Easter!

Dominicks Grocery store had an egg hunt the Saturday before Easter. We showed up right at 7:30am when it was starting, and it was already mostly over. Hayden was disappointed, but our friends, the Cottrells, were there and were kind enough to share their eggs.

They checked out their eggs. Then the store had fruit, juice, and donuts for everyone.

The next day we started out Easter with a basket hunt. This was the first year the Easter Bunny has left clues for the kids to find their hidden basket. They loved it!

 The kids checked out their baskets. Then we read "What does Easter really mean?" I love that Hayden already knew that Easter is really about Jesus.

After some wrestling with Daddy, it was time to get ready for church.

Hayden was not happy about her curly hair. When I finished it, she was bawling and said "It looks silly! I can't go to church with silly hair." Thankfully the tears didn't last too long!

I'm sad this picture of Cole turned out so fuzzy because he looks so handsome!

I'm so thankful for these two adorable kids!

After church, we had dinner at the Deja's house with them and the Cottrells. The kids enjoyed a fun egg hunt in their huge yard and the food was delicious!

It was a wonderful day and a great reminder of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Definitely a reason to rejoice and celebrate!

Pinkalicious!

Hayden has the book Pinkalicious (I actually bought it for her when I was pregnant with her) and loves it. So, when I heard about the musical I was excited to find out about it. We got tickets with a few of our friends and made a mommy daughter date out of it.

We all rode the train downtown together. The girls were excited for the adventure. Once we got downtown, we walked over a mile to the theater and the girls did such a great job with very little complaining.

The play itself was so fun. Hayden was dancing, singing, clapping, laughing, the whole time. I knew she would love it and she did! As I was sitting there next to her, watching how happy she was, it made me happy. I realized things like that are what life's about.

After the play, we made a stop at Garretts popcorn. So so good! Then we headed back to Union Station and caught our train. Hayden didn't have a nap and had a major meltdown while on the train, but we survived.

Ryan and Cole were waiting for us at the station. Hayden was anxious to tell Daddy all about our wonderful day.
While we were downtown, Ryan took Cole to the pet store to see the animals, which he loved! Ryan had also scrubbed my house for me. What an awesome husband!
A great day was had by all :)

Field Trip Fun

Hayden's preschool class has had a couple of field trips recently.
First, we went to Dominicks grocery store. It was awesome. They gave the kids flowers in the floral section, watermelon in the produce section, suckers in the meat department, cereal on it's aisle, string cheese in the dairy, sliced cheese in the deli, cookies in the bakery, hot chocolate from their Starbucks, and a whole pizza. Plus each kid got a gift bag when we left with a bottle of water, a caprisun, a granola bar, and fruit snacks. Did I mention how awesome it was!

Next we went to the Fox Lake Fire Department. The kids got to steer. Cole was right in the action saying, "Me, me, me!!"

Hayden was so excited to honk the horn on the ambulance.

Hayden, Eliza, Bradyn, Zoe, Avery, Aniela, Hayden

They tried on the Fireman's helmet.

We also got a tour of the station. We saw the bedrooms, kitchen, and training area.

We couldn't leave without saying bye to the Firehouse dog!

It has been a lot of fun going on field trips. Hopefully we'll be doing more soon.

FHE Eggs

For Family Home Evening on Monday, Daddy taught a lesson on the Resurrection. Then we headed to the kitchen to dye eggs.

The kids were so excited and had been asking all day when we got to dye the eggs.

We kept asking Cole where his egg was, just so we could here him answer "In there" with his little accent he uses on some words.

Cole liked to stick his hands in the water and ended up with green fingers.

After the eggs dried, they decorated them with stickers. My kids love stickers!

Hayden didn't waste any time eating them when we were done. Also, Daddy made oreo milkshakes for dessert. So good!

I love these fun activities we get to do as a family!

Salt Lake

Ryan was scheduled to go on a business trip to China for 3 weeks. So, the kids and I got tickets to go to Utah for 3 weeks. A few days before we headed to Utah, Ryan's trip was cancelled. We had a good time in Utah but it was hard knowing Ryan was at home!

