Piano Recital

Two months ago Braden and Emmry were handed the music for their piano recital. They practiced those pieces nearly everyday for the past sixty or so days. I am sure it was with a bit of relief that they finally sat in front of that concert Steinway and performed their well-rehearsed songs.Of coarse we are slightly biased, but they were the very best of the night. Braden and Emmry even succeeded in playing a duet without too much conflict. It was a long two months!

We are very proud parents and will be sad when the day comes that they can play all the hymns in the church hymn book. It is on that day that they are allowed to quit. Braden already knows three!

Woolfy Preschool

Hadley and Chloe graduated this week from a five week preschool at a local high school. They named it "Woolfy" school in honor of the mascot that stands in front of the school.

Though we will miss preschool (boy will some of us really miss preschool!) we are thrilled for our little graduates! Congratulations!

Spring Break

Ryan and I took a trip to San Diego nearly twelve years ago. We were on summer break from the University of Utah and I was a few months pregnant with Braden. We keep a picture in our kitchen of us standing on the cliffs overlooking La Jolla beach to remind us of how beautiful it was. Medical school and residency took us to the Atlantic Ocean for vacations for a while, but being back in the west has given us the desire to make a return trip. So for spring break we packed everyone up and headed to San Diego, which proved a bit more work this time around.

While a few of our plans were repeats from our first trip, i.e., Coronado Beach, Sea World, and the San Diego temple, we threw in a few new ones to please the expanded group.

We had a couple of us fall in love with the polar bears at the San Diego Zoo and a few the view from the Cabrillo Light House. There were some amazed by the Lego structures at Legoland, maybe one that enjoyed body surfing in the cold ocean, and nearly all that lost their breakfast while whale watching.

I'm not sure who thought that whale watching would be fun for a family afflicted by motion sickness... ok, I guess I'll have to admit it was me. When will I learn. I should never do anything that requires my feet to leave the ground. Small airplanes, parasailing, boats smaller than a cruise ship... none of them have ever ended well. So you can imagine that three and a half hours on the open sea looking for whales was disastrous. Braden was the sole member of the family with breakfast still in his stomach at the end of the voyage. Amazingly, he stood at the bow of the ship the entire three and a half hours. We apparently saw a blue whale, which Braden will confirm, though at that point I'm not sure how many of the rest of us even cared.

Despite our misadventure on the sea, we had an amazing time. It was fun to see the twins buried in the sand like mermaids, Braden surfing, and Emmry collecting shells at the ocean. And along with creating memories, it seemed the most fitting vacation for our family. On our first trip to San Diego we were expecting our first child. On this second trip, we're expecting our last.

Come Visit!

Unexpected visitors are always welcome! Come any time!

A Visit from the Tooth Fairy

Emmry had been complaining about her tooth hurting for a few days before we figured out she had her first loose tooth. At six and a half we should have seen it coming, but what can I say... we didn't. Ryan is a lot like my Dad when it comes to things that need fixing, the two of them just can't leave them alone. So when a loose tooth presents itself, it's just asking to be pulled.

So before Emmry new it, she had a piece of floss secured around and under the tooth. Emmry was not party to it being pulled, but the floss offered a way to wiggle the tightly packed in tooth so she obliged. What she couldn't foresee was that the only way for the floss to come off was with the tooth.

In the end, Ryan got his tooth and Emmry has a beautiful window in her smile.

Name Calling

I'm often asked if the twins play well together, and of course I tell them that they are best friends, "BFF, right mom?" And they truly are. But like all siblings they have their moments. Actually, at age three they have a lot of moments and they've developed a few endearing ways to make their feelings known. "I shate you!", "Poo, poo Hadley!", and "Bad Chloe!" are among my favorite. But the one that gets the most reaction and is the biggest insult of all... "You Prince Eric!" Because what princess wants to be a handsome prince?

Happy 11th Birthday B!

The morning of March 4th Braden presented me with a wish list for his special day. It read:

24 hour screen time

No piano practicing

Skip school

Choose dinner

Tease babies

Ryan and I contemplated the list. It just so happened Ryan had taken the day off work so he and Braden spent the day on the golf course and at the movies. The girls joined the boys at the baseball field that night for Braden's opening little league game. Go Giants! The restaurant of choice was In-N-Out and dessert was the traditional tower of doughnuts.

Though I'm generous and gave into nearly every request including 24 hours of screen time good for March 4th only (it seems he didn't get around to that one), I drew the line at teasing the babies. A kid's got to have some limits!