What the snow?

I planned a super fun adult, couples Easter egg hunt - in the dark for the weekend of Easter... Surprise! We woke up to this....

 For real? I saw the weather forecast, but I thought maybe some in the benches, maybe some rain.. Not full on winter! I really think this is the second time all season Kyle shoveled, and maybe the second time he wore pants ;) -instead of shorts

Sadly I had to cancel. We literally had 7 inches in our backyard and decided it would be too hard to find eggs, considering we could just throw them and they would be lost.

Only in Utah can you turn on your heater and ac in the same week.

Preparing for Easter Sunday

I have a friend who shared a list of activities to do leading up to Easter. We started a bit late and didn't get to finish them all but LOVED doing the ones we did. It was such a great way to teach them. Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures, or good ones at that... But here is an idea of what we did!

 Day 1: I hid an egg with a boat in it. (I just cut it out of the foam paper and drew on it with permanent marker. The kids went hunting and found it. We got an old mouthwash bottle, filled half of it with water, then Kalel put blue food coloring in, put in the boat (it floated) and then filled the rest with water. We learned about Jesus calming the seas with his disciples. Then we practiced calming the waves in our bottle and saw how it was not easy to make them stop immediately.  

Day 2: I hid 2 eggs each with a picture of a donkey and some leaves. We talked about Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We talked about how much the people loved and respected him to put down cloths and leaves before him. (no pictures)

 Day 3: I hid two eggs and each had a blindfold in it. (they were pretty big eggs) The kids put them on and tried to walk around and experienced what it would be like if their eyes didn't work! We then had a lesson about Jesus healing a blind man and talked about what it was like when the blindfold came off.

 This is what Laylah looked like at the end, she was peeking out the bottom :)

 Day 4: I hid a couple of eggs and there were little pieces of soap in them. We talked about how kings usually act, how they have servants etc. We talked about Jesus being the King of all Kings and I asked Kalel if he thought he would have his disciples serve him, he said no. Then we talked about Jesus washing their feet and how it is good to serve others.

 They put on their crowns and washed their own feet in a bowl.

 They loved it. I got Laylah cleaned up and sent upstairs a couple of times, but kept finding her here again...

 Day 5: I hid two eggs, each had 2 goldfish and 5 pieces of bread. We of course talked about Jesus feeding the crowd with only 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. Kalel loved this story and they enjoyed their little snack.

 Day 6: I was supposed to do this the night before but we had a last minute party at my parents :) So Easter morning the kids found eggs with blank papers and crayons in it. We talked about Jesus dying on the cross and then they colored and I wrote how that made Kalel feel. I believe it was Sad, and I'll never come out of my room until HE comes back to life. We then buried them in the dirt in the front yard.
Meanwhile we made 'Resurrection rolls'. Basically you get crescent rolls (cloth that Jesus was wrapped in), marshmallow (Jesus - pure and white), dip the marshmallow in butter (embalming oils), dip in cinnamon sugar (spices used for burial), wrap it up in crescent roll (wrapping Jesus' body), then put it in the oven (tomb)
We then ran upstairs to get ready!
When we opened the oven (tomb) and pulled apart the rolls there was an empty hole where the marshmallow had been, He is Risen! I realized as I ate mine on the way to church that I needed a picture. You cannot tell what it is, but it's all I've got!
When we got home and changed our clothes we checked on our eggs which were no longer buried and the papers with the sad words were gone - leaving an empty egg - because He is Risen!

These were all so much fun to do! It was great to teach my kids about Jesus leading up to this holiday. And I'm looking forward to doing the same or similar ones next year, and I'm sure throughout the year too!

"Does your hair look like a triceratops!?"

My kids love to brush my hair. I actually like it too! This particular time brought some highly entertaining dialogue. Here are a few things Kalel said while he was brushing my hair. 

Enjoy...

 - Mom, this is so pretty, no one ever seen so gorgeous. Does it look like a triceratops? (ha ha ha, so that was the look he was going for...) 

 - Is this how you did your hair for your wedding reception? (it is all combed up and crazy..) 

 - Mom, if I was born before your wedding reception I would do your hair like this. 

 - Don't worry, I'll do your hair like this tomorrow and you can go to your friends and they'll think you're so pretty.

