PaPa the Science Guy

Papa was kind enough to open his lab to teach the kiddos some fun science. The best part was the liquid nitrogen ice cream. A lot of the kids got to take a turn stirring the brew. Not only was is fun to watch and make, but it was soooo delicious. We had two flavors...chocolate and fresh strawberry. Yummy!

Big Day

Nathan's sis Rachel got married last week in Nauvoo. It was so fun to be there to witness their marriage and spend time with all our family. Here are some of the hi-lights of their special day.

Here is another Happy Couple.

Uncle Ben and Little Claire

The Guys


An attempt to capture all our cuties with the bride and groom.

Heritage and History

Nathan's sister was married in the Nauvoo, Illinois Temple last week. Before the wedding day we were able to take in some of the sights of the historic city. Here is the family by the Mississippi.
Here is Claire's great new grin.


Nathan and Mia got to make some rope pioneer style.


Aunt Mara helped Mallory try her hand at stitching a quilt.

Turning 4

We were able to celebrate Mallory's birthday while we were in Wisconsin and Iowa. We went Circus World Museum during the day of her birthday and had her My Little Pony cake the following day. I think she had a great time seeing the tigers and elephants, watching the magic, and riding the carousel. And what else is better than being surrounded by cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents on your special day?

And the Winner Is...

The men of the Cardon bunch decided to punish their wives by having a mustache growing contest. I honestly could not look Nathan in the eye for nearly a week. And let's not forget the sweet camo sweatshirts Rich picked them up for a cool 89 cents at Old Navy. Without them, their look wouldn't have been complete. It was a happy day for all when the facial hair was shaved off.

And the Winner is...

The men of the Cardon bunch decided to punish their wives by growing mustaches for a little contest. Can I just say BLECHY! I could not even look Nathan in the eye for nearly a week.

Dance, Dance, Dance

Libbie and Mia were able to be in the same dance class this year. It was a lot of fun for mom...maybe not so much fun for them. They had their recital today to show us what they've learned. They sure looked cute.


Much to my dismay, I think this will be Libbie's first and last dance recital. She was not a fan of the outfit in case you can't tell. She had us rolling on the ground with how much she detested the costume. Some of her describing words as she tore at it on her body were..it is the itchiest, shortest, ugliest dress, and she felt like she was wearing a DIAPER when she was putting it on. She still did a great job on her dance and looked beautiful on stage.


What a cute little ballerina...if I do say so myself.


Mals wasn't so sure about riding a pony this year at Thanksgiving Point, but she braved it. By the end of her ride she was riding by herself, petting her pony, and smiling. Doesn't she look cute!


Claire really enjoyed her trip to Farm Country. Here she is visiting her sistas' in the slammer.


Don't know if anyone else remembers this wig, but we broke it out for yet another photo. Jake was over the other day, and he was kind enough to try it on.

Happy Endings

Another one of my babies is growing up on me. Not fair. I felt a little silly getting teary-eyed at Mia's preschool graduation, but it's true...I did. They sang lots of cute songs, got a certificate of graduation, she had two speaking parts, and we got to watch a slide show of all the fun things she did throughout the year. It was a great/sad time.




Libbie had her end-of-year program. It had a patriotic theme. They sang "Coming to America" by Niel Diamond and everything. It was great. She even had a speaking part and did it flawlessly.

Just the Two of Us

Thanks to some beautiful, forgiving, sweet people, Caleb and Marci, Nathan and I escaped for a few days to Los Angeles. They were real troopers in watching our four yay hoos for so long. When we picked up the kids, Marci was even smiling...oh wait...that may have been simply because we were picking them up. Anyway, we were celebrating our 10-year-anniversary. Wow! Has it really been that long? It was so fun to get away and spend some one-on-one with each other...sleeping and eating and sight-seeing.

We spent quite a bit of time at the beaches in the area. Here we are on our last day at Venice Beach. We loved watching the interesting people: the fishermen, the surfers, and the street dancers. Oh yeah, and I think every person in L.A. owns a dog. No kidding.

The last day we were in L.A. we visited the Getty Museum. It was HUGE! The gardens were gorgeous and so was the architecture. However, if you are immature like us, the art INSIDE the museum may not be for you. Mucho, mucho, mucho bare-chested women. I just don't get that. There are so many other beautiful things to paint...right?
Here is just one of our favorite pieces at the Getty. Nathan's interpretation was "jungle gym" mine was "light bulb cut in half". What do you think? We are sooo artsy.


See the floating shrubbery? Love it.


I loved these things. So gorgeous.


One of the days we spent in So Cal we went to Magic Mountain. Can we just let it be known that we are officially old farts? After the second ride, we were both sooo sick. Blahhh. We had to wait about 45 minutes between rides for some recovery time. I know, I know...pathetic. We were disappointed in ourselves as well. We did have a great time people watching though. And eventually found a few rides that were more our speed (slightly geezerish, but still fun).



Being in California, we learned that capris are "in" for men. So here is Nathan trying to pull off the look at the beach. Woo woo.


Our stop at the tar pits. Waaa Hooo!

Festive Tulips!

Last Friday we headed out to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point with my parents and siblings. The weather was a little drippy but pleasant. It was so fun to spend time with each other and to see the splendorous flowers in bloom.




We had a rather large case of "the grumpies" on our outing. It was like pulling teeth to get a happy photo. Here's the proof.


Little Sweetie Pie


Cute Mom and Dad humoring their daughter with a photo op.



We had a fun FHE the other night. We met up with Caleb and Marci at the "U" for some bowling. I stunk REALLY bad. Next to Henry, who is 2, I had the worst score...a 62. Henry got a 61. I guttered nearly every first ball I bowled. I guess the Wii has messed with my stellar real-life game. Ha, ha, ha. Oh yes, that never existed.