Flowers!

Even though spring pretty much started back in February around here, it took me until today to plant our flowers! But here they are--I used last year's planters and just bought new flowers to fill them. It adds some nice color to our patio, don't you think? In looking at these pictures, I realize that I need to go wipe some dirt off the planters!

Utah Trip!

Greg and I just returned from a WONDERFUL trip out to Utah. We went out to check on a couple of job options and to just spend time with family and friends. We got a bonus surprise on our way to Utah when we got to spend an extra evening with our fun friends David and Teal on their way to Washington. It turned out that we were both going to be staying in Wyoming the same night, so we booked rooms at the same hotel, had a fun pizza party together (we opted for pizza because pretty much our only other option in Rawlins, Wyoming was the Saloon/Laundromat up the road from our hotel!), and enjoyed breakfast together the next morning.

We arrived in Utah on Wednesday, April 25, and enjoyed visiting Grandma F.T., having dinner with Mom and Dad, and then going to visit the Barretts. It was funny that Ben, who had been pretty suspicious of me the last time I visited in January, wanted to sit on my lap and read books with Sid. They are so cute!

On Friday Greg, Mom, Dad and I went to Springville to visit Grandpa Taylor for his 94th birthday! What an achievement to reach age 94!! He looked really good, and his sense of humor was as funny as ever :)

Grandma Cathy's and Grandpa's cute puppy especially liked Greg.

And we got to visit their cute baby goats too! It was funny because while we were out visiting the goats, my childhood friend Stephanie, who now lives in Grandpa and Grandma's neighborhood, walked by. We hadn't seen each other for years, and it was great to see her! After our Grandpa visit, we picked up our favorite Luis Special from La Casita for lunch--yummmm!

That evening we had the Barrett girls over for a fun movie night. For dinner we had some yummy lil' smokie pigs in a blanket dipped in delicious J Dawg's sauce!

On Saturday Mom and I went to a fun baby shower for my cousin's wife while Greg went to visit his friends Colby and Michelle. Mom and I also stopped at one of our favorite stores: The Porch on Main in Springville!

On Sunday we had a nice day at church with Dad, Mom, and Rich. Greg took this picture of us after church--it was so beautiful outside!

That evening we picked Grandma F.T. up and went over to Lindy's for a fun and delicious homemade Cafe Rio dinner! It was wonderful to spend time with everyone.

Ben loved playing the piano with his sisters!

And watching helicopters with Grandpa!

And Greg and Nate had fun playing soccer with the kiddos.

Unfortunately we had to leave Utah on Monday morning :( It is always sad to leave. But at least Greg and I decided to drive back to Illinois a different way than usual so we could go to our first Colorado Rockies game in Denver on Monday evening.

Coors Field is a really nice stadium in a beautiful setting. The weather was perfect for a baseball game! The Rockies were playing the Dodgers, and the Rockies ended up winning the game.

And we got to meet up with Greg's fun cousin Ryan who lives in Denver! He met us at the game, and then we went out for pizza after. It was great to see him, and our stop in Denver was a fun addition to our trip back to Illinois. On Tuesday morning we left Denver and drove all the way back to Springfield. It made for a long day of driving, but the weather was really nice, and we made it home last night at about 10:00. Lily (who held down the fort at home and was checked in on by Greg's boss) was SO HAPPY to see us! The Spikes, who Greg picked up from the doggie hotel this morning, were also really glad that we are home. It was a WONDERFUL trip! Wait, earlier I wrote Happy Birthday to my cute nephew Leo today, but I am so confused about dates--I meant Happy Birthday tomorrow!!! Sorry--being on the road always throws off my date/time awareness. We hope Leo has a wonderful birthday tomorrow!