 - There we go! All done, you look gorgeous! 

Let's Go Fly a Kite

We spent a lovely day at the park with my sister Sara. Hannah got a kite for her birthday so we went to check it out! 

 I loved watching these two. Laylah kept holding her hand and leading her to the slides. She was so happy to be with her! If you saw my last post, after I made my friend a skirt I liked it enough to make one for Laylah too. Only I added some lace to the bottom of hers. So fun to have a girl to dress up!

 Here is Gabe flying Hannah's cute fairy kite. 

 MELTS MY HEART 

 Each of the kids had a turn, while Sara helped. 

Before the park I went to Ikea and bought some shelfs for my last 'major' project downstairs. Then after we played at the park we picked up Jason, Kalel's cousin. 

These kids had a blast spending the weekend together. Jason didn't care much for my cooking, I even tried to make it more 'normal'. But he was sure hungry by the time he went home :) Kalel loved having Jason over for a couple of days. 

 They jumped in the pool...

 Then warming up in the sun.

 Swinging on the teeter totter.

 And taking one last dip before snacking on a veggie tray. 

Here are a couple more pictures of this crazy lady. 

 Can you say wild? She just play and plays until she crashes. I don't mind as long as she stays in her room. The second one though was just outside my bedroom door. I could hear her but chose to ignore her since she was supposed to be sleeping. When I finally went out, this is what a saw.

She sure is cute though!

One more. Kyle took the kids on his run with him so I could just finish the dishes and pack snacks  in peace :) Kalel rode right by him on his bike! He loves when he can ride his bike and keep up with Daddy on his runs. 

Seriously???

One more thing to note on that same day was as I was getting ready to pack the car to go to the party Kalel came in and said, "Mom come here. You've gotta check this out!" Ok. What is it? "Just come see." I went out to the driveway where he proceeded to jump on his bike (with no training wheels) and take off down the street! What!? We did not teach him, seriously. He had been riding a bike with training wheels but Kyle took them off before Texas. We didn't have the bike in Tx so when we pulled it out Kyle said it was just too small his knees would hit the handle bars when he turned. Well Kalel didn't let that stop him. He just taught himself! Ha ha, he would. This is my child who potty trained himself, taught himself to ride a bike and now is trying to learn how to read. I'm not pushing that one, but I'll work with him whenever he wants and he always surprises me. He will not be held back by anyone!  A bike is top on the list for his upcoming birthday.

A few days later I looked out the window to see this. It made me smile! This is Kalel and his friend Josh on their bikes.

A Tribute

I forgot to post about this because I somehow didn't take my own pictures... so I lovingly stole them from my sister and cousin. 

There is one person who can bring tears to my eyes every time I think about him. That would be my Grandpa Phil. Words cannot express how much I treasure my memories of him. He was an INCREDIBLE man. And one who blessed the lives of MANY. Along with the love of his life, Elma. Sadly she had a stroke which took her short term memory and the movement in the left side of her body. Therefore, I did not get to know her very well. She passed away when I was around 12? However I have been hearing more stories about her lately which make me fall in love with her too :) She was spunky, danced in the kitchen, funny, kind and oh how I can't wait to get to know her more! My Grandpa passed away shortly after I got married. He told me he wouldn't miss my sealing for anything. Again with the tears.. He sat in the corner of that sealing room of the temple in his wheelchair. It meant a lot to have him there. He was one of the most giving men I have ever known. He was kind, gentle, funny, honest, hard - working (I mean cutting down trees with a chainsaw when he was 80ish?) He drove a red 69' convertible mustang, with a license plate that said - Get in, Sit down, Shut up, and Hold On! He also drove a dune buggy up and down steep hills while I screamed in terror and excitement!

Well Grandpa and Grandma - You will be happy to know we will never forget you. And we still LOVE being together as a family. 

During my girls weekend with my Mom & sister, we decided it had been far to long since we had seen our cousins. So we planned a get together for anyone who could make it. Each year our family (my Mom's kids) celebrate my Grandparents on my Grandpa's birthday - St. Patrick's Day. He used to take all of his kids and grandkids to Disney on Ice every year for his birthday, another great memory! 

 Danielle and I.

