Zoo Day

"Maddie, do you want to go see the lions, and the tigers, and the bears in two days?" Todd said.  "Yaaaay! Madelyn replied.  We learned about animals the entire week before we went to the zoo with Papa, Grandma, Susan, Hailey, Christopher, and Carson.  Maddie was very excited to see the animals.  

 We loved to see the monkeys climb all over.

 Todd loved the bears.

Got our picture in the eagles nest.

 My favorite was seeing the elephants---mommy, daddy, and baby.

 We attended the best bird show.  They had owls, eagles, hawks, doves, etc. fly around and even over our heads.  Madelyn would put her hands over her head to protect herself from the birds flying overhead.

 We ate our picnic lunch there and walked all around the zoo.  

 I could not believe how much energy Maddie had that day.  She ran and ran all day long excited to see the next animals.  

 Afterwards, we stopped at This Is the Place Park to see the monuments.  Maddie loved spending the day with cousins.

Planting the garden

We planted our garden on May 16th.  This year, Madelyn was a much more active member of the family as we planted.  She handed the plants to Todd to put in the ground as well as tripped over the perfectly made rows several times.

  

 After looking at her face, you could tell she had the most fun.

We are excited to see what grows this year!

Locks of Love

One summer many years ago while visiting Utah, I attended a YW activity with my cousin, Amy Todd.  We listened to a guest speaker who was a Locks of Love spokesperson.  She had cancer and was wearing one of the wigs provided by Locks of Love.  I remember how much she appreciated having a wig to wear that she could do anything with.  It made her rough time that much better.

  

 So donating hair to Locks of Love has been something I have always wanted to do.  I decided to finally do it! Ten inches was required to donate to actually use for a wig, but any length of hair will be accepted.  When I went to get it cut, the lady was great to help.  I was excited to ship my hair off and hopefully the hair goes towards making someone's rough time a little better. 

It's a Boy

We were so excited to find out that we are having a boy in October.  A big congrats for guessing the gender correct! Way to go, Chris, Christine, Hailey, Jon, Louise, Michael, Mom, Rebecca, Russell, and Ta!

Easter

Happy Easter! 

We loved having our tulips in full bloom.

  Maddie Jane enjoys smelling flowers.

 Maddie and Daddy

 Maddie loves to knock on our front door as well as sit down on our front porch step. 

  Madelyn knew that the Easter Egg Hunt was after her nap time, so she was very happy to be awake!

  Here she goes...

 She could take as long as she wanted since there was no competition.  Don't worry, she did get a doze of competitive egg hunting though.  Saturday morning, I took her to Orem's community egg hunt. Once it started, I could tell she was a little stunned to see all of these kids and parents running towards the eggs and candy.  But soon she got her head into the game and started picking up candy. 

  

 Todd boosted Maddie up so she could hang on the basketball hoop.  She must enjoy dunking, because she loves it!

20 Months of Fun

Madelyn loves to wear her sunglasses.

She loves to feed herself, make big messes, and be cute as can be.

Climbing on chairs and tables is her favorite.  She enjoys going to nursery and story time at the library.

 We practiced finding Easter eggs many times during the month of April.

 After several rounds of practice, she started pointing to where she wanted me to place the eggs.

Words that Maddie has added to her vocabulary are: "bee", "I love you", "eat it", "I know" and is able to repeat many words that you say. 

She enjoys taking her shoes on and off by herself.  Looking through library books and Better Homes and Gardens magazines is another favorite activity. 

 

Spring Break Visitors

During their spring break, Jill brought Hailey and Christopher for a visit.  We were thrilled to have our house be their vacation spot.  Monday morning, we went to see the construction of the temple.  Little did we know that they would put the Angel Moroni on top just a few hours later.  

 We stopped to see the tree by the courthouse.  So lovely as the buds are starting to blossom.

 Since they had never tried ice cream from the BYU creamery, we definitely needed to stop for a treat.  Boy, was it good!

 The next day, it was filled with playing at the park, feeding ducks, taking a walk, eating at Pizza Pie Cafe, and playing games.  The kids had a tea party with Madelyn which was probably her favorite activity.