Egg Lover

 Will loves eggs! He wakes up most mornings and says "ehh" and often looks for the skillet. So, Easter was a wonderful day for him. You get to find eggs! Here is the happy hunter.

A Beautiful Day!

 We had a lovely time last week celebrating Navruz, the new year. One day, we went to the botanical gardens with friends. Lissie posted some great pictures here and here. The next day we went to the hills for a picnic and hiking. 
 

 Scott somehow managed to carry this little cutie to this awesome view. Then I camped out with him while the rest went hiked up a few more hills.

 Katie and Mikey ran around like mountain goats. Notice the snow capped peaks in the background.
 

 Lissie with a hiking friend holding an interesting plant. We also found what we think are shell fossils on these hill sides.
 

Near our picnic site were rows of beautiful, blooming apricot trees.

Birthday Greetings

This week we are celebrating the Persian new year, Navruz, which comes at the beginning of spring,March 21. Today we had a picnic in the hills outside of town with some friends and we made this to wish Grammy a very Happy Birthday!

Caught!

Our boys

Michael started a wresting class this week. It is a great way for him to use his boundless energy and it is in our neighborhood.  So far so good, he is enjoying it!

This is what happens when your hair is too long and you have older siblings.....

More antics

It has been a beautiful February. I'm sure these animals are glad it is warmer too!

Will's favorite word is "Julia" which is this doggie's name. Unfortunately, this dog is ferocious with strangers so we have been trying to get rid of her. But, she is gentle with Will and he talks about her ALL the time. (And calls basically everything by her name) He also enjoys playing with her big dog bowl.

The dog and can't aren't exactly Milo & Otis, but they have learned to live in the same yard together.

Turn left at the first "drive" and you are at our house! You can kinda see the mountains in the distance.

Long Awaited Arrival

Our Christmas packages have all made it! We stopped hoping they would arrive by Christmas and began hoping that they would make it at all, and this week the kids were so excited that this huge box from Papa and Grammy arrived.

Will dug right into the package along with his siblings. He laid right into it digging out goodies several times in all the excitement!

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 He really likes his noise making toys- the one that makes animal noises makes him giggle.

"Courageous" hit the theaters before we left the States, but since we had a new baby, we didn't see it. Anna, however, heard enough good things about it that it became her favorite movie even without being seen. Now, she finally has it!!

The best thing about this pic is that it shows Katie's missing front teeth! She thought she had already lost them and somehow convinced me that her permanent teeth were lose. Thankfully, a more discerning friend looked at the teeth and assured us all that they were indeed baby teeth. The new ones are already on their way in!

This is a face of "Is this really what I think it is?" It is a remote control helicoper which is flying all over our house these days.

Wow! What a lot of wonderful stuff. Thank you Papa and Grammy. Everyone was so pleased and we so appreciate the thought and love that went into this special and eagerly awaited box. We love you!