Highlights of Easter Sunday

 Cannon my Egg Head.

 Cannon hunting for Easter eggs.

 Brenna stretching for Easter eggs.

 Brooklyn working hard to fill her basket of Easter eggs!

 The only picture of all three looking and (half-heartedly) smiling at the camera.

 Brooklyn looked so adorable in her dress. And she did have shoes on before Church, and half way through, she decided to go barefoot. With a busy day at Church, I didn't protest.

 Brenna had a first today. It was a Testimony Meeting at Church, where those who felt compelled to share their thoughts, feelings, testimonies, voluntarily share them in front of the entire congregation. Brenna was one of those today. She bore her testimony of our Savior, His Church on the earth, and His prophet, President Monson. I was SO proud of her, and that she decided to all on her own.

 Cannon also spoke to a congregation... of young kids! He gave his first talk in Primary. It was on how Jesus Christ is our perfect example. He did a great job reciting what Dad was whispering in his ear. Although less authentic, I was still proud of how he composed himself and spoke clearly in the microphone!

 Once home, we took naps, and then dyed eggs. I first let the kids use a white crayon to make a hidden design, then splashed vinegar on them, and dropped and shook food coloring over them to get the tie-dye effect. The kids loved this! And I loved that each egg was different.

 Top 3 are Cannons, then the pink/purple ones are Brooklyn's, and then Brenna's are the bottom three.

For dinner, we "ate with Jesus". Sort of! I couldn't stomach making unleavened bread though! I gotta have some yeast. We grilled some fish, asparagus, ate fruit and rolls. We also decided to dine on the floor, just as they did in Jesus' time. And in a last minute flash of genius (or remembering what friends have done on Christmas Eve), I collected some candles, and lit them. We turned out all the lights, put some of the Mormon New Testament videos on our TV, and "ate with Jesus". The kids were much more reverent, and I think ate a better meal than they usually do. It was a perfect end to a great weekend. Happy Easter!

Easter Weekend Project

 Ryan couldn't relax on his four day weekend. He was dying to make something, saw something, sand something, (not paint something, that's my job!). So he decided to tackle the project of adding a wood casing to our doorway from our entry way to our living room. Above is the before.

A lot of my job was to keep the kids away. Hahaha, yeah right! But when there was something they could do, he'd let them jump in. Which about the only thing was to help sand down the wood putty. Cannon and Brooklyn took turns helping Ryan get the lower spots!

And here is the completed project! It looks fantastic. It really looks like it has been there all along... without the dents and the dings and possibly some misguided crayon coloring. Ok, it looks BETTER than it would if it had been there all along! He is very relieved to have this one done. But in the near weekend future, he will do the same thing to our doorway from this living room to our kitchen! Impressive, right?

Awkward Family Pose or Easter Egg Hunt?

Our friend does an annual Easter Egg Hunt and breakfast at her house. This year we had perfectly cooler weather, and plenty of friends and eggs. Once returning home and reviewing our pictures, I realized my kids were having a photogenically off day.  So I thought we could play a game of:

 "Awkward Family Pose"

or "Easter Egg Hunt"!!! 

You decide. See if our's match up!

Picture #1: A toss up?

 #2: A definite winner of Awkward Family Pose! Cannon was trying to balance chewing his candy, smiling for the camera, and talking to his buddy Brayden. Must have been too much for him! Ryan and I laughed ourselves to tears over this picture.

 #3: Easter Egg Hunt! Cannon and his friend Brayden are two peas in a pod, and had a fantastic time scavenging the yard for candy filled eggs.

 #4: A pause for nature

 #5: Easter Egg Hunt

 #6: Little Mermaid Sea Shell Pose or Sister Hug....?

 #7: Easter Egg Hunt! Although, I sifted through several "Awkward Pictures" of trying to get both of them to smile and look in the same direction at the same time!

#8: One BIG Awkward Group of Friends after the Easter Egg hunt!

Mother Daughter Tea Time

Well, really pink lemonade. Ryan had Good Friday off of work, and so I took that opportunity to have some one-on-one time with Brenna. It is a rare thing! I surprised her by pulling her out of school for lunch. We went to Inspirations Tea Room, which is a fancy, frilly, luncheon restaurant and gift shop. Brenna kept commenting on how fancy and nice everything was. We ordered lunch, dined, and had a great conversation. She loved everything about it. We even read the "inspirations" or scripture verse that is on each plate ordered. I love spending time with her, and getting to know the kind of person she is becoming!

