Easter Weekend

We had a really great easter weekend. Last Friday, we went down to Manti. We spent the afternoon outside enjoying the sunshine and in the evening we decorated easter eggs. The kids played together while the adults played a couple rounds of our new favorite game, Settler's of Catan.






On Saturday we went to the park for Manti's annual easter egg hunt. The kids had a lot of fun picking up candy and eggs.







Later that afternoon we had a birthday party for cousin Shannon and then had a little family easter egg hunt with the eggs we colored the day before.




On Sunday, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Nicholson's house for dinner. The kids had another easter egg hunt where they found plastic eggs that Grandma had filled with candy and money!

Happy Birthday Max!

Max is 5 years old!


March 14th was Max's birthday. He had a lot of fun helping me make the cake and the pizza for his birthday party. We had some family in town visiting so it was the perfect day for a birthday party. He had a lot of fun playing with his cousins and opening presents.




Max was very excited to get a bike for his birthday, but not as excited as his Dad was to give it to him .

Too Cool for School

Well, Max's Kindergarten days were short lived. We got a call last Thursday from the Principal and she said that she had gotten a call from someone at the district who informed her that they had just gotten the paperwork enrolling Max in kindergarten and that he was too young to be there. So, after talking to the principal, I called the district and they said that the principal had made a mistake in letting him into school. The Utah state law is that a child has to be 5 before the deadline before he can come to school. He will be tested and allowed into first grade next year if we choose to do that, but he can't go to kindergarten this year. He was really loving school so it is kind of a bummer that he can't go right now. So anyway, we definitely have some decisions to make about his education in the future, but for now we are having fun teaching him at home. He is a little sponge that soaks up everything and is always wanting to learn more. He continually surprises us with his abilities. The other day he was in the bath and he started asking if there was a "c" in "breakfast" we told him there wasn't. Then we heard him saying, " I don't have another "A", I will use this "4" for an "A", that peaked our curiosity so we went into the bathroom to see if he had spelled "breakfast", he had, and he also spelled "snack" and "lunch" and had them sharing an "N". Also, on the bottom he had spelled "Wii". Not sure how that relates to the other 3 words . Anyway, we had to take a picture.

Our Kindergartener

Since we left France Max has been asking to go back to school. After moving to Tooele, I started looking into preschools. I was talking to one preschool teacher about him and she suggested that I try to get him into kindergarten. After weighing the pros and cons of that, Bret and I decided we would give it a try. I went to the elementary school and met with the principal and because Max was in school in France and because he knows how to read and write already she agreed to let him. So, Max is going on his second week. He is liking school but to him it seems a lot different from his last school, and I think it will take some time for him to become fully adjusted. He loves to learn and we want to keep him challenged, so we will see how it goes.

Home Sweet Home

It has been awhile since my last blog entry. February was a busy month for us. We found a great home in a great neighborhood. Bret is loving his new job and we are loving our new home. February 18th was moving day.


Most of our things have been in storage for the last year and a half, so everything is new to Maddie and a distance memory for Max. The kids had a lot of fun discovering all the "new" things as the movers were bringing them into the house - one of their favorites being two banana chairs.


We are really excited to be settling into a place of our own again. It is really beginning to feel like home.

One of our favorite things about our house is the beautiful mountain view from our backyard.