The Gift

A few days before Easter, I took the kids with me to the grocery store and of course they all wanted some little treat. Then Jake saw these little "globes" and just had to have one for the Easter Bunny. He went right home and wrote him a letter that said, "Dear Ester Buney, This wonderful peresent is for you. I hope you take it." Then he drew a bunny and said, "Thank you!" Then he crossed out the "e" in hope so that it said "I hop you take it". He thought the Easter Bunny would get a kick out of that (which he did of course;). It's nice when kids think of others before themselves.

I also love this picture because it shows how "shiny" Jakes hair is-Grandma Merrill is always commenting on how his hair just shines. And I love his green eyes!

Easter 2011

I can't believe another Easter has come and gone already! The years just continue to roll past faster and faster. The kids had fun doing their eggs on Saturday. Brad's friend, Liam, came over just as we were starting and so he joined in on the fun. Ethan and I only did one egg (actually, Ava took mine too). This really is one of their favorite projects to do together and they get so excited and so lovable too. Church was wonderful as usual. Dennis was supposed to speak but didn't due to lack of time (this happened to him at Christmas time too). I again forgot to take pictures of everyone and the Easter dinner as well. We had it at our house this year. Dean and three of his girls came (Alisa kept Meg home as she has a bad cough). Shane and Rachel and their kids came as well. Dave wasn't feeling well so he didn't make it this year but Mom and Dad came and so did Joan and Clair. We had pretty much a traditional dinner with ham, potatoes (funeral instead of mashed), asparagus, rolls, two different salads, corn with bacon (Alisa's mom does the corn this way), eggs poached in ham broth, cheese (mom's favorite white Vermont cheddar), pickles, and pickled cucumbers. For dessert we had two different cakes and ice cream or rootbeer floats. WAY too much food for one meal! The kids played outside most of the time until it got too cold. It was a wonderful day!!

Fake Nails and Make-up

I know fake nails on a three year old is so tacky but they lasted less than 5 minutes! The boys made over Ava and told her how beautiful her nails were and she was just beaming. Brad wanted to know if Grandma had the same kind;). Anyway, we had fun putting them on and making over our little "angel/wolf".

The Pirate/Ocean Room

Okay, so we've been here in Lehi for almost 4 years and this whole time Brad and Jake have been asking for their room to be decorated like an "ocean". All it took was for me to mention it to Rachel and now it's done! She loves to paint and since Spring Break was the same for both of us, she came over Monday through Thursday and painted with me. She showed me how to "antique" furniture and the kids played while we painted (except for little Jess-he loved to hang out with us and tease his aunt Bobo that she couldn't paint very well;). We went to lunch every day and sometimes got treats as well. Brad got his wish that his Spring Break would be spent with sleepovers almost every night. Now all I need to do is order a net for the curtains, a ship's wheel, and an anchor to put on the walls. Oh yeah, and a couple of comforters. This has been so much fun!! (I forgot to mention the name of the paint color. In Jake's honor, "Ariel's Song" was chosen-so fitting for the boy who has loved mermaids since he was 3 years old!)

It's Time

Okay, so for the past 10 years or so I've been steadily gaining weight! It's so weird how you don't even notice until one day you're shocked at what you see staring back at you in the mirror. Anyway, I am embracing exercise again (for a little over a month) and have lost a bit. I know it will take a while to lose since it took a while to put on but hopefully I'll be able to look and feel better about myself by this time next year!

"Easter's On It's Way"

While Dennis and I were in Mexico, Mom took Ava and Autumn shopping for a couple of dresses. She said when Ava saw this dress she wouldn't even look at another! Mom tried to get her to look at a few but she had her mind made up that this was the one;) She just had to wear it to church a couple of weeks ago but this is her Easter dress. I wonder where she gets her stubborness from???

"I Miss My Dad!"

Ava was crying last night for Dennis. He was at a meeting and she went to bed with me and then the tears started. She hasn't seen much of him lately and is really missing her "papa noodle". So this morning right before Dennis left, she woke up and he loved her for at least 15-20 minutes. It was so cute, I just had to snap a picture of my sweeties. I love the bond between a daddy and his child!

"HOP" with Jill and Kids

Yesterday, April 7th, we met with Jill and the kids to go watch the new movie, "HOP". The kids loved it and Jill and I laughed a bit too. After the movie, we all went back to our house to play and then ended up getting pizza for supper. The kids played some more after that and everyone enjoyed having cousins over. We love Family!! (top picture: Nick, Jake, Brad, Reagan, Whitney, and Ava)

April Fool's-2011

Okay, so I'm not the best mom in the world (as this picture of Jake demonstrates). Brad's friend Mitchell came over on April Fools Day and was just itching to play a prank on someone. So like the good mom that I am I suggested we put my sticky, thick, pink lip gloss all over the ends of their binoculars and go get Jake. Of course they loved that idea and did so. Jake totally fell for it and didn't want his picture taken but I had to. Then Mitchell did it to himself and then took them to his house to prank his little brother. (I found out later from his mom that he also took them to the park and got lots of kids there-I probably had some mothers who were not very happy with me;) I love kids and how truly innocent they are!

Girls' Night

Here are some amazing friends from when I lived in Eagle Mountain. We all served in the Young Womens together. One of our "girls" got married and so we all went to the reception together and then out to Texas Roadhouse. We had so much fun. We get together every once in a while and it seems exactly the same and we just pick up where we left off. (Jaime Condie, and Natalie Nesbit, and Natalie Holley). It was such a fun night!