New Blog

Yes, we have moved! You can now catch up with the Pierce family at www.davidandtraciepierce.blogspot.com.

What We Did During Spring Break

• slept in most mornings (okay, so that was really just me)


• played outside with friends, making Pixie Hollow (Savannah), kicking the soccer ball, throwing the football, and playing hide-and-go-seek


• an Easter egg hunt with friends from church
  
  
  
  
  


• David and I voted!


• played more Wii each day than mommy liked


• watched movies almost every night


• played baseball with Daddy


• ran around the giraffe park


• mourned the passing of my 98 year old grandpa


• "hiked" to Kilgore Falls
  How long will it take before Noah falls in the water?
  
  
  
  Oh, is she cute!
  
  Some fools looking for gold...oops, I mean looking at fool's gold.
  And there we have it...Noah fell in after about 45 minutes. He made it longer than we thought!
  We drove to a different spot to enjoy a picnic lunch and then walked out on this rock outcropping called King and Queen Seat. Scary! All the moms were freaking out that their kids were going to fall off the edge and plummet to their deaths. I didn't have to worry about Savannah; she shares my fear of heights.
  Xander does not. He had no problem getting close to the edge which almost gave me a heart attack...and that is no joke.
  
  
  
  
  It was definitely hard to send the kids back to school. Savannah even shed a few tears. Thank goodness summer is just around the corner!

Easter Bunny Day

Friday night the kids gathered around the table to get down to the serious business of dyeing Easter eggs.


The process just would not be complete without making some dragon eggs, the kids' favorite!

Some beautifully dyed Easter eggs and a sweet note for the Easter Bunny and now we just have to wait until morning.

The Easter Bunny did not disappoint - Monster High for Savannah and Star Wars for the boys. Also included in the baskets were some yummy candies, as if what the kids would find on the hunt just wasn't enough!

So, SO excited to get this egg hunt started!

After a few tussles over the most visible eggs, the kids finally separated and quickly found the numerous eggs hidden throughout the house.






The silver and gold ones are always the best ones to find because they have money inside! Thank goodness there's one for each of the kids.

Time to sort out the candy loot and do some trading.


What could be better than $5 and a chocolate egg in the morning?

Noah's Spring Party

Noah's Spring Party - the last party of his preschool career and the last preschool party for me as well. A little sad about that but that's life! Kids grow up and mine seem to be doing so at an alarming rate! As with all the preschool parties there were fun crafts and lots of goodies.
Noah with his hand print Easter Bunny craft.

The goldfish-filled carrot.

Working on his Easter egg bag...I love his look of concentration.

Ready to go get some eggs!

Waiting patiently with his buds before the hunt begins.


Each child had 6 eggs to find...3 with his/her first name on it, 3 with his/her last name. It took a bit of time but Noah finally collected all of his.


Enjoying a yummy peep...

and trying to get those silly gummy bunny teeth lined up!

We Are the Champions

Despite losing their extremely talented point guard midway through the season our High Priest basketball team ended up having only one loss for the year and winning the championship for the Baltimore Stake. The kids and I had so much fun cheering on David each Thursday night throughout the season but ended up missing the last big game due to its 9:00pm starting time.

The Champions!

Our guys had to face the elders team from our ward in the first game of the playoffs which is always a little hard because we love all these men and want them all to do well. During that game one of the elders got David in his leg with a strong knee leaving David in some extreme pain. David was able to keep playing, helping his team beat the elders but later that night, in the championship game, David really struggled jumping and exploding to the basket. This lovely bruise showed up the next day!

David also ended up with a bruise on his face courtesy of a hard head. However, the pain and the bruises were all worth it. Another great season for our High Priests!

A Sweet Reunion

Audra has been a special person in our lives for the past 12 years. Not only was she one of my Young Women in our ward in Salt Lake but her family lived around the corner from us. Every Sunday Audra and her brother Andrew would spy on us because David and I led some fascinating, interesting lives. Okay, so I really have no idea why they spied on us but eventually they got up the nerve to knock on our door thus starting a wonderful Sunday afternoon tradition of hanging out with these two fabulous young people. Since Audra was in the Young Womens program when I was in a leadership position we got to spend a ton of time together that included weekly activities, service projects, holiday celebrations, youth conferences, sports games, boating trips, and the list goes on. As I went through some of our pictures trying to find some that I wanted to include on this blog I definitely teared up with all the wonderful memories I have with this special friend.

Andrew and Audra with our new puppy Barkley. Audra was actually with us when we went to pick out Barkley from the breeder. The lady selling Barkley to us was amazed that David and I were old enough to have a teenage daughter! We had a good laugh about that one.

A youth overnighter at Audra's family's cabin. Audra and the other youth tried to teach us how to play this sticks game but we weren't that good.

Cheering on the Ute football team.

The night before I had Savannah I was extremely nervous about what the next day would bring. Audra and her brother and sister, Andrew and Cosette, spent the evening with us, playing video games, eating snacks, laughing, and basically keeping my mind off my C-section the next morning.

Doing a little ice skating.

Cinco de Mayo.

Boating and yes, that is my huge pregnant belly!

We were always doing something fun!

When David and I announced to our friends that we would be moving to Maryland in a few months Audra decided to finish her Young Women in Excellence award in time for me to be there when she received it. This accomplishment of hers and the fact that she wanted me to be there with her touched me immensely. I loved my Young Women!

Audra's family had a going away party for us before we left. One of the hardest things about leaving Utah was the special people that we had to say goodbye to and we have definitely missed Audra!

Two years after we moved to Maryland I was able to fly back to Salt Lake to attend the temple wedding of our little Audra. What a special event, one I was so happy I could attend. David wanted to be there as well but someone had to stay home and watch Savannah, Xander, and 3 week old Noah. What a beautiful bride she was!



In the past few years since Audra got married, she and her husband have moved out to North Carolina and have two beautiful children. I was so excited when Audra let me know that her little family was coming up to DC for a few days to tour the sites. Despite the crazy schedule we had we managed to meet up with them at the DC temple for an hour to soak up some time together. It was beyond wonderful to see her, talk to her, and spend time with her two cute kids. What a fabulous reunion!!!


I am so grateful that I have been able to have such a special friendship in my life and hope that one day we can live a little closer so we can build even more memories together. Love ya, Audra!