Easter egg hunts, Easter Bunny, and an Easter Dress

Easter time came around, and we were booked. We were lucky enough to be able to go to Ellie's baptism the day before Easter (such a nice way to start the weekend), and after the baptism we were invited to the Gunlock Easter Egg Hunt. Thank goodness we finally have a child that can participate-- and thus, Tim can also participate. Is this why he is pushing to have lots of kids? Hmm... Just kidding.

Anyways, luckily, the 0-4 year olds got a minute headstart before the other kids were set loose. Though, looking back on it, I'm not sure Brooklyn really needed the headstart. She managed to do very well collecting eggs, though in hindsight we should probably have coached/practiced a little more. Brooklyn is more into emptying things rather than filling them up. Thankfully, Tim was there to keep her on track. Just before the rest of the kids were allowed to go after the eggs, Tim collected a stockpile of eggs around Brooklyn so she could work on picking them up and putting them in her bucket.

Despite her age, she did, as you can see, maybe TOO well. It's a good thing her dad was willing to help her take care of that load.

The next morning we were so excited foir Brooklyn to see what the Easter bunny had brought her, but again, just like on Christmas morning, Brooklyn appeared more annoyed than anything else, that we would dare to wake her up before she was ready to be woken.

We did make it through the morning, and even though Brooklyn may not have been excited about what the Easter Bunny brought, we were! Still, church was next, and we found a beautiful Easter dress for Brooklyn to wear. We decided to wait until after church to take pictures, in the hope that the weather was a little nicer... Anyways, don't let these pictures fool you-- it was freezing.

The rest of the afternoon was all about loading, unloading, loading, unloading, and loading the Easter basket. Yay for simplicity!

When fun is no longer fun

The other night I was sitting on the couch watching Brooklyn play with her toys. One of her favorite things to do is empty her toy container. She began doing this, but before long her toys were farther down in the container than she could reach. So she REALLY reached. Apparently, it was a little farther than her legs could reach. And apparently her upper body weight still dominates her lower body weight. This was the result. She struggled for a few minutes before she realized that she was really stuck, and then she started to cry. But I couldn't save her too fast, because of course, I had to find the camera first. Not to worry, it wasn't too far, and didn't really take me that long to get it ready and document the moment. Then I realized I REALLY needed some video too. I could only video for 10 seconds or so before I felt too bad about not helping her....

Funny huh.

First Tooth!

Brooklyn was getting a little cranky before we left for Philadelphia, and we had a hunch that she might be teething. The night we got home, we saw that she had indeed cut a tooth! And we missed it!!! That does make me a little sad, but it is exciting to have her first tooth. It is RAZOR sharp, and she's putting EVERYTHING in her mouth, but I still love the little crooked tooth poking up. Speaking of eating everything off of the floor, I've decided having a teething toddler is like having a goat/cow in your front yard so you don't have to mow the grass. Same principle with having a toddler. Now I don't have to vacuum! She's is my own little floor-cleaning system!

Anyways, she does have this tooth, and we've been trying our hardest to get her to open her mouth so we can take a picture of it, but she just doesn't understand what we're trying to do. Maybe this will explain what's going on with our teeth-picture-taking-struggles...

OK, mouth open. Now what do you want?

Oh I get it. It's the tooth thing huh. Take a good look, this is the only one you're getting!

You DIDN'T SEE IT? You're kidding right. This is hard work you know...




They want me to smile eh.... Good luck seeing my tooth now!

Wait a minute, I know what you're saying! No way are you going to do that to me for a picture!

Agh! Agh! Let go of me!!! Somebody SAVE ME!!! All this for a picture?!?!? Agh!!

NCAA in Philly!

Larry B and Stacie invited us to go to Philadelphia with them this year to the NCAA tournament. It all began last year after we filled out our brackets... we got to the final game, and it was a close race between myself and Larry B as to who would win. There was about a .0001 chance of me winning, so Larry B said that if Kansas won (therefore I would win), he would take us to Philadelphia for the 2009 NCAA games. Well, miracles do happen. Kansas won, and we found ourselves looking forward to a fun trip!

(Honestly, Larry B and Stacie still didn't have to take us with them, so we really appreciate their doing so...)

After much thought, we decided we should leave Brooklyn so we could really enjoy the trip without having to worry about what she might need, and we're glad we did so. Thanks to Grandma Shurtliff and TraceCe (and family) for helping watch her for us.

We started our trip on the 17th with a cinnabon (what better way to start!), and made our way to Pennsylvania. We had a full day to enjoy downtown Philadelphia, including the constitutional sites, and really enjoyed this. As a welcome to Philadelphia, we also decided to try the "best" cheesesteaks around. Pat's and Geno's got a lot of attention, so we started there. We each ate half of a sandwich from both, and then we headed to Jim's, where the locals suggested the best cheesesteaks could be found. Well, they were right. Jim's was BY FAR, the best place to get a cheesesteak. Geno's took an easy 2nd place, and Pat's followed. We all agreed on this order, there was no question about it. So if you're heading to Philly, Jim's is where you want to go. By the way, the cheese wiz really is good on a cheesesteak. I was definitely grossed out by the idea, but it's different cheese wiz than you think it's going to be. Try it!