Get thee hence, gall bladder

I have been having gall bladder issues. Gall bladder attacks. Feeling sick after eating. You know, the typical stuff. My last gall bladder attack happened on our first day driving home from Las Vegas. We were about 2 hours into the drive, in nowhere Arizona, and I knew I needed to find a bathroom. Quick. I have a phobia of vomitting in close proximity to people. In an ideal situation, I am all alone in my own recently cleaned bathroom, with a towel covering my eyes and nose and ears, to try to drown out the sights, sounds, and smells. High maintenance? Yeah, probably. I didn't have that luxary. I was stuck in a car filled with noisy kids, my mom, an anxious husband, and only a Target plastic bag to be any kind of recepticle. I curled up in the fetal position, tried to find a happy place, and wait for the next rest stop.

It took about an hour. We finally pulled over to a gas station. Not my ideal. I ran inside, and spent about 2 hours either hovering over or sitting on a not-so-recently-cleaned toilet. Which didn't help settle my stomach. I hobbled to the car, and waited about another hour and a half to find a grocery store to get some much needed medication. A location I spent another hour and a half in their bathroom.

After this experience, I gladly walked into the OU surgical center to have Dr. Babyface Kilgore take out my gall bladder. (Babyface is a compliment, he looks my age, but is a very well known surgeon in this area). Surgery went fine, anesthesia did not. I came out of it crying. And cried straight for a couple hours till it wore off. Don't ask me why, cause I dont' really know! The 2 days post-op were horrible. Which I found out after getting off the heavy drugs, my body doesn't like percocet! Once I was on Ibuprofen, I was MUCH better. We had great support from my mom, mom-in-law, friends, Church friends, and even my school sent me a card with everyone's well wishes (and happy thoughts). I got several batches of flowers, which some are still alive and bright today! My mom stayed till Thursday afternoon, and by then I was at least functional. Some good R&R over Conference weekend was just what the doctor ordered, and I was back at work the next week. It is amazing what your body can do. How fast it can heal. What medical advances make the rebound time minimal. My surgeon used a ROBOT to do my surgery. A robot. And my only incision was through my belly button. It is amazing what time we are living in and what medical advances we have.

Favorite Time of the Year

Once a year, for about two weeks, our wisteria blooms. When we finally arrived home from our long, LONG, drive back from Utah, we opened our back door to let Cupcake out - and a huge wave of delicious lavendar smelling wisteria blossoms flooded our kitchen. Our deck was covered with these gorgeous flowers. We spent a lot of time outside on our deck during those two weeks. I love spring (besides the allergies) for all of the new life.

My Favorite Part of the Trip

 We got to spend 3 days with my grand parents in Las Vegas! It was my favorite part of the trip. The first night, I just took Brenna and went with my parents over for dinner. Ryan stayed at the condos with an exhausted Cannon and Brooklyn for an early dinner and bedtime. Which I think was a great call! We got a quiet evening, visiting and eating a delicious meal with my parents and grandparents. The next night, we brought all of the kids over to visit.

 Thank goodness Grandma had a basket of toys! Cannon and Brooklyn did grant us some quiet time while they played with new toys. And thank goodness for their outdoor swing, and perfect weather for the kids, including Ryan, to swing. And pull funny faces!

These handsome men make me so happy! Do you see some family resemblence???

 Four generation photo. Priceless.

I love the whole family shot below. I couldn't convince my Grandma to get in front of the camera with me, and I didn't force her! I do wish I had a picture with her (HINT HINT GRANDMA WHO READS MY BLOG!!!)  But trust me, I know what its like when getting in on a picture is the last thing you want to do, and someone forces you. Soooo... I didn't force.

And finally, my favorite picture.

I was a little concerned that Cannon's intense enthusiasm for life would wear out my grandparents. He didn't ever hesitate jumping on my dad, wrapping his arms around his neck, and hanging on him like he was a monkey. I had a sit down with Cannon before going over to see his great-grandpa. I told him he had to be more gentle with Grandpa. He couldn't jump on Grandpa. And please, PLEASE, don't yell at their house!  I held my breath, and Cannon came through. More than I could have hoped for. He was so quite, and calm, and gentle. He would hold my Grandpa's hand as he walked around the house. At one point, my grandpa went back to his room to massage his feet, Cannon had to ask every single person "Where's Grandpa???" We showed him back to where Grandpa was resting, and he went and sat next to him quietly. It warmed my heart. I loved spending time with them, and so did my kids!