Spring has sprung!

 Some random cell phone pictures: Grace and Charlie.

 This is what I would look like with bangs. When did my hair get so dark?

 Cutest baby in America.

 With the cutest daddy.

 And the cutest mommy?

 These girls are at the age where they fight a lot. Alice LOVES to do things just to get a reaction out of Grace. Grace reacts.

 A rare moment of peace. We had some free time one evening, so each of us got to pick a family activity to do for 10 minutes. Grace chose Go Fish, Alice chose Chutes and Ladders, Paul chose sungka (Philippines game), and I chose puzzles. We had fun!

 At playgroup on Friday: Alice and friend Lydia.

 Charlie had fun at playgroup too.

 Nature boy!

 There are a lot of little girls Alice's age in the ward, so she really likes playgroup!

 On the bus to pick up Grace from a playdate.

 Pajama man.

 At the bus stop. It was such a nice day, and Paul had just finished his final paper of the quarter, so we all took the loop bus and the short walk to pick up Grace at her playdate in faculty housing.

 We set up our 12'x12' tent on Friday night to make sure we knew how. (Mom and Dad got it for us for Christmas - thanks!) We have such a small house that it took a lot to make the space - the couch was in the kitchen! But it's a nice big tent, tall enough to stand up in, and with a hinged door! We plan to go camping one night this week for Paul's Spring Break.

 Paul messed around with the camera when I was in the temple yesterday.

 It's so nice that the massive stake center in the temple parking lot is usually unlocked for some activity, so we can always find a room to crash in.

 Sunny day at the temple, with great flowers!

Yay for spring!

Bethany's Big Birthday Blog

 Grace and Alice, getting excited for Easter.

 Paul, getting excited for his internship at NASA Goddard.

 Sweet sisters.

 Silly sisters on a Sunday night.

 The weather was nice a lot this week, so we had a lot of backyard time. Alice and Charlie love the great outdoors!

 Alice's first braid.

 I like outdoor time too!

 Love that face!

 We took advantage of the nice weather and went on a walk by the ocean on Monday.

 Paul really loves the waves.

 It's so beautiful! We saw cove-like beaches, cool houses, windsurfers, etc.

 We ran into one of Grace's friends and her mom, who offered to take our picture. Charlie was asleep in the stroller.

 We chanced upon this weird building/complex. We looked it up later: The Court of the Mysteries. Weird.

 Pretty Grace. We ended up walking 2 miles.

 He looks so cute in a polo and jeans.

 Sisters.

 Alice and Charlie are chair buddies.

Sweetie.

 Silly.

 Oh so cute.

 Blue collar worker.

 Funny joke, Mommy!

 Looking off into the distance.

 Grace has been reading books for a school contest. So far, she's won 2 temporary tatoos. She loves to read, and read 2 hours one day!

 Grace likes blowing bubbles.

 Until she spills them.

 She looks like such a big kid now!

 And so on the ball!

 Charlie enjoying the weather.

 Grace likes to weed. We just have random clover and stuff growing around, so I let her pick whatever she wants. She fills buckets and buckets!

 Pretty sky.

 This is what he gets for having sisters - a flower in his ear.

 Poor Grace fell down the stairs when they went to get the mail. She was bleeding from both lips. The upper one got really fat, and she was pretty sore. Poor kid.

 I love that face!

 We surprised Paul on Wednesday by setting up a table and chairs in the backyard for dinner. It was fun!

 Alice.

 On Friday, Paul and Grace made me a birthday cake.

 Then Paul did some computer work with Charlie.

 Super Baby!

Super Sleepy.

 Saturday was my 31st birthday. Paul let me sleep in a little, then I came down to see sweet girls in birthday hats, a bouquet, and a breakfast of biscuits, gravy, bacon, and donuts! (We took a day off from our calorie counting.)

 After getting ready, we dropped the kids off with our friends, and Paul took me kayaking! It was cool and foggy, but so fun! They lowered the kayak down to the water with those bungees, then Paul and I climbed down a rusty ladder to get in - it was terrifying! We paddled for an hour, enjoying the view of the shore, the kelp swamp, and the sea otters. We got so close to them - one followed us around, and another splashed me! We didn't take our camera onto the kayak for fear that it would get wet or fall into the bay. Good thing, since we were both pretty wet by the end of it!

 The birthday girl.

 At the ocean.

 We got Dairy Queen on the way home, picked up the kids, ate, and then Paul set me up with a book and some chocolate while he did the dishes and decorated the cake with Grace.

 View from the wharf - Capitola Village.

 So happy!

 We went to a Chinese place for dinner.

 They gave us more food than we could stomach!

 We opened gifts, then had cake. Chocolate cake with marshmallow cream and crushed graham crackers (smores), then Paul added homemade cooked frosting and toasted coconut. Super sweet, and oh so good! After the kids were in bed, we watched Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Paul had never seen the movie version - fun!

The Easter baby!