Happy Easter!!!

Happy late Easter everybody! I had high hopes for Easter this year, as I had spent quite a while over the last few months thinking about the holiday and how I would like to celebrate it as a family. A few years back, I was blessed to participate in the Mesa Arizona Temple Easter Pageant. Taking my experiences from that and from growing up surrounded by the gospel of Jesus Christ, I feel strongly to find ways to raise our family with a large focus on the gift we celebrate at Easter Time. Much like many of us feel at Christmas, wanting to really keep the true meaning of the celebration in our hearts, I have been very excited about celebrating Easter as a family. It snuck up on me a little this year and other than little conversations here and there, I didn't do much more than the traditional Easter things with the kids, but I think I am learning that teaching little ones has less to do with elaborately planned events and/or sit-down lessons than it does with the spirit of love and family that they feel from those around them. So, we had a fantastic Easter Weekend, surrounded by lots of family and fun! Forgive the LONG line of pictures; I just couldn't choose!

So, I cheated a little because this is actually the week before Easter Sunday. With so many little ones, you just never know who might be sick and unable to go to church; it's so hit and miss! So, the Sunday before I decided that, since we were all actually going to make it to church, the kids would wear their Easter clothes then! So, here they are, so precious!

Here is little Ben, a happy camper upon arrival at Grandma Teri's house for brunch and an egg hunt on Saturday!

And James is delighted to find Aunt Melissa's puppy, Ellie, visiting. I swear, there really is something about little boys and puppies. They ran around the backyard chasing each other. Ellie kept tripping over her ears and James thought it was so funny. Awww, if only I didn't value my sanity so much I would get him his very own!!!

Look at all that amazing food! Thanks, Grandma Teri!

Always happy to be eating...

Here's Bethany, getting really excited for the festivities!

In the front yard, Bethany and James play ring-a-round-the-rosies with their Cousin Brittney!

James gets first swing at the pinata since he's the youngest! He actually seemed pretty concerned about everyone urging him to hit the nice unicorn with the big metal bat...

Bethany, unscathed by the idea, as you can see...

Then, they found a safe place to hang out while the big kids took their turns...

...while Ben hung out with Grandma.

Bethany shows off her gatherings from the pinata, which finally met its end when Cousin Carrigan managed to separate the head from the body with one solid whack!

Then, on to the egg hunt! This picture is precious...their cousins are so sweet! Brittney is helping Bethany find her eggs. I think our kids ended up with more eggs than anybody because the older cousins were helping them so much! Thanks, guys!

And here is Colton pointing out a hidden egg for James.

Then Bethany really got into it and we could hardly slow her down! She ran all over the backyard, gathering eggs so excitedly that she kept tripping and dumping her basket out!

James' basket started to fill pretty quickly too, as he caught on.

This was so funny. One minute James was hunting eggs and the next, he had disappeared under this playground set where he proceeded to open all his eggs to find out what kind of treasures he had acquired. I guess that is the sort of thing that one wants to do in private.

During all the excitement, Ben chilled with his first strawberry. (No, that is not a mutated form of a strawberry, it's one of those mesh things that you put fruit inside to keep them from biting off too big a bite)

The boys hung out in the shade...

Ben, giving kisses to his new bunny rabbit...

And Bethany enjoyed her first swing on the big kid glider with Brittney!

Poor Carrigan wasn't feeling well and spent most of the morning looking longingly out the window at the festivities. We missed you, Carrigan!

Then, after a nap time at home (can't skip those, even for the holidays!), we went to Grandma Trudie's house for another egg hunt (lucky kids!) and dinner. Here is Ben sitting with Aunt Monica while the other kids get to run around and find eggs. Tough break, buddy...maybe next year!

"Found one!"

"Me too!"

"Look what we got!"

