Easter & Arizona

we decided to do baskets and egg stuff on easter saturday in hopes that sunday can be a day to remember the Savior's resurrection. we had a delicious dinner and a nice visit with family in herriman on sunday, but of course i forgot the camera. here's some shots from saturday...

calvin graciously looked up from his treats for a cute smile

his "surprised" look

dyeing eggs (russell and me) and eating goldfish (calvin)

we had an egg hunt in the backyard, which is mostly pavement, so i ran out of good hiding spots pretty quick. russell did most of the hunting and picking up because calvin just wanted to run around. note to self: next year, half a dozen eggs should do (not forty something!)

me and my handsome boy in his easter clothes

we left early monday morning to make the 14 hour drive to mesa, arizona. russell had an interview at a medical school there, which is conveniently located 5 minutes from his sister katy's house. the interview went well (he's on the alternate list for admission!) and it was great to visit with katy, dan and the kiddos.

russell and koby enjoying the nintendo wii

it was 85 degrees in phoenix while we were there and calvin loved playing outside with cousins. he had some eager helpers for his first slide experience (milo didn't want to look at the camera and delaney was the opposite!).

we discovered that calvin shares his dad's love for four-wheelers. he figured out that the foot pedal makes it move and the switch in the front is for forward and backward, but he didn't quite master the holding-on part.

russell thought he'd show calvin how it was done (or at least that was his excuse), but it went a lot slower...

delaney and calvin on a wagon ride. note how beautiful and green the grass is - it was a nice taste of spring that i miss (especially because it snowed here today)!
dan brought out the huge bubble machine and the kids loved it. tuesday was magavin's 7th birthday and russell is playing with one of gavin's cool new transformer toys.

koby with magavin during present time.

thanks to katy and dan for giving us a place to stay at such short notice and for a great time! we drove back wednesday. after changing several yuck diapers (calvin was good, but sick on the way home), narrowly avoiding a moose on hwy 20 (my fault), and miraculously coasting into nephi on fumes (my fault again) we decided that we'd spent way too much time in the car during the past three days.

calvin had his 15 month check-up the day after we got back. he's fit as a fiddle and was sadly rewarded with 3 shots. he loves strawberries, jelly beans and m&m's and has learned some new words this month: bubble, duck, cracker, turtle, banana, and grandpa (which sounds a lot like bubble).

we had a relaxing conference weekend in herriman with my dad (my mom is in georgia enjoying the newest grandson, ezra!). i'm definitely excited for the snow to be over and for spring to come back!