The past week has been a good one.  We have been enjoying the nice weather and greenery all around.  Over the weekend we went on a walk at Violettes Locks.  It is a section of the C&O canal along the potomac.  We applied our bug spray to ward off the pesky gnats and walked along the trail between the mighty potomac and the canal.  We also enjoyed trying to identify all the new flowers we aren't use to seeing.  Becca spent most of the time picking up rocks to throw into the canal.  Emma spent most of the time trying to convince Grant she was too tired to walk and Leah and I hopped and skipped ahead of Becca to keep her moving.  It was pretty and nice to get out of the house for awhile. 
Emma is doing really well in school and has not only passed the kindergarten word list that was the goal for the year but know all the words in the A and B lists ( which are for first grade) She can read almost anything and last night during family home evening read 3Ne 18:21 all by herself outloud during the Lesson.  She continues to enjoy her box of 96 crayons and likes to read the name of each color before she uses it.  She and Leah giggle everytime she announces she will be drawing the the macaroni and cheese crayon.  She has also set out to make her own barbie house out of cardboard boxes and paint. 
Leah is currently doing dance and soccer.  She was super excited she got to kick the ball 3 times during the scrimmage game on Saturday.  She has started using very precocious phrases.  Last night when the toilet overflowed she quickly told grant "I'm outta here" and left.  If you ask her how she is at soccer she will reply "I am pretty awesome!" She loves playing with her friend Lizzy and is always trying to get me to leave playgroup early so that lizzy's mom can bring her to their house because she makes the best mac and cheese ever. 
Becca continues to try and say new words.  She has renewed her interest in hats and frequently refuses to leave the house unless she has her hat on.  Her favorite foods this week are peanut butter only on a spoon, pickles and marshmallows.  She continues to be very polite and will scream and scream for something and then when you finally figure out what it is she will promptly stop and say "thank you, welcome"
Grant has been busy helping and taking care  of his invalid wife who has had the stomach flu and then a week later sprained her ankle in a very graceful slide/tumble down the hill right in front of Emma's school.  As Emma put it "It was kinda funny until I realized you were hurt."  My advice: watch out for wet grass on hills! 
Here are a few pictures of the school sidewalk chalk self portraits and walking along the canal.

Spring!

The last 2 weeks have been super busy!  Lots of church and school things going on.  I went with Emma's class to the D.C. zoo a week and a half ago.  It was really neat and we had a lot of fun despite the 90 degree temperature and the hour and a half bus ride due to traffic!  Emma and I and 2 friends from her class walked around together and tried to see as many animals as we could in the 2 hours we had.  We are planning a family day trip to go back. 
I have been volunteering in Emma's class one hour a week.  I am grateful to now have friends in the ward to help watch the kids so I can do this.  We had to miss last week due to Leah's ear infection but it has been fun playing teachers aide and making copies and such!
Spring is here in full force so we have been spending more time outside.  We got the girls a sand table for the back yard and a hose so we can fill up our little swimming pool.  Becca has a hard time staying in our yard and is frequently escaping to our neighbors yards and trying to go up the stairs to their decks.  It would be helpful to have a fence with this adventurous child.  The world has instantly turned green and I am almost getting clostrophobic. All our views are being cut off by trees and greenery.  We can hardly see the houses across the creek anymore.  Trees are blooming all around and causing lots of sneezing and congestion but they are really pretty so it makes up for it. 
The girls are doing well.  Emma still never wants to go to school and has started what we call her zombie routine.  She pretends she is sleeping all morning while we get her dressed, set her at the table for breakfast and walk her to school, but it is better than all the screaming that usually accompanies her lack of enthusiasm for school.  Leah is loving soccer so we got her some shin guards which she wears almost everywhere including to the Pinewood Derby last week.  Becca is trying to say more words and being as cute as ever.  She has started to say Emma but she says it really slow and really emphasizes the ma so it is more like em-MA.  Last night we were watching funny home videos and she just kept saying "oh no" "uh-oh" and "ouie" and then laughing fashionably late if the rest of us did. 
Grant and I are keeping more than busy chasing our little girls around and doing our church jobs.  Grant is busy mailing letters and trying to track down members that have disappeared.  This last week in scouts we had the pinewood derby and I had to be a line judge.  I could be impartial since I didn't have a child racing they said when they asked.  It was a lot of pressure and some people are very intense about their pinewood derby!
That is a quick update and here are a few recent pictures. I just had to add a few of the pretty flowers I couldn't help myself!

Emma and her classnmates at the zoo

Becca eating her first ice cream cone!

Pretty bush outside out front door-not sure what it is?

Tulip tree blossom

Cherry tree on our school walking route

Upclose cherry blossom

Becca saying "cheese"

These last 2 weeks have been super busy and exciting.  Lots of Easter traditions and adventures to keep us busy during spring break.  We made sugar cookies, died Easter eggs and went on an egg hunt (thanks Grandma, Grandpa, Spencer and Mckay for the eggs and candy!).  Grant took a day off and we visited Great Seneca Creek State Park, went swimming and took an adventure to Baltimore.

The state park is right by our house.  The boundaries for it start just across from the creek behind our house but we half to drive to the entrance about a mile away.  They had a really neat recycled tire playground with a zip line that Emma and Leah loved.  There is also a lake that we walked to and threw rocks into.  This was Becca's favorite past time.  She would get really close and then throw her rocks in.  I was just sure she was going to throw herself into the water but she managed to stay mostly dry.  The indoor swimming pool here is lots of fun.  There are alot of slides for the kids of all sizes and a big area with water like a foot deep for the babies like Becca.

Baltimore was fun.  We visited Fort McHenry a battle site during the war of 1812 which inspired the writing of the Star Spangled Banner. The girls loved walking all along the tops of the walls and into the jail areas.   It sits right on the inner harbor which has lots of fun things to do.  We will definitely be going back and exploring some more.  While in Baltimore we decided to go to an italian deli we saw on Diners Drive In and Dives.  We have been dying for a granatos kind of sandwich and this looked like a similar place.  The food was great but the location... well I was a little concerned the car would be gone when we got done.  All was fine though we made it out safely. 

Emma went back to school on Wednesday.  She is super happy because I have found a friend to watch her sisters and I get to go and volunteer one morning a week in her class.  She doesn't like being there all alone while we have fun without her at home she says.  Leah started a soccer clinic on Saturday.  It was her first experience with an organized sport like that and we left with her in tears and she says she isn't meant to be a soccer girl.  Oh well, we will try again this Saturday.  Leah has decided her new favorite color is purple and wears it everyday she can.  Unfortunately she has a limited supply of purple to choose from, which makes getting dressed traumatic somedays.  Becca has finally started saying no.  She is frequently grabbing things and shaking her finger and saying no no, uh huh.  She loves to play with her sisters.  She loves piggy back rides from Emma and unluckily for Leah loves to whack her with various objects.  She also is full of hugs and kisses and is frequently running up to hug you or climbing on your lap and honing in for a wet and juicy mwah right on the lips.  Emma especially dislikes the on the lips kisses.  The girls love saying the da da daaa! from the croods movies and Becca even does it!  It is really cute and funny.

We had a good conference weekend.  We are still adjusting to the new conference times, but we are grateful we can still watch from the comfort of our living room.  We are grateful for the gospel in our lives and especially for the instant family you have when you move to a new place.