Out in the woods...

Allow me to explain a little where I come from. I grew up in a country where fire arms are extremely regulated. No one, except for law enforcement people and hunters (under pretty strict regulations) is allowed to own a gun. I watched American action movies on TV and was shown movies like "Bowling for Columbine" in school and pictured a country where people carried guns in their purses and glove compartments and where anytime, anywhere a crazy fanatic could jump out of a corner and start shooting people. 

I feel a sense of insecurity when I am near a weapon (even if only carried by a police officer), and I'm pretty strongly opposed to private citizens being allowed to own guns. But I've lived here long enough to feel safe in this country and understand part of the reasoning behind gun policies in the US.

Anyway when one of my friends from our preschool co-op offered to take us on a shooting expedition, my guts were squeezed but I knew I wanted to try. I'm not sure if I was right or wrong. It's one of these things like first aid response, you know you have to learn to do it, but once you do, you're liable. 

Candee was awesome at giving Emily and I our first gun safety lesson. She kept saying "this is a real weapon, this can kill people". 

Emily and I were a little nervous and giddy (or was it just me?)

Wondering what we were so fiercely shooting at? A diaper box with the picture of a baby on it! Incidental or subconscious revenge? Who knows... haha!

I can honestly say I enjoyed it (not shooting at babies! shooting in general). But I'm left wondering if I could actually use a gun if I ever needed it... part of me wishes I could still say I don't know how to.

Preschool graduation

April 25 marked the end of Joshua's first year of our preschool co-op. We celebrated with his little class at a nearby park. This co-op was a great experience for Josh and myself. He really bonded with his 3 classmates and so did I (with their Moms!)

I'm also amazed at how much he learned. He started out with no interest in recognizing letters and a very short attention span. Gradually, he started being able to focus longer, recognize letters, names, numbers and interact positively with his friends. I was so happy to see how much he loved being with them. Adam, Elsie and Sam became part of all our family discussions, prayers, day plans, week-end plans etc... 

Our graduation day happened to be on Adam's birthday so we combined our little ceremony (organized by Candee) with a birthday party for the big boy. It was a very sunny day and as usual the kids had a great time enjoying the play equipment and each other's company.

These pictures make me happy and sad at the same time. Since then, Elsie, Adam and their families have moved and we miss them a lot!

Here they are burning more calories!

and receiving their diplomas from Candee. What a bunch of cute happy kiddos!

Next was this sweet boy's birthday. Staci (his Mom) made some delicious cupcakes, that everybody enjoyed.

and more fun and pictures:

More Boulder/FH propaganda

A few more fun activities and more Boulder/Family Housing propaganda : )

Boulder has a really nice public library with almost daily story times for children. We like to go there on Mondays and Wednesdays (well at least recently, cuz not so long ago Josh hated it). The lady in charge of story time those days is amazing. She picks great books and makes them come to life for the kids. What makes it even greater is we can walk to the library from our apartment using the creek path (about 1mile), which is a really pretty bike/run/walk path. The boys love to collect sticks on the way, throw them in the creek and feed the ducks.

One of our first walks to the library (after driving most of the winter), Josh and William rediscovered the duck spot:

The awesome Story time of the library is a secret for no-one so we usually meet lots of friends there.

This is Josh with is buddies Sam and Adam:

Every other Thursday my friend Emily (who is also the Program Coordinator for the Family Housing) teaches a music class for kids. Josh, William and I like to go sing songs, and hang out with friends.

 Josh, Elsie and Sam singing the Snow Man song

 Elsie, Adam and Josh playing instruments

 William playing music

A few weeks ago, the weather was great and we wanted to introduce our new French friends (yeah!) to the coolness of Family Housing programs so we walked to Smiley Court with them for the art and science group. Our friends Sarah and Jessica (also Resident Managers for the Family Housing) had prepared a Lava lamp experiment. Josh, William and their new friend Mael liked it very much. After the lava lamp experiment kids were longing for more fun so Jessica and Sarah got the paint out and let them go crazy. 

