More new stuff

This week has been a hard week for our ward. We had a family in our ward who lost another daughter last Tuesday. They are an amazing family. Even though they are the ones who lost their child they are so concerned about those in the ward and want to make sure that we are okay. It is amazing to see someone with that kind of eternal perspective. Thank goodness for the gospel and the atonement. I don't know how people who don't have a hope for a reunion with their children and other families can endure the pain of loss. We love this family and give them our love and respect and hope for the best for them.

Here is my graduation announcement for my masters. I get to walk on May 3rd. It is kind of irritating since I still have to go to class for a few more weeks. But I am within 9 credits of being finished so they are going to let me walk.

Here is a video of Darci and Maile both dancing with their Grandpa Johnson on his birthday. They have both been big into dancing lately ever since they have been watching Enchanted.

Latest and Greatest

Most of the pictures in this post are going to be very random, but that is how out life is right now.
This is the picture of Darci, Maile, David and our nephew Caiden celebrating Grandpa Johnson's birthday. The girls helped him open presents, blow out candles, and of coarse, eat cake and ice cream. Boy, do we love birthdays!
This blog would not be complete without a little update regarding the snow conditions on the trail at Timpanogos Cave. It has been quite a few weeks trying to clear the snow off the trail and make it passable. This is me smashing through the thick layers of ice and then digging below it to the soft snow, eventually reaching the asphalt below. Progress is slow, to say the least.

Just to prove there is progress, this is me posing at a point on the trail located just over 1/2 way. Behind me is a bench that is still partially covered with snow. The sad part is that the snow gets deeper the higher we go.

Not only are we digging through vast snow fields, but also a lot of rock and debris that has come down over the winter. We often go home at night a little tired and not a little sore. My hand was in a permanent claw shape for hours after we finished.

I had to pose in front of the icicles. Behind me is a pure sheet of ice that makes crossing this section a little treacherous. However, it is pretty.


Maile has a thing with trying on other people's stuff, especially shoes.

Darci has a thing for creating abstract art. I happened upon this one night after everyone had gone to bed and found it intriguing. This is a princess necklace, tied to a teacup using ponytail holders, filled with water and arranged with q-tips. Creative.

We took this picture on our way home from St. George. We decided to stop and visit my Grandpa Bird in Nephi and took this picture. Grandpa gave the girls each a little doll. They thought he was the best. That is because he is.

The girls love to "dance." Darci puts on her "gown" and she and Maile spin and twirl and pretend they are at the ball. David is usually less then thrilled with the idea of his girls being little princesses, but he could not help snapping this photo of them playing. I think they will be fine as long as they continue to watch sports with him and chase him around the yard. It is all about being well rounded. (Or so I am told.)

Spring Breeeaaaakkk!! Whoo Hoo!

We spent this last weekend in St. George, UT. We decided to do a little hiking in nearby Snow Canyon. Darci was a little apprehensive and needless to say it took a little convincing, but she decided it was a good idea in the end. She did almost all of the hikes by herself with little resting in between. We did two hikes, each over 2 miles. Not bad for a 4-year-old.
The views from our destinations were pretty awesome. Snow Canyon, and southern Utah in general, has to be one of my favorite places to go hiking.
This is a photo taken from the same location, just a different direction.
This picture makes the rock look a lot steeper then it really was. However, it looks impressive, so I am posting it!
This is David resting after taking his turn carrying kids. We traded off so neither of us was over tired. I think it was a fair trade.
This is where Darci wanted to take a rest. She was such a trooper, I figured we had better document this moment of triumph.
You can't tell in this picture, but when Darci and I climbed this rock, Maile freaked out because she wanted to be up there with us, but it was a little tricky for her to get up there...
So I gave her a little help.
I am glad we took them because now we know they can do it and we can survive and even enjoy ourselves.
This is Darci posing with Daddy on top of some petrified sand dunes.
Darci's favorite part of the hike was getting to climb on all the rocks. This rock had some lava caves nearby that she was thrilled to explore with me. Because the trail was rather steep, we left Daddy and Maile behind and ventured on our own. It would have been fine, except I bashed my head on a low ridge and am now sporting a small, but painful goose egg above my left eye. Cute.
Maile was content to do her share of climbing and scrambling among the red rocks. She doesn't like being left behind.

