Easter!!!

Zach and Avery made these bunny masks together. So cute. Actually, Zach's mask scares me, like a bunny version of the horror movie hockey mask or whatever it is. Jason?
We colored eggs! It is fun (and crazy) having the kids get older and try to participate in more of these holiday activities.


I love this little Kate smile. Her eyes are so smiley too. She's a cutie.

Daddy helping Zach decorate a BYU egg. Fanatic. And yes, the back said Jimmer.

I think EVERY one of Zach's eggs was blue. He loves blue. He always has to have the blue plate or the blue bowl, the blue balloon...

When did my babies turn into little girls???

My kids LOVE hard boiled eggs. They love peeling them and eating them.

Kate showing how it's done. This girl is awesome.

Kara has been Miss Independent lately. She loves peeling the eggs. She is so patient and wants to do it all on her own. I love watching her little fingers work.

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BASKETS!!!

Zach's crazy eyes over his Peeps! What excitement. Why do kids love those things so much. Gut. Ache.

My Easter Basket. I love my Easter Basket and want all of my kids to have as deep of a connection with their basket as I do. I have yet to find cute enough ones for them to develop that same sort of bond with. I may just have to make them. Justin bought these BEAUTIFUL tulips for me to support the Parkinson's Foundation or something. They bloomed a beautiful pale pink and yellow. I took them outside to get some REAL air and then forgot about them overnight and I think they got too cold because they look rough now. Bummer. I LOVE TULIPS!

We had Easter Dinner with one of Justin's cousins and came home pretty late. I really wanted to get pictures though so I snapped a few. I loved the girls skirts. They were white (DANGER!) and had pretty fabric flowers sewn on them. AND they wore sandals today! WOO HOO! It is finally getting warmer!

I love my girls.

What an eye wink. ;)

Sweet Kara.

My big four year old.

Zach and his "Girlies." Sibling Love!

All through this week we have really been trying to teach the kids what Easter is about, what happened and why it is important to us . It was good to hear them learning and although I know they love the bunny, egg, candy part, they know that Jesus Christ died, and was resurrected again. He came back to life and so will we. Easter is all about hope and love. I am so grateful for a Savior who loves us so much, and for a Heavenly Father who loves us enough to send and sacrifice his son for all of his other sons and daughters, us. I am grateful for the love I feel from Heavenly Father. I know we are His children and I know that there is a true purpose to this life. That knowledge makes life so much easier to bear. And enjoy.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Just another "Circle of Life" picture. This days "Simbas" were Buzz and Rex. :)
Bucket heads on their way to the park.

FOUR!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACHARY SCOTT!!!

I really can't believe he is four years old. That is an old kid. Not a baby anymore. FOUR! He is a fun, smart, funny, high energy kid. It is fun to be his mom...and a lot of work. :) Anyway, happy birthday Zachy Boy. I hope it was fun. Sorry your presents didn't get here in time. That's what we get for living across the border. You never know how long it will take!

We've been REALLY busy around here. Justin is studying for his BIG final exams to make him an official doctor, so the night before Zach's birthday I snuck out and picked up some decorations and stuff. He loves balloons and special things, so I knew he'd love streamers. When I put him to bed the night before his birthday he told me exactly what we needed to do when he walked down the next morning. "Mommy, you all hide and when I come downstairs yell SURPRISE!!" Okay Zach. Except I went to bed after midnight and was so tired so I didn't even get to see him come down. Bummer!

Yes. I staged these pictures...

"Surprise!" Sorry I wasn't there to hide and yell out to you...I was sleeping.

What I came down to when I could finally open my eyes. He was just patiently waiting for his doughnuts and presents and apparently Kate thought she was the birthday boy. :) This was the saddest. You know what is in those presents...3 shirts and a pack of Bubble Tape bubblegum. He is big into "How to Train Your Dragon" right now and I ordered him a few dragon toys off of Ebay but they didn't get here in time! I really thought I ordered them early enjoy. Over 2 weeks before! That is one thing that bugs me about not living in the states...dumb, but it does! I could have had them in 2 days if I lived down there. Anyway, luckily I bought those shirts the week before for him. But seriously...clothes? I even wrapped up a hat I found that I bought years ago and saved but accidentally showed to him the day before his birthday. Justin says he asked, "Daddy, why is my hat wrapped up on the table?" Ha ha! I felt bad! I just wanted him to be able to open something! I just love this picture of Kara. :)

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And I just love this picture of Zach. HA! This was too funny not to post.