Another great program we participated in last month was the craft club. My friend and colleague Emily is in charge of it right now but we used to do it together and we'll probably do it together again when I take a break from the knitting club for summer. She had the kids make flower lollipops using life savers! William ate more candy in one hour than in probably a month, needless to say he loved it! And I thought they turned out super cute!

And there's more pictures... but enough for now!

A Grrrrrreat Spring Break

I have to say I love living in the Family Housing. I seriously think it's the best place we've lived in since we're married. I'm not talking about the apartments, which are a little, well, old and outdated but only incidental compared to the quality of life we have here.
Every year for Spring break, the Family Housing organizes a week of fun outings to visit museums and attractions around Boulder. The weather was amazingly warm and sunny all week and for the first time this year both boys were old enough to actually enjoy the various outings.

So here comes the plethora of pictures.

Monday morning was the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. We were planning on going together as a family but William threw up the night before so we were afraid he'd be sick on the bus ride or in the museum, so he stayed home with Russell. Josh and I had a lot of fun together and with our friends from the Family Housing.

The infrared camera that showed how cold the tip of my nose was (Lol), and how cloths are surprisingly good insulators.

Giant dinosaur bones:

The discovery zone, where Josh played association games, made polymer, learned about vacuums, learned the polarity of magnets, matched dinosaurs with their skeletons, dug for dinosaur bones...

...discovered deforming mirrors (a big hit!)

 and best of all, he got to ride in the bus with his best friend Sammy (and imitate each others random finger sucking)

Tuesday afternoon we went to Jumpstreet, a place with trampolines everywhere and bounce houses for little ones. William and Josh had the time of their life, especially William our half kangaroo, half human 20-month old.

Permission to get wild with their friends = heaven for my boys

 wrestling with the Jacksons and the Fergusons, our twin-families (they have only boys like us and they're very close in age)

Wednesday was play-in the sun day. We also went to the mall where the boys love to play (there's a dinosaur play area).

Josh got a new bike last week-end to replace the balance bike that was getting a little small and that we wanted to let William use. It took them a day or two of readjusting which made for some of the most relaxing times I've had following them on bikes. Now that they're used to their new bikes I'm back to my forced work-out running after them.

We decorated the side walks with chalk, and water.

 Josh drew a dinosaur skeleton

and we watched Josh's friend Sammy while his parents went on a date to the Boulder Dinner Theater (another great outing organized by FH).

Sammy was extremely focused on the Berenstein Bear show we watched before bed time.

Thursday morning we went to the zoo. It was a hot and crowded day but we still had a great time.

On Friday Russell surprised me by taking me to the Hill to get my ears pierced! I had never had my ears pierced. It was exciting! It took pretty much the entire day to do it (after 3 failed attempts - closed shop/open but no ID/with ID but no earrings I like) but at the end of the day my ears were pierced! Now we'll have to see if I can stand them, or if I have an allergic reaction like my Mom and some of my sisters have.

Later that evening we had ice cream with our neighbors at the Resident Council Ice cream Social. Lots of good friends to hang out with for us and for the boys.

Saturday was general conference. It's a little hard to focus and hear anything with the boys running in circle around the computer but I was so proud when Joshua prayed for lunch and said "Thanks for Thomas Monson". I guess despite the chaos that caused me to miss out on half of the talks Joshua still managed to learn about the prophet and to recognize him.

On Sunday night, our friends the Conkeys invited us to an "after conference" dinner at their apartment. Emily made some Japanese wontons and fried veggies and a few other friends brought delicious sides and dessert. We are so glad to have such great friends but sad to see so many leaving this year.
Josh and his preschool friends (Sammy, Elsie and Adam)  and their siblings had a lot of fun playing ball, chasing each other, and painting each others faces with mud.

What a great week we had! Today and tomorrow we're expecting snow. This is so typical of Boulder, but I love it!