A Funeral for a Fish

Well, it finally happened. Goldie has passed on to a better life. Jacee got two fish when she started kindergarten (frankly John and I are surprised they have lasted this long!) Anyway, when we woke up this morning, Goldie was floating belly up in the tank.

Jacee wanted to bury it herself. She picked the spot, found the shovel, dug the hole...

And plopped Goldie in the hole. After she covered him up she wanted to stand by his grave for a moment. She folded her arms and then started humming the wedding march. I guess it is the most solemn music she could think of at the time.

She is sad, but wants to get another one because she is worried Spotty will be lonely. We'll see...

Jacee's Dance

We went to Utah this past weekend for Jacee's first dance competition that was not a ballroom competition. She loved it! When we got there, we first went to the auditorium and then the gym. Teams would be competing in both locations. When we walked into the gym I could see her countenance drop just a little as she asked, "Mom, are we dancing in here?" I told her no, she would just be in the auditorium and she beamed and gushed, "Mom, I just love dancing on stage!" And boy does it show! I know I am just the proud mama, but she smiles and performs to the audience the entire time. She never looks around at her team mates to see what they are doing, she just dances!

She had a great time with her cousin Jasmine, who happened to be at the same competition. When Jasmine would dance, Jacee would cheer and clap loudly - she was so excited for her.

Both girls had smiles on their faces when they picked up their trophies, but their grins split their faces when Grama presented them each with a rose. How do Grama's know how to make little girls feel so special? We have been so blessed to live so close to both Gramas. I know our children will have a special bond with them the rest of their lives.

I just wanted to put in this picture of Maddie because I think it's so cute! I can't believe how grown up she is. She is two months older than Jacee was when Jackson was born. I can't believe our baby is not a baby anymore!

You Can Do It!

We have a little flower that is braving the elements and daring to pop open. This fragile thing is in our front flower bed and has withstood rain, snow, and the Burley wind - yet it still
dares to...be. I always take a moment to gaze upon this brave little bloom and will it to live. "You Can Do It" I say to it in my mind. It gives me hope that Spring really is around the corner.

Family St. Patrick's Day

So we started off our St. Patrick's Day picking out green clothes for everyone. It was so fun to find something for Maddie in the spring/summer box of Jacee's old clothes. I remember so well Jacee wearing that same outfit. So hard to believe she is so grown up.

Daddy even wore some green and wanted in on the pictures. Even though the kids didn't have school they did find opportunities to get lots of pinches in (mom and dad before we were ready for the day. Cousins and Aunts and Uncles in Utah).

We forgot to leave a potato in our shoes in exchange for some gold coins because we were visiting family in Utah, but there's always next year! And no we did not eat anything green - Jacee and I decided we just didn't like that - it just doesn't seem like it tastes very good.

Hope everyone else had a fun St. Patrick's Day too. Now we are really looking forward to Easter in Utah!

St. Patrick's Day

Explanation

Jackson was a little put out he wasn't in the picture at the top of our blog. So I told him he could pick which picture to put on...he wanted "the one where I am making a crazy face sleeping on daddy." So...here it is. Enjoy!

Ready for Spring!

Spring, spring - where art thou? I am really getting antsy for Spring Time. I thought I would post some pictures from last Easter to remind me that it will come and won't it be great! Our little flowers seem to still be growing under their bed of snow. Jack and I check them out on a regular basis and we see more and more tulips pushing through the ground.





Boy - what a difference a year makes. I can't believe how grown up Maddie is now. This Easter will be tons of fun - she will be running around trying to find the eggs. We will be in Utah this year and we're excited to spend time with lots of family.

Now - if Spring would just get here!