Hoppy Easter 2011

We had a hoppin' good time this Easter! We spent the Saturday before Easter at the park near our home with tons of family! The kids hunted Easter eggs, and we all sat around and talked and ate tons of good food.

Ryan loved the Easter egg hunt! Grandma Sue was nice enough to strategically placed some of the eggs little Ryan could get to them.

And he found the Golden Egg!! What was inside? $5!

I want that Easter Bunny to come to all of our parties.

I got lots of pics of Ryan hunting eggs, but this is what I usually saw of Simon. He was having a blast running around with his cousins Ezra and Allison.

Then they all brought their treasures back to show off. I can't believe how many eggs, and how much candy, each of the kids found!

 Ryan got thirsy after eating his jelly beans.

Jeremiah brought his HUGE paper airplane. And the wind blew it into a tree! Good thing he's tall.

 After lunch/dinner there was an exciting game of sand volleyball. All the grown-ups got into the game (except for me and Boone.) I sat and watched on the sidelines. My big, round, volleyball shaped belly wouldn't let me get in on the action.
After hours and hours in the hot sun our kids were begging to go back home. We went home at about 5:30 and the boys voluntarily went straight to bed. I thought we wore them out (and we did!) but they were also getting sick. Simon woke up with a fever that night and he and Ryan had croupy coughs. Not a fun start to Easter Sunday.

Even though they weren't feeling well, they still got really excited about their Easter baskets, and another Easter Egg hunt. This time with real eggs.

 Ryan was pretty rough with his eggs and ended up cracking most of them. They made good deviled eggs.

 Simon took his turn being the Easter Bunny and hid the eggs for his little brother to find.
One of them is still missing.

Gotta love the mismatched, too-small pj's.

He's so proud of his loot!

We ended up taking our sick kids to sacrement meeting. Simon slept though most of it. They I took Jeremiah and the boys home so they could get some rest and not spread their germs with their fellow classmates.

After church we had Karissa over for an Easter feast!

My favorite part of Easter was hearing Simon talk about Jesus and the resurrection. He has so many questions. The Atonement is very hard to understand, even for grown-ups, and Simon always asks the questions that make me think. For now he understands that Jesus was resurrected so that when we die we will be able to be resurected too. His sweet little testimony touches my heart.

I am so thankful for Easter and what it represents. Jesus really did live again! And he lives today! And because of him we will also be able to live again!

I hope everyone had a happy, hoppy, Easter!

Just for fun

Getting their ears lowered

My dad always referred to getting a haircut as "getting your ears lowered." That's what our boys got to do on Friday.
First, we spent the morning at the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale. That happened kind of by mistake. We were going to spend the day at the Children's Museum of Phoenix but on the way there I missed the freeway turnoff and as we got off the freeway to turn around I asked the boys if they would rather keep going and go to the train park. The vote was unanimous.

We brought our lunch and enjoyed a picnic in the lovely, (almost cold) weather, as we waved to the train whenever it passed by.

And of course they got to ride the train!

And I took random pictures of my handsome boys.

 Then we headed west to Phoenix to see Cabrena at her fancy salon in the heart of the downtown culture/sports district.

Now watch as they magically grow up, right before your very eyes.

Simon before:

Simon After:

Ryan Before:

 Look how little he is in the big chair! Cabrena had to sit him on a pile of towels so he would be tall enough.

Ryan After:

Amazing right? They both look a year older and stylish as can be.

I'm suddenly missing my babies. Where did they go? It's a good thing we have a new one joining us soon. These sweet boys are growing up way to fast!

Simon's Super Hero Powers!

Super Hero Simon to the Rescue!
And his faithful sidekick, Zeus!

This little guy is becoming quite a ham for the camera, and I love every second of it! 

When it gets too quiet. . .

Any typical mom would be worried when the house gets so quiet you can hear a pin drop.
Especially when Mr. Mischief lives with you.

 Ryan snuck off to "brush his teeth and came back looking like this. Mom's makeup makes great face paint!

Simon uses quite moments a little more productively. He built a MONSTER TRAIN, complete with a real boiler filled with water. The bathroom looked like it had been sprayed down with a garden hose but his train looks great!

You just can't stay mad at faces like these. I love these boys and all of thier mischevious creative ways.