Dear Family and Friends,

This week I have tried really hard to not eat sugar and failed dismally. I could make it a day or two and then succumb. That combined with snow and cold for the first few days made for a not very nice mom. But then Utah decided to help me out. The sun came out, the trees bloomed, Robyn didn't wake me up for a night or two and my smile returned. Most of this week was spent playing catch-up. Emptied out my in box, got our taxes finished up (I thought they were all done two weeks ago but our accountant had another idea - no payment, no e-file - so a quick dash over to their office on the 15th put everything to rights), got laundry done, bathrooms finally cleaned up and spent a bunch of time on my calling.

This week was our multi-stake luncheon for the 55+ sisters. It was fun to do. I have never made 150 servings of spinach salad before. We stirred it together in a large storage box! My neighbors who work in Haiti several times a year came and did a presentation about what they have seen and their efforts. I always feel extremely young when I attend these events as I am the age of most of these sisters' daughters or even grand-daughters.

Allison returned to school with a big smile on her face, eager to see all her friends again. She has had a bunch of play dates to catch up with friends and a birthday party Saturday. If she doesn't have dance, piano or activity days she and her friends are off doing some project together or she is holed up with the latest book. She has my schedule memorized. Monday she looks for clean clothes, Wednesday she goes to claim the best library books first, Thursday she runs in to see if there are new popsicles or granola bars from the store. He life is quite orderly, busy and very happy.



Spencer and I reluctantly returned to doing math homework together every afternoon. I hope they give us an answer book for parents in the next few years as I am having a hard time remembering how to do everything. Spencer has his first camp-out this week and is very stoked. He has been anxiously reading all the camping sections in the scout handbook. This is the year Jeremy gets to go with him, so Jeremy has been shopping for a small tent, pads etc. Spencer gets his pack inspected Thursday night and is loving the beginning of his young men adventures.

Taylor has had some rough days this week with seizures. I used up my last versed Friday to knock him out. But he is loving the sunshine. They tried him on an adapted trike at school and to everyone's surprise he loved it. They just let him go in the parking lot by himself. It won't move unless you peddle and he just slowly moves around quite happy. His teacher sent me a picture:


Jeremy has managed to fit some photo work in this week. He has been helping a college student at work with her photography finals. Taking her on a photo walk and then helping her work on her pictures one night. He has had 3 photo shoots - one baby and two graduates. Plus he was able to take a lunch break with his camera one day. So photo work and the fact that he can ride his motorcycle again has made for a happy week for him.

Friday night we had ward dinner groups. So three other couples came over for dinner and we all got to know each other better. Its a fun way to interact with people you wouldn't usually think to ask over.

The last part of this week I have been trying to tackle the yard again. Got the lawn done - vacuumed and trimmed might be a more accurate description. As I mowed puffs of dirt clods filled the air from when we aerated. Got a few buckets of weeds out and cleaned out the waterfall so we could restart it. The amount and quality of muck, dead vegetation and worms etc that I dug out of the waterfall defied belief. I finally got my hands to smell normal several hours and several soaps and lotions later. We even got all the outdoor furniture out. So it is beginning to look like spring. And when I run I don't have to carry a flashlight anymore. It is so much easier to get up and going when the stars aren't out. I am out of practice of spending the day in the sunshine though because I am wiped out at the end of the day. Need to build up my endurance!

Robyn has been joined at the hip with Luke and Raquel this week. The last half of this week has been Luke and Robyn running around outside with scooters or just dancing for the birds and enjoying the sunshine. We told Robyn that when we got back from Arizona that she couldn't wear pull-ups at night any more. I think she is old enough to wake up and use the bathroom now. So every night except for one she has woken me up. Half the time to tell me she had wet her bed and the other half to tell me she needs to go to the bathroom. So she will get it eventually. I just hope she figures out she can wake up, go potty and go back to bed without every waking up her mom! I have gotten used to my 7-8 hours of straight sleep!

Friday I was able to go to lunch with two of my friends, Brenda and Angie with their daughters Mia and Raquel. All of our daughters were born within a year of each other and it is amazing to see them play now. It was Angie's birthday which always gives us a fun excuse to visit. Forget parties and presents, meals out with friends are my favorite part of birthdays.

Trying to do more of garden from seeds this year. Not doing so great presently but figure its a learning process.

Love to you all and hope you are enjoying this spring. Heather