I Teach Primary...

And I love it!

Mother's Day...Just the Way I Like It

A table cheerfully set...

A plate of fruit next to other yummy foods..

Including quiche, orange rolls, funeral potatoes, conference muffins and strawberry lemonade cupcakes...

Surrounded by family...

Including Mom and the southern brothers!

Skyping with Devin, my favorite missionary...

Fun with the Anderson family...

Cards from Katie and Keith...

Ecard and music video from Diane which can be viewed here...

Gifts of chocolate from Diana and Keith...

The traditional hanging flower basket from Eric...

Flowers from my sweetheart...

Games with the family, time spent laughing, it was all...

Perfect!

Spring in Skagit Valley Means Tulips!

Bowman Bay Near Deception Pass

We were so excited to have blue skies and almost warm sun the other day, we just had to get out and soak up a little vitamin D.  One of our favorite places  to walk around and enjoy the beauty is Bowman Bay. 

Ahh, the blue skies and the blue water...

And the picturesque Deception Pass Bridge.

Even got a smile out of Keith today!

Time to relax!

The three, uh, stooges? No, how about muskateers?

There is a nice steep drop off here. When the kids were little I always worried about them getting too close to the edge here.

Always have to stop and skip a few rocks in the water.  See the rock in the picture below hurtling through the air?

Gorgeous view of the bay.

Look at that matching red hair.

Keith and I enjoying the glorious day!

Soccer

One of the soccer dads on Eric's team is a photographer.  Every once in awhile we check his website to see if he's gotten any great shots of Eric playing soccer, and look what we found!  This is such an awesome picture.  I mean, look at those legs.  Definitely some superior muscular development going on there.  And the intensity on his face is something you just can't see from the stands. 

EricTurns 17!

First thing in the morning he opened a present, this Jimmer shirt, and he was not going to miss the opportunity to wear it to school on his birthday. He and Andre had planned to buy Jimmer shirts at BYU on their Priest/Laurel Conference trip a few weeks ago.  But surprisingly enough, the BYU basketball superstar's shirt is not sold at the BYU bookstore, you have to pick it up online.  Sooo, we searched it out and Eric was very pleased to receive it for a birthday gift.  On the way to seminary Drew and Dallen Brownell said "oh, Andre will be jealous that you got the shirt".  Eric replied, "I don't know, his parents told him they had a good Easter surprise for him and that he would really like it, I think he might have a Jimmer shirt too."  When they got to seminary, Eric opened his jacket to show off his new shirt.  Andre opened his jacket, and he had one too!  Pretty funny!

Over the years Eric's birthday has frequently fallen on a day when there was either a baseball or soccer game.  This year, true to form, it was a soccer game.  And not just any old soccer game.  This one was special.  This game, played in the freezing cold wind and rain on a soggy field was against the powerhouse Squalicum Storm.

We tied them in our first match against them, but the Tigers came ready to play this time.

On a night like this, Eric has lots of layers to keep from freezing to death.  Here he is warming up to go into the game.  He played most of the first half and quite a bit in the second half.

It was a crazy, awesome, amazing game.  We scored in the first 2 minutes when the ball bounced off their goalie and went in.  Then in the tenth minute our goalie kicked off.  The ball flew all the way down the field, bounced in front of their goalie and went in the goal for another score!  It was incredible!  Our coach said he's never seen that happen in person before, only You Tube videos.  We were unstoppable at that point, and scored 3 more before half time.  The game ended 5-0 against the previously undefeated Squalicum team.

Eric had rhubarb cake with 17 candles to celebrate!

A few more cards and gifts for Eric.  We sure love you Eric, the older you get, the better you get!