Q, Pooh, Lou & #2: Spring Done Sprung

Random photos from Spring 2018.

We had a Daddy/Daxy Date. We sported our matching Aloha shirts and hit the town. We had pizza, played video games, went shopping for Mother's Day gifts and had an overall fun time. Just us guys. The night was fantastic until the lady at the store towards the end of the night mentioned to Dax how cool she thought it was that his shirt matched his Grandpas!

Just a couple dudes ready to paint the town with Aloha! I love this kid so much.

Leah gave her time machine presentation. She first had to provide a list of 5 prominent figures in history to her teacher who then selected one for Leah to study. Leah was given Sacagawea. After studying Sacagawea for several weeks, Leah wrote and memorized a short presentation on Sacagawea that she had to give to her school. She had to make the presentation from the first person perspective and even had to dress the part. I was so impressed with her as she studied and excitedly learned about this amazing woman. Leah and Sacagawea are pretty freaking awesome! We unfortunately missed Leah's presentation as we were in Hawai'i, but Grandma Leslie sent us some pretty good footage of it so we were able to feel that pride for her.

Cousin Reagan got to visit!

Sarah and I spent 9 days in Hawai'i. I'll save that for another post. Leah and Dax loved the souvenirs we got them from the island.

Shaka!

Dax stole my yard hat for a couple pics.

Mother's Day! I have no idea where all my pictures went. Mother's Day was a rough one, or at least I was a bit frustrated by it. I have a new calling in church. For those that aren't aware, my church operates with a totally lay clergy. Everything is done on a voluntary basis, but there are assignments...or "callings". My calling is that of Executive Secretary. It is a wonderful assignment and opportunity to serve and I enjoy working with the Bishop and his counselors, but it is quite time consuming on Sundays. I usually get to the church at 7am and get home at 5pm. This is something I've become used to since, but Mother's Day was my first Sunday in the calling and it was hard to not be home to help show my wife how wonderful she is. I did run home for a few minutes and, with Leah's help, banged out a quick breakfast for Sarah in bed.

She opened her presents and I made dinner for her that night after getting home from church. We also had my Mom and Grandma over and Jim, Sam and Mady. My cousin Joey and his fiancee' were in town too so they came. It's always good to see Joey, albeit very rare. That being said, I felt kind of bad that his visit seemed to be the focus rather than a celebration of these 3 amazing women in my life. I don't think it bothered them so much, but I was left feeling like they didn't get the attention they deserved. Hopefully my day to day actions show just how much they mean to me.

Leah, Dax and breakfast for Sarah.

Mom, Grandma, Joey and Lauren

Spring wasn't all fun and games. Somehow I let the doc talk me into this thing. The sleep
study test is EASILY the worst thing I've ever had to endure. To put that in perspective, I'm
a guy that has put in 120 plus hours of studying insurance and have passed 14 kidney stones.
Yes, it was that bad.

Spring is my favorite season. Everything is new and renewed. Including me. After a long hiatus of sitting on my backside all Winter, along comes Spring...warmer weather, everything is alive again, the days get longer and it's easier to be productive again. One of my favorite things to do in the whole world is work in the yard. Sometimes my ability to do so is limited by my battle with arthritis, but this Spring it seems to be well in hand so I was excited to get to work and get my hands in the dirt.

Why do I love working in the yard so much? First off, it's one of the few things I can do physically without suffering too badly. Granted, there are times when I mow the yard and am subsequently down for a few days as a result, but typically speaking, I endure. So, there's that...exercise. Secondly, the Sun. I love the warmth of the Sun. Thirdly, I value relaxing after working hard. I love to play and relax, but can't adequately do so unless I know I've earned it. Lastly, mowing and tending to the year is one of only a couple things that takes so little time from start to finish, but shows drastic and obvious results. It gives me instant (or relatively quick) gratification of a job well done and I tend to dig a job well done.

The first thing I did was paint the old fountain and repair the water
pump. It seemed to me I was just putting lipstick on a pig, but 5
months later it's still going strong and adds beauty and sound to our
yard and porch. The flowers I planted (not shown here) are blooming
wonderfully and it's looking really good. I used the stone that used
to be around the fountain and built a pathway from the driveway to the
garage side door. It was a lot of work, but it paid off and looks great.

I'm still not a fan of the fenced yard, but it serves its purpose. I miss the horses
being in more plain view and the green pasture.

Since taking this picture I have since torn down the old swingset and burned
it in our fire pit. It was sad to see it go, but it mostly goes unused and was
beginning to fall apart.

I love my backyard and one reason is the view we have of Mt. Timpanogos.
Such a majestic peak.

I love the lilacs when they're in bloom. Sometimes the smell drifts into our bedroom or hits
my nose while relaxing in the hammock.

Chillin' and Relaxin'

Daxy Boy: "Lots of kids go to preschool for 3 years"

Dad: "Yeah, they're called Doctors!"

Dax Graduated from Preschool. Being born a bit late for the school cycle, Dax was able to attend preschool for 3 years. This year we put him in the preschool that was ran by the school district instead of with Ms. Barton. I think I regret that. His social interaction was heightened as a result, but Ms. Barton had a much more personal touch. Nonetheless, he enjoyed it. Grandma Leslie attended his "graduation" ceremony, but Sarah couldn't make it. She was at the hospital with her Sister who was scheduled to have her baby at that time.

Dax and Grandma Leslie. What an amazing Grandma she is too! We are so
lucky to have her nearby. She attends everything and her Grandchildren are
her everything.

Dax showed us his classroom and his mug shot.

Dax and his teacher.

You may be wondering why he isn't excited about graduating. Well, after
getting his diploma I just informed him that it's time to get a job. No more
mooching off of Dad and Mom any more!

What a cute freakin' kid.

Speaking of new babies, we had a bunch arrive. My Nephew, Jonah was born in American Fork. Our angel, Caitlin, had her baby Kaydian in Murray. And our neighbor Laura was born in American Fork. All around the same time.

Me and baby Jonah

Leah was SOOOOO excited to meet Kaydian.

Sarah and baby Kaydian.

Leah is the cutest little girl ever! Nobody could ever convince me otherwise. On a couple occasions she has gotten sad because she thinks we treat Dax differently than her. She thinks we're easier on him and expect more of her. She isn't wrong, but the only reason why is because he is 5 and she is 9. We try to explain that when she was 5 we didn't expect as much from her and were much easier on her just like we are to Dax now. One one such occasion, she had had enough and Sarah caught her packing her bag and heading toward the door. It was so cute. I think me laughing over it all and telling her how cute she was to consider running away only made it worse. It turned out to be a good experience and opportunity to remind her just how hard we worked to get her to us. By the end of the night, she understood and all was well.