Thursday, April 28, 2005

Sunday, April 24, 2005


Tyler at Kayla's meet

Playing in the backyard

Matching hair

Alayna's new hair

Kayla is on the right in the tiger coat

April 24, 2005

April 24, 2005
Seriously...what is up with this weather here in Iowa?? I think it is rude to get a person’s hopes up that spring has finally come and then drop a hard freeze!! It dropped into the 20's last night. Brrr! It’s the end of April for heaven sake!!

Yesterday was Kayla’s first track meet and so with this lovely weather it was about 37 degrees outside with ice cold wind that actually knocked me over a few times. Poor Kayla was shaking so bad. They can enter as many races as they want. We had to wait forever for her to do the first one. However, the starter gun scared her (they never used a gun in practice) and the wind was so brutal that it was like she was running in place. She was so frustrated and we were freezing, so she chose to go home. We hope the next meet will be much warmer!!! My lips even froze so I could barely talk. That is so not my idea of fun!

Last night, though, we all snuggled up in our blankets with the fire going and watched "Breakin’" I was laughing so hard. Talk about a blast from the past. The kids absolutely loved it and you should have seen them all trying to do it after the movie. I should have taped it. They laughed hard at the hairdo and clothes. I have to admit, it’s embarrassing to have been in the 80's. After that, the kids did a silly puppet show over the toy room wall. Pretty funny stuff.

Friday was our 12th Anniversary!! I can hardly believe it has been that long. Bob bought me 2 dozen gorgeous coral colored roses and then got me these cool canisters that work like a vacuum sealer so it keeps your food better longer. I was so excited. I had gotten this picture of the SLC temple where we were married and it has like a purple sunset in the background. I went and got it framed in this beautiful frame and now its hanging in the bedroom. Then we went out to this great Italian restaurant. It was a lovely evening. I feel truly blessed to be married to Bob...

This week was another busy one. I got tired of Alayna screaming when I combed her hair and pulling out all her hair clips so I cut it into a bob. It is so adorable! Kayla came home and saw it and asked me to cut hers like that as well. So, now they are twins.

We have exciting news!! Marisa finally learned how to ride her bike this week!! (Insert applause) She loves it so much we can barely get her off the thing now. She said "Thanks so much mom and dad for making me to do that-even though I didn’t want to". That’s why we are here, Marisa. That’s why we are here.

We did enjoy bike riding several times this week. We also took turns on the riding lawnmower to mow the lawn. I tell ya, that’s the only way to do it! We look forward to better weather this week so we can continue our new joy in bike riding.
Have a wonderful week!

Sunday, April 17, 2005


Marisa's 5th grade picture

Kayla's 3rd grade picture

Tyler's "crazy A" position

New plants in back of house

Kayla on mower

Tyler on the mower

Marisa on the mower

Kayla and Alayna at Tyler's performance

Tylers 1st grade picture

April 17, 2005

April 17, 2005
Bet you can’t guess where I went to church today? Did you guess a funeral home?? We went as a stake RS to visit the Manchester branch. What an amazing group of people! I was asked to speak for 3-5 minutes as well. It was such a neat day. I found out that the lady I met with, who is their new education counselor, knew Bob when he was a little boy. They lived in Macomb and said Hal and Corey were very instrumental in them joining the church. How cool! They just got the land to start building a chapel this summer.
Well, we had a couple of days this week where we rode our bikes around the neighborhood. I really enjoy that. Also, our new riding lawn mower was delivered this week and we got to try it out. Way better than spending 3 hours doing it with a push mower. We even took the kids to visit a nursery down the road. We are trying to decide what new trees to buy to put in our yard and we will be planting a garden as well. The plants are blooming around our house and it is so pretty!
On Saturday, Bob went to the Stake basketball tournament. They didn’t have many guys show, but he did get to play for several games.
On Thursday night, Tyler had his 1st grade musical performance. He did such a great job. It was called "Three of a kind" and they were all dressed up in groups of 3's (3 little pigs, billy goats, etc) He was part of the chorus, and it was so fun to watch. He is very...expressive!
Well, I hope you are all having a lovely day. We have noticed that since we put our newsletter on the website, e-mail from others has been almost non-existent...hint hint! We want to know how all of you are doing. Please email this week to say hi!

Monday, April 11, 2005


Kayla swinging on the laundry pole

the "angel"

Getting ready to be pulled by Dads bike

Kayla bike riding

Out for bike riding

Alayna "her coolness" Hart

Tyler "Hanging" around...hehe!

