Easter Prep

Dye Easter eggs- check
Make sure Easter Bunny was on schedule to deliver baskets at the door on Saturday-check
Help the Easter Bunny stuff eggs with coins and a few dollars-check
Hold the baby-check
Get Bar-b-Que all set to go-check
Fit in a nap-check
Hold the baby a little more-check
Have boys go to the park so that the Easter Bunny could hide all the eggs-check
Set out a few sparse Easter decorations-check
Kiss the baby-check
Try to teach the boys that Easter is not all about baskets and bunnies-check (I think)

Nice to Meet You....

Buddy James.

There was something familiar when I looked into your blue eyes and it clicked when you looked back... and smiled. I fell in love with you and melted instantly, on the spot.

I think you will like your visits here. Your cousins can't get enough of you, your Aunt and Uncle adore you, and you have Mammy and Papa in the palm of your hands.

Welcome to the family, little one.

If your mom and dad ever need a babysitter, Aunt Alisa would be happy to do the job.

Forget an amusement park, Buddy James was the main attraction!

Spring

Hark, I hear a robin calling!
List, the wind is from the south!
And the orchard-bloom is falling
Sweet as kisses on the mouth.

In the dreamy vale of beeches
Fair and faint is woven mist,
And the river's orient reaches
Are the palest amethyst.

Every limpid brook is singing
Of the lure of April days;
Every piney glen is ringing
With the maddest roundelays.

Come and let us seek together
Springtime lore of daffodils,
Giving to the golden weather
Greeting on the sun-warm hills.

-Lucy Maud Montgomery

SPRING BREAK!

Friday: Spring Break begins the second I pick up Nathan from school! We wait for dad to get home, have dinner, and go for a family walk to Kohls and Albertsons. Come back and eat dessert: Strawberries, Kiwi, Blackberries and Bananas. Kids are tuckered out so we put them to bed and mom and dad watch a movie ...which eventually puts mom to sleep as well:).

Saturday: The boys and I head to our church building to meet dad who is up early playing basketball. It is our turn to clean! We head to Mammy and Papa's to play and take naps on the grass. The weather is beautiful! Dad sleeps and Nathan and Kendall have a hot game of "secret weapon" going on so Mammy and I don't interrupt. Instead we go on a power walk and head to a baby shower. A quick trip to Deseret Book, Target, and Sunflower after. Later that night the boys watch a new episode of Ben 10 and I head to the very "clean" stake center for a Young Women's broadcast.

Sunday: Early church...the BEST! Lunch and naps after. Justin goes to choir practice and the boys and I go to ....Mammy and Papas for a bar-b-que! We spend tons of time on the swing outside and Mammy and I take a small stroll down the streets of their neighborhood. The boys fish with their homemade fishing poles in the imaginary river and play a another game of secret weapon with dad and Papa. We finish the night up with a movie.

Monday: Spring cleaning! Justin heads off to work and the boys and I make the house sparkle! The table and chairs have been detailed and the boys make a huge nest out of a pile of clothes. A trip to Michaels for some last minute preparations for Nathan's birthday. We head off to meet the Gillelands for hamburgers and ice cream. Quiet time. Naps and a show. No bake cookies are made for FHE and a few loads of laundry done in between.

Tuesday: Cartoons and spring break breakfast! We head off to a dentist appointment for Nathan resulting in good news and a new tooth brush. Back home to back a yummy picnic lunch. Turkey sandwiches, cuties, bananas, chips, icy cold water, and no bake cookies. The next 4 hours are spent at Clement Park with some of our favorite families. Bikes are rode, mud is played in, soccer games, bubbles and the playground was used! We head home for some much needed quiet time. Naps and a surprise from Justin. Date night! We drop the boys off to Mammy and Papas for dinner and Justin takes me to see the Hunger Games. Super Target after...this girl is in Heaven!

Wednesday: Happy Birthday Nathan!!! Today you woke up to everything decorated green. We celebrated first off by having Nathan's favorite cereal...Trix and opening presents that were on the table. We got busy and decorated cupcakes, pick up the sub sandwiches and headed to another park! We stayed and played for another 4 hours!. I TRIED to learn how to ride a rip stick from Tay and Amy and all the kids played a giant soccer game at the ranch house field. We headed home to meet Joey for dinner and pirate cupcakes and headed off to JumpStreet, with Kendall in tow. We played for a couple of hours. I admired the energy of these small boys as they bounced off the walls and flew into the foam pit.

Thursday: CRASH! I realized when I couldn't do the "hill of death" on our morning walk that today would be a day for recovering. Back home and spent most of the morning on the couch with the boys. By noon we got it together and headed out to the park to meet some of our friends and one of the boys favorite babysitters. It was much needed therapy for me and was so relaxing and uplifting as we chatted on the picnic blanket. Home for more quiet time. Dinner: pot stickers and rice, kiwi, and graham crackers with milk. The perfect combination to get us ready to go watch dad's basketball game at the church. Lots of cheering and visiting. Dad's team won making it for a pleasant ride home. Kids to bed and hanging out for mom and dad.

