more puppy pics

Scott's "Office"

Cliff Dwellings

Inside a Kiva

These are a few pictures Scott brought home from work today.

It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

Puppy-5 weeks

When we put in our deposit on the puppies, we were third in line to pick. Since the first two people wanted boys, we had three girls to pick from. Then one of the puppies was born without a tail and had some other health problems that she was born with. So we were down to two. Then there was a mix up with another litter and the breeders' vet got bumped to our litter and picked a girl. So we have ended up with this puppy, no choosing involved. I have been assured they are all sweet and quite alike, especially at this age, but I was a little disappointed. I have done so much research and wanted to be able to pick the dog we liked best. But that's the way it is. I keep telling myself i might have picked this one anyways. I mostly just wanted a good personality to the dog, for dealing with the kids and in the future I may want to do some therapy dog work. This is where you take the dog to nursing homes or schools, other places to help people and cheer them up. There are some tests and things the dog needs to pass to do this sort of thing. So fingers are crossed this will be a great puppy, and that we can train her well. We have already bought a few things to get ready, I have read some more books. Scott seems to be resigned to the idea. Whitney is still obsessed with puppies so we imagine she will be overjoyed when ours arrives. The breeder is four hours away and we were planning on going this weekend to pick our puppy, but since we don't have a choice anymore and this is a really busy weekend, we'll have to go later. I am ready to meet them and see the real deal in all their cuteness, instead of just reading about chewing, accidents and all the other problems dogs can have. T-Ball sign up sheets have arrived and we may have all three girls in it. Ahhh! I am glad the field is close. We had to order Abby a left-handed glove so that should arrive soon. Sara says she wants to play but i wonder how she will do. She is a sweetheart, but unpredictable. We'll try it. The yard work continues and we need to get going onthis fence project. Window-well covers have been ordered and should be ready in 2-3 weeks and that will help a lot when Whitney is outside. Scott's parents were able to come down a few weeks ago and brought us a door for our storage room. it went up quite easily and works great. Previoulsy we had a nice chunk of plywood across the doorway to keep the kiddos out. They also brought us the last shelves we needed for the storage room and those are up. Then the cement we needed to put up the clothesline and scott got to dig a nice hole and play with cement. We did have a few minutes to go on a drive to see some Anasazi cliff ruins Scott knows about. We also spent that weekend watching General Conference for church and it was good but I am glad we can read it after since it was hard to concentrate with the kids runnning around. Sunday morning we did Conference Bingo, and that was fun, although the jelly bean markers did not last long. It's fun anyways.

Scott's 34th Birthday

Our new clothesline, we were able to put it up a few weeks ago and today we are trying it out. it is still pretty cool here, but breezy enough it should dry.

Scott got and airplane for his birthday!

Birthday pie.

For Scott's birthday, on March 26th, we got up and made him breakfast in bed. He had to work, but after that we had dinner and apple pie. The airplane had not arrived, so we gave him a little treat with SkipBo attached that we got here at the scrapbooking store. we drove all around trying to get balloons and that did not work out, so we were bummed. On Monday the plane arrived and so now he can say he has an airplane. It has been pretty windy, and the other day the plane did a cartwheel so it needs some Krazy Glue, but he'll get it figured out. The girls absolutely love watching him fly it. He got some money and an amazon giftcard also and has bought better topographical maps for his GPS and a fancy knife. I think it was a good birthday, nothing too exciting, but that's how Scott likes it.

Abby's first piano recital

Abby's piano teacher had a recital for her students at the beginning or March. Abby played "Christmas Bells are Ringing" with both hands. I taught her the song and then she figured out how to do it with both hands in unison. She is really amazing and I think if we spent more time at it she could really excel. I am so happy she seems to like it and picks up her little practice songs so quickly. She also teaches Isabel a little. I plan on working with her this summer and she will start lessons in the fall. Abby also played a song called "Bugle Call" She was shy to go up and practice, but when it was her turn she went up and played beautifully and said she was not nervous. Neither Scott nor I play piano much, although we both were in band,so we are hoping to give this skill to our children.

Bluff

In the meeting hall

Teepee

Pioneer girls

Wednesday we took a little trip south to Historic Bluff Fort.

