Easter

I have been trying really hard to make holidays more exciting for the kids. Sometimes a holiday will come and go without hardly any recognition at all! I was thinking about my childhood and how much I LOVED holidays and traditions, so I decided that I need to do more! So this year, I tried a little harder. First, we dyed Easter eggs for FHE. The next morning Scott hid them before he left for seminary, so they had an Easter egg hunt for the hard-boiled eggs when they woke up. Then a couple days later I went to Wal-mart and bought some cute cookie cutters. We made the cookies together *I have to admit that this took a lot of patience for me because they kept eating the dough and messing up the already cut cookies... It took quite a while to finish and I wanted to shoot myself by the end, but I tried, and the kids loved it!*

On Saturday the kids got to with the Burns to their Easter Egg Hunt, while we got to go to the Rockies/Mariners game at Isotopes park. They said they really had a fun time, so thanks Stef!

Sunday, I decided to start a new tradition, or I guess the Easter bunny did I mean... The kids got a ball of yarn and had to follow it all over the house until they eventually found their Easter Baskets. It was really fun for Makenna, Jace had no idea what was happening but enjoyed his Easter basket when he found it. Easter baskets for my kids consist of things they already needed/stuff I already had in my gift stash. :) The Easter bunny also left eggs around the house for them to find.

We really enjoyed watching conference on Easter Weekend. What a perfect time to listen to our Prophet/Leaders, and celebrate Christ. I was really touched by the things that were said, and am trying really hard to apply them to my life. Two themes stuck out to me: being better parents, and receiving personal inspiration to guide our lives.

Besides all the fun Easter stuff and traditions, we tried really hard this year to help the kids (mostly Makenna) understand that we celebrate Easter because of Christ. It has been really neat to see Makenna begin to understand Christ's atonement and his resurrection. I love how Makenna is such a sponge at this age and she'll just sit there with her wide eyes as we teach her. It really made this Easter extra special.

following the yarn to the baskets

They found them!

Your Happily Ever After

You know how some days you just need a little spiritual boost? Well I read this talk today from the Young Women's Broadcast, and loved it! It gave me just the boost I was looking for. I think it is a must-read for all women.

Another quick Utah trip!

We had another amazing trip up to Utah this past weekend- this time to be with the Worth family (Scott's sister) as they were sealed in the temple. My amazing sister-in-law Sherri recently adopted 3 beautiful children. Luckily we have been able to have them in our lives for the past 2 years or so, and finally they were able to become part of the family forever. We are so happy for the Worth family, and amazed that they were able to take on 3 more children on top of the 7 they already have.
FYI In our church we believe that we can be families forever, which is such a beautiful thing, and one of the core beliefs we have. When we are married we are sealed in the temple, not only to be married for time, but for eternity. All children born to us are also sealed to us. When a child is adopted, the sealing ordinance must take place again to seal them to the family.
It was such a beautiful, yet short and simple, ceremony that I will remember forever. What a sweet thing it is to see a whole family in a sealing room. I am so glad that I am able to be with my family forever and that I know that after I die, or they die, we will be able to be with each other again for eternity. Having that knowledge gives me so much strength and happiness!

The beautiful Manti temple- it still boggles my mind that they were able to build this building so long ago.

The cute Worth family dressed in their temple whites

Holy cow, this random dog just came up and laid down in front of them waiting for a pet... so funny!

With my forever best friend! We were twins

Cute cousins Jace and Joseph

Karmiyah and Makenna- best cousins!

This pictures cracks me up for a few reasons... it tells a LOT about my son!
1. He wouldn't get in the pool because he's afraid of the water... he's a very cautious boy. (Hoping to change that this summer!)
2. He was obsessed with the pool balls and had a great time throwing them in the pool over and over and over, so much so that he didn't mind that his entire outfit was soaked.
3. He likes to stick his tongue out a lot
4. The bouncy ball in his right hand has been in that right hand for approximately 3 hours at this point.
5. He never has shoes on (which was probably a good thing)

Road Triiiiiip!

A couple weeks ago the kids and I packed up and went to Utah! I was in desperate need of a vacay, and my bestie was without a husband for a week. The answer- road trip! We had a great time together spending time outside in the nice spring weather, taking the kids here and there, and just hanging out. Megan and I stayed up all night every night talking- so fun! We were crazy the later and later we stayed up... hahaha I'm so glad we went, it was such a great trip! I need to give a shout out to my kids for allowing mommy to drive and not making me pull my hair out- thanks guys!

