Happy Birthday, Super Jordan!

We celebrated cousin Jordan's fourth birthday today with a Superman-themed party. The kids had a lot of fun meeting the superheros, flying around the yard in their capes, and decapitating the Superman pinata.

Elizabeth, enjoying the wind in her hair. . .


Do you know these superheros' mild-mannered alter egos? (left to right: Jared, Uncle Jay, Aunt Lisa, and Grandma and Grandpa Allred)


The Super Family (cousin Madison, Uncle Jay, Aunt Lisa, and cousin Jordan)


The Superkids plot to rescue the pinata from the evil clutches of Lex Luthor. . .


Super Fiona!

Toddlerhood

List 10 words to describe toddlers, and "weird" and "hilarious" are sure to be near the top.

Here Elizabeth takes a break from reading Good Night, Gorilla (for the fourteenth time) to lounge in a laundry basket while watching a few minutes of "Signing Time".

Cousin-pa-looza

Aunt Brittiny and Cousin Brooklyn flew out for a visit a few weeks ago. We had the pleasure of tending Brookers for a little while. Elizabeth is entranced by pictures of babies--but how did she do with a real, live baby in her very own house?


Don't be fooled by the picture; two minutes later Elizabeth decided sharing wasn't all that it was cracked up to be and started snatching toys from Brooklyn as fast as she could pick them up. But overall Elizabeth thought Brooklyn was pretty cool--although she wasn't too happy when she realized that she had to share Poppa with her, too! ;)

The next week we spent an evening at Jay & Lisa's house, watching trailers for upcoming movies (Mom, you know you want to see this one!). Elizabeth and Jordan were so excited to see each other. . .They held still exactly long enough to take this picture.

Being a toddler is EXHAUSTING!

Proof that she really does sleep:

Poor kiddo--it was only 6:30, but after a long and busy day with only a catnap in the car, she fall asleep in the middle of eating her dinner!

Maybe now she'll quit getting mistaken for a boy.

Check it. . .pigtails!

Springtime Weather

April in Utah is spring painted on a brick wall; You reach in to pick the flowers and you bust your knuckles.

We enjoyed a beautiful week of gorgeous spring weather--but got hit with a snowstorm this morning.

It's Spring!

Jared had this Friday off, so we spent all day yesterday and much of today enjoying the lovely spring weather. Elizabeth loves being outside--her new favorite activity is watering the flowers (and the sidewalk, and her shoes. . .)



To the untrained eye this may look like a mere pile of dirt. . .but in reality it's much more. It's a pile of HOMEMADE DIRT! Heh heh. . .Last spring I convinced Jared to build some compost bins, and through the summer and fall we added our yard waste to the pile. I don't know why I wasn't expecting it to work, but I was so surprised and PROUD when I hiked out to the piles yesterday with a shovel to find that the wood chips, leaves, and such had *gasp* actually turned to "dirt"! Jared says he's expecting prize-winning tomatoes from the garden this year. After last year's garden, I'll be happy just to get SOMETHING besides the big healthy crop of weeds we ended up growing last year.



Jared put a fence up on the north side of the front yard. Elizabeth, of course, was right there to "help" him every step of the way. Daddy can't do anything on the weekends without his little shadow right behind him!