March

March has been pretty good!  I've stayed busy with student teaching and Bailey has stayed busy with work as usual.  It has worked out good that the gardens have been closed so that I can focus on student teaching and getting everything done for graduation.  The teacher schedule is pretty nice though, so I've had lots of time to play this month!

Bailey is getting back into golfing, he claims that he was pretty good as a teenager.  We splurged and bought him some new clubs, and he has gotten some good use out of them already!  I am not a golf fan, but luckily our dear friend Traedon is.  He located some golf clubs and those two are always practicing!

Earlier this month we went to my cousin's birthday dinner.  I can't believe that Allison is 18!  We had so much fun celebrating with her, talking about the colleges shes applying to, and eating this beautiful food.  One of the many perks of belonging to a Japanese family! #nocasseroleforus

Student teaching is still enjoyable.  What a fun career to be going into!  I love being able to continually learn along with my students and along with my fellow art teachers.  Mondays are for collaborating, and for us art teachers that means getting together and teaching each other fun new things, like making prints or scratch art!

I'm still having fun with my Prismacolors though I'm still just doing very basic practice because it is so fun and satisfying.  I made this No Face for Bailey to add to his collection of hanging Madi art at work.

I still can't get over Warden's little hat!  We had fun playing at Thunder Junction in St. George before heading home from our weekend getaway.

A day that I get to play with dogs is a happy day indeed!  Our friends Mike and Terra invited us over for some smoked nachos (so good!) and I also got to play with their fun pups.

Also, HAPPY SPRING!  I have waited for spring to arrive since the end of fall!  I think you all know pretty well by now how much I dislike winter.  So the first day of spring is a big deal.  We celebrated with Allie and Austin with a game of tennis!  I'm so bad at it.  But it is so fun!

Grandma Zina turned 75!  My inlaws threw her a big birthday party, 1970s themed.  Now that is my kind of party!  Bailey and I had fun getting all dressed up, though we definitely had different ideas of what appropriate costumes should be.  I'm no good at makeup, so luckily we had Kylie to help transform Bailey into Richard Nixon!  Also, look who showed up to the party - Sonny and Cher!

Bailey's uncle Dan along with his wife Anita and daughter Alyssa flew in from Louisiana for the party.  Which is SO exciting, because I've never actually met Dan and Anita!  It was so lovely to meet them.  Unfortunately Dan had to fly home early, but Bailey and I got to spend an evening with Kim and Grandma, showing Anita and Alyssa around our little town.  We took them to the Butterfly Biosphere, where the butterflies kept landing on everyone except for Kim and I!  My favorite landing was this little friend getting cozy in Grandma's hairdo.

We also took them up the canyon to see snow!  Since they are from Louisiana, they've only ever seen a tiny bit of snow.  I cannot explain to you their excitement upon seeing deep snow and playing in it.  I wish I took a picture!  It was getting dark but we played (and fell) in the snow until the sun went down and it helped me appreciate the snow even if just a little bit.  I'm glad it can make someone happy!

Bailey and I got a new plant named Beatrice to hang in our window and she is just beautiful, isn't she?  We have high hopes for a long life with her but we will keep you posted, as I'm not actually that good at taking care of plants.

Spring is here and the Ashton Gardens are officially open!  I am actually SO excited to go back to work!  Chanel and Thomas came in town this weekend, and they're soon going to the Seattle area for their summer jobs, so we figured we better catch up a little before they're off.  It was so fun to chat with them and enjoy a walk around the gardens.  It was surprising how much was in bloom!

That's it for March!  It was a fun month and we are moving right along into the best few months of the year!

A Day in St. George

My grandparents buying a second home in St. George is one of the best things that has happened to us!  Southern Utah is gorgeous and there is so much to do down there.  Always having a cozy, free place to stay is so convenient!

Last night my family and I drove down to St. George for just a quick weekend getaway.  Well, Mom and Dad drove down a few days ago and Seiji, Kylie, Warden, Bailey and I just met up with them last night.  We will leave tomorrow afternoon, so we don't have much time.  But the drive isn't that bad!  My uncle Matt is living at the house until his family joins him in a few months and they find their own place.  For now, though, it is so fun to have him there to show us around St. George!

This afternoon, after a delicious lunch at Honolulu Grill, we went on a hike that gave us a beautiful view of cute little St. George.  The weather is perfect, and we had so much fun being out after being cooped up all winter!  Warden got a ride up the hike and looked pretty cool in his new hat.

Afterwards, we split off in groups as Warden had to nap and Matt and my dad wanted to go to the stain glass shop.  My mom, Bailey, and I went to the Brigham Young House!

It was just about what we expected.  Cute old missionaries showing us around and telling us stories.  Pretty interesting!  It was neat to see all of the wood grain that they had painted on all of the wooden slats all those years ago to make it seem like there were many different kinds of luxurious wood.  Such artistry!  Such available time!  Also the yard was really cute.

We were shown a very old mulberry tree and told about how it was planted for the silkworms that the women liked to raise.  Sad news - the mulberry tree has been deemed unsafe and will be taken down on Tuesday.  We feel lucky to have seen it in time!

After Warden woke up we all went on a drive to a pretty trailhead.  We wanted to get some pictures of the seven of us, since we don't really have any.  We took some time getting some cute shots and exploring the beautiful area.

The night ended with a visit to Anasazi Steakhouse.  It was just Seiji, Kylie, Bailey, and I which was so fun because it has been ages since we've been on a double date!  We had been told how delicious this place is, but it still completely blew us away.  Order a steak, preferably a ribeye, "on the rock" and they bring you out a nearly raw (but seasoned) steak on a crazy hot slab of rock so that you can sear each side and cook it through to your liking.  Probably one of the greatest steak experiences of my life.  They also bring you salad, mashed potatoes, and other veggies, but the steak is really just the star of the show.

We actually started our meal with cheese fondue which was so fun and so tasty!  Next time, though, we may skip the fondue in order to be able to eat more steak haha.

It was such a fun day spent with some of my favorite people!  It is a bummer that we will just be heading back home tomorrow, but I'm so glad we were able to all get out together.  It was a much needed break amidst all of our busy schedules!