Tandy and Kory Get Sealed

Last Friday, on February 20th, my sister Tandy and her husband Kory were sealed in the San Diego Temple. It was such a special occasion for our family. Even though they've been married a year, they were still as giddy as newlyweds that night! My mom bought them the corsage and boutonniere. The flowers matched the ones they had for their wedding last year. The group was small - only family. On our side, it was only me, Matt and my mom. On Kory's side, there was his mom, his abuelita, his three sisters, and his brother-in-law. Tandy, as always, was very calm and serene. Kory was more emotional than she was! I didn't cry at all until the end, when I gave her a hug and said how happy and proud I was. I knew that it had been a long road for the two of them to get to the temple, and it was so wonderful to see them so happy. Congratulations, you two!!

Loved

So the other day, Kristin came in and asked me to make her a card. She's really into making cards for people right now, ever since they made cards for Valentine's Day in her preschool class. So I made a simple card that said I Love You, and I drew a picture of some flowers next to it. Kristin loved it, and showed it to Joey who instantly got jealous and asked if I would make him a card, too. So I did, only I drew a picture of the Solar System in his. He kind of flipped out over the card, and then decided to do one for me:Best. Card. Ever.

Winter Blues

I can't believe we're just days away from the month of March! The year is already flying by. We had a fun and eventful January, but February has been a different story. We're all suffering from a case of the blahs. Seems like we've all been at some stage of illness for the entire winter. We've gone through a bit of stomach flu, a couple ear infections, and numerous head colds - not to mention a lot of restless nights! I'm ready for it all to end. In this week alone, Matt's stayed home sick from work, both Joey and Kristin have stayed home from school, and Simon sounds like he's drowning much of the time. Other than a bit of tummy trouble, I've managed to avoid getting really sick. But this morning my throat started feeling scratchy. I'm drinking lots of water, taking my vitamin C, and keeping my fingers crossed. Hope you and yours are staying healthy!

Family Resemblance

I love this picture of Wendy and Kristin!

Ever since she was little, I've noticed a resemblance between Kristin and her Auntie Wendy. Mostly when she smiles and laughs. This picture captured exactly what I mean! They're both being goofy on purpose for the photo - but there's no denying they look alike! Well, except for the hair. Kristin's is just a little bit lighter than Wendy's.

The Only Thing Growing in my Garden (for now!)

I've been diligently working on the back yard every weekend, trying to trim things back, pull weeds, and generally get ready to plan a real garden. Other than the orange trees, the yard was looking pretty barren. Then this week, our strange little rose bush bloomed:I call it a strange little rose bush because it's basically just one long stem with a big bunch of leaves and blossoms at the top. It appears to be a shoot that grew off of the now-dead main rose bush. The roses are huge, gorgeous, and smell fantastic. They're visible from the kitchen window, and I love looking out and seeing a burst of color out there. I'd planned to have some flowers in the yard, but I was picturing them more in the front, with the vegetables and herbs in the back. But maybe we'll have to put some flowers in the back yard, too. There's actually a book I've seen called Roses love Garlic that talks about companion planting. I'll definitely have to check it out!

January was good for Joey!

After all the holiday madness was over, we settled back to life as normal. Well, as normal as it gets for us! January was a big month for Joey, though. On the 16th, he celebrated his 8th birthday. We didn't have a big party - just family over for dinner and cake. Joey got all kinds of fun presents from the family. He was especially excited about the Moon Sand that his Grandma Lynn got for him. Moon Sand is supposed to be sand that's moldable - like Play Dough. It's fun to play with, but once Kristin realized she could mix colors, we ended up with one big blob of gray Moon Sand. Sigh!

Of course, turning 8 meant it was time for Joey to get baptized! He was so excited for his big day. Here he is with his Dad, all dressed in their white suits. (Matt requested that we not post full body shots since those white suits aren't exactly flattering). It was a really special occasion for many reasons - and what made it extra nice was that Joey was the only child getting baptized that day. So the whole program was centered around him. My mom and I both gave talks, and we sang Joey's favorite songs. It was really nice to have it so focused on our family. After the baptism, the whole family went out to dinner at Red Robin (Joey's request!). It was a great evening.

Joey was also very excited because Mom finally gave in and allowed him to try one of the many science experiments that he'd seen on "Beakman's World." If you've never seen Beakman's World, I highly recommend that you check it out. Beakman is WAY more fun than Bill Nye the Science Guy. But I digress. We watch Beakman's World every week, (actually, we watch it on the Spanish channel, so I guess I should call it "El Mundo de Beakman") and Joey is always anxious to try out the science experiments they show. One day, they showed how to grow your own salt crystal garden. It didn't require any elaborate supplies or frightening chemicals, so we decided to give it a go.
To grow a salt crystal garden, you start with a container with some cut up sponges in it. Then you dump some water, salt, ammonia, and liquid bluing into the container along with a little food coloring if you want the crystals to be something other than white. Then you wait. After the first day, the crystals weren't very impressive:

Here it is on the second day:


And the third day:


As you can see, on the third day the crystals started creeping up the side of the container. I wish I'd kept taking pictures because eventually, the crystals had completely taken over the container, and were spilling over onto the counter! Joey was so excited about the crystal progress. Mom was less than thrilled. But it was all in the name of science!