This was Addie’s first time to waterski! She was a great sport and tried it two times, although falling was a little traumatic for her. After that she just swam, but maybe next time she’ll try again. She did a great job and we were all so proud of her!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o-4O2t8ibM

We also got to see our newest cousin Kaiden. Jessi and Erik drove out from Florida to be with us this weekend, and it was cute to see Kaiden and Nolan together. They are so close in age, they could be twins! Except there is a huge difference in how a 3 month old interacts (laughing and smiling all the time – Kaiden) and a 7 week old (maybe a hint of a smile now and then – Nolan).

Addie LOVED spending time with her cousins, as always, and learned how to roast her own marshmallows and make a smore. Grandma is a master marshmallow maker, so we got to have them a few nights in a row:)

We didn’t take the kids to a real fireworks show, but we did get some firecrackers and set them off in the fire pit outside the house. I love the reaction the kids had. They were all worried about how loud it was going to be, so they all covered their ears. Check out the expression on the 2 year olds faces as the firecrackers go off. So funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH59QI4BXLE

We went to see fireworks on the 3rd at Andy Brown park, and kept Adelyn up way past her bedtime so she could see them too. She was amazed by them! I thought she would be scared by the booming, but she didn’t even flinch. We had a BBQ on the 4th of July, and made such yummy food! Bleu cheese burgers (courtesy of chef Zac), real Italian pasta salad from TJ, and dessert burgers and fries (courtesy of Bakerella’s recipe). We also had to take Adelyn swimming to try out her new sunglasses. We thought we should get some for our Hawaii trip. They are so cute!

Lastly, Adelyn started crawling this weekend! Originally she would only crawl for food, but now she will crawl for toys, for the movies in the entertainment stand, or for mommy, etc. It is so fun to see her crawl across the room to get something, and sit up and look at me and smile so big. She is so proud of herself! She flails her arms and giggles. It’s so funny.

This year was Andrea’s first try at organizing and planning our anniversary and she set the bar really high! As many of you know Andrea and I met when we were about 13. We have been best friends since then and have great memories through the years. We started writing notes to each other in high school and because we are both a little bit sentimental we both kept all of our notes. So Andrea took TONS of time during the baby’s naps over the last few months to scan and organize all of these notes. So for our anniversary present she printed a book with 300 pages which goes from early high school to the end of my mission. It is so cool and definitely the sweetest present I have ever received. Most of the notes show the signs of intricate folding, highlighter explosions, and ridiculous stick figure drawings. Although I am totally embarrassed by reading the notes the book turned out great and I greatly appreciated her thoughtfulness. So next time you are over at our house you will have to take a look at our awesome book! If you have any ideas for me next year let me know because Andrea did an awesome job.

Our Custom Book

What are you doing for Easter? We have been lame and haven’t done anything really special, except I made Easter sugar cookies and decorated them. They were so cute! But we had to give most of them away so we wouldn’t scarf them all down.

Last weekend was General Conference, and it was our first with a baby. Needless to say, we didn’t hear much of what was said, but I’m glad I didn’t miss Jeffrey R. Holland’s talk about the Savior’s Atonement. It was the highlight of conference for me, and I found this video on YouTube that sums up the gist of his talk. It is just in time for Easter, when we contemplate Christ’s atonement and resurrection for us. I hope you enjoy it. I can’t wait to read the rest of the talk when it comes in the Ensign this month.