Just have to show off the adorable table setting. Great job, Grandma Trudie! Later, Monica and Grandma helped them dye Easter Eggs. Anything involving bright colors and food is good in their eyes!
Big smiles for big fun!
Destined to happen...a spill. Oops! Luckily, Grandma has been doing this for a few years - - hence the preparatory newspaper.
Awww...the egg JC made for me. I love you too, baby!
Concluding the day with some delightful duets...
...and the traditional "sit on the bench" before leaving Grandma and Grandpa's house! For some reason this started when Bethany was a baby. They always sit on the bench with Grandma before we go home. But Ben has now taken Grandma's spot apparently! All three of them were happily in their pajamas and nice and worn out for a good night's sleep. What a great day!

And, for those of you who are wondering, only Daddy made it to church the next day! Thank goodness for having predicted that! We hope everyone's holiday was grand!

A to Z Tag!

All right, I had a really productive morning and I am rewarding myself with some "nothing" time this afternoon. I usually only blog on Sunday evenings but I feel behind anyway so this is my way of getting something done while not really doing anything! Anyway, my cousin tagged me with this one and it is fun. Let's see if I can speed my way through it while Jame and Ben are napping and Bethany is occupied! Did I spell that right? It looks all foreign to me...oh well...the days of honors english are long gone...

A- Attached or single: Very happily attached!
B- Best friend: JC and my mom
C- Cake or Pie: oooh, tough. Depends what we're talking about here. But probably mostly cake.
D- Day of Choice: JC and I were just talking about this and I think it's Thursday! Strange pick, isn't it?
E- Essential Item: triple stroller! Without it, I would NEVER be able to leave the house!
F- Favorite Color(s): I go through moods and lately I have been loving green. But, my most consistent favorite is RED.
G- Gummie Worms or Bears: I would have to say worm. They have 2 colors on one worm!! - I copied Emily's answer for that because it is simple yet brilliant!
H- Hometown: FT. Worth, TX. But, Gilbert holds my heart!
I-Indulgence(s): Oh dear, I am going to try not to list something edible for fear of shaming myself with a sadly long list...I will say shoes. Like Emily said (I think we are quite the same), it's the only thing you don't have to lose weight to wear! (again, simple and brilliant!)
J- January or July: oh please, neither! But, I would take January over July!
K- Kids: Bethany, James and Ben! Gotta tell ya, the best kids in the universe!
L- Life is incomplete without: my love
M- Marriage Date (if applicable): Dec. 17th, 2005
N- Number of siblings: 3 younger sisters, 1 younger brother
O- Oranges or Apples: Plums? Okay, that wasn't the question. Hmmm...probably apples.
P- Phobias or Fears: Where do I start? Probably the most prevalant ones are sea creatures (with an emphasis on anything bigger than me) and harm coming to my family
Q- Quote: Oh, I have lots of these that I like so I will go with the one I read today that struck me. "When you find out who you are, you will wish you had tried harder." Very inspiring.
R- Reason to smile: all the love in my life and how blessed I have been...oh, and the drawer in my desk full of sharpies of varying size and color. JC spoils me with them because I love them! It's my simple pleasure.
S- Season: Fall. I love love love everything about it! Then, this time of year too with the orange blossom smell and warm days/cool nights.
T- Tag Three: KT, Katie and Somer
V-Vegetarian or Oppressor of animal: neither?
W- Worst habit: retail therapy. :)
X- X-ray or Ultrasound: Oh, I always loved getting the ultrasound during my pregnancies!
Y- Your favorite food: I really like Hawaiian food.
Z- Zebra or Elephant: I am picking Elephant because baby elephants are hilariously awkward!

Well, great timing! Ben just woke up and it's time to get James up so he will sleep tonight! Sometimes I just love these simple blessings like being granted just enough time to do a silly post on my silly blog. : ) Someone's looking out for my sanity!

Look at me, me, me! I'm three, three, three!

We have a three year old in the house! Wow, it is just crazy to realize how much Bethany is growing up. Her birthday was actually a few weeks ago but since life moves fast and I have been a bit slow, here are some pictures of how she spent her special day!

