New Happenings in Albuquerque

This picture is for you Seth...

Here is our new minivan. We are so glad that we have it! The Mareks made minivans

look cool, so we had to join the cool crowd!

Another picture of our awesome minivan!

Carly giving us one of her famous scowls...

For April Fools, we ate Spaghetti with crazy utensils, and stuff.


Carly is always checking out what her crazy brother is doing.


Happy 1st Birthday Carly!!!

Carly only wanted to play with her cake, she didn't want anything to do with eating it.

We think that Spencer opened more of her presents than Carly did. What a helpful brother!

Carly's famous surprised face. She laughs everytime she does this face. She thinks

she's so funny! We sure love her!

Our Sedona, Arizona Trip

So, we got back yesterday from our "family vacation". Kyle had a PA Conference, and the rest of us just went a long for the ride. It was a fun trip. Here are some pictures:

They had some really nice swimming pools. This is Carly sunbathing.

Spencer went swimming, whether it was cold or not... we'd ask him if he was cold, he'd shiver, say yes, and then say he wanted to swim some more.

Cute Carly even went swimming (on the warmer day)

Proof that I even went swimming...

We took a day and went down to Phoenix. We went to the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant while we were there. It was REALLY neat! This is Spencer waiting for the pageant to start.

Quick story: The characters come out before the pageant and walk around the crowds. Spencer saw this Roman Soldier and wanted to get his picture taken with him. Spencer was kind of timid and nervous, so Kyle went with him to ask for a picture. This is the picture he got... Then a while later, the man who plays Jesus came out (he looked like Jesus too!) Spencer got really excited and said that he wanted to go talk to Jesus. Well, he was quite a ways away still, so I asked Spencer what he would tell Jesus. He said, "that I love Him, and that I want him to come to my new house". Well, Jesus got a little closer, so we told him to go ahead and go talk to him. Spencer immediately ran up the aisle and talked to Jesus. I got a little teary, it was so neat! When Spencer came back I asked him what he told Jesus. "That I am 4 years old and that I'm big!" Anyway, it was kind of a cool moment for a mom to see him SO excited to talk to Jesus and that there was no hesitation at all to run up to him. It was a really neat experience. And the pageant was way awesome too! Spencer was enthralled by it all!

Spencer at the fountains by the temple

After the pageant, we snapped a few more pictures.

Waiting for the pageant.

While in Phoenix, we went to a Chicago Cubs vs Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game. (Spring training) It was pretty fun.

The game

Us at the game

Mesa Arizona temple

Kyle and Carly in front of the temple. More pictures are below...

Sedona, Arizona : Some scenery

Here are some pictures of Sedona

Spencer at Slide Rock State Park. It was really cold when we went, but in the summer, it is supposedly like a water slide and people go swimming in it. It looked like it would be fun.

Pretty mountains and cute kids.

This is the hotel we stayed at. It was the Hilton Resort and Spa. It was really nice, but

maybe the next time we go, we can afford to take advantage of the spa part...

The kids at Slide Rock State park again.

Kids......the real reason parents get older.(but they are so cute.)

Spencer is 4 years old now and Carly will be 1 on April 4th.
Carly just never would pitch a smile, usually she does good but was having a bad day.
Spencer on the other hand would gladly give a smile.

Happy Birthday Spencer!

Well, Spencer is a whopping 4 years old today. It has been a fun day. Started by us waking him up this morning and singing Happy Birthday to him. He was pretty sad that he wasn't 3 anymore, but when we told him that there were presents waiting for him, he decided that it would be okay if today was his birthday. So, he opened up his presents, then we had a couple friends over for a party. Then we took him to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch. It's been a good day and I think we're all pretty exhausted.

Spence riding his new bike that he got.

Kyle at Chuck E Cheese.

Carly at the birthday party.

Spencer this morning with his presents

Getting ready to blow out the candles on his birthday cake that I made for him.

(It's a race track if you can't tell :) )

The party-goers

Spence at Chuckies

Me and Carly having fun.

New Sunglasses and Couches...

Carly looking pretty cute in her new sunglasses...

Spencer also looking pretty cute...

And here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for... oh wait, it's what

WE'VE been waiting for, and waiting for, and waiting for.... the couches finally arrived!!

So, after a long 6 weeks, our new couches FINALLY came. Yep, Kyle is

still waiting on the recliner to come... maybe someday.

Don't let this picture fool you, Kyle actually only sat on the couches for

like 20 minutes total the first few days they were here. He's been SO busy

at work. I sometimes forget that I have a husband. What a nice surprise when

he comes home and I remember!

Fun times

The last couple of weeks have been pretty fun. Kyle was able to go skiing for the first time in a few years. We went to Explora (a kids museum), and Kyle's family was able to come down and visit. Here are some pictures...

We played a pretty intense game of Disney Trivial Pursuit. This is Kyle and Katie putting their heads together to try and get the answers... it didn't work because they lost :)

Us at Old Town.

Kyle's dad trying on Kyle's white coat.

Self-portrait of Kyle skiing

Spencer fingerpainting

The kids at Explora. This is the elevator. There are also 2 couches and another chair in it, so you can imagine how big it is. Spencer thought it was pretty cool.

Spencer and bubbles.

Cute picture of Katie, Carly, and Julie