Happy Easter

The girls had a very fun Easter this year. They were able to celebrate for a couple of days. We went to Burley on Saturday afternoon for an Easter egg hunt at Ryan's dads, but before we left we had some fun here at home. Friday night we dyed eggs, the girls wanted to make one for brother, it says Brother on it, and they kept moving it back and forth between blue and green.

Saturday morning the Easter Bunny came to our house, the girls didn't really know he was coming so it was good that he left a sign to clue them in when they came down the stairs. Ellie was really into finding the eggs this year, it was fun to watch them run around.

That afternoon we went to the Easter egg hunt with their cousins. They dyed a few more eggs and then headed out to find their baskets, eggs, candy, and goodie bag. They had so much fun. They older kids baskets were hidden pretty good out in the boonies, there were also golden eggs, with a little cash in them for the older kids. Bay was most excited when she found hers. Ellie picked up so many hard boiled eggs she couldn't even carry her bucket anymore. They also all got a new jacket, Ellie was matching with her cousins Allie and Jaeli, Bailey loved hers and didn't take it off for the rest of the day. Thanks Papa and Dee it was a lot of fun.

Bailey with her golden egg, Ellie with all the eggs she found
The Girls in their New Jackets, and the Cousins with their Matching Jackets.

Sunday morning they got a few more goodies and got dressed up in their cute new dresses and sweaters. They both were very excited to wear their new clothes, I think they looked pretty dang cute. Bailey was sad when it was time to come home, I think that is a sign that they had a great time.

A little more loot on Easter Morning

Happy St. Patrick's Day

There isn't really anything spectacular about St. Patrick's Day, other than it is fun to wear green. We don't really have any major traditions. We usually make some of the food we eat throughout the day a lovely green color. The girls were still excited this morning, just for the day I guess. They enjoyed some cereal with tasty green milk. Ellie had hers down the front of her in about 3 minutes. This is a fairly common practice and she usually gets dressed after she eats, but Bailey was telling her she was going to get pinched if she didn't wear green, so she got her clothes on pretty quick. Bailey won this fancy blinking shamrock during a game at school on Friday, she saved it all weekend so the blinking would be ready to go for today. Some green dinner items and green rice krispie treats after family night rounded out the day. I guess we will move onto Easter, I am not loving having it so early this year but what can you do?

Girl Scout Cookies

Bring on the cookie mania. Bailey (ok mostly me) has been selling cookies for the past few weeks. It has actually been a lot of fun. I am not really a sales person, and most of our sales have been to family and friends, thanks everyone. We did order a some extra cookies so Bailey and her friend Isabelle have been selling cookies in front of our subdivision. It was my friend Kari's idea and it has actually been quite successful. Plus lets face it, it beats the heck out of sitting in front of Wal-Mart all day. The girls have had a lot of fun. Bailey loves being in Girl Scouts, it is a great organization. Plus they make dang fine cookies (yeah, we have been eating quite a few)!

Utah State vs. Boise State

Last night we went to watch the Aggies play the Broncos. It was a big game for both teams. Our friend Nefi was in town and wanted to go to the game with us. We're always glad to bring Nefi along he has good karma (we all got into the game for the low price of 6 bucks, the guy has great karma). It was especially fun for Ryan, he had someone to talk game play with (poor Nef). The girls had a lot of fun too. Bailey was torn she didn't know who to cheer for seeing that she likes the Aggies and the Broncos, so she cheered for both teams the whole night. She loved watching the score board and watching the numbers change. Ellie was excited to wear her Aggie shirt, but she got a little scared when we got there. We walked in right past the USU bench, so she saw all of the players plus all of the people and the noise and I think it scared her a little. She didn't want to take her jacket off because she didn't want the Aggie players to see it. But once we got to our seats and she had the orange pom poms to shake and popcorn, she got into it all. She informed me mid-game that she was also hoping for both teams. Fair enough it was die hard for BSU there last night, but the game was all Aggies!!! After the game we walked back past the USU players and said good game, they all gave us high fives as they were walking to the locker room. I couldn't get either of the girls to stick their hands out for a high five. Ryan shook hands with Coach Morrill, he was pretty proud of himself for that. It was a fun night. Let the Madness begin!

Sick Day Fun and the Art Fair

We started off the week with Bailey and her fever. She got a fever on Sunday and it didn't go away until Wed. night. She had a nice cough to go along with it, the cough got a little old on her 3rd day home from school. I had to hang out in the pantry with the door closed for a little sanity. Ellie liked having her home and loved the fact that she could watch cartoons and movies for a good chunk of the day. We did try to do a few constructive things on these days. Monday we made cookies, Ellie wanted to make Somoas (you can tell its Girl Scout Cookie time), Bay wanted to make cinnamon cookies, the only thing I could think of was Snickerdoodles so that's what we did. They turned out good, we didn't share them with anyone, due to the sickness, so I of course ate quite a few.

The next day I had to take Ellie to school, she felt great so why not. I left Bailey here "to rest" the school is only a few minutes away. As I was leaving I realized we were out of Motrin, not good in a fever situation so I thought I would "hurry" and run to Wal-Mart to get more, well we all know that hurry and Wal-Mart don't go together. When I got back Bay had gotten up from her rest and met me in the garage to let me know that Kami had called. Lovely Bay, not only were you not resting, you were answering the phone and letting people know I had left you home alone. Thank goodness Kami won't judge me or turn me in. The rest of the day went pretty good, we painted pictures for Pops that will hopefully cheer him up after his surgery this week.