Thursday we went to our first basketball games. We watched BYU/Texas A&M (I even took my BYU sweatshirt just for this game... such a disappointment), Villanova/American, UCLA/VCU, and UConn/Chattanooga. Most of the games were blowouts, but it is exciting to say that we saw Villanova and UConn play (both of which are now in the Final Four). After watching UConn play, we realized they were a team that could take it all. But we will see what happens.

On Friday we were able to visit Lancaster County and spend some time in the Mennonite/Amish Community. We had an "in" and were able to meet some wonderful people and see some amazing things. This was one of my favorite days.

Saturday, we headed back to the Wachovia Center for 2 more basketball games, UCLA/Villanova, and UConn/Texas A&M. Still good games, but there were clear winners.

Sunday we found a great ward to attend, and then we went out to Valley Forge. We didn't have time to make it to Gettysburg because it was getting late and the traffic was horrible, but Valley Forge was fun, and very interesting.

Monday was our last day and we spent it in downtown Philly again. We found a great market to look around, and enjoyed our last sights and smells.

Tuesday we came home very early. It was good to get back to Brooklyn and be back home, but it was an AWESOME trip. Thanks Larry B and Stacie!

Oreo Madness

I may have included one of these in the slideshow of pictures from our visit to Georgia, but I thought it deserved it's own post as well. Brooklyn had her first oreos while in Georgia, and we couldn't help but watch her enjoy them. After she was done, the floor was covered, she was covered, and her ears had more oreo in them than you would have thought possible.

Oh the joys of trying wonderful food for the first time!


BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

Arizona Here We Come!

It's official-- we have a job!!! Tim got a phone call back from the Arizona Game and Fish Department and he was one of the selectees to be a Wildlife Manager! We are super excited and so grateful for everyone that has helped us look for jobs, given advice, and especially prayed for us to find the right job.


Tim starts in Phoenix in July, and then in the middle of August begins training at the Police Academy in Prescott for 18 weeks. After that, we're not sure where we will end up... all we know is that all of the training is about 11 months. Following the completion of the training we will be assigned to an area. I think Tim does get to ask for a specific area, but the assignment will all depend on where a Wildlife Manager is needed, as well as where everyone else wants to go. Tim is hoping for a small town, and I'm hoping for someplace that is atleast big enough to have a Walmart-- but preferably a Target as well. Who knows... we're just excited!
So in the meantime, we've decided that we need to move in with Tim's parents. It will be sad leaving our ward that we've come to love, and our wonderful neighborhood and apartment, but I suppose this is what you have to do when it's time to move on. This short move will let us save some money to get started in Arizona.
Anyways, I said I would let you know, and there it is. WE HAVE A JOB! YAY!!!

Georgia again?

Brooklyn and I were lucky enough to be able to go to Georgia AGAIN! Thanks to Grandpa Heaton for using his frequent flyer miles to get us there. Actually, it was a whirlwind of a trip, and very unexpected. Tim was going to Phoenix for some job interviews/testing for a week, and my mom and I had thrown around the idea of Brooklyn and I going to Georgia for the week because there was a great deal on tickets out of Phoenix. I was too slow making a decision and the deal disappeared, but my mom and dad decided to fly us out using the frequent flyer miles anways.
For those of you who don't know, I am a planner-- a serious planner, and I like to know my "plan" for weeks in advance. So when my parents asked if I wanted to come visit, less than a week before I would be visiting, it threw me off a little bit. I knew I had nothing to do, but oh the anxiety of knowing I would be traveling in less than a week!
Well, obviously I got over that, and we bought the tickets! Yay! Tim, Brooklyn, and I drove to Phoenix on Sunday (a very long car ride) and Brooklyn and I stayed with Tim until Tuesday when we flew out.
We had another great trip to Georgia and loved seeing so much family and so many friends. Brooklyn got used to her Heaton grandparents much faster than last time and especially loved playing ball with Grandma, being thrown in the air by Grandpa, eating oreos for the first time, playing with her silly Aunt Anna, and having her Uncle Matthew put her to sleep. I learned that she is terrified of cats, likes to play in a dirty dishwasher, and can in fact, make it through 3 hours of church without being taken out.
We are so grateful that we were able to visit (even though I believe Brooklyn is going through Grandma and Grandpa withdrawals now). The weather was perfect and we left just in time (just as it was getting hot and humid again), but we hope we get to visit again later this summer or fall.

P.S. In case you were wondering-- Tim did amazing at his interviews and was called back for all of the required testing, and was then given a conditional job offer. We are hopeful that he will be accepted for the position, but don't want to get our hopes up just yet. We will find out for sure if he gets the job by the beginning of April, and I will let you know!