Spring Break

For Spring break we did what every good Southern family does and we headed to Florida.  We bypassed Orlando for the less traveled destinations of Tampa and Lakeland.  

What's in Tampa?  Obviously, Winter the dolphin and some beautiful beaches.  

What's in Lakeland?  That's it's own post.  

Holding Winter's Tail.

The rescue van.

Nicholas the dolphin showing his skills.

Funny boy.

Digging to China

Happy Easter!

We celebrated Easter in a flurry of hunts that culminated in Easter dinner with friends.  

The boys

The boys +1

THE suits :)

Strong men

Little C likes to keep things more casual

G just likes things to be FUN!

After the activity of multiple hunts and parties it was wonderful to sit on our friend's porch after a delicious dinner and just watch the kids play as the sun set on a perfect spring evening.  

It's Great to be 8!

On March 30th our Matts turned 8.  I say it with every birthday, every major event.  But, time really does go by so quickly.    We celebrated with a Spy party with friends and a trip to Legoland over spring break.  

 After much thought and prayer Matts asked to be baptized in Sweden when we are there over the Summer. Through his experience of deciding where to be baptized Matts had an excellent opportunity to practice praying over a problem and receiving an answer from the Holy Ghost.  It was quite special to watch as his obedience has already blessed him and others.   

"Those roses are beautiful, we should take an extra picture there because I look so good.  

The Birthday suit, which he BEGGED for.  To quote him his first Sunday "Mom, I have a good sense of style.  I know what looks good and I feel good wearing it."  

Matts,

You are a strong, spirited boy.  You have a desire to do exactly what's right and will never run out of the energy to do what needs to be done.  I feel humbled to be your mom.  I love the way you remember and examine everything about anything interesting.  

Keep learning, keep growing and keep striving to do what's right.  

The Gang

When we moved here one of the best things was this great group of boys who were within months of Mattson's age.  Now, just under 6 years later and missing a few of their favorite pals, these boys are all grown up and ready to be baptized.  

So little.

So Big

The Gang 2.0

Time flies when you're having fun.

Your Mission...Should You Choose to Accept It

Since Matts has decided to wait to be baptized until we go to Sweden this summer, we decided to ramp up our birthday celebration a bit with a Spy Party.  Luckily, Matts was adamant that his guests wear pajamas, which meant it there was movie involved, so I just had to have a few welcome games before the agents settled down to watch Spy Kids 4.  

The new recruits, ready to enter HQ.

Even the littlest spies have to be in top physical condition

Push-ups

Sit ups

Putting their skills to the test in the laser maze.

For once, being the littlest was a good thing. 

Kaboom!

While the Cat is away...

As a testament to the awesomeness of our sitters, the boys have more pictures from their week here in Atlanta than we have from our travels in Spain.  

Here we have the top 10 reasons why the maniacs don't mind when Mom is out of town.  

1.  While the big boys are at school Miss Heather takes me to the park instead of running errands.  

2.  At the park Miss Heather pushes me non-stop.

3.  Miss Heather has much cooler clothes to borrow.

4...Okay, maybe Allie didn't think it was a good trade.

4.  I get to concentrate so hard on mixing all the playdoh colors at once. 

5.  Mr. Ryan is the perfect jungle gym.

6.  We even get to wrestle in costume. 

7.  We get to stay in comfy clothes all day.

8.  We get cuddles from Miss Hewer.

9.  Miss Heather documents all our discoveries.

10.  Miss Heather makes great discoveries and then lets us destroy them.

Ryan and Heather.  We love you and are so grateful for the wonderful job you did taking care of the maniacs.  

Get Away

In February Reed and I took our vacation to Spain.  Since life has been crazy (when is it not?) and we were leaving the kiddos with sitters and not family we decided to keep it low key and short this year and just enjoy Barcelona with a day trip to Tarragona, a beautiful beach city with some fascinating Roman ruins and even more fascinating people :)  A big thank you to the Walshes (especially the kids) for showing us the sites.   

The Aquaduct

Reed recovering from his adventure out onto the Aquaduct.  

The (Tarragona) Colosseum.

 Back to Barcelona and the food. 

Ignore the "evil eyes" and enjoy the fabulousness that is our favorite restaurant in the world.
The evil eyes are strangely appropriate since it's located in a grotto in the Gothic quarter.

Restaurant Hoffman.  Our Michelin experience.  Yes, it was that great.

What we lack in beverages we make up for with desserts.  We ordered three to share and they all tasted and looked amazing.

Another year come and gone all too quickly.