Easter 2013

We had a wonderful Easter weekend full of fun!  We started the week off the Sunday before with dying Easter eggs, the kids loved it and made me wish that I had boiled several dozen more.  Sadie was very particular about her colors and drawings, etc. - and they turned out beautiful!  Tyler kept dumping his egg from one color to the next just wanting to use the dye!  Such their personalities!

On Monday for Family Home Evening we had a fun Easter lesson where we hid eggs and in each egg it had an object that talked about Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection.  The kids got really excited about it and I actually felt like it was an activity that was on their level, that they enjoyed and that taught them a lot about the true meaning of Easter. 

Then on Saturday, the day before Easter we celebrated with some of the Smith family.  Steve and June came up and went with us to the Kaysville city Easter egg hunt.  Sadie was in the 4-8 year old category this year, which was a lot more competitive, but June and I were there to help her!  Tyler was in the 1-3 category and made a killing on candy.  Devin said all the kids ran for the eggs in the middle of field and Tyler just looked at them thinking they were crazy because the grass was covered in candy.  Tyler went straight for the candy, that's our Candy Man!  Then we came home, Darren and Diana and their kids came over for a barbeque, June had an Easter egg hunt for the kids and then we colored Easter eggs, it was a fun day!

Then on Easter Sunday we had a great day!  Devin didn't have Bishopric meetings and it was really great to have him home all morning!  The kids woke up nice and early to find their baskets.  The Easter bunny hid their baskets and then hid some eggs all around the family room for them to find and they loved that.  Then we had a big breakfast and watched a movie on the Mormon Channel about Jesus to help the kids remember what the day was really about.  Then after church we headed down to my parents house to celebrate Easter and it also was my mom's birthday so it was two parties in one!  We had a huge Easter egg hunt of 150+ eggs, the kids & adults both loved the hunt!  Sadie was excited this year because she understands the meaning of money now and wanted to find the money eggs to put the money in her piggy bank!  We then had dinner, opened presents and had cheesecake for my moms day!  It was a wonderful day, with a lot of happy memories!

Tylers 2nd Birthday!

I can not believe that my little guy is 2!  He is SO much fun and sometimes we wonder why we were so lucky to get Tyler as part of our family.  At age 2 he loves to do anything Sadie does, he is her shadow.  He LOVES CANDY and when I say love that is an understatement,  most mornings he tries to ask for candy for breakfast!  He loves animals, especially dogs, cats and bugs.  He loves to take his little rubber snakes (or finger if he doesn't have a snake) and put them in your ear and make a "ss" noise and try to scare you like a snake.  We love it and he thinks he is hilarious!  He sleeps with his blanket every night, but he also sleeps with a little dog that he calls "Ruff Ruffy" (and yes he can say dog!), a rubber dinosaur and a rubber snake; it cracks us up!  He just moved to his big boy bed and is doing great!  He is talking really good now and can get most messages across to us.  His new favorite sentence is, "You help me please!", it is SO cute!  He is the best cuddlier and is so cuddly, I love it.  He loves to give hugs and kisses and is the friendliest little guy.  They call him mister social in nursery because he walks in and says hi to everyone and makes sure that he waves goodbye to everyone when he leaves.  He can make friends with everyone and does with whoever will play with him.   He loves his cousins, especially his cousin Carson.  He holds his hand where ever we are and Carson is such a good sport and plays with him even though he is almost 8.  He loves his grandparents and on a daily basis asks to call them and see them.  It is a really good thing we live within an hour of both of them because it is hard for Tyler to go a week without seeing them!  We love our Tyler so much and truly feel blessed to have him in our family.  He gets more fun every day and we can't wait to see his personality develop even more this year!

 I made him a snake cake because of his love for snakes and I actually thought it turned out ok!  I am not very good at making cakes, so I was pretty surprised this one turned out ok.  Tyler loved it, all morning before his party he kept saying, "Me eat snake please!"

 

We went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point and he loved it!  He ran around from one thing to the next! 

 

Digging in the sand, burying dinosaurs with Carson, could his day get any better?  When we were trying to decide what to do for his birthday we named a whole bunch of things, but all he kept asking was "Grandpa and Grandma?"   He didn't care what we did as long as his Grandparents were there!

Happy Birthday our sweet boy, we love you!  XOXOXOXO

Valentines Day!

 I have never really been a huge lover of Valentines Day, but Sadie was SO SO excited for it that she really got me in the valentines spirit!  The Monday before Valentines Day we decorated cupcakes and the kids loved it or should I say they loved the sprinkles!

