May Happenings

May is always such a busy month with the end of school, programs, field trips, recitals, etc, etc.  This May didn't disappoint, and for some reason we kept having multiple things on the same night.  These people have got to coordinate!

We started off with a Saturday of craziness.  Sage participated in her first dance competition at Lagoon.  She was so nervous but did a great job and now can't wait to dance for the rest of her life.  At the same time Sage was competing Kate had her dress rehearsal for her choir concert that night.  As soon as Sage was done we raced back home to be able to go to Kate's concert.  Jake of course was out of town for this fun.  Despite the craziness of the day both girls did amazing.  Sage's group got first place and Kate did awesome on her first solo!

Then on Thursday we had double duty again.  Kate had her fourth grade program at the same time as Sage's dance recital.  Jake and I went to Kate's program during the afternoon and then we had to divide and conquer with the grandparents that night.  They both did a fabulous job, of course.  And we had to celebrate with ice cream after.  (In case you think Zack is being neglected he's riding his mountain bike every week in a group and taking guitar lessons)

In between all of these recitals we've been killing ourselves in our yard.  What's new right?  This was the big push to get our grass in.  We had to spread the top soil and get it all ready to hydro seed.  The good news is the grass seed is down, now we just have to cross our fingers that it grows.  The other good news is that this is the main thing we wanted to get done this year so now we can work in the yard for an hour or two instead of days at a time.  Hooray!!

Memorial Day was a great day filled with zero yard work.  It was blissful.  We started out the day run/walking up Memorial Hill.  Good place to go on Memorial Day.  Then we visited cemeteries which I love and Jake tolerates once a year.  We got to go to two different BBQs as well, so it was pretty much a perfect day:)

I managed my first dance hair-do without too much drama

Sage and her BFF

Sage's go-to pose these days

Sage's dance buddies

Beautiful Kate in her choir dress

Sage's 80s outfit

Pioneer Kate for the 4th grade program and her cute friends

Kate's class

Ready for grass!

Hydro seed down!

Memorial Hill:)

A Week of Remembering

Its that week again.  Mothers Day, Linz' Angel Day, and Mom's birthday...all in one week.  I will admit that there have been years where I took this week as an opportunity to feel sorry for myself.  To be really sad.  But I'm learning (yes it happens) that this is not the way to go.  Not to mention I'm sure it makes Mom and Linz want to hit me over the head.  Yes, I still shed a tear or two, or three or four.  Yes, I still miss them and think of them a lot.  But rather than look at what I don't have I look at what I can do to remember them.  And I take the opportunity to evaluate my life.  What would Mom tell me to do differently if she were here?  How would Linz be enjoying life and how can I do the same?  And I look at my own family and think about how grateful I am for them and how much they'll love Mom and Linz when they finally get to know them.

So this year I made some bread that I'll be taking around.  I picked some lilacs and put them on the table (they always remind me of mom).  I've been talking to the kids about finding extra service opportunities this week.  And I'm going to play with the kids more than usual, just like Linz would.

This week is definitely bitter sweet.  Bitter because they're not here with us and we miss them.  But sweet because of the memories we have and the gospel plan that means we'll be with them again.  So I'm remembering, but I'm happy remembering...

Viva Mexico!

Jake and I got to go to Mexico last week for a few days.  Just us, no kids.  It was heavenly.  We went to Puerto Vallarta and we loved it.  Its a beautiful city with beautiful beaches.  We got to relax on the beach and do some fun boogie boarding.  The waves were perfect for that!  I got eaten up and spit out by the ocean a few times:)

We went into the city one day.  It has a pretty walkway right along the beach that was fun.  We stopped and ate at the smallest random food place ever.  Our table was literally on the beach.  Beautiful.  And even better when we got to eat the best mexican food ever.  For reals.  The guac was beyond good and the shrimp on my tacos was fresh from the ocean.  If only I could eat there every day!  We took the bus into the city for an adventure.  Figured I might as well use my spanish.  Getting back to the resort was awesome.  The first bus we got on was a typical mexican (or El Salvador cuz they're the same there) bus.  Totally falling apart.  The second you pay the bus driver slams on the gas, and I mean they floor it.  You're careening around corners at top speed in a big bus that's super loud because all the metal on it is banging as you bounce on the cobblestone roads.  Then when they stop they slam on the brakes as well.  Jake had never experienced anything like it.  It makes me so happy that he got to enjoy this:)

We got to do a really fun adventure tour one day.  We went across the bay in a big raft thing to this little pueblo built right up on the mountains.  Puerto Vallarta has huge mountains that go right up from the beach.  Really beautiful.  Then we got in the back of a truck and bounced up some dirt roads.  Then we rode on mules to get to the first zip line.  The zip lines were awesome and it was super beautiful.  We also got to rappel down a waterfall.  There were a couple of waterslides, and lets just say they definitely don't have the same standards of safety that we have here.  Which makes it more fun of course.  One waterslide we hit the water so hard I thought we were going to fly out.  The other slide they had you wear hockey helmets because your head hits the side of the slide so bad.  Hilarious.  The last zip line we went on they kind of asked us and kind of just did it - they strapped us in, told us to kick our legs up to our head, and the next thing we knew we were flying down the line hanging upside down, going backwards.  Jake didn't know what hit him.  It was awesome!!  We have no pictures of this experience because they wouldn't let us take our cameras.  Then they tried to sell us pictures for lots of money.  In true spjute fashion we declined.

All in all a great trip.  Grateful to everyone who helped with our kids so we could go.  So good to get time away with Jake!!

In front of the beach where we spent most of our time

Beautiful sunset

Beautiful Man:)

We had to run on the beach of course

Our view while relaxing at the resort

Jake in downtown Puerto Vallarta

Cool thing made out of sand

They had really weird statues

How beautiful is that?!!

Best guac ever.  Notice the sand we're sitting on and the ocean in the background

Best lemonade ever

Jake experiencing the bus

Mexico night at the resort.  There was an awesome mariachi band!

Sunset at the resort

Heading to our zip line adventure

Beautiful pueblo

The truck we rode up in