I am reading this book and love it for discipline!

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday was so wonderful. The kids slept in and it was really relaxing. We have a tradition to take a family picture before church, so here it is. Its just a tripod pic, something to document the holiday and what the kids were wearing. I think they looked amazing!

My new plates

My new plates came on tuesday and I just hung them today (sat), I really like them, it is something different and bright!

Alexis without Training Wheels!

So Arden and I were on a date last night and Dave calls my cell phone as Arden is shopping for a neckless. Dave says Alexis is riding without training wheels and that we need to come home fast. I tell Arden all about it in my most animated voice, Arden is so excited to see Alexis ride without training wheels that she hurries and picks out a neckless and is rushing to the checkout so she can end her date with me early and go see her little sister ride a bike without training wheels. What a great sister!

Alexis is so excited about the whole thing that she can bearly talk about it, she gets right out of breath full of animation and excitment! She is really brave and even rides Arden's bigger bike. She is very proud of herself! Spencer is just plain frustrated with being the little brother who can't quit do it yet!

Easter on Saturday

Our new tradition! Why celebrate the Easter Bunny on Sunday when you can do it on saturday? Now our kids won't be all hyper at church tomorrow! We had a huge easter egg hunt in the house. The kids will be opening plastic eggs for weeks! And tomorrow we will really talk about our Savior Jesus Christ and what Easter is really about!

Crand Canyon Good Friday!

Dave didn't have to work on Good Friday so we went hiking in the Grand Canyon, it was muddy and icy, but the kids loved it. They love riding the bus to Hermits Landing!

Decorating Easter Eggs

This got really messy! The kids were really into it!

Oak Creek Canyon

We went hiking with Amber, Livia and Tate. We ate lunch like mountain goats up on steep rocks above the stream. As soon as my kids could there were wading the the freezing cold stream. The girls crossed the stream and then Spencer started taking it all off so he could swim across to the girls, mind you there is still snow on the ground not two feet from the stream. Little adventurers, my kids will do anything to get wet and dirty and have a good time!

Out of Africa Wildlife Park

Spencer loved riding the buses!





Alexis loved the snakes!


And posing for me on the bus!





On the Safari bus ready to feed a geraff!

http://www.outofafricapark.com/
If you live in Flagstaff and havn't been to this zoo, it is really worth checking out. It's very expencive, but different than any other zoo around. My kids loves the buses and getting really close to all the animals. It's just down the road in Campe Verde!

Wutpatki Pueblo ruins!

For Spring Break we are exploring Northern Arizona. If you havn't been to the Wutpatki Pueblo ruins it worth a clance!

Happy St. Patricks Day

Nobody really gets St. Patricks Day. We were green and talk about leprauchans and pots of gold. But nobody really gets it!

Ballerina buns and bright flowers!

Alexis wanted a ballerina bun and so did Arden. Alexis wanted a big bright flower and so did Arden!

Easter dress sneak peak!

Do you think I am so excited or what. Alexis loves her turqois dress and won't wear anything else. I blind folded Arden and put her dress on her and she was more excited than Christmas morning when she opened her eyes and saw what she was wearing! This is the first year they don't match. They don't really want to!

Arden my ballerina!

Ballet to Arden is not just putting on a tu tu thingie, it is all about being ecentric and being a part of another world! She loves it so much. Alexis and Spencer love to watch her and Spencer even tells Arden that she is beautiful.

Easter Tree

My kids think this is so magical. They painted all the paper eggs and hung them on the tree, it's really colorful and fun!

My Kids Love Mud

Spencer and Alexis love to play in the mud, most of the time I think its great when my kids play outside and get dirty, maybe I feel like that makes me a good mom, but this much might mean something like "while mom was blogging!"

Swatches

More swatches!

The painting!

I am trying to find fabric for my front room pillows.

This is my favorite so far. Yellow, green, brown and earthy colors. I want something more leafy, but can't find it!

These are some of my swatches that I like.

Thinking of Spain

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Commentary
The new Guggenheim Museum Bilbao by Frank Gehry was probably the most often mentioned new building of 1998 and 1999 in architecture circles. The composition continues a curvaceous, free-form sculptural style that has become a Gehry signature. The abstract, free-form components of this style were present in the early Gehry House, and a similarly sleek curvaceous cladding was displayed in the sculptural fish of the Fishdance Restaurant.


This is something I think of when I think of Spain. I am facinated with bridges and I'm not sure anyone else does it better that Calatrava.

Campo Volantin Footbridge by Santiago Calatrava

Santiago Calatrava was born in Valencia, Spain in 1951. He graduated from the Institute of Architecture in Valencia and from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. Calatrava opened his own architecture and engineering office in Zurich. Most of his early realized work was in Switzerland and Spain, where he has exhibited his designs and won several awards.
As both an architect and an engineer, Calatrava easily identifies with both disciplines. He often creates innovative works that depend on a firm grasp of both the creative and structural aspects of design. His skills as an engineer allow him to create sculptural surfaces and unusual spaces.
Calatrava avoids the apathetic acceptance of established forms. In 1979 he won the Auguste Perret award for rekindling the quality of Perret's structural work and for re-emphasizing the importance of primary structure in defining form.
Despite an influential presence within the European architectural community, Calatrava has rarely designed a totally enclosed building. Rather, most of his creations are open structures.