Random April fun and a long-lost friend

April was full of fun little moments. The weather was mostly beautiful which made it much more fun to play outside. It's the best!

The boys have been excited about their bikes and were often out riding around the parking circles in our complex.

Jude is getting much better at balancing and can lift both is feet while he rolls.

Lance's new thing is biking to his dad's work to meet him for Spanish lessons every Tuesday. It's awesome: he feels grown up, it's only about half a mile away and he's mostly on a path, AND I don't have to load up the other boys to drive him. Win!

Even Cole gets into the action with his little tractor. Anything his brothers do he wants to do too.

George took advantage of the good weather by cooking outside multiple times. There really is nothing better than food cooked over a charcoal grill.

Intrigued by the fire.

"Hot!" Yes, Cole. It is hot.

I don't know what it is about fire, but it is a kid-magnet.

Snacking while dinner is cooking.

Love this boy!

Lance's school put on a Spring Fling that I took the Jude and Cole to (George was working nights and was gone) while Lance came with his dad.

They had a dance!

Lance and Jude jumped right in with their own signature moves.

It took Cole a few minutes, but as soon as he realized the loud noise was music, he didn't stop running around and dancing the whole time we were there.

It was really cute.

Lance has been very interested in baseball recently, so we're trying to "fan the flame". We bought Jude and Lance their own gloves, bats and balls and we've been playing catch in the back yard. One evening I took the boys on a walk to a nearby baseball field and had a good time kicking, throwing and catching balls.

"Airplane!" He can say the word, but it sounds like "aor pain". So sweet. He loves those airplains!

Frisbee!

Tired? Success!

Oh, and the long-lost friend? When I was about 16 my family got a cat named Mr. Knightley. When my mom got married a little over 3 years ago, we gave him to some neighbors because Glenn is allergic and none of mom's kids could take him. Well, he disappeared in late March for about 5 weeks from the neighbor's house. We all assumed he had died (he's 13 after all!), but he showed up on their doorstep very much alive. The problem was the family was moving to a new house (in the same city, just a nicer house) and had to stay in a hotel for two weeks. They still wanted to keep Mr. Knightley, so my mom offered to watch him for a couple weeks while they moved.

He has to stay in the garage because we can't get hair and dander in the house, but he's doing well. It was so nice to see him again!

Stephen and Jason--just walked in the door from flying home from BYU.

I've missed Bubba with his loud meow and love-bites. I'm so glad I got to see him again. I think he remembered me--he purred for an hour while I brushed the "wild" out of his fur and fed him treats.

I don't have many pictures of him, but here are a few that make me smile:

He loved to snuggle and would jump up on our beds to sleep.

He was patient. Lance loved on this poor cat every second he could.

You were a good cat, Mr. Knightley! I'm sad you're not ours anymore, but I'm glad you have a family with kids that love you.

Flag football and a Costco trip

One weekend in April we spent a fun couple of days up in Ashburn with the Glass family. Nate was moving to Colorado in just a few days, so we made the trip up to see him one last time before the move. (Lance was with his dad for the weekend :( )

Saturday we got to watch Bryce play flag football.

Jude and Cole had a good time sitting in the stroller watching for the first quarter.

Bryce's cheering section.

Getting advice from Assistant Coach dad. :)

Love the concentration face!

The kids got bored after a while, so George took them to the park a few fields down.

Later that afternoon we went to our favorite place: Costco!

Nothing like strolling along eating pizza and all the yummy samples they have out on a Saturday afternoon.

Love these boys!

Lance got TWO dogs!

And yes, they are real dogs. 

Lance and Scott have been looking at adopting a dog or puppy for a long time, but since Scott works and is living in an apartment for the time being a puppy was out of the question. As luck would have it, two dogs fell into their laps just this past month.

My Aunt Linda is moving to Utah and has two beautiful Australian shepherds that she loves but can't take with her. She's been looking for a home for them where the two dogs could stay together, but kept coming up empty-handed. I mentioned this to Scott and he called her up.

Scott is living in an apartment but will be house-sitting in a few months for the man he works with (Duane Zobrist) who owns a beautiful piece of land close by. Duane (a dog lover himself and a trainer) agreed to foster the dogs on his property until he and his wife leave for their mission and Scott comes to live there. 

It was perfect.

The day Aunt Linda brought Cadence and Falcon, we met Scott at the Zobrist's house.

Lance and Jude waited by throwing food to the ducks in the pond.

Aunt Linda with the three boys and Falcon (left) and Cadence (right).

These dogs were in heaven! Look at all that space to run! Scott came prepared with a pouch full of treats and some balls. 

The dogs quickly learned who was in charge.

Lance took this opportunity to try out his Terrain Twister in the lake.

Aunt Linda and Cole. :)

Can you tell how happy the dogs are?

After playing with the dogs for a while, Lance convinced his dad to take him and Jude on a ride on the Polaris or "Po Po" as Lance calls it.

They disappeared for about 5 minutes as Scott drove them around the property. It looked like tons of fun!

Despite the look on Jude's face, he had a good time. I asked him if he liked it and he said "yeah".

Even Cole got a short ride when Scott parked it back in the garage.

Lance is so excited about his dogs! I'm so glad that Cadence and Falcon get to stay in the family and that they have such a nice place to live.