Calvin Edward Martin Archuleta

Calvin finally decided to join us on Monday April 27. He weighed 8 lbs 4 oz. and is so sweet. Mom did such a good job and looks and feels great. We love you baby Calvin. BTW, he gets to share his birthday with our awesome little Max Bud.

Lucky Number "13"

Today is our 13th wedding anniversary!! It has been such an amazing journey so far. I met Carl in December of 1991, so I have officially known him for more than half my life. We were married on April 27, 1996 in the Manti, Utah Temple. I wouldn't change a thing except maybe I would try harder to have my hair done, oh and in hindsight I wouldn't let Carl give his tux to a 95 year old temple worker that stuck it in a broom closet. I was dressed and waiting in the foyer for him to come out and it was taking forever. My friend Robyn said "yay, he changed his mind, you can still play with us." I was pretty nervous, but as it turned out his tux was lost. Good times. Carl, you are an amazing husband and friend. You take such good care of me and the kids and set such a good example of hard work. The last 13 years have been great and I can't wait to see what the next 13 bring. I love you. Thanks for being such an awesome dad too. I love that our kids have so much fun with you. I love that you are sharing your love for the outdoors with them and helping them to become adventurous and brave. You really are the best.

Our "windy" wedding day in Manti.

Seriously? We look like little kids in this engagement picture.


Honeymoon in Hawaii.

Hawaii April 2006

Backpacking to Point Reyes. September 2008

Climbing Naomi peak in Utah. July 2007

backpacking Havasu Falls. April 2007

Lake Tahoe. June 2007

All because 2 people fell in love.

Happy Birthday my sweet Ashlee Bug......

Today is my sweet Ashlee Skye's birthday. She was born at Summerlin Hospital in Las Vegas.
April 21, 2002. Weight 7 lbs. 18 1/2 inches long. She decided to come 3 weeks early but was perfectly healthy. Nana and Papa had 5 grandsons before Ash came so we were all pretty excited to have a sweet little girl. Caleb was only 3 and when you asked him what he wanted to name the baby he would say "girl". That was it. Ashlee is very sweet and LOVES animals. She went through a phase where she would only answer to "PINKY the Poodle" and she would bark everything she said. I can't believe that she is 7 already. She is a light in our family and has such a beautiful spirit. Ashlee bug, WE LOVE YOU!!!!

This was a dress that I wore. Such a sweet baby.

Big brother visiting at the hospital. He looks like he might realize what he's in for.

This girl can be TROUBLE!!

Ashlee calls herself :Daddy's hiking girl" she is always ready to go with him.

Great Grandpa and Ashlee.

Easter

Here are a few pictures from Easter weekend. A cute friend in the ward has an Easter egg hunt every year in their backyard. My kids love to go. The best part about the "hunt" this year was when all the other kids were bustin out the candy from the plastic eggs, both Ashlee and Syd were peeling hard boiled eggs and eating those instead of candy. They even asked for salt and pepper. Nice.

Eating the hard boiled eggs.

So apparently I am NOT winning any parenting awards because we colored Easter Eggs for the first time in all of my kids lives. I hate to point out once again, but I do suffer from OCD and mixing the dye and vinegar and kids just never sat right with me. So this year we finally did it and they loved it so I will just have to get over it and let them have fun.

The kids before church in their Easter clothes.

We love you MEL.

The girls, misty, tami, mel, alyssa and i went out Saturday night to celebrate Mel being done with work and because little Calvin could come any day now we wanted to take advantage of going out one more time before he does. Our friend Alyssa was down from Roseville too so that was another fun reason to go out. Thanks girls. You are the best. (someone remind Alyssa about May 8th too!!)

Giddy UP

Ashlee went to her first Horse Riding Lesson on Saturday. She has been so excited for weeks to go. The place she is going teaches English Style Riding and I love that they teach the kids how to take care of the horses too. Ashlee had to go to the corral and get the pony (Ruby) and put a harness and lead rope on her to take her to the barn for a little hair brushing and hoof cleaning before putting her saddle on. She did such a great job, and wasn't shy or scared at all. She also did a great job when it came to riding her. Ashlee loves ALL animals and has no fear of them (sometimes we wish she had a healthy fear of big, mean dogs she tries to pet). She is so sweet and such a good girl.

Ruby the pony smiles for a treat after the ride.

Nanny's Birthday Celebration

Last week when Nan was here we were able to celebrate her birthday with her. Since the kids were out for Spring Break, Carl took the day off and we headed back to San Francisco to spend the day at the California Academy of Science Museum. It must have been spring break for lots of kids because picture Disneyland ride lines without the thrill of a ride. It was super crowded and hard to get around. But the kids had fun looking at all the displays and then we had a picnic in the park and walked the Botanical Gardens nearby. After our museum fun we took Nan to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. Unfortunately they don't just give you a free scoop of ice cream and sing. They make you stand up with a blowup guitar and strum while the whole restaurant sings "Happy Birthday". Poor nan DID NOT care for the attention but she was a great sport and the kids thought she was really cool. Thanks Nan for celebrating your birthday with us.

Waiting in the long line just to get in.

Syd took this picture. I love that she cut off the top of his head.

Our view of the Botanical Gardens

We had to take this picture of the door because Syd's middle name is "Joan"

Nanny the Birthday ROCKSTAR!

Happy Birthday MOM!!!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday and I had this great post planned out with embarrassing photos and everything but sadly our computer with all the pictures on it crashed hard and it is still not working. I am using the kiddos computer to write this little note to tell my wonderful mom "HAPPY BIRTHDAY"!!!! I won't disclose her age but she looks pretty awesome. Mom, I love and appreciate you so much. I am so blessed to have been sent to you and I can't tell you what a great example you are to me. You are so loving and generous and you are willing to help anyone in need. When I am sick I still want YOU to take care of me. Thanks for loving me and putting up with me and my twisted sense of humor. I really love being your favorite kid.
Love you.

Exploratorium

After my race on Saturday we took advantage of being in the city and went to the Exploratorium. The kids LOVE it because it is so "hands on". I have to breathe deep and look away to get over my germaphobia with them touching everything. We got there about an hour
before they closed so it was perfect. I was pretty tired but we still had fun.

Caleb LOVES to beat me at anything. His reflexes were faster than mine. (hey I just ran 13 miles uphill!!)

The kids though this drinking fountain was great.

Carl even liked the displays.