Friday: Up and ready for a quick spiffy around the house. I run to the acupuncturist while the boys think they "help" Papa build a wall unit. Off the meet Grandma and Grandpa Hillan, Uncle Joel and Aunt Lisa, And cousin Cara for a quick lunch at....Chick-fil-a. Ice cream cones with sprinkles and fun in the play place make the boys ready for some quiet time at home. Naps on the couches and a few shows while we wait for dad to get home from work. We have date night as a family filling up our cart at Costco and then run to Walmart and get supplies for our general conference basket. Dad puts the boys to bed and I run to Kohls and the grocery store with Mammy. Score, we find some shoes! Dad goes to workout and when he gets back we watch a movie we have had recorded since Christmas.

Saturday: Conference basket and activities are ready for conference. The boys rode their bikes to Mammy and Papa's while I ran to keep up. On our way over, I knew Kendall was ready to take his training wheels off. We started off the first session and the boys made a college. After, we had a sandwich bar and took the boys to the park. Dad took off Kendall's training wheels and Kendall learned how to ride his bike! We came back and watched the second session. It was so good! We snacked a bit and then Mammy and I went to Target to go Easter shopping. Later, Dad went to the priesthood session and we laid around and watched Hugo. Good day.

Sunday: Mammy had breakfast all ready: banana muffins, turkey bacon, and scrambled eggs. We finished eating and played several April fools jokes on each other. The boys made their tents and we headed down stairs to watch the morning session of conference. Afterward, we grabbed some snacks and water bottles and took a ride up to red rocks amphitheater. So beautiful! Got back, Nathan got bit by a dog, cleaned the wound and held dad back from breaking the dogs neck. We fixed a late lunch and watched the final session of conference. Then we went on a walk and talked about our favorite talks from the weekend.

Monday: Last day of spring break. A cold front blew in and we wanted to go out with a bang. Chuck E. Cheese's with the Alvarez family it is! We loaded up on coupons and stayed for hours. We joked that it was our version of Disney Land and had an anything goes attitude. Everyone got plenty of prizes and pizza. We took Elena to our house after and had some quiet time. The kids did some bowling in the hallway and I got our up coming week ready to go. We ran some errands and got back too late for FHE. Bowls of cereal for before bed. I felt a twinge of sadness that spring break was officially over but it sure got me looking forward to summer and the boys being home ALL DAY LONG!

Just in Time!

One of my favorite weekends of the year! We get to watch General Conference! I have been craving conference for the last month or two or three....

Basket and activities were ready to go and this year we even threw in a collage and King Benjamin tents.

Loved the talks! I loved Henry B. Erying's talk, "Mountains to Climb" and Ronald A. Rasband's talk, "Special Lessons."

I also loved this quote from Russell M. Nelson:

"Could an explosion in a printing shop produce a dictionary?” The likelihood is most remote. But if so, it could never heal its own torn pages or reproduce its own newer editions!"

Oh, and my new favorite.....Stop it! :)

Red Rocks

During the "in between" sessions of Sunday Conference, we decided to go stretch our legs, breathe in the fresh 82 degree air, and give ourselves some eye candy by looking at some breathtaking Colorado views.

Yes, Nathan is still rocking his fro he does himself every morning:).

Kendall in Action!

Conference morning, the boys and I decided to go on a bike ride while we waited for dad to get home from basketball. Kendall was leaning so much on his bike and was completely depending on his training wheel.

Later when I talked to Justin, we both decided that thing has to come off and the habit needed to be broken.

In between session of conference, Justin took off his training wheels and we helped Kendall get to the park.

Justin gave Kendall a pep talk and after a few tries, he was riding his bike!

His grin stretched ear to ear and our whole family became embarrassingly proud. Nathan could not stop high fiving, Justin was running alongside him, and I was jumping up and down and became completely oblivious to all the people watching me, but don't worry because we got all the embarrassment on video!

I love this smile and loved that Nathan stayed by his side pretty much the whole time!

Private...

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Fooled Ya!

Oh my, were the boys into April fools day this year! At one point, everyone had huge spiders in their hair, the toilet was covered in saran wrap and when you flushed it the water turned green....a little help from dad.

Mammy had a sign on her back from Nathan that said, "If you see this....moo 8 times!". I had lots of joke texts from the jokester himself, Nathan.

We had apple monsters and string cheese fingers and were trying to get our heart rates down from all the times someone would jump out and scare us.

Six Foot Subs and the Park

Spring Break has been a shocking beauty this year with no snow in the forecast what so ever. We got together with the Alverez kids and went for a bike ride to the park. What an adventure!

We met up with Amy, Stace, Tiffany and kids, played a giant soccer game, ate subs galore and cupcakes, threw a few veggies and grapes in there, relaxed and visited.

On the way back, I was pushing Lydia in the stroller and helping the littler ones on their bikes down the path. Nathan was going full blast down the trail and I was yelling at him to slow down and wait for us.

He was either in a big hurry or couldn't hear me because he kept going faster and faster. I began to get nervous and realized something was wrong and I could do absolutely nothing about it. I was running down the path making sure the other kids were using their brakes and praying for Nathan and I watched with a sinking heart as he kept going faster and faster.

Hundreds of yards away I saw him slow down and turn toward us, walking his bike. I ran towards him and could tell he was sobbing. His brakes had stopped working and he had gained so much speed, he could not stop.

He told me that he said a "personal prayer" and even though he was crying the whole way, Heavenly Father helped him to miss a huge drain pipe and a some pine trees.

We were both very grateful for the outcome and full of thanks for the way that adventure had ended.