard. What does all of this have to do with dreams? Everything. Mom has always known how to encourage me to pursue my dreams and to find true happiness in what I do as a father and a professional. She has never once reminded me of how much I disliked working in the yard but always compliments my efforts at growing things. Sometimes I am amazed that my roses survive my attempts to care for them. Octoberfest is an example of how Mom helps me with my dreams. Rose bushes and dreams do go together because they are both things that I learned from Mom.

Spring Break

We had a tremendously fun spring break. Last Friday we headed up to Twin Falls to see Chantel's brother McKay and his family. The kids had an absolute blast playing with their cousins. They jumped on the trampoline, watched a movie, danced, played with trains, and other fun activities. The adults played Ticket to Ride--a truly fun game--and enjoyed visiting. Saturday we went hiking down by the Shoshone Falls and then had a bbq at McKay and Jill's. Saturday evening we drove to Eagle to see Grandma Susan and Grandpa Pete. We enjoyed being with them. We went down to Camel's Back Park and the kids played on the playground. We also hiked to the top of the hill and then raced down. Emily laughed the whole way down. Grandma found these great balloons that we spent an afternoon blowing up and then releasing into the sky. They made a great noise and the kids loved launching them. Grandpa even got involved in the action. We had a birthday party for Becca and Emily and Becca got a monkey bedspread that she thinks is the best thing in the world. Emily was not too keen on blowing out her own candle but loved the cupcake. Becca blew right over the top of the candles on her first try but got them out on the second try. We came home Wednesday and the kids and Chantel enjoyed having nothing to do and played while I went back to work. Today we went to BYU to watch a baseball and a softball game. It was fun but we are all a little windburned.

A bed for Emily

Yesterday between Conference sessions Chantel and I ran into Provo and bought a bed for Emily. It was an interesting evening last night--she only got up three times but she yelled all three times. She still wants to go into Peter Gordon's room and gets about half way in before realizing that her crib is gone and her bed is in the room over. Peter Gordon is a little put out with Emily. He can't believe that she has deserted him for her own room. Emily's move into her room has sparked a cleaning frenzy--Becca has been working on her room on and off all weekend and Hannah picked her stuff up on Saturday. It is a little funny to see my baby in a "big girl bed" but with a baby coming in July we needed to get her out of the crib. Emily looks pretty little in her bed but sleeps quite well when she is asleep.