It is about 40 miles from home. We had never been there yet. The weather was great, almost too warm. The fort has been restored somewhat by the hole-in-the-rock foundation, who are a lot of the decendants of the original pioneers who crossed the state. There are a lot of little cabins, a meeting hall, and some of the other buildings there. They also have a few Ute and Navaho things there. The girls really liked it. In the visitor's center they have some pioneer outfits and the girls got to put them on and pose for a picture or two in an old covered wagon. On our way back we stopped for dinner and it turned out to be a really fun outing. Made us thankful for our nice big house after seeing the 10 x10 cabins they all lived in. The town of Bluff is tiny, but they do a lot to attract peole there. They do a big balloon festival, which I would like to see, maybe next year. Otherwise we have spent spring break doing a little bit of everything. Some cleaning, organizing, yard work, puppy prep, and working on the Blazer. We took a trip to Durango, CO on Thursday and saw the train museum again. We had a picnic by the river and park, we went into a few little stores and the girls FINALLY bought some earrings to change out the ones they had when they got them pierced. So they were happy. On the way back we made a stop at WalMart to do a little grocery shopping. It was also a good day. We have enjoyed our staycation and having Scott around for a few days.

Call Me Crazy...

Here is the first picture of our future puppy! Ahhh! I am a little excited, a lot terrified but have been looking into getting a dog for years now. I think it all started when Scott was in Georgia for months and I was home alone. At night I just wished I had someone there. I also have a friend who had a cute little dog and I really liked him, after never really being a dog person. Long story short-I have spent way to much time on the internet researching and ended up finding a breeder who has mini goldendoodles. The name is weird, but the dogs are great. This litter is a golden retreiver mom with a toy poodle dad. I am not sure on the logistics of that, but together, they produce medium sized dogs who shed very little and have a great personality. Should be quite smart as poodles and retreivers are among the top 5 intelligent breeds. Our plan is to pick up the puppy on our way back from Dan's wedding in May. And then we have all summer to play with her while Scott works insane hours. I am completely aware that this will be my dog, the girls are excited and have wanted a pet, but they were not begging for a dog. I have not talked too much about it as we have been deciding, but as it comes closer to reality we are working on habits that will keep the dog, our things and our house safe. I am sure a few dolls will have to be sacrificed. Anybody plannning on a big 30th bday present, you can donate to the puppy fund :) I am thinking this will be my May bday\mother's day\anniversary present all wrapped into one. Scott is not terribly excited about the idea, but isn't saying no. He would rather have no pet whatsoever, but hopefully we will all be happy with the decision. We are soon putting up a fence to keep the girls (and the dog) in. That will be a big project but will be so nice when it is done. The only downside is that for the second time, we are footing the bill for neighbors who are building sometime in the future, it sure would be nice to share the cost. Oh well, there's not really a way around it. We can share a small section with our one and only neighbors.

Whitney is proving more and more every day that she is a full-fledged girl. She loves sunglasses, coats, putting dresses on at all times. Her other obsession is shoes and I don't think a day goes by she isn't wearing a pair or seven, of all sizes. She is very demanding and will bring the item she wants on, and insist you help her. She is speaking a lot more and repeating words. She also manages to put a lot of things on herself. It's pretty cute. She is loving her sisters and they love to chase each other around screaming. Whitney also pretends to be a puppy all the time, ever since we went to a Christmas party with a small dog present. Sara is sure Whitney will love to chase our puppy around and play tag with it.

Whitney will be two at the end of May! She really is a sweet girl and she loves her momma. Nursery is still hard and she doesn't go very often. If we do get her to stay, she usually promptly fills her diaper, so we'll keep working at it.

Otherwise, life goes on as usual. We are making plans for our Canada trip and working on spring plans for the yard. We planted some seeds inside and they are sprouting amazingly. But we have a lot of work to do on the yard to get our garden ready. It may not happen 100% this year, but we're taking it one thing at a time. Scott is busy at work and the girls are busy with school and friends. We've had our share of coughs and colds, but nothing too serious.

As the weather gets better, I really want to let everyone know again that you are welcome here any time. We will babysit if you want to run across the street to the temple. It is a beautiful area and we have lots of room. It takes about 4 hours from Orem with kids\potty break.

Spring break is this next week and we are staying close to home and doing some day trips. I will take lots of pictures and post them. A few days we are going rock hunting to build free walls around flower beds, we may head to Colorado to "civilization" to go shopping, and also spend some time spring cleaning. It will be not quite as fun as a trip to Disneyland, but much less stressful and expensive for us, and the girls are just happy to spend time together and run around in the mountains.

Here's hoping, that for all of us, spring will realize it is here and change the weather accordingly.