Summer is here!

Looks like my blogging has dwindled to one post each quarter. But they're marathon posts, right?

So when we left off, I was about to go on a FABULOUS sister trip to Philadelphia, New York and Washington D.C. I made a photo book documenting the trip; I posted it as a separate entry after this one. Take a look and see what you think!

If you can't tell from the photos...it was awesome! My sisters and I have decided that we need to meet up in a major city every few years. Next on the list? New Orleans!

So that brings us to Easter! The annual Easter party with Logan's family is a big deal:

A pinata for Easter? Why not?! The kids thought it was great!

Deviled eggs + bacon + chives = YUM. (Isn't everything better with bacon?)

Later, we headed to Grammy and Papa's for the traditional egg coloring. This is serious business...

For Max, a pinecone is as good as an egg...

Sorry for the excessive photos of food, but food is important. And if it's very good food, then it's VERY important!

The Easter finery! It was nice and overcast when we went outside, but by the time I got everyone arranged and such, the sun had come out from behind the clouds in full force. Hence the squinty expressions. Oh, well; you get the idea, right?

See, that's better!

April also brought us a new cousin! Connor Nathan Toone came (in a hurry!) on April 29th. I have a little crush on him...

This is the dishtowel that Lily made in preschool for my Mother's Day gift. I have never seen a more beautiful butterfly!

We had a May birthdays/Mother's Day/Aunt Lindsay's vocal recital party at a park. Max got this darling little ride-on toy from Regular Grandma and Grandpa (Logan's parents). You can see that he's telling us that he's one in this picture. So cute!

More birthday fun with our one-year-old!

For those who don't live around here, we had a VERY rainy spring. So rainy that the fathers and sons campout our ward was supposed to have was cancelled. That's when it's good to have a firepit in your own backyard. Bust out some hot dogs and some skewers and you've got your own little campout!

This is what met my eyes when I came down the stairs one morning. I thought it was particularly significant since it was in the wake of the supposed "end of the world" (according to one Harold Camping). To see all the animals lined up two by two was a little unsettling. What was more unsettling was to realize that they were in reverse alphabetical order. Creepy, no? Those are some smart animals...

So people write on their blogs all the time about how great their husbands are (i.e., "my husband did the dishes while I was at book club; he's the BEST!"). I have long since believed that my husband is, in fact, "the best" -- but a recent event just confirms it. Once you've heard this story, ask yourself -- HONESTLY ask yourself -- if your husband would not only agree to something like this but volunteer for something like this:

So for the past few months, I've been interested (read: obsessed) with owning an old library card catalog. If there are people reading this who don't know what that is...well, you're too young to know about anything cool. Anyway, I had been searching daily on Craigslist, eBay, two different public surplus websites, KSL classifieds -- all without success. Available card catalogs were either too pricey or too far away. I even went so far as to call every public library in the state (yup, you heard me) to see if they had any kicking around in a storage room or something. Um, they don't. And all the librarians in the state think I'm crazy. I pretty much resigned myself to the fact that if I wanted to get one of these babies, I'd have to get it from out of state. Lo and behold, a listing came up on one of the public surplus websites for not one but FOUR 72-drawer units from UC Berkeley (yes, the one in California). Now, I had already accepted the fact that I'd probably be driving to California in a pick-up truck to get one of these -- but I knew that the Ford Ranger wasn't going to be able to carry four 300-lb. pieces of furniture. So I couldn't have them. WAAAAAA!!! Because of my own morbid curiosity, however, I kept my eye on the auction anyway. Logan and I were driving down to Cedar City for a quick overnighter with the kids when the auction was in its last hour. The price for all four of those units was far below what one usually would pay for one unit -- and nobody was bidding! I was distraught. I explained the situation to Logan, and he said that if I bid on them and won the auction, he would take a U-Haul to California and get them for me. OF HIS OWN FREE WILL, HE SAID HE WOULD GO GET THEM FOR ME! So I bid. But I didn't meet the reserve price, and the auction timed out. So much for that idea...

But wait! As we were rolling into Cedar City, I got an e-mail from the surplus office saying that even though the reserve price hadn't been met, they were still willing to sell me the card catalogs for the price I bid. So I won! I WON I WON I WON!!! So the following week, Logan boarded a flight for Oakland, walked to the U-Haul place, rented a truck, drove to the surplus warehouse, loaded up the card catalogs and made his way home. He rolled it at 4:00 a.m. -- and then woke up at 6:30 to go into the office for work. Now, I ask you: if that's not love, what is? I have yet to refinish my beautiful card catalogs; I have a couple of buyers lined up who are interested in purchasing them. If you're interested in one, just be aware that you're not going to have a lot of luck finding one in Utah and you might as well give me a call. :)

Here is the trusty stallion....

And here is the precious cargo! Many of the drawers were still full of cards, which I think is a cool bonus (again, I understand that I am crazy). I can't wait to get the refinishing done! YAY!

Not long after the card catalog adventure, we headed to Park City for a little R&R with my family. My sister Lisa was in town with her two little boys for a visit, so there was lots of fun cousin time!

The swimming pool is, of course, the main attraction.

There was also finger painting, which the kids thought was great!

I had to take a picture of Lily's jelly shoes. I found these shoes at D.I. and knew that my girls would love them. They were too small for Amanda, so Lily became the proud owner. Amanda was intensely jealous of these shoes, and Lily took every opportunity to rub it in. :) She wore them until they absolutely fell apart. The day we had to throw them away was like a funeral or something. I have searched high and low to find similar replacements, but to no avail. Sorry, girls! You sure didn't haven to look that hard to find jelly shoes when I was growing up...

This is candied bacon. Um, yes. It was delicious! Thanks to my sister Lisa for preparing it for us!

Lily officially graduated from her first year of preschool! What a cutie she is!

That's a pretty cute group of kids, no? We're only missing Ian in this picture (Ian's mom had to have unexpected gall bladder surgery, so they ended up not being able to come).

For some time now, I've wanted to go to Monticello (my mom's birthplace where my grandparents still live) during the bloom of the irises behind my family's cabin. It's a short window, so even though Logan wasn't able to join us, I loaded up the kids and headed down. Now, I have to admit something embarrassing. Though I've made the trip to Monticello at least once a year since my birth, I have never been behind the wheel. I'm the one who's dozing while someone else is driving. So I'm not as familiar with the route as one might think. Even that doesn't excuse the fact that I missed the ENTIRE city of Spanish Fork (the place where State Road 6 heads through the canyon toward Price). I was almost to Scipio before I realized that I wasn't in the right place. By that time, my best option was to take I-70 all the way across the state -- so that's what I did. It's not the quickest way to get from Clearfield to Monticello, but it might be the most picturesque:

At any rate, we finally made it there. The kids had a big time riding bikes and such in Grandmom and Granddad's long driveway -- a time-honored tradition in which I participated when I was little.

I remember this little green tractor from my childhood. The fun lives on!

There's lots to enjoy at the cabin!

Thanks for the great trip, Grandmom and Granddad! I'm glad we got to have you all to ourselves. :)

The upcoming weeks will bring lots of fun events: Amanda's kindergarten graduation, Fourth of July festivities, a "Fancy Nancy" birthday party for Lily, a day at Cherry Hill, a quick trip to Vernal to visit Clayton and Noelle, trek for Logan and me, young women's camp -- and then school will be back in! Amanda is excited to be a big first-grader; Lily is looking forward to her second year of preschool; and Benson will finally get the chance to be in his own preschool class instead of of tagging along at his sisters' classes. Summer is great!