Easter

 Easter fun!

We made yummy Rice Krispie eggs.  

The girls had so much fun eating and giggling while making this easy dessert.

We are definitely going to add this to our list of Easter traditions.

The girls and I dyed 4 dozen hard boiled eggs.

Rylie was finished in about 4 minutes.  She colored most of them the same color. 

 She splashed dye everywhere and also cracked an egg. 

 Love that girl.

Dru and Liv took their time and were so creative.  It was fun to see what they came up with.

 

Easter morning began with an Easter egg hunt.  We had one basket in the middle of the room so they had to work as a team and collect all the eggs.  (This way makes for a lot less tears)  It took Owen about 30 seconds to get the idea and then he was off.  It was SO fun to watch him!

Before we left for church I made everyone go outside and take a few photos.

Their must have been magic in the air because everyone was happy and cooperative for every picture! 

After church we went to the Martins to wish them a happy easter.

They had a darling stuffed animal for each of the kids tied with some candy.  Thank you!

We spent some time chatting on their amazing new back deck.  I know we will be spending a lot of time their this summer.  We then of course took some more pics.

Then we went to my parent's house for dinner and more easter fun.

My mom planned a fun easter scavenger hunt with some sweet surprises at the end.

The adults did not leave empty handed either. It was awesome!!  Thank you!

She also did a resurrection egg hunt.  My dad read from the scriptures and we learned about the true meaning. It was so wonderful to all be together.  That never gets old!  

My mom made these chocolate egg favors and had one on everyone's plate.

She is so great at mixing fun and the true meaning on special holidays.

our big break

We stayed close to home for spring break.....and made the most of it.

Here are the highlights:

General Conference

 Ryan and I love conference!  My girls have grown to love it too.

We watch every session together as a family.

There is nothing more inspiring, peaceful, thoughtful and encouraging.

Owen got a haircut.  

He watched Toy Story and never made a peep the whole time.

What a stud.

We went to see Big Miracle (it was ok) and then to the park with Gma Kathy.

She was a good sport.  We almost blew away!

 Dru also went on a special date with Gma and Gpa Martin.

They went out to dinner and did a little shopping at H&M.  

She is wearing one of her new tops and hair clips in the pic above.

She had so much fun and loves her new things!

It also SNOWED during the break. (all over my beautiful blossom tree)

Luckily it only stayed for the day.

Dru bought a balloon making kit with her own money.

I thought it was a waste of money and tried to persuade her not too.

I thought this would be a great lesson on spending money wisely.

The darn thing actually turned out to be a fun purchase.  We all

had a blast making fun animals, flowers and swords.  

Winston came over which means we get into fort making mode. Owen was in heaven.

Dru made this great fort below.  Everyone fit inside.....for about 2 minutes.

We went swimming 3 times.  This trip we took Winston and Liv's cute friend Kamryn.

We did a lot of rollerblading inside and outside.

I also attempted making bread for the first time all on my own.  My awesome friend Lisa gave me a great tutorial last week.  My bread is far from perfect but my kids still loved it.  I will definitely give it another try.

Found this video on the computer last night.

I love Olivia.

NINE

Look who's 9!

Dru's birthday started out with a fun breakfast with her dad. 

Love that tradition.

It made for an early morning, but was worth all the effort.

I met Dru for lunch that day at her school with a treat for her class.

It was fun to be with her on her own turf.  She gave me a huge and super long hug when I left.  

I soaked it all in because those days of hugging mom in public may end at some time.  

Hopefully not.

Later than night Dru opened her gifts.

Much needed new blue Converse.

She wears those things almost EVERYDAY!

Some cool Taylor Swift stuff

A new poster to add to her already COVERED walls in her bedroom

Grandma and Grandpa Martin came over to bring her their gift. 

It was a beautiful set of barrettes from Nordstrom.

She was also promised a fun dinner out and a little shopping.

So fun!  Dru was super excited!

We then went to Literacy Night at the school.

I can't believe wanted to go due to her lack of love when it comes to reading.  

I gave her the choice of any activity and this is what she chose.

I think these 2 cute friends may have had something to do with her decision.

Next we were off to Yogurt Stop.  It is Dru's favorite place for a fun treat.

{I guess it is not Owen's fav}  :)

Finally, we stopped at Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Steve's house.

Dru was surprised with an amazing new camera!  She was thrilled!  She kept saying, "I can't believe I have my own camera!"  I was thinking the same thing!!  She has been snapping pics constantly ever since. She LOVES it!

Dru was pretty spoiled (gifts, thoughtful emails, texts and phone calls) on her birthday, but every other day of the year I feel we are spoiled by her.

She brings so much joy to our lives.

I love you miss druby.

GREEN DAY

We woke up to a little crazy leprechaun mischief.   Our waffles and milk were green.  Shoes were hanging from the chandelier and barstools were on top the counter.  The girls searched through all their clothes and came up with their favorite matching gumball shirts.  Perfect.

Ryan took Rylie bowling.  We played outside a lot.   We had a green salad bar and green jello for dinner  with green shamrock rice krispie treats for dessert.  Ryan and Dru went to the REAL soccer game with a good buddy and his cute daughter that night.  

 It was a fun day full of green.  

My favorite part was watching Rylie try on a million outfits with green!

{outfit #298}

We celebrated Ryan's Grandpa's 90th birthday last weekend.  

We call him Peanut.  Isn't that great?

It was quite a celebration.  Family came in from all over the world to honor this amazing man.

We started the party with a lovely lunch at Market Street Grill.

We then took the party over to a huge home that the family rented.  We ate again, had a talent show, played games and chatted until way too late.  It was really fun.

This family is super close.  I love that.  It is so great for my family to be apart of a greater family that truly loves and respects each other.  

Thank you Peanut!

 A little photo session before the birthday lunch.

 Cute Peanut!

 Amazing Adrienne!

She spent HOURS & HOURS putting together 2 videos and an incredible book 

celebrating Peanut's life.  Love that girl!

 Yep, 90 candles.

 Darling Rayne who flew all the way from London! 

Could this weekend get any better?  Nope.  It was pretty perfect.

 Our family. 

A picture of the whole family was taken.  I will have to get a copy to post.  

There are a lot of wonderful people in this family.

  Aunt Debra and cousin Lucy were in town for the birthday and came over to make some pretty cool clay creations.  My girls love stuff like this. I wish I had snapped a pic while they were here.  

We LOVE them!