Great views of some of the lava rock mixed into the red rocks.
Maile got pretty sick of the backpack at times. We had to let her walk a few times.
This is me and Darci in some outcroppings in the rocks we found on one of our hikes.

Here we are getting ready to start one of our first hikes.
Taking a little lunch break before heading back to the car.
Posing in some more outcrops. A trip well worth the effort.

Matt's Baptism

We really want to take a space on the blog to congratulate our brother-in-law Matt on his recent baptism. He was baptized on Tuesday, March 25, 2008 in Magna, Utah. We forced him and Amanda to pose for this photo right before the baptism. We are very proud of Matt for taking this huge and important step, and we are proud of Amanda for supporting him in his efforts. We know what a difficult decision this can be, but we want them to know we love them and support them all the way. We know they will be greatly rewarded for it.
This is Amanda and Matt with David Miles (we think that was his name; sorry Matt if that is wrong) and Elder Sanchez. The baptism was great. There were some talks about baptism and the Holy Ghost, and my mom sang a beautiful song as one of the musical numbers. There was a strong spirit during the whole thing. Our girls were even relatively well behaved.
Now Darci keeps asking when she can be baptized, and also wants to know when the Easter Bunny will be baptized and if she can attend that one. Since she just learned that the Easter Bunny even exists I am not sure how to break it to her that he probably has not even had the discussions yet.

Easter Sunday

We really don't push the whole "Easter Bunny" idea with our kids, so when Easter morning arrived the girls were a little stunned to see a bunch of treats and toys left my some mysterious bunny.
However, there were no complaints about what he left.
We have had to explain to Darci each day since that the Easter Bunny is like Santa and only comes once a year, which is not for a very long time. She thought that was a great idea. I have to confess that this is the first year that we have had the Easter Bunny at our house. I know, but before anyone decides I am some lazy parent, let me justify my actions by saying it was because I really didn't want a lot of treats around that I would just end up eating. I guess that still makes my motives purely selfish. Oh well.
The good news is that my girls actually finished off most of the candy by Monday morning. In fact, I think I had to snitch some from their baskets when I realized that I was not going to get any marshmallow chocolate bunnies. They never missed them. Besides, they did get some non-candy items. We occasionally try to give the gifts that keep on giving something besides sugar highs and type II Diabetes.

It has been a while since I have updated. I think that is because it is so much easier to post when I have photos to accompany my day-to-day life. However, since most of the photos are still in our camera, the pictures will have to wait until another day.
However, I do feel that there is something worth mentioning to everyone who has listened to my Darci woes. I just have to say that she is doing very well lately. Yesterday was a marked day that I want to remember so I am posting it on the blog.
I had a total breakdown in judgment yesterday and decided to take the girls shopping to the outlets in Park City. My mom came with us, but we were both shopping for different things. So we decided to each take a child.
I conceded Maile to my mom since she is decidedly the easier of the two, and I took Darci. Things did not start out well. We had a total fiasco in Pac Sun which included me telling her to stay with me and she completely ignoring me until I got angry. All you parents who are familiar with this scenario know how frustrating it is to repeat things over and over and feel like you are just talking to yourself.
SO, I grabbed her and left the store in a bit of a rage. I found a corner near an alley between stores and made her sit there and I walked around the corner and sat on a bench where I could still see her but she could not see me. She was crying and screaming and asking for Daddy. People walking by kept looking at her and, upon seeing me, asked if she was alright. I politely explained that she was in trouble but that she was otherwise fine. Embarrassing? Very. Worth it? Well, after makeshift "timeout" was over I told her if she wanted to go sit in the car the rest of the time that would be fine with me and she would not get any food or be allowed to play on the little playground they have there. She agreed to behave.
I think what happened after that was a miracle. She was like a different child. I guess the playground thing really resonated. She held my hand, she stayed by me. If I moved, she followed. She helped me try on clothes and asked what colors I liked. She was very polite to the clerks when we had to leave and she thanked me for letting her come with me. I am not sure what to say except that I think things are looking up.
This is not a normal experience, but I believe that her behavior is improving and the help we are getting might be paying off. This is the first time I have really seen a change, but I sure hope they keep coming because I am really likin' it.

Is it Spring yet?

Maile discovered dirt yesterday. Heaven help us all.

She sure thought it was great. I think we may have to invest in some smaller shovels.

However, it was nice to see the sun again after such a long winter.

I was shaking dirt out of clothing almost all night long. I think both girls think it was worth it.