She did feel a little better on Wed. but still had a fever so we kept her home. Ellie had dance so I left Bailey here again, I know I am losing losing votes for mother of the year, but I found the balance of healthy kid vs. sick kid to be fairly difficult. Neither of them had ever really been that sick for so many days in a row, so I had to find a way to let Ellie do the stuff she was use to and keep Bailey away from people. Thank the heavens for TV. It all worked out and everyone was fine. Ellie liked having everyone here all day long, but started to get a little stir crazy towards the end (me too).

Ellie made Ryan be Raja (the tiger from Aladdin) to keep her entertained.

She is wearing the same outfit as the other photo, it is sad to admit I did let them wear the same clothes for like 2 days, they even slept in them. Whatever they were happy and comfy, sanitary...not so sure.

I know mother of the year!!

Thursday brought back the Bailey we know and love, fever gone, sassy mouth back in all its glory. I am glad that she is doing better and was able to go back to school. I think she started to miss the routine she is use to. We even managed to find time to complete her project for the school Art Fair. They had to find things from nature or outside and put them in a big can, fill it with water (add food coloring if desired) and then freeze it. They actually turned out really cool. Her class won an award for most original. It was fun to see what all of the kids came up with.

These are just of few of the sculptures. Bailey's is the first photo. Ryan says it looks like a hamburger. I think they are all pretty cool.

The week turned out well I am hoping we are through with all the cold and flu stuff. I am ready for spring, warm weather and healthy kids.

A Weekend With Some of my Very Favorite People....

On Thursday night we drove to Utah to enjoy the long weekend. Ryan went to the Utah Dental Conference in SLC on Friday. We got up early Friday morning so he could be in Salt Lake in time for the conference. We dropped him off and I got the girls dressed and ready for the day in the car. They thought this was weird and were afraid the people walking by were going to look at them, I told them they could see the people but the people couldn't see them. Tinted windows, partially true.

After they were ready we picked up my friend Natalie at her hotel and drove to Park City. My sister Jenn met us in Park City to take the girls. This was a convenient meeting spot and of course great for outlet shopping. It was so nice to shop without the kids. We had so much fun and pretty much bought more stuff for our kids than ourselves. It is still nice to be kid free even when shopping for them. Jenn took the girls to Chuck E. Cheese and then to my mom and dad's to spend the night. I appreciate her help in the weekend plans. Its nice to have some time away from the kids but even nicer to know they are in great hands. They love their aunts and uncles and cousin Drew, we are lucky to have a great family who is always willing to watch the kids.

After lunch, Park City, and a much needed stop at Nordstrom Rack we headed back to the city. The guys were done with their conference and our friends Sarah and Jon had made it into town. We checked into our hotel, which had a great view of the Conference center and the capital, and headed out for dinner. We ate at Rodzio Grill in Trolley Square. It is such a fun place and different from places we usually go, which is always great for a change. They had a great salad/fresh foods bar and then they come around to your table with every type of meat imaginable and cut it off the roasting stick for you. If you are still hungry which I was not, but chose to consume anyway, a very tasty banana chocolate sundae. It was a great night and so nice to be with such great friends.

Baby Max meet Baby....Logan(the name we are thinking of for now) Sarah is having her baby on April 2nd. I will still have 6+ weeks to go :(

After dinner we headed back the hotel and spent the rest of the night just chatting. It was great to catch up and just hang out. The guys love talking just as much as the girls.

This photo is a little dark but doesn't the captial look nice in the background?

Saturday morning we headed to IKEA for breakfast and shopping. Can you honestly beat breakfast for $1.99 I seriously love that store and their cinnamon rolls. The guys were good sports while we shopped. I have decided this is a good way to shop with men, make sure that they have a friend to talk to. You can greatly prolong your shopping time. We had a great time and of course found great deals. I wish this store was closer!! After our IKEA experience Nat and Jeremy headed home. Sarah and Jon had a few more hours to hang out so Sarah and I headed to Robert's and Tai Pan. The guys tagged along for a little bit and then went and drove around looking at trucks and dental practices. It was a great time, I miss living close to these friends and love when we can get together. Hopefully we can do it again soon!!!

Too bad I ate my yummy cheap breakfast without taking a picture

The guys enjoying the comfy seats after a few hours of IKEA love

We headed back to my parents house for the rest of the weekend. It was good to see the girls, they of course had a blast with grandma and pops and their aunts and uncles. There was so much snow for them to play in, they enjoyed it most of the day. Uncle Spencer made them a snow fort equipped with a bed, chairs and a TV all made of snow. They were quite proud of it and couldn't wait to show us.

Check out our awesome snow fort

Saturday night we went to Crown Burger (one of my moms fav. places) to celebrate my mom's b-day. Her birthday wasn't until Tuesday but she let us celebrate early since we were all around. Its always a good time to hang with the fam over good food. Sunday we had a little celebration for my mom and Drew (his b-day is on the 24th) they opened a few gifts and then we went to my aunts house for dinner and more fun family hang out time. The food was great and we had a family home evening all together. It was nice to be there, we miss these get togethers sometimes living the farthest away so we were happy that it worked out for this weekend.

Grandma and Drew opening presents

Ellie is pretty proud of the gifts she helped pick out for Drew

It was a great weekend and we had so much fun. We were able to see lots of people that we love. You will also note that we ate a lot of food, hence weighing in at the doctor on Tuesday was not a fun experience. Oh well....... good food...... and friends and family wouldn't change a thing!!

Happy Love Day!!

We had a good Valentines Day, the girls each day a party at school. I was able to help out with each of their parties. They both loved looking at all of their Valentines and of course all of the treats. They were also very excited about their new High School Musical 2 CD that Ryan and I gave them. After Ryan got home from work on Thursday we had heart shaped pizza and then got in the car to drive to Utah, not exactly the most ideal way to spend Valentine's Day, but it was worth it because we had a great weekend. Here are some photos of the girls with their Valentine's stuff.