Getting all caught up

So of course there was a lot that happened over the last few months besides us going on a totally awesome cruise. I'm going to sum up each of the events with at least a thousand words and a short description of those thousands. Above we have our first event. Bridger was a clown for Circus Day at his school. He made a very good sad clown. Cudos to Jessica for putting together such a great costume for him! School is over now. Luckily, he graduated.

In April the newly renovated Atlanta, GA temple was reopened so we took the kids to the open house. I'd like very much to say that it was a spiritual experience, but mostly it was exhausting trying to keep Brody and Bridger from destroying the place and whining their faces right off.

While in Atlanta we took advantage of the aquarium there and took the kids for the first time. They actually really enjoyed it and so did we. They have some whale sharks there that are just amazing! There is a glass tunnel we walked in and watched the huge animals swim above us! We all loved it. Brody was also very proud of himself for touching the stingrays and even one of the little sharks.

Also, we celebrated Jason Woodward's birthday and home coming from Iraq. Jessica and I realized that we really love to dance and party like crazy people. We had so much fun that night. We were sad to say goodbye to the Woodwards, but hope to see them out in Utah some time. If anyone doesn't know, Jess and I can really boogie. In the picture above I'm doing my world famous "Carlton Banks dance".

Penny loves bikes! This picture of her catching a ride from Bridger is just adorable.

For Easter this year we got the boys some nifty little rain boots. I think they wore them twice before they turned them into dirt buckets. Don't they look cute though?

This picture can speak for itself: Cute.

We had a bunch of families over to do an egg hunt in our backyard the Saturday before Easter. It was a lot of fun to see the kids run and go crazy looking for the candy, but it was most fun to see Penny go to town. We pretty much let her have whatever she wanted. I think she ate several chocolates, caramel, cupcakes, and cookies. She would just go from person to person scrounging and stealing. She looks kinda gross and messy, but I assure you she is quite delicious.

In the picture above the string is caramel - not snot. Luckily.

The Galans came over and I loved this picture of all the kids on the swing in the backyard.

When Eliza was here Penny got her very first hair cut. It turned out to be a cute little bob. How could it not be cute, right?

Also, I finally finished the fire pit. Just in time for summer! Yay! We roasted mallows and had s'mores for the first time and I'm pretty sure Penny thought marshmallows were bits of heaven neatly packaged.

Brody turned 6! He chose to have just a family party at Chuck e Cheese so we brought his presents there and even ordered the pizza there (which wasn't too bad actually). Brody had a ton of fun and loved running from game to game trying to get more tickets so he could trade them in for lame toys and cheap candy.

There is a little roller coaster motion video that they all sat and watched together. Its even cuter in person.

Brody is normally afraid of sweaty mutes in animal cartoon character costumes, but for some reason he actually went right up and hugged Chuck. Bridger and Penny were terrified.

Penny LOVES putting all kinds of big shoes on and trying to walk around in them. She can hardly move in  my boots, but it makes for a great picture. Even not being able to move she starts complaining as soon as I take her out of them. What a weirdo.

We also had to say goodbye to our good friends, the Galans. We had them and a few other families over for some good times. In order to say goodbye the girls all jumped in the air and the guys built a human pyramid. I have no idea why. Well, in the case of the guys I know why - it was because the alternative was not going to happen. The girls wanted all of us guys to lie down on our backs in a circle with our heads together. We said that was not going to happen.

Penny learned to play the piano! And she is really excited about that! She also loves to dance. Her dancing consists of bobbing her head and swinging her right arm furiously as she turns in a circle. IT. IS. MAGNIFICENT. TO. BEHOLD.

I finished the first phase of the playground I'm building in the backyard. Its a covered sandbox and I think it turned out pretty well. Penny and the boys love it and spend plenty of time out there, but now we find ourselves having to bathe them more than once a week. Tragic! Also, as I was building it we discovered what we believe to be poison ivy again. Brody and Penny and I were all affected by it so we cut the tree down that had the huge vine growing on it. Good times. Also, poor Penny didn't know how to scratch an itch. When we started scratching her poison ivy spots she would freeze and just have this look of amazement and enjoyment, like "ah, yeah, that's the ticket. What is this magically scratching and why didn't you tell me about it earlier?"

Penny in pigtails!!

I think that pretty much brings us up to speed. Lately we've just been hanging out, working in the backyard, swimming at the pool, and shopping. Speaking of shopping, this last Sunday was Father's day. Jessica made the mistake of going shopping with me on the day before when I had a sense of entitlement. I ended up getting a quart of chocolate milk, a Ben & Jerry's Americone Dream pint, blueberries and strawberries, all the fixins for sandwiches, and Fruit Loops. Needless to say, I had a great Father's day full of yummy food. Jessica was also nice enough to let me have a nap and fix me one of my favorite meals for dinner. I love her and I love our family! Woot!