easter weekend

I love Easter and all it represents! I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and his sacrifice and for his resurrection. For without it we would not be able to return to live with Heavenly Father again. This weekend was also General Conference, I enjoy listening to the leaders of the church and their inspired guidance. Listening to Conference is a bit harder with two little guys running around, wanting to play, or eat or just be boys and play. We managed to watch a good part of the sessions. There are so many talks that I loved, but one was by Robert D Hales, He said, "Christ used his agency of us." What a wonderful act of love to share, i love the simpleness yet the power and meaning behind it. He really is the best example. I always feel like i can take on the world after conference I can use all the suggestions to better my life for my family. Although I may not be perfect I know that Christ is and as long as we follow his guidance we can to live with him.

We dyed eggs saturday morning, James loves to be hands on so waiting was extra hard for him. The boys loved it. They were very careful and we didn't spill too much dye on the table. We learned that Boston loved the taste of vinegar, he would stick his fingers in the dye then into his month, after awhile he had a blue hand! I had drawn on the eggs with a white crayon so James was so excited when we pulled an egg out of the dye and there was a surprise bunny or letter J or B.
A week or so ago James asked how the easter bunny hides eggs. I told him that he will hop around and hide eggs on Easter, but we cannot look for him because we might scare him, however when all the eggs are hidden he will knock on the door so we can go find them. Easter morning came and he was so excited he was not tempted to look outside at all he waited for Logan and I to climb out of bed. I sent Logan out to the "car" with some eggs in a bag so no little eyes could see. Meanwhile, I grabbed the baskets and filled them with a chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs. We put shoes and jackets on and waited for the knock. Logan came in, and James was so worried that he would scare off the Easter Bunny. I assured him it would be ok. While the boys weren't looking Logan knocked on the door, James heard it and couldn't wait anymore. We ran outside and there were eggs everywhere! We also scattered jellybeans the night before (we don't have soft ground so we didn't bury them), hoping that on easter morning they would turn into lollipops. To our surprise they did! ;) Boston went straight for the lollipops, he pulled one out and asked for it to be opened. James was off to pick all the eggs he could, Boss joined in at the end after he realized how fun picking up eggs really is. The boys ran inside to see what was in their eggs, most were filled with jellybeans, a few had leftover m&m's and a couple had Lendt Truffles (James and Boss love "chocolate balls"). After eating a few eggs worth of candy they were sugared out and relaxed on the floor surrounded by eggs. We watched the rest of conference and for dinner Logan's brother Reagan came into town, we had a yummy beef roast! We all loved Easter this year, holidays are so much fun with little ones, to see the excitement they hold for the little things makes my heart swell. James still talks about the easter bunny and how much fun he had,

it's raining

Today it poured! There was thunder and lightening, it was wonderful. It reminded me of Arizona monsoons. It also happened to be the day that I needed to get out and run to the grocery store for some staple ingredients. And just my luck we were ready to hop in the car right as the storm decided to reach our part of town. We walked out to a downpour, we all waited outside then returned inside to wait it out. Luckily it slowed down and were able to hop in the car and run to the store, we picked up all we needed without getting too wet. On the way home while it was drizzling James noticed the clouds and how dark they were and at the stop light he said, "Mom, it's raining, rain comes from the clouds, when there is a lot of rain in the clouds it rains." I don't know where he learned it from, but I was shocked. He is such a smart little guy! He really pays attention and understands what is going on around him. Can't believe he will be four in may! He needs to stay little a little longer, I can't handle how fast he is growing!

big bad wolf

James love reading books then acting out the story line. His favorite is the three little pigs. He has memorized most of the story but his favorite part is when the big bad wolf blows the house down. We have a teepee that he uses as the house and he will ask me to be the pig and he will stand outside the teepee and act out the roles

J: little pig, little pig let me in 

M: not by the hair of my chiny chin chin 

J: then I'll huff and puff and blow your house down

M: ohh no my house fell down. 

He will shake the teepee and will get upset if I don't say the right lines. It really is so sweet how much he loves to pretend. I remember once a few months ago, when he first started pretending he leould always take off all his clothes to be the wolf, since wolves don't wear clothes of course. Thankfully he has stopped and will keep his clothes in when we play. :) 

Oklahoma Wedding and Ice Cream

Last week we had the opportunity to attend Logan's cousin Dallas's wedding reception. We drove down to Oklahoma Friday afternoon to spend time with the cousins. We all love to see Oklahoma family, James was especially excited he loves having older kids to play with! It started to sprinkle and  was on and off again all night until it was time to go to the reception. We walked out of the hotel and it was pouring. We all arrived at the reception location and waited a bit before we went inside hoping for it to slow down. Nope! I ran in holding Boston, my shoes and bottom half of my skirt were soaked! Boston and James took cover under mom and dad so they were fine. The reception was decorated wonderfully, its amazing how creative some people are! A taco truck catered, if i had to pick one thing to eat for the rest of my life it might be those tacos, they were delicious! After the reception we ran back out in the rain and drove back to see family, were we stayed up until 1am watching Pitch Perfect. my poor boys were so tired, but such troopers. The next morning we had brunch with family and then headed back to Missouri. It was so fun to see everyone, I am so lucky Logan has a huge loving family.

 {the fog was so thick, i was shocked it was so foggy in the middle of the day}

{lately James has not been a fan of pictures}

{Sleepy Boss}

{i only managed to take a picture of these two! they were all so handsome}

It has been so cold lately, we have been stuck inside for the most part. But on Monday, since Dairy Queen was celebrating their anniversary they were giving away free small ice cream cones! Once Logan was home from work we all hopped in the car and headed out for a pre-dinner snack! Everyone needs to be spoiled with a pre-dinner treat before dinner once in awhile. Both James and Boston were so excited, they loved it!

new beginnings

I am the Young Women's Secretary in my ward, and I love it. But sometime i feel like i could be doing more to assist the presidency, so i normally volunteer to do the invitations for the big activities, like New Beginnings and Young Women in Excellence.
Since this year's Mutual theme is "O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day." Doctrine and Covenants 4:2. We all decided that a cruise theme would be a perfect fit for New Beginnings. I designed a boarding pass for the invitation and an itinerary for our program. I am pretty happy with how they came out! Once they were printed I rounded off the edges on both the invitation and the program to make them look more official. I also added some baker twine and a tag that read "ticket reserved for: (hand wrote each young women or leaders name)" I love personalization, and everyone loved receiving a personal invitation.