After waking up and enjoying some breakfast and playtime, Bethany snuggled up on the couch with her two best buddies to watch an invigorating episode of Sesame Street.

A little later in the morning, the four of us drove over to Grandma Trudie's house to visit and drop of the boys. Dad had a half day at work, so Mom and Dad had a special birthday lunch at Denny's (one of the best places to eat with a toddler whose tastes are always changing...you can get anything from french toast, macaroni, pizza, a burger, to steak - -mind you, not a good one - - all in one place!) Bethany especially enjoyed her strawberry lemonade. The undivided attention of Mom and Dad was probably nice too since that hasn't happened since she was about a year old!

Then, on to Build-a-Bear! She had never been there before and was a little shy during the "building" part of the process but once she figured out she got to pick out clothes and accessories, she was right at home! We are in this phase right now where she chooses everyone's clothes for the day. (The boys don't mind...who knows, she might still be doing this for them when they're all in highschool!) She probably picked out three different yet complete outfits for her bear before decided on the right one.

So happy to be shopping!

Time to get dressed!

I think every bit of the outfit was pure pink...

Months and months ago, Bethany told me she wanted a butterfly cake for her birthday. I have been looking forward to it/fretting about it for several weeks! I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have made a cake, let alone anything out of the ordinary. But, thanks to a cake pan doing most of the work for me, it came out worthy of her praise!

James enjoying his favorite part of the day...
A very excited girl eating her butterfly cake!

It was really nice to take a day and focus on Bethany since it seems it's always about all three of them all the time. And most of the time, I think that's fine. But, she is such a helper and such a great big sister and she sure tries hard to be a good little girl. So, it was a special day. I'm sure next year will sneak up on us before we know it, though she doesn't seem to care much about her fourth birthday yet. Already it's all about being five because that is the year she gets to go to school! She did have a great birthday this year though, surrounded by lots of family and love. Birthday cards from out of town family got her very excited since she was getting mail like a grown-up and we celebrated with grandparents and cousins all throughout the week before and after so she got to keep experiencing it! We love our big girl!

Three years of the tree...

I mentioned in the previous entry that we take pictures at the "hole in the tree" every year when we go to the zoo. I thought I would share all we have thus far. It is amazing to see how much everyone has grown! Unfortunately, not excluding myself! Haha, here's a little look at what having three kids in two and a half years will do to ya! But, now that things are starting to be a little (mind you, a little) less hectic, and the workouts start finding their way into the daily routine again...hopefully by next year I will be the only one to have shrunk. Such is life...now enough about me...take a look at my sweet babies. :)

Bethany's first trip to the zoo! (7 months old)Bethany's second trip to the zoo! (19 months old)
Bethany's fourth trip to the zoo! (We didn't document the third one since it was a special trip with Grandma and her sisters who were visiting...a very pregnant mom was home resting.) (Oh yeah - almost 3 in this picture!) It's such a big transformation from last year to now, with her! She is growing up SO fast!

Now James' turn!!

James' first trip to the zoo! (6 months old) His head is HUGE! I always loved what a big baby he was...seeing his pictures compared with the other kids' is hilarious!

Sweet James' second trip to the zoo! (22 months old) He is also so much more grown up in just a year and a half!

And....Ben!

Baby Ben's first trip to the zoo! (6 months old - to the day!!) Such a happy little guy!

Now for the mom-and-baby shots...

Here's little Baby Bethany and Mommy.

Then, a bigger Bethany and Baby James (He was SO BIG!) and Mommy.

And finally, this year...Big girl Bethany, Big brother James, Benny Boy and Mommy!

I can't believe that James and Ben are the same age in the two pictures! Anyway, there is our fun little evolution over the last few years. It's not much of a post tonight but, I gotta say, I'm tired! So, that will be it for now. More to come soon!