So we were having his birthday party on Saturday. Yes, he is young, but we are moving and he really wanted to have a party so I thought, while he has friends, let's do it! We weren't having it until the weekend though when Daddy, Grandma, and Grandpa could be there too. So I wasn't planning on making him a cake, but then his presents didn't get there, he didn't want to go to play group and it just seemed like a REALLY boring birthday, so I said, wanna make a cake? "Yes! A bunny cake!" What? A bunny cake? Sure, whatever. 2 round cakes and a few pretzels and chocolate balls later...

That's better. What a hunk. He makes a rabbit cake look good.

Me and my boy. :)

PARTY TIME!!

So here is another overboard party preparation. But I had my idea and had to carry it out and had fun doing it. Just wish I had some bigger markers to color it with. It took FOREVER!!! But yes, I drew this dragon from a picture I found online. This is the Monstrous Nightmare from How to Train Your Dragon, for those of you who didn't know. Although I am sure you all did. We played pin the flame on the dragon. Pretty fun.

But I realized I should have put the dragon a bit higher! Then everyone would have been spot on!

The Dragon Cake! Zach really wanted a blue dragon. I found this idea online and thought it was so cute! So we did it. All it takes is 2 round cakes. And a lot of frosting. The wings and tongues are fruit roll ups. And Kamry decorated the cupcakes. Good work Kams.

I love Jacob's "Smile" in this. :)

(the kid in the back middle of the picture)

All of Zach's buddies that we will be leaving behind soon. :( Makes me sad.

Aw, Avery. You are so cute. We will miss you neighbor!

I totally forgot to get a picture with just Zach and the dragon cake. Whoops. So this is the slayed dragon. De-eyeballed and everything.

Papa and Bama were here for Jace's baby blessing and so they were able to come to the party too. Thanks for coming!!

Warmer April Fools!

Zach celebrating that IT IS FINALLY WARM ENOUGH TO GO OUTSIDE! HALLELUJAH!!!

He came down from his "quiet time" and found me outside chipping ice trying to get rid of the HUGE ice/puddle in front of my house. He had redressed himself. He is really celebrating the sun in his too small tropical attire. Pretty sure they are size 2. :) He loves those shorts though.

This was taken March 30th. See how much more we have to melt? It has been 1 week positive temperatures of I can see 1.5 feet of grass around the edges now. Slowly but surely. My kids are LOVING the puddles and mud. Yuck.

Just another version of my hooded towels.

I'm pregnant with twins again.

APRIL FOOLS!!!! This April fools I was a lame brain. Or lazy. :) But it worked. I wrote down colors next to my entrees for dinner. Each person picked out a color and got whatever those chose in that order. It worked for Justin and Zach. I gave up on the girls. :) Zach always asks if we can pick crayons again at dinner.

Oh yeah, and I had Justin close his eyes and choose his utensils for the night from a bunch I had in my hand. This is what he picked...a baster! HA! The main course was spaghetti. Tee hee.

My Cousin Marc

So it just so happens that my cousin Marc was in Edmonton at a gymnastics competition 2 weekends ago! I got an email from my dad, and a few days later was able to get a hold of Marc. He stopped by for lunch for a bit on his way out of town. To me, this is BIG. I have 7 cousins total...I think. Can I tell you all of their names? Maybe 5 out of the 7! So sad, I know. Especially since most of you Albertans have 72 cousins that you see every year, and that is just one side! Anyway, it was really nice to be able to see him again. He lives in Vancouver and he came to a tournament I had in Bellingham, Washington when I played volleyball for BYU Hawaii, but that was 10 years ago! Anyway, it was good to catch up with him and we plan to all get together again before another decade passes!

And these girls are just cute. One morning I looked over and saw that they had grabbed their hats, put them on and started riding around the island in the kitchen.