Glorious Day for an Easter Egg Hunt!

We arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house Saturday morning to discover that the Easter Bunny had already been there and left some wonderful things.

Jadyn told me very matter-of-factly that: "Peter Cottontail is a nice Easter Bunny that leaves good eggs for good kids and stinky, rotten eggs for bad kids. He likes me so this year we will have lots of good eggs for everyone." She even made up an entire song about the the good, white Easter Bunny named Peter Cottontail that hop, hop, hops to give good eggs to good kids. I wish I had that on video, but she did the entire explanation and song while we were driving. Still, it made me laugh. Where does she get these ideas???

He (Jadyn's friend Peter Cottontail) left dozens of brightly colored eggs hidden all over the yard, in the trees, and even in the playhouse. He also left a big basket of goodies for each child. The kids were so anxious about finding eggs that they barely even glanced at the baskets before running onto the yard. Matthew and Jadyn found the most eggs, but even Owen and Hyrum (with help) were able to grab a few before all of the older siblings found them. After Jenna had about 5 eggs, she stopped looking so that she could sit down and eat some chocolate. I have never seen a kid that likes chocolate so much! The hunt was a blast and Jared and I made sure to get plenty of pictures and video despite the terribly bright sunlight. Kyla and Matt were at a wedding in California on Saturday so we had to made sure we had lots of stuff to show them even though they missed all of the excitement. I was really happy that we did the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday morning so that we could focus more on the real reason for Easter on Sunday. I think this will become a tradition for us in the future.

After all of the eggs were located, the kids finally turned their attention to the Easter Baskets. Jadyn was excited about the little toys and the coloring book. She was so happy that Peter Cottontail knew that she would LOVE her new princess toys! Now he really is one of her best friends. Jenna went straight for the chocolate and the bubbles. Hyrum didn't know what to think, but he spent the rest of the day chewing on his new teether and stuffed bunny. The cotton candy in his basket disappeared faster than anything else. I just have to thank Grandma and Grandpa for putting on a wonderful Easter Egg Hunt. It was a fabulous day to celebrate Easter with our cousins!

Freestone Park

Grandpa took the day off of work so that he could play with the grand kids. We all decided to meet at Freestone Park for an afternoon of fun and fishing. Sadly, the fishing only lasted a few minutes, but the fun continued throughout the entire afternoon. The kids loved riding the carousel, wave runners, and train. Here are some of the photos from our great outing at the park.

This is my cute sister riding on the train with her three boys. Drew (3) is sitting next to her and she is holding Owen (1). Matthew (5) is actually sitting by Jadyn in the row behind. Riding around on the train was fun because the boys kept making the train whistle sound, "Whoo, Whoo!" and waving to everyone that we drove past. Jenna thought that her cousins were so funny making noises and she giggled the whole ride.

The playground area was our last adventure of the day. With slides, swings, and lots of sand we hoped the kids would run and play until they were completely worn out. Funny enough, I think that the kids ended up wearing me out first. Matthew was a tornado for awhile and he recruited Jadyn and Drew to chase me around the park. I wasn't ready for all of that running and I finally had to admit that I lost to the Tornado. Fortunately Grandpa was there to play as well. He was even able to secure the Tire Swing for the kids. Who knew they would have so much fun with all of them on the same swing?

Seriously, just look at their faces. They were all laughing the entire time the tire swing was spinning around. At least I know that next time I won't spend the money on an unlimited pass to ride the rides. Thanks to Grandpa, the tire swing was the best ride of the day!

Now at the end of the day, this is what it all comes down to...we had a blast with our cousins. I wish we could see them more often. They all grow up so quickly. Here are all 6 kids down by the water. We have a kid for every age right now 5,4,3,2,1, & a baby. (If you count Jadyn and Jenna by their next birthday in May...)

March 18th!

Jadyn has been waiting and waiting for March 18th to arrive. You see, March 18th meant two very exciting things were going to happen. Her cousins from Ohio would be coming to visit and Enchanted would finally be out on DVD. This morning Jadyn selected her Princess Giselle shirt and kept asking when we were leaving to go and get the new movie. After we arrived home from the store, she had to earn the opportunity to watch the movie. I have never seen her clean up the toy room so quickly. She even had me cover up my eyes before she would show me the spotless room because I would be too excited. When we finally sat down to watch it, Enchanted really delivered fun for the whole family.

Jadyn was singing along (as well as she could) with all of the songs. She laughed out loud in places and even had me clap at the end. ("Mother, you aren't clapping! You have to clap because she found her true love!") Jenna enjoyed it this time (when we saw it in the theater Jared and I took turns with her roaming the halls and missing chunks of the movie) and we (adults) laughed at all of the irony. It is a very clever movie and I am glad that I finally got to watch it all of the way through.

As soon as we got to Grandma and Grandpa's house, Jadyn rushed inside with her movie and her Giselle Barbie and asked if everyone wanted to watch Enchanted with her. She was just sure that her boy cousins would all love it. ("Matthew will want to be the Prince and I can be Giselle, OK?") Aunt Kyla even got a disbelieving look when she said 'Driselle' instead of 'Giselle'. The movie had to wait until after they all played ball, threw rocks in the ditch, and raced around playing outside games. It is so much fun watching Kyla's 3 boys run around with my 2 girls.

We were so happy that March 18th, Kyla's family, and Enchanted finally arrived!

Life Lessons

The other night Jared sat down with one of his younger brothers. His brother has been struggling (as most teens do) with many of the rules he has been given. As they spoke, Jared began to share some of his thoughts on "real life" and the things that he has learned. When all was said and done, he ended up with 5 significant life lessons that could help his brother make some choices and changes in his life. With each life lesson, experiences were relayed that supported the statement. I was pretty impressed that my husband could spend 2 hours teaching lessons that I thought every young person should know. So, here they are...

1) Life takes work.

2) Life is hard.

3) Life has rules.

4) Life is not fair.

5) Life requires integrity.

Bonus lesson: Pornography will destroy your life.

I thought of 3 things I would add to his list and they are:

Life is amazing - be grateful.

Life starts now!

Love makes life worth living.

What are some of your life lessons? What would you tell a friend or family member if you have the chance?

Photos Found!

OK - I was clearing off some space on my computer when I ran across an unlabeled file. I was thrilled to find that it contained photos of a Mother/Daughter 50's party from September 2006. Some of these photos were just so much fun, I had to post them! Our ward is constantly changing, but I absolutely love our Relief Society. (How could you not?!?) I hope that you enjoy these old photos as much as I enjoyed finding them!

Reflections

This is classic Jadyn. I wish that I could have been there to see it, but hearing the story was equally entertaining. Jadyn was at my in-law's home with her Nana. (Jared's Mom) She looked at herself in the full length mirror and asked,
"Nana, don't you love my beautiful reflection?" (What 3 year old uses the word reflection?!?)
Nana remarked back that it was like that song from Mulan - 'When will my reflection show who I am inside?'
Jadyn turned and dramatically stated, "Oh Nana, you understand my life." What a funny kid!