The first trimester is the hardest...

Well, as with most things (like college, pregnancy, and newborn babies), the first trimester is always the hardest. The first "tri" of 2011 has been no exception. We've had our fits, our tantrums, and our mood swings. The winter weather has been relentless...with us even seeing snow last week! Sigh. But, as I look back through the months there have been many smiles. I will share those. This helps me to remember that my kids didn't spend every waking hour watching TV to get through another cold day. Just most...

Lillie celebrated a very colorful #7.
Everything had to be rainbow. She decorated
the top by herself. I spent the previous night
making the rainbow Jell-O cake. So fun!

Lillie and Axel heard that oats are good for their heart.
So, they eat a lot of oats. Like horses. It tastes better that way.

Perry celebrated a smokey #34.
Who knew that blowing out 34 candles
would cause such smoke to get in our eyes?

In February we ditched the snow and headed to Nevada.
Pearce was happy to be smiled down upon by Mr. Sun.

Axel loved playing at the park and romping outside
with Myles.

From Nevada we headed to Arizona to visit my
Grandma Merrill who will be 92 in 18 days.
What an inspiration!

On the way home from AZ Pearce had massive
diarrhea. This is him mourning the loss of
his shirt that I threw away at a gas station.
Who wants to ride with that smell for 5 hours?

Back in Nevada with Grandma Brown and "boof-poof"

Pearce took a liking to Grandpa Brown.

Back in Cache Valley.
If it's gonna be cold, it might as well be beautiful.

We got dumped on!

Lillie and Axel got skates for their birthdays from friends.
Poor Pearcey wishes he were a bit bigger.

Axel celebrated a sweet #5.

In March, Lillie was longing for bare-foot weather.

One last bedtime story?

At Grandpa Hoffman's house in Idaho.

A trip to Rexburg in March found us all turned around
on the BYU-I (formerly Ricks) campus. They have made so
many additions since we went to school there! Perry and I
were feeling quite old to think we finished our Ricks days
over 12 years ago!

Axel and Lillie like to pretend it's sunny...even when it's not.

A sunny day to fill sandbags
to prepare for spring flooding.

Pearce's "smile."

Snow...again.

Axel was plum tuckered out from playing in the snow.

Going to the Clark County Fair with Grandma and
Grandpa Brown was a blast. We were lucky that the fair
was the same time as Spring Break.

They still enjoyed going in circles...

but also braved some "fun houses" this year.

We made a quick trip to Red Rocks
between wind storms in Nevada.

At "The Peak" in Brigham City.

Pearce dancing for Louisa.

Pearce celebrated a fierce #2.
He loves to pretend he's a tiger.
Hence, the tiger cake.

Hooray for a rainless/snowless day to
hunt for eggs.

Lillie is Axel's new hairstylist.
You like the "faux-hawk?"

That's all for now.

Until next time...