What are we doing tomorrow?

This I have to say is Not me, Im sure he's handsome and all....

Savvy: Mom, what are we doing tomorrow (she says this as if it's the first time)
Me: Remember, I am having surgery, getting my wisdom teeth out!
Paris: Mom, you are kind of making a big deal of this surgery thing, don't you think?
Me: flabbergasted! Nope, I just want to remember that I might not a little extra sleep tomorrow!
The kids are off track. Seriously lovin' it and seriously buzzzzy!

Yep, tomorrow I'm getting my wisdom teeth out. Enough wisdom get those sucker out!!!
I'm staying up late eating Strawberry Shortcake, cleaning, organizing, just in case I need some sleep tomorrow!

Spring Blizzards

One thing about Colorado I love is the weather! It can be spring, summer and winter all in a couple day period. Here is a sneak peek outside my window yesterday. Today it's 55 degrees, the kids are outside playing in the melting snow with no coats on!

Easter Day for Ava

Easter Morning before we knew Ava was soooo sick!

This is basically how she spent the next four days. I have never had a baby so sick. We almost took a trip to the E.R. for dehydration. She couldn't keep anything down. Darin was up at night with her right along with me worried about her. That's when I know things are serious. She had a temp of 104. The only bonus here was me getting to pretend I had an infant again. She wanted to be held all day. I willingly obliged! She's all better now and her cast has been removed as well. She was an angel every second of it...

Easter Egg Hunt

My biggest animal lover! He matches her skirt...

We went to a fabulous Easter Egg Hunt and Brunch hosted by a friend's in-laws. The kids had a blast. We were lucky enough to get the egg (or get the egg snuck in our basket, thanks Erin) indicating we had won a bunny. Yep, a real live bunny! We are actually bunny sharing with our dear friends "the Jensen's" the egg "slipper iner." Actually, this might be a pet we can actually handle. Poop, cage, food and self-cleaning bunny all stay in the same area, which happens to be outside. The kids love her and have named her Bella. She will have her own post coming soon!

Easter

Easter morning we woke up and realized that thank goodness the Easter Bunny came. Turns out he is much more responsible than say the Tooth Fairy! All the kids had to find their baskets. Everyone was excited about their goods!

Easter at Meems and Peeps

We love going to Mema and Pepa's (those are texas names for grandma and grandpa, if you didn't know). It's so beautiful out there, and it's relaxing for us. Actually, we love being invited anywhere that people will feed us. It's a big production. We colored eggs, road four wheelers, played with the toys and did some serious swinging on the tire swing. Thank you for hosting a perfect day. We will come again soon!

I'm Trying

To up my "Easter Game." This year we are absolutely coloring eggs. Last year I couldn't deal with one more mess. We are going to match on Easter Sunday. I have obliged Paris' kind request she not looking exactly like her younger sisters. How sweet she suggested that she and I match instead. Sooo we are coloring, hunting, crafting and matching. However not one of us has a bonnet. Maybe next year!

Ava and I made this Easter tree today!

This afternoon when the doorbell rang, Ava said, "it's the Easter Bunny." This is the first holiday that she has "gotten" it ahead of time. It's so fun seeing her get so excited. The concept of Easter being a couple of days away will seem like years to her...

Family Palooza

My brother just left a few hours ago. While blogging I came across this picture I hadn't seen for awhile. I have been thinking about my mom and my brother.

My mom because while on our Spring Break road trip. I got to see her twice. I was reminded how great it is to go "home". St. George was never my home, but because my parents live there it feels like home to me. It's always unexpected to me when I arrive. It feels peaceful and comfortable. It's not something I think about beforehand, so it always catches me by surprise. This might be a funny comparison, but the same thing happens when I walk into Deseret Book. It's not the temple, it's not a church, but every time I rush in like I do every other store, I am taken back by the spirit I feel when I enter the doors. I really love that place. My mom is such a nurterer and she loves to take care of me. My Dad tears up almost every time he looks at me or my kids. Who else loves me like that? I love to go home!! Another bonus is getting to see my younger sister Jarica and her husband Jake and sweet baby Lincoln. They love that baby and I know they are going to have bunches of them. They are perfectly suited for it. They drop everything to hang out with us. They make me feel like they really like us. I love them!

My brother: He was here this weekend for a trade show for the new company he bought. He is amazing! I have never met anyone so captivating! By the end of the show, every vendor there knew him by name and probably wanted to by his franchise just to be a little more like him. There is no one like him. He was featured in Entrepeneur magazine this month. He forgot to mention it probably because he doesn't really care. He stayed in my home and every kid of mine could hardly sleep just knowing he was here. They made him breakfast in bed (turned out to be breakfast on couch, because he doesn't sleep much). They followed him around like puppies. I think he couldn't figure out why they love him so much, given they don't see him very much. He was busy and didn't have much time to play with them, but they were just happy to be in his presence, as was I. I love him!
I have since almost my entire family in the last couple of weeks and bunches of Darin's family as well!

The Funeral

What a treat, seeing Darin's 97 year old granmother... Imagine the wisdom she must have.
Georgia, an example of her beauty and grace througout the whole service.
David and Georgia's oldes son. This hat was placed on his head by David's colleagues in a moving ceremony.

Cousins

While we were on our trip, right after Ava broke her leg, we received a call from Darin's Dad that his cousin David Allred had passed away. His battle with cancer had finally ended leaving his wife and three kids. As we felt for their family it made us hold ours a little tighter and appreciate the time we had that much more. We were so grateful for the opportunity to attend the funeral. We ended our trip early and headed back to Cedar City for the funeral. I haven't been to a lot of funerals, but I may say this one was so beautiful. It was such a wonderful celebration of his life. His example was such an inspiration to me. His wife Georgia handled everything with such grace. I'm sure I would be a puddle....

The Carousel

When we lived here we found every free activity imagineable. We were good at it. We took many walks around Seaport Village. We loved hearing the carousel and watching all the kids giggle as they rode. I don't even remember the kids asking, they just knew we couldn't afford it. This time every kid got a ride. The bill $10.00. The memory.... priceless... Maybe all the sweeter that they watched for a whole year and waited five more to ride!

The Seal

We always watched this contraption going in and out of the water right by our house when we lived in SD. We saw it go by and the kids said, "hey let's ride that thing." We were able to get tickets and a few minutes later we were taking a tour of Downtown SD and the Bay. It was freezing, but we learned a lot and had a blast.

Chance of a Lifetime

For years I have had a fascination for Sailing. I have only been a couple of times. When we lived in San Diego Darin did a little studying and we went once, but never with the whole family. This time we took the whole family and hired a captain. This was perfect because Darin got to "practice" with the captain on board. The weather was sooo perfect and it will be a memory to last a lifetime.