Hikes, Swings, & Stories

Wow, it has been a full couple of weeks on the Wyett front. I will have to do a quick recap because it is late, I haven't eaten dinner yet, and I need to get to bed!

A few last pics from Easter. We had this confetti egg kit. The boys found all the eggs and then we kicked them outside to throw them at each other. James got involved and it was all downhill from there!

Here is our pretty princess on her first Easter. The boys sang beautifully in Sacrament, and then we came home, took naps, and went to the park for the afternoon with Marley. It was a relaxing and simple Easter.

Emma is getting so strong. She can really sit up well by herself now and loves to play with her toys. She constantly flips herself over onto her tummy and scoots around. She will be crawling any day, and we are so not ready! I dread the first time she falls on this horrible tile. I'm thinking of getting that ghetto indoor/outdoor carpet and just putting scraps everywhere. Not sure it would help much though, and it would get covered in dog hair!

We spent the afternoon in Avila on Monday. We walked the Bob Jones Trail and ended up on the beach for several hours. It was really hot, but the kids had a blast.

We sent this picture to James to try to get him to come meet us at the beach after work. It didn't work. Heartless...how could anyone with a heart refuse those faces??

Emma is usually a very happy girl...like this:

But lately, she has been more like this:

We discovered that she has not one, but two teeth coming in at the same time. Her two bottom front teeth. One is finally through, but the other one is giving her a heck of a time. Poor gal.

One thing that always cheers her up is a ride on the swings. She LOVES the swings, and I love to watch her in them. We take her to the park at least twice a week to swing her. I really want to get a small swing set for the backyard with a baby swing. I wish they weren't so darn expensive! You know I'm looking on craigslist- I will find one eventually!

Swinging with Daddy.

Who's having more fun here? Hard to tell.

Her brothers love pushing her. They get a little crazy sometimes, but she seems to like it!

Bradley reads to his younger siblings a lot. I caught him giving Benjamin a reading lesson the other morning. It was the cutest thing. I love how Bradley edifies Ben after each correct word.

Last week was James' final week working at the jail. He is now on a normal Monday through Friday schedule and works 8 to 4 at the courthouse. It is awesome! I love having him home early every night, and it was more than wonderful to have him at a church with us on Sunday. During his few days off last week he took the kids on a 4 mile hike up a mountain in San Luis. They had such a great time. I didn't get any pictures, but he did send me this video.

We also had two book colloquium meetings at our home last week. The youth discussed the first Harry Potter book, and us adults discussed a non-fiction book, The Fourth Turning. I look forward to our book discussion every month. I love meeting with like-minded adults and having time set aside to field our own thoughts and discuss important issues. This book especially made me think about events going on in the world, and my responses to them based on my generation and "turning." Their theory is that there are four turnings that consistently happen over and over again, like the cycle of the seasons. We are currently experiencing a fourth turning, a crisis period or Winter. During this turning there exists unrest, and old things die away and must make way for a rebirth of sorts or a Spring. I am looking forward to that. There are a lot of changes that need to be made, and I am ready.

April 24- May 4, 2011