easter 2

we had a great time at grandma deanie's and grandpa's house on saturday. we had a hotdog roast where a whirlwind stole emmie's cheetos bag and blew it clear up into the sky. ian drove the toy jeep for the first time and had a spectacular crash into a pine tree. fortunately, he and emmie seemed unfazed by the incident, but we are not planning on letting him drive again any time soon. we rode the fourwheelers. had an easter egg hunt. got sunburned. saw 'horton hears a who'. and had a day full of great memories and fun times with family. we missed all who couldn't be there; hopefully, you'll all be back close enough soon.

easter

we had a great easter weekend. the children went to 3 different easter egg hunts and they had a great time. i love hiding the easter eggs, that's always been my favorite part. teaching the boys about the true meaning of easter was quite an advenuture this year, too. we did a family home evening with some of the symbols of easter at the end the last egg was empty to represent the empty tomb. ian looked at us and said, "i hope that wesley gets that egg." then in primary during sharing time they had a special easter lesson. the teacher was saying that Jesus died for each of us and wesley blurted out "but the easter bunny isn't dead". and when she asked the children what easter was about ian yelled, "CANDY!"
yeah, i feel like our efforts to teach them are really paying off. i'm sure it's all in their heads somewhere, right?
enjoy the pics and hope you all had a great easter

32

well, it's my birthday today and i thought i'd share 32 of my favorite things (i got the idea from a friend's blog). They are not in any order, just as I randomly thought of them. this will make getting older a little more positive, because i'll get to share more each year. that's me being optimistic (it's a work in progress)
1. i love the art work on the opening credits of the new Charlotte's Web
2. i love the tripod that austin got me for my birthday, family pics will be so much easier now
3. i love finishing projects in one sitting (it doesn't happen very often)
4. i love the movie stardust, it's a new favorite. i'm even developing ideas of being a star for halloween and how i'm going to make that dress
5. i love vintage dresses (like on I love Lucy and my mom's old barbie doll). and a friend gave me a whole box full of fun old patterns, i can't wait to make some
6. i love getting kisses from austin & the kids when i have to leave or after i return home
7. i love lindt chocolate
8. i love when the sun breaks through on a stormy day and lights up all the trees
9. i love to watch bats fly at twilight
10. i love tiger beetles
11. i love being a mom
12. i love the gospel
13. i love to paint
14. i love algebra (yeah, i'm a geek)
15. i love to read during nap time
16. i love a clean kitchen, if the kitchen is clean i stress less about the rest of the house
17. i love austin, deeply, madly, completely
18. i love seeing other's blogs and their pictures of their families
19. i love my cindy crawford workout videos, they save me
20. i love to go for walks alone and just think and listen to the world around me
21. i love how quiet it gets after it snows
22. i love to turn the radio up so loud that i can feel it
23. i love learning (i really miss college, but not the exams)
24. i love my 'lord of the ring/pirate' boots, they are so fun to wear and keep my toes oh, so toasty
25. i love to dress up, which is probably why halloween is my favorite holiday. i firmly believe we do not have enough costume parties
26. my favorite saturday morning cartoon is 'viva pinata'
26. i absolutely love watching episodes of 'the office', i love that it always makes me laugh out loud
27. i love making collages with photos of those i love, they are my favorite house decor
28. i love my calling in the primary and i'm shocked that i would ever say that (i always dreaded serving in the primary and being one of 'those' sisters
29. i love mowing the lawn
30. i love going to the library, the possibilities are endless
31. i love taking the kids to the playground
32. i love bajio grill, i'm hoping that's what we have for dinner tonight

children's museum

last friday we went to the discovery museum at the gateway. the kids had a fabulous time. we played in water fountains, the boys were crane operators working hard, wesley was a mailman on a motorcycle, ian got to drive a tractor and ride in a helicopter (by the way he is not batman, he's superman and there is no convincing him otherwise. many have tried many have failed). and we went to sesame street to learn about the body. it was a great day and one we hope to repeat sometime soon (next time we're taking austin with us, so he can help keep track of the kids). enjoy the pics

spring is almost here!

well, it's definately feeling more like spring. And these pictures of Fiona made me think of faeries and flowers and sunshine. She is so darn cute and the tutu (thanks julie) is adorably girlie. It's so fun.