April 10, 2005

April 10, 2005
Well, this past week was a very long one. I am sure you can tell since we didn’t get the newsletter up yesterday.
Kayla started track this week. I think she liked it. Her first meet isn’t for a couple of weeks. She is such a fast runner so I think she will do very well.
On Thursday, Tyler got his 4 cavities filled at the dentist and Kayla got her teeth cleaned. Then that night, I went to Stake Auxiliary training. I should have been more appreciative in Torrance that our Stake building and all the wards in our stake were less than 10 minutes from our house. Very unlike here. We had to travel up to the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area. It is a little over an hour drive. Then we had to set up for our presentations. All the RS rooms looked gorgeous. As I pulled out my tablecloth and found it covered in dry ramen, I wanted to cry! I’m just not into all that fluff, but oh well. I did an hour presentation to all the Education Counselors and I think it went well. It is VERY intimidating having a Stake calling, especially when you are so far from being even in the same realm of perfection. Then it was a long drive home. I got home after 11pm. Made for a long night!
On Friday, we went and bought me, Bob, and Tyler new bikes. We scored at this huge sale at Target. On Saturday, we drove out to a new housing area where no one was, to teach Tyler and Marisa how to ride. Tyler fell a few times, but after trying real hard, he finally got it. We were so proud and he was so excited. Then, however, one time he decided to get off and forgot to slow down and use the brake. He had quite a spill, but he was ok. Marisa fell months ago off the bike and has refused to ride ever since. We decided we will be bike riding a lot this summer as a family to stay healthy, so she could run behind or learn how to ride. Needless to say, she is not so happy with us right now. She spent a lot of time trying on Saturday and actually rode a bit so she is making progress. Then we came home and we rode around the block. Tyler and Alayna rode in a big yellow thing that hooks to Bob’s bike. Marisa stayed home, she had had enough. But we are all excited for riding this summer.
We relaxed Saturday night and watched Karate Kid III. The kids got a big kick out of it- hehe!
On Sunday, I traveled back out to Cedar Falls/Waterloo to visit 2 wards. 6 hours of church is way too much for me. We left at 8:40 and I was back home at 5:00. It went great though and I learned so much! When I came home, we watched all the cool things that were shown between conference sessions last week. Even the kids watched with interest.
I never thought I would be one to report on my yard, but I have to tell you, we have beautiful plants and flowers blooming all over. Plus, the weather has been gorgeous, even with the "April showers". It is so fun having a yard to take care of and enjoy. I was eyeing this GORGEOUS, mosquito enclosed porch swing at Sam’s- Bob just laughed at me. Well, we are enjoying the Spring and can’t wait to see what the April showers will bring. Have a lovely week!!
Love-Kris

Sunday, April 03, 2005

April 3, 2005

What a beautiful Spring day!! The weather here has been so lovely. It almost makes me forget those horrid days of ice and snow! We actually got outside this week to do some yardwork. We found that many of the plants have new green shoots coming out of the ground. How exciting! Now I guess we will have to work on the lawn at some point.

Bob was kind enough to take the kids to Grandma and Grandpa Harts house this weekend so I could get tons of stuff done and relax. It was amazing how much I was able to do, and how relaxed I have been. I hear they have been having a great time there as well. It was so great to watch all of General Conference uninterrupted. I don’t think I have done that in about 12 years...

We took Marisa and Kayla to the orthodontist this week. It looks like Marisa will get braces in about 9 months once her last 2 baby teeth come out.

I also attended a meeting for the middle school parents this week. I wanted to cry. We had prayed so hard for a good school for our kids to attend, and while in L.A., I figured I would end up homeschooling. Anyway, this is one of the most incredible schools I have ever seen. It makes me think about renewing my degree to work in middle school- how insane is that? Anyway, I don’t want to go into too much detail and bore anyone, but wow! Marisa has already signed up to do orchestra and choir. They are also encouraged to do as many extracurricular activities as they can. She is going to do dance where she gets to perform at the 7th and 8th grade football games. She is also going to be on the drama team as well as the geography bee team (which she is incredibly excited about). They have a fabulous staff who expects you to call and email them. They have a computer system where you can see your child’s grades for every class up to the minute. They also email you all morning announcements as well. They have several programs that they pioneered here and took to Washington DC which have now been implemented all over the nation. I feel truly blessed that Marisa can attend this school. I think it will help her to succeed and grow in ways she never knew she could. How exciting it is to be here!

Well, I don’t have fun pictures to post today as the kids have been gone for the weekend. But I will get some up next week. I hope this week is a great one for you all!

Utah- Part 4