Welcome Spring

I think it's finally safe to say that Spring is actually here. Last Saturday we woke up to this:

And I knew I couldn't even hope for warm weather soon because that would mean flooding, which is scheduled to happen in the next couple of days.  We're already making plans to go up in the mountains tomorrow to fish and roast hog dots and marshmallows and get sticky eating drippy watermelon.

I've been waiting patiently to take the kids out for a ride in the bike trailer and today was the perfect day.  I thought they would fight me because Eli loves to ride his own bike and Esme screams at the sight of her car seat every time since we got back from California.  But they were happy.  I love living so close to a trail and that it leads to a place like Gardner Village.  Fun bike ride followed by a petting zoo, a toy store with trains to push, and donuts to munch.  Life was good today, especially when I heard Esme giggling behind me.

Found something good in the storage unit

Finally ready to go

Someone smile please

Ah. Gardner Village

I suppose the donut counteracted the workout.  At least it was enjoyable exercise, for all 3 of us.

Look What Eli Can Do!

A couple of walks ago Eli experimented with picking his legs up and balancing while he rode his bike. My compliments and exclamations were met with embarrassment and even grumpiness. Tonight's reaction was quite the opposite. He was all smiles and excitement.

It was surprising to see my cautious little guy so daring, fearless, and full of pride, rightfully so.

This Is The Place, Jefferson Place

Tomorrow will be our 1 year anniversary living here and it's gotten me thinking, and hoping that those 3 extremely nice men in our old ward don't still hate us for helping us move on the hottest day ever into a place on the 3rd floor.
Although she's not a beauty from the outside and being that she was last on our list of homes to see, we were pleasantly surprised when we came in. It's the most spacious condo I've ever seen with vaulted ceilings and tons of storage.
Here are a few reasons why we love our condo:
3. Your Standard Communal Amenities- We pretty much go swimming every day in the summer, there's a killer sledding hill for the winter (with a bunny or a death slope) and a newly updated clubhouse with a pool and ping pong tables we could reserve for parties. Eli would consider all the friendly neighborhood cats to play with to be the most important, plus, we don't have to feel bad about not getting him one. And I might just be the only one enthused about the new dumpster for paper recyclables, at least those I won't have to collect and drive across town to dump anymore.
2. It Is A Blank Slate-I don't know how the people before us survived 3 years with stark white walls, mini blinds in all windows, and carpet in their master bathroom, but we have changed all that. Being a first home and not too expensive we've been able to take some DIY risks with decorating and tiling (More on this to come). Luckily the place is new, 2001, so the plumbing and electrical systems that I have had to deal with during our beautification have been simple to handle, even for someone reading out of a how-to book as they go. Thanks to Eli's napping we have 5 rooms painted colors like tan, grey, sky blue, and even Kermit the Frog green. Tiling has happened on the fireplace, back splash, and master bathroom-Thank you Anna and Joe.
1. Location, Location, Location- We are seriously 1 minute off the freeway, so you must come see us when driving pas the 9000 S. exit on I-15. Especially exciting to me is the fact that we are two blocks to an entrance to the Jordan River Parkway where we can ride our bike (Eli has a kid seat on my bike) for like 10 miles past animals, a historical little shopping village, under bridges, and stop at playgrounds. We even ride out bike about a mile away to the closest mall and great shopping center across from it.
If this sounds like the place for you, I know of a few units for sale.