Cole with Hunter and Griffen

After we got to Salt Lake, we drove to St. George with my mom to watch my brother's kids. It rained most of the time, so we spent an afternoon bowling. I also got to go to the temple and to lunch with my friend Ashlee.

Hayden with Makensie and Grammy

We spent the rest of our time in Salt Lake. I was horrible about taking pictures. We visited all of our family there, had sleepovers, movie night, another bowling outing, get togethers with friends, and played and played.

A couple of days before we left, we went to Thanksgiving Point Farm with Grammy, Shylo, Natalie, and the kids.

They had a great time riding horses,

and checking out the animals. It was nice to finally have some warm, sunny weather.

Colin, Isaac, Lochlan, Sophie, Cole, Celtin, Declan, Anika, Hayden, Sara

It was a great trip. We were happy to go home to Daddy, though. When we saw Ryan at the airport, both kids starting running toward him yelling "Daddy! Daddy!" We definitely missed him!

18 Months

Cole baby turned 18 months a month ago. (I'm a little behind)
His stats are:
weight- 24 lbs- 25th percentile
height- 34 in- 85th percentile

He's still long and lean. He is a energetic little guy. At his doctor's appointment, the doctor was telling me to remember that at this age he'll start being curious and exploring new things. Right on cue Cole climbed on a chair leaned clear over, almost falling, turned off the light, and said "light". As we sat in the pitch black, the doctor said "That's exactly what I'm talking about."
He still loves to eat and finally has a few more teeth.
He's a climber, runner, jumper, yeller, and talker. Several people, including the doctor, have mentioned that he talks really well, and he really does. Some of his new words are up, bouncy, yellow, blue, three, butterfly, family, cheese (for cheese and camera), please, thank you, over there or in there, show, eyes, nose, belly butt (button), ruff (He calls dogs ruff, but I have heard him say doggy), he says Aniela and Avery (Hayden's friends names), but he refuses to say Hayden. He never has and always says no when we ask him to. Hayden and her friend Avery think it is hilarious to yell "darn it" over and over on the way to preschool. The other night at dinner Cole said "darn it" and just laughed. When I'm making dinner, he grabs a fork and stands next to me yelling "Ready! Ready!" There are a bunch of others. He is a gabber and rarely stops talking.
He loves to sing and knows quite a few songs. He also loves to dance.
He is super smart, if we say so our selves. He understands so much and will actually do it.
He is loud. In Sacrament meeting, when he sees the bread he yells "Hungry! Hungry! Hungry!" Wow. Nothing like distracting from the spirit.
He is a lot of fun. He loves to play, laugh and be silly.
He loves Hayden and tries so hard to do whatever she's doing.
We can't get over how cute he is! Ryan and I always say to each other, "He's so cute!"

He is a Daddy's boy. He talks about Daddy all day and then runs down the stairs when he hears the garage opening.

He and Hayden keep us busy, but thankfully he takes good naps and goes to bed at 7:30 ;)

We love you Cole!

Park and Projects

We had a couple of sunny, warm, spring like days last week. So, we hit the park!! We went with a bunch of friends one day, and then with Daddy on Saturday.
It was heavenly! I think I was as happy about it as the kids. I want to be done with being stuck indoors. Come on summer! Hayden was with us this day, but she refused to have her picture taken.

I got together with my friends Liz and Lacey for a craft day last week, also. I made a tie for Cole (thanks for the idea Mel). I think it turned out so cute and I want to make him more soon.

We had an activity with the Young Women at church and they made their own modest skirts. We asked them to wear them to church on the same day. Since Lacey and I are their leaders, we decided we should do it to. So, here's the skirt I made. It was super fast and easy. It turned out okay but it doesn't fit perfectly. Oh well, I made it!

I decided I need to start doing regular sewing projects. I enjoy it, as long as they are simple and fast. My sewing attention span is pretty short ;)