Little Personality

Mason is 19 months old now and his little personality is starting to come out more and more.  It is super fun and exasperating at the same time.  He is so dang cute and funny, but gets into some kind of new mischief every day.  This week he started climbing on top of the table (one of the few safe places we had left), unscrewed and drank a decent amount on On Guard Essential Oil (it burned his mouth and throat a little, but no real harm), and discovered a previously unnoticed bathroom cupboard.  Mason definitely keeps me on my toes!  Even though it can be aggravating, I still wish he would never grow up!  Mason gives me the best "loves" now and even sometimes pats my back when he's hugging me.  There aren't many better feelings.

I don't remember where we got these girly sunglasses, but Mason found them and wore them around the house for an hour or so one morning.

They both came away from Spencer's dentist appointment with helium balloons.  These have provided hours of entertainment.
 

Mason loves shoes now.  He tries to put on any shoe he finds lying around the house.

Empty jugs with lids to put on and take off are some of his favorite toys.

 

Mason only lasts for about 30 seconds in swings, but discovered a love of slides this week.  I didn't get a picture, but he will go down the big twirly slide at our neighborhood park all by himself!  Spencer must have been about three before he would do that.  Mason also likes the tiny slide we have in our back yard.

He thinks this is funny now.  

We've had some gorgeous, summer-like weather and have been doing some yard work.  Mason discovered dirt!

Ha!  My attempt at a cute brother picture.

General Conference Weekend

Besides the fact that I love hearing the messages our Prophet and Apostles have for us every 6 months at General Conference time, it's also a really nice break from Primary!  We always watch the Saturday sessions at home and then spend Sunday at Darwin and Debbie's.

I put Mason down for his nap at the beginning of the Saturday afternoon session.  This is what I found when I came downstairs awhile later!  Spencer swears he wasn't sleeping.  ;)

Spencer never gets tired of Conference Bingo.

I can't remember why I took this selfie or why in the world I was so serious, but it makes me laugh now!

Sunday was a beautiful day so Darwin and Debbie took us for a walk on a brand-new trail in Tualatin.  There were lots of informational plaques along the trail, but I didn't read any of them so I can't tell you what they were about other than something to do with ancient history and mammoths.

It was the perfect way to stretch our legs and get ready to listen to one last session of Conference.  I'm so glad we have a Grandma and Grandpa close by to do these kinds of things with.  And, I'm even more glad that we have a living Prophet on the Earth today!

Easter

Easter came early this year (March 27) and fell over Spring Break.  It was nice to have more time to celebrate this year.

Spencer and I dyed eggs one afternoon.  Mason and Daddy colored.  :)

In honor of March Madness, Spencer wanted me to write North Carolina Champions on an egg.  That's who all three of us picked as the winners on our brackets.  Too bad they didn't end up winning!

As usual, the Easter Bunny visited our house on Saturday.  Mason had no idea why we were collecting colored eggs in the backyard, but he had fun doing it!

One awesome thing about a 6.5 year gap between these two is that there is no competition.  Spencer gets that Mason is little and is so nice and helpful (as long as Mason doesn't get into his bedroom!).

The Easter Bunny left 36 eggs and we found 35.  Mason finally discovered the last one while we were doing yard work a few days later.  It was a white egg camoflauged as a real egg shell from the compost in our garden!

Easter Sunday was great once my talk was over!  I don't get super nervous, I just feel a ton of pressure.  

We had a nice dinner with Alan's parents that evening.  I made Grandma Larsen's strawberry jello for the first time since she was not able to be there with us.  I think it turned out alright, but we would have rather had Grandma and Grandpa there!

Spring Break

Our spring break this year turned out to be pretty boring.  Alan had the week off work (at least from his bus-driving job), so we should have come up with some great plans but a cold that Spencer passed on to Mason and me, a budget of almost zero, and a looming Easter Sunday Sacrament Meeting talk prevented us from doing much.  Plus the weather was rotten.

Thankfully, Geoff's family came to town and we at least got to go to the zoo with them before the runny noses and rain hit!  It was a gorgeous day for the zoo and we all had a great time.  The last time we went last June, Mason was too little to see many of the animals.  He LOVED it this time!

One day, we drove over to Milwaukie to visit Alan's Grandparents.  We don't get to see them as much anymore and we miss them!  I forgot to take a picture though.

We stopped at Critter Cabana on the way home.  All of the puppies were rather large so we didn't hold any.  Mason really liked the turtles this time.

We also visited the temple grounds and Visitor's Center one morning.  These little purple flowers always remind me of my Grandma Heap.  She loved myrtle.  I'm not sure if this really is myrtle or not, but it brings back good memories of her anyway.

Alan kept busy with Uberthons, house projects, and home refinance paperwork.  Spencer read 1,280 minutes.  Mason loved having everyone home.  I worked and stressed a lot over my talk.  We also celebrated Easter over spring break, but that's another post...

St. Patrick's Day

The Luckython was the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day this year.  Spencer and I ran the 5k while Mason rode in the stroller.  It didn't rain during the race, but had rained a ton that week so the course was soaked and we wound up very muddy.  Spencer ran a good race though and only stopped to walk once to get a quick drink of water.  Thanks for the pictures Debbie!

Spencer was excited to try to catch a leprechaun again this year.  I'm pretty sure his trap was almost identical to last year's though.

I think he was a little disappointed to find that our leprechaun left green slime instead of candy or gold coins this year.  ;)

Our neighbors invited us over to make Easter gardens with them that afternoon.  Spencer had fun making his garden and Mason had fun running around their backyard.

Spencer had track practice from 5:30 until almost 7:00, so we ended the day with a late dinner of Irish beef stew served over mashed potatoes and Irish soda bread.  The stew was delicious and I'll definitely make it again.  I just need to remember that it has to simmer for two hours and start it before 4:30!