Easter

Easter--it's become my favorite holiday. It's more simpler and quieter than Christmas and more focused on Christ life, death, and resurrection. 

 Here we are at the Easter pageant at the Mesa temple. This was my first time at any pageant. The weather was awesome. You have to go a few hours earlier to get a seat. We went with Madi, our new GM for BB. We laid down a blanket, had a dinner picnic and played UNO until it started.

 A week prior I have a little devotional about the days leading up to Christ death and resurrection. I've done this for a few years now and the repetition is starting to pay off. Next year, I'd like to audition for the pageant with Jordyn and Sydney so they can have that experience and further know the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 They wanted to take pictures with some of the cast. A wise man above and soldier below.

 Easter Sunday. We said nothing of the Easter bunny. They know that I get them stuff and it was only Sunday stuff that I put in their Easter baskets. New church outfit, a Sunday bag with new colored pencils, an activity book, and notebook, church talks on CD, church book, and a "mom and me" journal - to write letters/notes back and forth to one another.

 Our church starts at 8am so it takes a lot to rush out the door.

 Love the girls together

 Levi is so handsome in his new shirt and tie.

 Great Grandma Marianne sent Macie's dress to her for her birthday. It is super cute.

 We dyed easter eggs of course. That's tradition.

 macie wasn't sure what to do with it....

 at first, but then she would lift it up and then bang it on the tray.

 and then pick off the cracked shell. I had to take it away because she still puts everything in her mouth.

 Easter dinner we had Madi over. She just moved here from Lubbock. No friends or family so I wasn't about to let her eat alone on her first holiday away from her family. The kids love her and I'll blog another post about the latest with Bahama Buck's.

Macie turn 1

To sound like a broken record, "I can't believe Macie is 1. This past year has gone by sooo fast." On her actual birthday we took her to Bahama Buck's and she had her first shaved ice--birthday cake no less with sprinkles. The crew sang her Happy Birthday. She took a bite and you would've thought she was tasting a lemon. She didn't like it so Sydney, Jordyn, and Levi gladly ate the rest of it.

 A week later Brooke and her kids came to visit with my mom for their Spring break. Macie and Finn bonded when drinking milk together or when we made them touch like with this picture below. A lot of swimming, playing, drinking smoothies we made at Bahama Buck's, and rollerskating were some fun things we did. The quote of the week was:
Levi: "Parker how old are you?"
Parker: "13"
Levi: "Then why do you pick your nose?"
It was hilarious and Parker spent the rest of the time here asking every adult if they pick their nose to prove Levi that everyone does.

 Macie seems to like girls better than boys and since Brooke only has 1 daughter she was Macie's preferred than the boys. Macie didn't want anything to do with Parker!

 We had a small birthday party for Macie. We made it a pool party, although the pool was still pretty cold. The Neeley's and Theurer's came over. We had a snowball fight, pizza, and cake. Of course I asked a lot of family and friends to write a letter to her that I plan to save until she turns 16.

Oh yeah, part of the snowball fight. The snowballs were a little hard and actually hurting the kids. Oops.

 It took Macie a few minutes to warm up to the cake. But once she felt comfortable with the texture of it she started stuffing her face.

 Gotta suck it allll off my fingers

 Then I smashed the girls faces in the cake and they all thought that was really fun.

 Macie opening some gifts. Jen hooked her up with an ENTIRE wardrobe. seriously.

and a picture of us together to prove that I was there. I was gonna go into the pool until I stepped on the first step and felt how cold it was. It was a fun week and glad that some family could celebrate with us because we had no family with Jordyn or Levi's 1st birthday. The cons of living far away.

railroad park

 Over spring break we visited Railroad park in Scottsdale. It was really neat and it was fun to get outta the house and do something that wasn't associated with Bahama Buck's. The kids have been such good sports with Jeff and I being extremely busy, stressed, tired, and everything else. We went with our friends, the Kieta's.

 They have a little train that goes around the park.

 We also enjoyed a carousel ride.

 They also had a bunch of old tools to make railroads.

 A park with a bunch of swings and a playground. Macie loves swinging.

 The kids in the railroad museum.

 Levi learning and practicing his Morse Code skills.

Jordyn using a telephone.

 Then there was Pres. Roosevelt's train he used that the public can walk through.  Sydney taking a rest in the formal dining room on the train.

 All the kids posing and climbing on a statue there.