Jace and Jake had so much fun together!

The dinosaur museum

dressed in green for st. patricks (although they look more blue in the pic!)

me with prego (yes she is now ahead of me!)

We also had a little lunch date with my grandma Holland! Makenna loves gma H!

Switchfoot

When I was in Jr. High I started listening to an awesome local band called Switchfoot. Their songs were really fun and catchy, and their message was amazing. Since they are a Christian band their lyrics were clean, and also so inspiring. My friends and I became their biggest (mormon) fans! We went to all the concerts we could and listened to their music all the time as we drove around town.
Well, a few years later when I worked at Pier One, we were in the back room unpacking boxes with the radio on, and that is when I heard them on the radio for the first time! It was really exciting and I called a couple people from back home right away! It's awesome to see a band you loved so much for so many years make it! I have continued to love them and introduced my husband to them who also loves them.
For the first time since I moved from San Diego, Switchfoot came to town! So Scott and I got tickets, arranged babysitters, and we were SO there! :) It was such an awesome concert. We were only a few feet from the band, and had room to move (unlike many a concert I went to in HS) At one point, Jon (lead singer) climbed up on a speaker that we were standing next to and sang "This is Your Life," one of my favorite songs.
We kept saying to each other that it was nice to not feel like "mom" and "dad" for the night, and be the young people that we are! I guess that's the trade off of having kids young! We promised each other to make it to more concerts from now on!

Thanks Burns for watching the kids!

One of my fave songs...

Camera phone pics...

I ♥ Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. Probably because it's all about love and sweets! This year I decided to do a little cookie exchange. There are not a lot of things I love more than 1. girl's night outs, and 2. cookies! Yummmm, the cookies were DIVINE. I LOOOOVE parties and had a lot of fun planning this one. One of my favorite party resources is Blonde Designs where I blatantly copied her ideas. :) Now you know I am not that cool.

most of the spread

my cookies

easy to make and easy to serve!

this was also easy, just a bakery box from Smith's that I put a little sign on- everyone took their cookies home in one of these babies.


When Valentine's day is on sunday, it's a little weird! (Since we don't spend money on sundays) It's kind of like a two-day thing. So Saturday night we went on a fun little date. We ate at Flying Star. Everything was so yummy, especially the chocolate cake! Then, this year we decided instead of buying each other gifts we would go shopping together and pick stuff out. I picked out 2 necklaces (the cheapo kind!) and Scott picked a UNM hat. It was really fun to shop without kids!! :)

Today for Valentine's day, I gave the kids a Valentine with little treats, and Scott kept his tradition alive of ringing the doorbell and leaving heart chocolate boxes on the doorstep for the kids. I guess he used to always do that with his dad. I think it's really cute!

I got these.... did you know these basically have nutella on the inside?! Same company. Mmmmmmm

Another reason I probably LOVE Valentine's Day is because that is essentially when we first got together. Our first date was on the 11th of Feb, but I had no idea he liked me! Our second date was Valentine's day and that's when we held hands and snuggled for the first time. This picture is from the Sweetheart's dance a week later and we were officially a couple by then! I stinkin love my husband so much, and I have loved the last 7 years we have spent together. I always think how lucky I am that I found a guy that is so good for me! I don't know if there could be a better match out there! Basically he's the bomb.

Jace turned 2!

The morning of Jace's birthday Makenna was so excited that she woke Jace up and said "How old are you Jace?!" For the first time, he said "two!" and put his pointer finger up! It was so cute! I had been trying to work on it with him the last couple days, but he wouldn't do it until his actual birthday I guess! So the night before I blew up about 30 balloons since he still loves them, and I think that was the best thing ever for him! He played and played and played!

For Joy school that day we went on a field trip to the aquarium and I knew Jace would like that on his birthday. It was really fun and Jace's friend Nathan came too.