The night before Valentines day I heart attacked their doors with messages written on them about things Devin and I love about them.  Sadie, that she is such a good big sister, the best game player, the best hugger, etc.  Tyler, that he is such a happy guy with a contagious smile, the best ball thrower, etc.  We also put suckers on their doors.  I was a nice mom and let them even eat the suckers first thing in the morning.  Tyler, the candy lover that he is, wanted all 5 open and I let him.  He licked them all a few times and then we put them in a bowl where they pretty much stayed the whole day!  We had a good day and felt the love in our house.

Family Pictures

I know that I have been majorly lacking on my blogging, but I wanted to share our family pictures we recently had taken. My friend Lexi is starting a photography business and took pictures of our family and they turned out wonderfully!! Thanks so much Lexi, check out her blog at http://www.lexiraephoto.blogspot.com/ , she does AMAZING work! I thought it would be a perfect time to have pictures taken because Sadie had just turned 3 and Tyler 6 months. These are a few of my favorites.

Father's Day and Blessing Day!

We blessed our little Tyler on Father's Day! It was such a special day for our family. First though we did take Devin out for dinner the Friday before fathers day. He was so nice to share his day with Tyler, but I thought it would be nice for him to hae some time that was his. We went to the Gateway where they were doing the chalk art festival which was really fun, amazing artists there. Then we let Sadie run through the big fountains, she loved it - fully clothed and all! Then we got some ice cream cones. In Devin's words, "it was the perfect night." We are so grateful for Devin, he is such an amazing father and I am so lucky to have him be the father of our children. Thanks sweetie, our kids our so blessed to have you, we love you!
Devin gave Tyler a wonderful sweet blessing. Tyler was quiet and happy the whole time. We were so blessed to have both of our families there, thank you to everyone who came. Of course the day that we were suppose to have 40 people to dinner at our house it rained! Lets just say Devin and I were a little stressed the night before thinking of how we were going to fit everyone into our little house, but we made it work. Luckily it was warm enough to set a few tables under our carport. It was pretty tight, but gratefully we were all family and didn't mind being so close to each other. Maybe people minded, but nobody complained!! We love him so much and are so glad he is ours! He is our little peacemaker and it just feels like he has been part of our family forever. We love you Tyler, thanks for picking us! We got some sweet pictures of Tyler from his big day!

Brother and Sister

My new favorite pictures - love theses two!

Sadie is 2 1/2!

Sadie, I can not believe you are 2 and a half, how did you get so big. You are about 28 lbs and getting bigger everyday. You make us so happy, you are cracking us up all of the time. You are talking non stop most of the time, my favorite things that you say are; sunbean (sunbeam- Jesus wants me for a sunbeam is your favorite song and you know all of the words), o-gurt (yogurt - you sound german), and elfanant (elephant). Other than that you say most words perfectly, you are constantly saying words and phrases we didn't even know that you knew.

Your favorite activities going to the park, feeding the ducks, swimming (you are going to swim lessons right now), swinging in the backyard swing, going to the zoo, going to Popi and Grandmas houses, and pretty much anything that involves your cousins. Your favorite toys are defiantly your Disney princesses, you are always changing their clothes, taking them in the bath and washing them, packing them in purses and taking them to the store with us - saying that you love them is an understatement! You are also loving your play food lately, we are having a lot of picnics with you making us special things with your food. You are also playing with your stuffed animals a lot lately. You take them for wagon rides, give them birthday parties, and put them down for naps. You love watching movies, if it is a Disney movie, you like it! Your dad and I just love watching you and seeing what you will come up with next- you are so creative!

You are definitely stubborn or as I like to call it, determined. If you get your mind set on something you are not going to give up until you get it. Right now it is a bit of a challenge for your dad and I, but I think eventually it will be a good quality for you to have. As for now we are trying to pick our battles with you and determine how to make you a little more flexible, grandma says that I was just the same way.

You love your grandparents, you call them Popi and Grandma with Kosi and Popi and Grandma with Horses. You are always asking when we will get to see them again or go to there house again. I think they love you just as much as you love them and can't wait to see you too!

You love to sing and dance. You always want the Disney Princess CD on, you know all of the songs and are always asking for certain ones. You love to sing in the car and I love to listen to you, it always makes me happy!

You are such a special little girl and love your little brother. You have really loved having him join our family. The only time you get bugged with him and is when he is eating and I can't do something with you. You love watching him smile and always want to help give him a bath. You are a good little helper and such a good big sister!

We love you so much and are loving watching you grow! Thank you for always loving us and for helping your daddy and I learn and grow. We are so blessed to have you in our family.

Love,

Mom XOXOXOXOXO