Demise of the turtle

This is an inside view of the shell top that is all that was left.
We've had our turtle outside in a bowl, where we regularly changed the water and fed him. He had a brick "cave" and wooden logs to climb on. Well on Wednesday night, something got to our turtle and all that is left is the shell. We don't know if it was a racoon or an owl or what, but something must have eaten him. All we have is the top part of the shell. Not a good thing.

Lizzard sighting and Sprint

This afternoon, while we were standing quietly in the driveway waiting for Kammie and Zack to get home from school, Spencer and I spyed a big lizzard. We tried to catch him, but he climbed up and over the shovel that was blocking his path. Instead we settled for a picture when he resurfaced from the bushes. He's hard to see, since he's matched his color to the mulch, but it was the best we could get.


We've bought some turtle food and "Sprint" has survived a week and a half with us so far. But, he may be eating more of the leaves we put in his bowl, rather than the "reptile sticks" I purchased. At any rate, the kids are thrilled to have a pet. Here he is soaking up the sun from the brick in his bowl.

Mother's Day

I am extremely grateful to be a mother, and I have the most incredible mother I could ask for. I'm always amazed that she did it all without her mother around to turn to for help. I would not make it as a mother without her guidance. I'm glad to know that she is only a phone call away. I hope every one had a great mother's day remembering and honoring great women in their lives. I've had many women "mother" me over the years, from YW leaders, to mother's of my good friends in high school and college, to my Mission mom Hna. Cristina Barrios, and many others. I am thankful that a loving Heavenly Father has blessed my life with so many incredible women as "mothers."

James gave me a great necklace for mother's day with six charms with all the kids names on it. Wonderful!

Our flowers and the vegetable garden

The azaela's have all pretty much lost all thier blooms, but my vinca's are doing well so far and we are enjoying their pretty colors.







This tomato plant in the pot is the one thriving the most!



Our vegatable garden, as a whole is coming along. All of the Brocolli plants have shed some of their outside leaves, but not died completely. Phew! The Pumpkins, Cucumbers and Zucchini have come up as well. (I did have to plant these twice. The first set of seeds must have gone bad.) And the basil seems to be coming back to life.

The Golden Gate Bridge

James traveled to San Fransico, CA last week for the CYFAR conference. He skipped the afternoon sessions one day, rented a bike and road across the Golden Gate Brigde. He had a good time, riding to two small towns across the bridge before taking a ferry back across.

New Turtle

Meet Sprint, our newest turtle find. He's a baby slider and so much fun for the little kiddos to play with. And he's fast, hence, the name the children came up with. Even Sidnie gets excited about him. He's only about the size of a half dollar.




We've got him in a bigger bowl of water than pictured here, with a brick and some sticks. He likes the cave the brick's whole makes and has eaten leaf lettuce. Yeah!

Random Kid pictures

This is Zack, Spencer and Sidnie in their new clothes. It's way past Easter, but we got them new church outfits as well. Spencer was very excited about the shirt because it's like "Indiana Jones," but we had to threaten him to keep the sweater vest all of church. He tore it off and we made him put it back on for the picture and he wasn't very happy about that.




Somehow we convinced him to smile for the next picture. Much better!

Zack's bubble beard--Ho Ho HO!


Kammie with her girl scout leader Mrs. Marcie and best friend Ana Grace, on their way to Playtime Pizza. They had a blast. Mrs. Marcie is moving soon, and we'll miss her. She's done such a great job with the girls.


Here's the whole troop.