Then for dinner we had Hawaiian Haystacks (Jace's favorite), and then the Burns came over! Jace opened his presents. Let's see, he got: a police battery-powered motorcycle (that he doesn't care about), a race car, Thomas the train, a leap frog cars and trucks magnet thing, a stuffed animal from the Burns, and his favorite thing- his scooter from Grandma Sheffield. He could not stop scooting around all night!

this is a rare picture- a smile at the camera!

don't laugh at my cake

Jace did really good blowing out the candles!

scooting around!
The toy on the left is his motorcycle. All the kids loved it, but Jace could care less.

with his cousins! Camden looks so cute!

Jace is a very special little guy. I'm so happy I'm his mommy! I definitely have a special bond with him. He's my little cuddle bug.
Here are some things Jace is doing right now at 2 years old:

He talks in sentences now. The other day he said a sentence that was 8 words long! I'm glad he's talking so well now because when compared to his sister, he was a little slow!

He can put his shoes on by himself. His favorites are his flip-flops.

nicknames: Jace face, Jacey, baby boy

He is very good at feeding himself with minimal messes (yessssss!)

He loves to dump out boxes of things: toys, cereal, blocks, anything put away nicely in a box!

He still takes 3 hour naps- hallelujah

He loves his sister Kenna and says "I miss Kenna. I love Kenna." when she is gone.

He's very sweet and more on the quiet side.

He's also very cautious around strangers, and has a hard time when I leave him still.

He LOVES babies and LOVES to pick them up... yikes...

He loves to read books, especially his animal books or books with balloons.

He almost never denies me a kiss!

He despises having his hair cut, hence the long hair.

He LOVES to play outside

He still loves balls, not a shocker

He's acting more and more like a kid now! Scott was saying the other day "he's like a little person now!" Well, he's still my baby boy.

He's also still a big boy!
weight: 33.5 lbs (95%)
height: 36.5 inches (95%)
head: 95%
Doc said he's more the size of a 3 year old... :)

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH JACE!

SNOW

Since we moved to Albuquerque 3 years ago, not once have we had enough snow that it actually stayed for longer than a few hours! The weekend we moved here to NE Albuquerque, there was actually a few feet of snow. We haven't seen anything like that since. Well a couple weeks ago we had a nice snow storm, and it stayed a whole day and a half! :) Makenna had a blast. Jace was too sick the first day to even care, but the second day he went out and loved it.

holding the snowman's hands

this is what happens in Albuquerque... drip drip drip...

Inspired

I'll update soon... I promise....

In the mean time, there is a blog I've been following for a while because she is an amazing photographer. Well, recently her baby passed away from pertussis (he was not old enough to get the vaccine), and her posts have really inspired me. I have been so motivated to be a better mom to my kids through her struggles. Maybe she can inspire you too...

Natalie's blog

The big 9-0

Scott's Grandma Lee had her 90th birthday party last week. We took the drive to St. Johns, AZ so we could celebrate with her. A lot of Scott's cousins were able to make it and it was fun to see/ meet a lot of them. Can I just tell you that Grandma Lee is one of my favorite people in the whole world. Things we love about her:

She always embraces us with a kiss.
She insists on cooking for us and insists on cleaning up the mess at her age.
She always plays little games with my kids.
They love her.
She loves to sing goofy little songs
She lets kids be kids, and shows them fun stuff to do at her house, like crawl through secret passage ways.
She loves the gospel.
She loves to tell jokes.
She has satellite tv, a cell phone, and the internet, and has no idea how to work them!
Everyone gravitates to her. She makes everyone around her happy.

Shooting Makenna with the party horn. They did this for a while. It was really funny!

The kids played some birthday games. This one had to do with answering a question right or you would get a little squirt. There's Jace again hanging with the girls!

I thought this pic was really cute of Jace

All of the "original" cousins that were there. A portion.

This was at the end of the day. The kids weren't having it. :)

There was a little program for grandma after the games. The Lee family represented, and we did a little skit and a song. I think the highlight was when everyone sang the song "Could I have this dance," which was Grandma Lee's song with her sweetheart, Grandpa Arlo Lee, who passed away a few years ago. It was very touching. Here are the lyrics to that sweet song...

I'll always remember the song they were playin',
The first time we danced and I knew,
As we swayed to the music and held to each other,
I fell in love with you.

Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Would you be my partner every night?
When we're together, it feels so right.
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?

I'll always remember that magic moment,
When I held you close to me.
'Cause we moved together, I knew forever,
You're all I'll ever need

Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Would you be my partner every night?
When we're together, it feels so right.
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?