Easter

William enjoyed his first Easter egg hunt with our ward at Central Park.

As you can see, he had a pretty good idea of the way things work, although, he also felt that it would be a good idea to collect some sand and sticks in addition to plastic eggs.

He also realized pretty quickly, to his delight, just exactly what is inside those eggs.

He’s going to love Halloween.

On a more spiritual note, my wife shared a beautiful Easter quote from Harold B. Lee in her Sacrament Meeting talk today. But first a little biographical context:

President Harold B. Lee lost his wife, Fern Tanner Lee, and his daughter, Maurine Lee Wilkins to death within a few years of each other. With half of his family of four taken away from him, he suffered profound grief and depression. (L. Brent Goates, Harold B. Lee: Prophet and Seer [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1985], 357.) Within this context, Harold B. Lee shared the following thoughts about how the resurrection helped him to overcome his challenges:

I know … what it means to have the shattering devastation of loneliness with the snatching away of a loved one. Over my years, I have been called and tried to comfort those who mourn, but until I had to repeat those very things to myself that I have been saying to others, then only did I come to sense something that was far beyond words, that had to reach down to the touchstone of the soul before one can give real comfort. You have to see part of you buried in the grave. You have to see the loved one die and then you have to ask yourself—Do you believe what you have been teaching others? Are you sure and certain that God lives? Do you believe in the Atonement of the Lord and Master—that He opened the doors to the resurrection in the more glorious life? Sometimes when we stand in the stark nakedness all alone, it’s then that our testimony has to grow deep if we are not going to be shattered and fall by the wayside…

You folks today, if you know that you have anchored your souls in that divine testimony that He lives and that at the latter day He will stand upon this earth and you will meet Him face to face—if you know that, no matter what the risks and the responsibilities and the tragedies may be—if you build your house upon the rock, you won’t falter. Yes, you’ll go through the terrifying experience of sorrow over a lost loved one, but you won’t falter; eventually you’ll come through with even greater faith than you ever had before. Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee, (2000) Chapter 23

Happy Easter.

How the West Was Won

For the first time in months, both Steve and I had Saturday free. We celebrated by heading deep into the old West, to the Gene Autry Museum of the American West at Griffith Park.

Liam’s favorite part was the horse ride.

He cried when we took him off.

It was just a saddle next to a mural and in front of a blue screen.

We loved being on tv.

William enjoyed walking around the Old West.

He did not enjoy jail. Or the actual exhibits, for that matter.

After lunch, William got to ride a full-size horse replica, complete with cowboy gear. I had to act fast to get even the hat on Little Quickdraw, here, though.

Cowboy Billy came to the rescue. Fastest gun in the West.

Since I don’t get many evenings off, we took advantage of a beautiful day last week and rode our bikes to central park. Liam was very busy working in the sand. Steve gets off early on Fridays, so we repeated our ride on Friday for the Healthy RC fair.

We had to keep this little boy on a tight leash since he loves to run EVERYWHERE.

Luckily, William loves this puppy. He’s always hugging it.

Liam had a great time. We got some awesome swag (the rest of the candy not pictured because it was eaten).

And we got to see some remote-control airplanes on our way to Five Guys for dinner.

Makes me love our life. It’s pretty sweet sometimes. All I gotta do now is figure out how to stop working evenings and weekends and it would be perfect.

Life Without Dad and Playdates Galore

We’ve been busy.  Again.

I can never seem to find time to blog.  I feel like if I have spare time, I should clean the house, study, go to work, or enjoy time with my family. Unfortunately for whatever readers we may possibly have left, that means blogging is not high on the priority list (hopefully that will change once I pass NASM’s test later this month).

Steve went up to Utah for a job interview last week and but Liam and I stayed home to keep an eye on the house.  Though we wished we were with our favorite Steve, we did enjoy our Mommy/Baby extended weekend.  We went to the park,

ate broccoli for every lunch and dinner,

and enjoyed the cupcake perfection that is Suite 106 Cupcakery.

For anyone who has heard of Cupcake Wars, Suite 106 won either last year or the year before.  The bakery is right by the library, the mall, and the park, so we go there way too much.

Liam has a new buddy that he likes to hang out with, Logan.  Here you see Liam feeding goldfish to Logan.

We’ve had some beautiful weather lately, good enough for a couple of swim days.  We got our play group together last week to enjoy it.  Zeb didn’t want to be part of the picture, so he got one of his own.We all had a great day.

Especially this little girl.  She’s about 5 months old.  Totally fell asleep in her flotation device.But it made for a totally amazing picture.

I think there will definitely have to be more swim parties this spring/summer.