March--In Like a Lamb

 I love Arizona in the spring.

All the harsh weather has delayed spring around here (and I'm afraid it's going to be very short), but when the trees in your front yard look like this, you just enjoy it as long as you can.

Look at all those cute Brubakers! I can't wait to spend some time with them next week--and finally squeeze little baby Kate!

The Great Denton Package Mystery of 2019 has been solved. Lily's stuff came back after nearly a MONTH in the postal system. That had to cost more than $3.10, right?

 I convinced Micah to cut the "tail" off the back of his hair--and it was almost 2"!

He also played in his spring orchestra concert. Music comes to this boy like breathing air, and I wish he had more time to work on it. I love listening to him.

 Like I said, the weather has been gorgeous around here--perfect for Annie to participate in her first lemonade stand. You can't read the sign, but it said, "Fresh squised lemanade." Three cute girls, lemons picked straight off the tree, a few cups of sugar, and they made $15. Not bad money for one afternoon!

 Nice weather means shorts and time playing on the tramp with the whole crew. I loved looking out the window as I was making dinner.

 Speaking of making dinner--my goal for March is fix more meals and try a few more recipes. I really loathe cooking so much, but maybe after a month of concerted effort, I can like it a little more.

Tucker and Karli needed a new van, so we got to spend quality time playing with Annie and Eli this week. Eve made this hot rod out of a Costco box and pushed Eli all over the house in it.

 The winter was really harsh around here, and Brad lost most of his beautiful plants in our back yard to a heavy frost that hit while we were in Manila.

 He and Eli removed all the dead stuff and trimmed back the living stuff. I think next Saturday may include some planting.

 He cracked me up with this marker: "Gaaan (gran), I poke a poke dot!!!"

 Look at that exhausted little guy. He must have had too much fun. Grandpa said he just sat there and admired the prepped flower beds and the freshly mowed lawn (that took Micah about four hours to complete because he was scalping the grass low in preparation for it to come back to life for the summer--AZ problems, right?).

 I spent my entire Saturday tied to the computer writing two papers. I love school so much. It brings things out in me that have lain latent for decades. But this semester is a killer with 16 credits. One class is especially difficult, so I needed a little break to admire all the yard work (see Micah in the background?).

And they got their new (to them) van! Karli was thrilled, because I think a Honda Odyssey is her dream car in this stage of her life.

Hyrum was busy. Our ward took the stake (stake not STATE) championship for deacon basketball, and these dudes were pretty proud.

 Hyrum got a few touches on the ball, but his real skill on the court comes on defense.

 Love his "basketball" shoes? He didn't want to wear his "court" shoes because they were playing outside. When I was a kid, I had one pair of sneakers and they did every sport. Am I right?

Look at this baby. Caroline is as sweet as she is beautiful, but less than five seconds after this picture was taken, she tipped that plant over. The miracle was that she didn't even tear the leaf in her hand. How that happened I don't know.

February and March are the best time of the year for oranges off the tree. We've lived in this house almost twelve years now, and the baby citrus trees we planted our first fall are finally mature enough to produce dozens of gorgeous oranges. Brad is the most frequent juicer (along with Annie as his assistant here), but Hyrum has found he loves to squeeze 30 or so and surprise the family with a tasty drink.

One more week of school for the kids, then Spring Break. Wow. This year is flying by, and before we know it, 100-degree days will warm the pool and the leather seats in my Suburban.

I'm enjoying this time of year as much as I can, especially since all the rain we've received has driven the pollen out of the air and I can actually breathe instead of constantly sniffle and sneeze.