Easter Celebration

We celebrated Easter a week early with my family yesterday. Clint and Britt were nice enough to host the dinner and "hunt". We decided to have turkey dinner, one of my favorites. The kids could hardly wait for the easter egg hunt afterwards. We had them all gather in the basement while we hid the treats. The grandkids are getting so big and I'm afraid they were disappointed when they came outside. We quickly realized that we need to get more creative with hiding next year. Bella just kept saying, "this is way too easy" over and over. I finally told her to just start picking candy up or she wasn't going to get any. We let the 3 babies, Ava, Nixon and Lincoln, out first so they could get some treats before the big kids came out. Ava didn't really care about the hoards of candy all over the ground. She found a sucker and wanted to eat it right then. I had to lead her along the way to get a few more things...

The Sucker :)

Happy Anniversary

12 years ago, today, I was sealed for time and all eternity to the absolute love of my life. We had a mini get away downtown to celebrate. It was a fun break from our busy lives. Yummy restaurants, a Temple visit, a couple of movies, shopping, and a Jazz game to finish the festivities. As we entered the Temple this morning and watched young excited couples embarking on their marriage journey, it brought back so many wonderful memories of our special day. We had a few moments of "remember when" and "look how far we've come!!!" Our 3 beautiful girls are the greatest blessings we have received and we feel so lucky to be their parents. I am so happy and grateful for the amazing life I have and look forward to eternity with my sweetie!!!

Happy Birthday AVA!!! (and Emery)

My baby turned 2 yesterday. Weird! She is growing up too quickly. This child is the light of our lives. We are all so in love with her and she knows it! And talk about a daddy's girl :) She is very independent, curious, and social. She is talking up a storm and loves to copy everything we say. She was my best baby by far and even though she is so busy, she is quite a good little girl. Pleasant to be around and so stinkin' cute. We are grateful she is part of our family.

I haven't ever given much thought and effort into my girls parties and decided it was time to do better. I wanted to come up with a cute theme, my mom had bought a cute Birthday Girl shirt that had polk-a-dot sleeves. Annie had been telling me about these super yummy cake pops that she had tried. All of this sparked the idea of a polk-a-dot party. I scoured the internet and found several good ideas. Thanks to the efforts of so many people, this party came together beautifully. The cutest party ever and it was very inexpensive.

Our neighbors little girl Emery was born on the same day, 5 minutes apart. They are the cutest little friends so we decided to throw their party together. This will now be the tradition, it was so much fun!

Here's the Birthday girl. This is how she smiles for pictures :)

Please take note that I had very little to do with the ideas for decorations. Annie offered to help me make this darling birthday banner. LOVE IT. She ended up doing most of the work because I'm not crafty. My mom decided to come with me when I picked out the paper. The minute she offered to do "the centerpieces", I knew it was on. If you don't know my mother, she is the absolute QUEEN of everything. She really is the most talented woman I know. I often say I wish I had inherited even a little bit of her brain but it just didn't happen. She quickly came up with several ideas that turned out great. I loved it all.

Seriously, that tree is the cutest thing ever.

Here they are, the famous cake pops. If you don't know about these little morsels of heaven, you need to learn! They come from Bakerella. Once again, Annie saved the day and dipped a batch because mine weren't working. I found out I was doing it wrong so ask Annie her tricks if you are going to try them. These are a very dangerous treat, in fact, I might have just eaten 2 of them now. My family will be so mad :)

Angie and I tried getting some shots of the girls together before the festivities began. Really? It doesn't get sweeter than this?

Look at this cake! Angie has turned into some pro cake maker. It is made out of pound cake and marshmallow fondant. The other side says Ava. I have a feeling Angie is going to get many requests for her talents now that her secret is out of the bag. Over the top cute.

My sweet Girls!

Thanks to everyone who came to share this special day with us. What a wonderful way to celebrate, with all of the people we love so much.

December 2009

It's the final month of my recap! It took way longer than I thought it would and it will be so nice just to have it done! Of course, December is always a busy month for everyone. On top of the Christmas celebrations we had a great thing happen at our house - Bella got baptized! I still can't believe she is 8 years old. Time goes by too quickly. Before we know it, we will have a house full of teenage girls, don't be jealous!!! It was such a special day with family and friends -

Chris and Bella with Josh and Max Love

Elise, Avery, Bella and Mae. This neighborhood is the best! Lots of cute, great kids for the girls to be friends with. We feel very blessed to live where we do!

Bella with Grandma Nadine and Grandpa Warren

Grandma and Grandpa Alaska. The girls started calling my parents this when they were on a mission in Alaska, it has just stuck :)

Thanks to my Mom for doing Bella's hair. Beautiful!

(I don't have one single picture of Ava on this day? I often regret the pictures I miss on these special days. A picture of our whole family? A picture of the girls together? I need to do better!) It really was a wonderful day that Bella will remember always. Thank you to our family and friends who are always so loving and supportive.

Christmas 2009 -

On Christmas Eve, the Elf visits our house and leaves one present for the girls to open...

Christmas PJ's!

Whiteboards were the favorite gift this year. The girls love to play school. It's so funny to listen to them, they say and do things just like their teachers.

One of the cutest pictures of Christmas day. "Plus and Ekwel" Love it!!!

I have always felt like I have twins when it comes to presents. Bella and Mya are always wanting and getting most of the same toys. I now have triplets, Ava didn't care at all about her gifts. She just wanted what her sisters got! This is a squirt bottle for the dolls hair.

Madame Alexander Dolls - Happiness. We have lots of Video, not so many pictures. A successful Christmas with happy girls!

We had a very wonderful, blessed, 2009 and hope 2010 is just as great!!!

Happy Birthday Dad and Gracie Mae!

I can't believe it! My Dad turned the big 6-0 today. What? We celebrated at his absolute favorite restaurant, Hires. Our family is so big, we decided the banquet room would be perfect and was it ever. Nice secluded, big room for kids to run wild! If you've never been to this joint, you must go now! They serve good old fashioned burgers, sandwiches, fries, onion rings, and shakes. My personal favorite, The Golden Veggie H. A veggie burger with an onion ring on top. And their buns are the best! We grew up eating here for very special occasions, great memories. I won't try to list 60 things I love about my Dad, but I'd be able to! He is an amazing man who I love so much. He is a wonderful example to all of us in this family. I am so proud to call him Dad, and my girls couldn't love and admire Grandpa anymore than they do!

It is also my neice Gracie Mae's Birthday! She turned 8 today and will be baptized on Saturday.

(Just a side note on this photo. Notice my sister Martsi standing by Mya. She is due to have her baby boy in 5 weeks! She is tiny!!!)

Look at these cute girls! Gracie, Bella, Harley, Addi, Mya and Daphne.