 Another part of our tradition is to let off green balloons with hopes they will get to them :)

 We got green for Grandpa and pink for Grandma. It was quite a site to see all 6 dozen ballons go up higher and higher until we couldn't see them anymore. And yes I cried right there with my Mom and Aunts. I just can't help it when it comes to my Grandpa! I don't cry hard, just have tears in my eyes :)

 These two were 'my cousins' growing up. McCall is 2 years older and Emily is 1 year older. I always looked up to them and have so many great memories with them! We always begged our parents for sleepovers every time we saw each other. And stayed together wherever we were.

 So pretty :)

 These are all the Richards girl cousins who were there. (And Stevie :)

 Laylah and Lily on the swing.

Thank you to everyone who made the trip out to participate. It was so great to see everyone and to be able to share in the Legacy of our grandparents!

Cousin Lovin'

We celebrated Hannah's 3rd birthday at my parents house. 

We started it off with some multi-colored cupcakes!  So so fun, and not too time consuming.

 I then put them together and made a caterpillar. Thank you pinterest. Very easy and super cute. The kids loved it.

 I made Hannah a purse with a matching purse for her baby.

I also made this little outfit for my friend Jamie's baby. So sad I forgot to take a picture. I'm so happy she came to see us 1 1/2 weeks after delivery. Oh my tiny, I may or may not have cried a bit while holding her. I just can't take it. Those little ones have so much control over my heart :) Excited for whenever we are blessed with #3

 

My cute sister Sara put together goodie bags for the kids. Laylah spilled her nerds all over. But that didn't stop her, she just laid down kicked up her feet and picked them up one by one - eating them of course. 

 Sara also made these adorable crowns for the kids. Mine have gotten a lot of use out of them. They wore them to the grocery store, running errands and around the house.

While drinking milk and bouncing on balls as you saw above :)

We love love love living close to family and being able to participate in all the big and small festivities. My kids are in love with their cousins. 

Our First Garden

I have always wanted to plant a garden, but we have been out of state every year living in apartments, hotels etc. ! But not this year!! We are finally in a house with a large spot to plant a garden. Kyle took off a few hours from campaigning which was much appreciated! Since I pretty much have no experience! Kalel was so excited to help plant the seeds, he helped for a bit then decided he had helped enough.

Here is our garden plot while I'm beginning to pull out the big weeds.
I brought in a little help :)
Then I recruited the real muscle.. This tiller was great. However we found that the soil here is really hard, kind of like clay. It took a long time.
Laylah got bored and discovered some ants living in our front yard.
This position was cracking me up.

Here is it now! There is something starting to peek up through the ground in the third row.. unfortunately I forgot to label! We just have 4 rows of the cold crops for now. Spinach, radishes, beets, green onions and I have some broccoli to add now. Let's just say I was really tired after working on the garden all morning / afternoon. But it is very exciting! I'm am very nervous since I have NO CLUE what I'm doing. Kyle grew up helping in the garden and his Mom lives a few minutes away and she is a Master Gardner so we at least have help and support!

How to make a bench / couch thingy

I wanted to have a place to sit in my front room, I got my inspiration from pintrest (of course) however I could not find a tutorial anywhere! So I just figured it out. Here's a few pictures, eventually I'll make a tutorial.

Step 1: 16 Pallets - in an L shape
We needed some to fill in the corner, so Kyle built them. I had to take a picture of him sawing pieces for me... and his huge calves ;)

Step 2: Spray paint a metallic silver

Step 3: Cut boards to fit top

Step 4: Create the seat. Boards, foam, fabric and staples.
Step 5: Put it all together and enjoy!
Now for pillows... I've finished two out three. I made the third, but I don't love it. So I've got some work to finish it up.

I wanted to keep them simple.

Pillow One: I used a permanent marker and wrote the words of the song Kyle and I danced to when he proposed. (Kalai - Divide Me) I made the chorus bold so it would stand out a bit.

Pillow 2:

I love crowns, so I found an image online - projected it onto my pillow and traced it. It was pretty intricate, but it was my favorite one that I found.
I hadn't quite finished sewing it when I took this picture.

Pillow 3: It is just a simple gathered pillow. I'm not thrilled with how it turned out... so I'm still deciding how to finish it up.

I'm very happy with how it all turned out! I love creating things in my head and then bringing them into reality! It makes me happy.