sarah

When Diana was born Ryan and I dubbed her the entropy bomb because all of a sudden it seemed entropy was winning in our lives. Of course, in hind sight Diana was a piece of very yummy cake.

Sarah is true entropy bomb - she can go from order to chaos in less than 10 seconds. Ryan has decided we should have named her "Entropa" instead of Sarah. It's a good thing she is very lovely!

getting bigger

The other day Nora stepped off the school bus, her front tooth hanging by a thread and I could not resist any longer, so she let me pull it out and I felt better. Nelson was proud of her (don't they look alike?). She kept it for several days and is finally letting the tooth fairy have it tonight (good thing she told me - eek).

Nelson is also getting bigger. He not only slept all night last night (happy birthday Mom), he also busted a hole in his jammies.

birthday season

We have entered birthday season here at the Chase house starting with NORA our big six year old. She got to eat lunch with principal, share treats with her class, eat pizza, cake, ice cream and get presents - sigh - to be six. Grandpa, of course, teased her about being sick, not 6, but she took it all in stride (I remember getting so upset with my dad when he did that to me when I turned 6). Anyhow, we love our Nora!

Two days later I turned 35 - eek, wow, and that sounds a lot older than 34 - sigh again. The highlight of my day? Strawberry pie baby! I also was happy not to be sick (last year I was morning sick with Nelson - ikk).

ACK!

I'm sorry for the silence. Spring Break was great with lots of time at the park, lots of friends, great weather etc. We have been back in school for a week now and it's school (go figure). I started house hunting. I wish I could be excited about it, but I'm not. I feel like my brother David when he was single - he just wanted the Lord to assign him a wife to avoid the pain, confusion, not to mention the work of dating, choosing etc. I wish the Lord would assign me a house, but I do know that' not the way it works. Too bad.

The biggest news of the day is NORA is SIX (not sick Grandpa - that's his favorite joke for 6 year olds). Nora is passionate about her birthday and I hope it meets her hopes and dreams.

I must go now - bathrooms NEED attention, also today is laundry day, plus we are making tasty pizza for dinner, and lastly I want to take a shower!

Grand Canyon Adventure

Ryan here blogging: We enjoyed a quick trip to the Grand Canyon last weekend to kick off Spring Break here in Arizona.

There was a dusting of snow on the upper reaches of the canyon and some patches where we camped.  The kids persevered with the chilly evening with lots and lots of layers.  Mercifully there were no midnight bathroom runs and everyone stayed warm.  Breakfast was a little more chilly than the warm sleeping bags.  Once Isaac warmed up a little after his breakfast he was happier.

The older 4 enjoyed the sample rocks from the canyon's different geological layers along the "Trail of Time" on the south rim.  Sarah and Nelson got to ride most of the time - Nelson was an especially good sport.

We checked out the top of Bright Angel Trail (Emily in the foreground below).  After Emily and Sarah both slipped on the icy beginning of this less than precipitous part of the trail we decided it was time to turn around before things got more serious.  When they get bigger they can venture deeper. 

Overall, it was a good family outing - much better than our first attempt a few years ago on a ward camp out.  It was good to have practiced sleeping in the tent overnight in the backyard the weekend before.

Marian here: a note on my clothes - the boots are my hiking boots from high school - indestructible, warm and waterproof. I haven't worn them since I was pregnant with Isaac when they gave me bad blisters because my feet were swollen. The pants, yes I know they are AWFUL, but I do not own any warm stuff. I found these at the thrift store and they were perfectly warm, just perfectly unflatteringly ugly.

boys boys boys

Boys take a lot of energy (as do girls - ask me sometime about the sad tale of Sarah vs. the humidifier - Sarah won. She also gave Nelson a black eye today - accidentally).

 Isaac has almost entirely given up sucking his fingers - but it's still a sure sign he is very tired.

 This guy is big, big, big and I love stripes on him (I found a very cute cardigan for me at Epic thrift store today, blue and cream stripe - more stripes!!).

 We are camping at the Grand Canyon this weekend and it's supposed to drop to 20 degrees F - eek. The aforementioned Epic has been a lifesaver. We now own parkas and melon caps (beanies) for all the kids since before their cold weather gear consisted of a fleece or sweatshirt, nit 20 degree caliber. I especially love Nelson's hat - you got it - stripes! I also love his valentines onesie from Grammy. I also really ,really love his chubby thighs.

If this blog is silent after the weekend just know we froze to death trying to have a fun campout.

Nelson longs to be mobile and does a great wiggle out of his bouncy chair.

"a" mountain

Diana was the designated photographer on our hike 2 weekends ago up A mountain (ASU's version of Y mountain - the Wasatch Front it is not, but a nice little hike and Sarah did most of it herself so I didn't have to carry anyone!)

 This was Nora's hat for crazy hat day during H week in kindergarten. It is stunning paired with her 80's t-shirt turned into a dress. She loves the attention she gets from strangers when outrageously dressed.

random

 Didn't take good naps for 2 days in a row, ate twice last night - arrrrrrg!

This was Nora on Valentine's day eating all her suckers at the same time. I later found them all in a sandwich bag under her bed - ikk. At least she didn't eat them all.

fooooooooooood

Our cooking with Mom adventures continue. We have had lasagna, chicken pot pie, hot dogs, beans and rice, and more. Isaac is making taco soup for tonight and Diana is determined to learn the ancient art of French toast on Friday. I think what I like the most, aside from the one one one time, is there is motivation to help Mom with the menu (something I find difficult week after week).

Here is Emily with a SCRUMPTIOUS lasagna. I made several of these for our wedding lunch so this brought good memories Ryan's way.