Easter Sunday 2012

Easter tradition in our house is to search around the house to find your basket. Rachael was the first to spot them this year. Then it's soon followed by an egg hunt around the house. These eggs are filled with candy and money. 

Next tradition is Stake Conference. I actually really enjoy having Stake Conference on Easter and the kids were very well behaved, thankfully... We were sitting behind the bishop and his family :)

Following church I began our traditional 'Easter Feast'. Honey Baked Ham, funeral potatoes, candied yams, homemade rolls and a delicious strawberry and pecan salad. YUM!

Mum, Dad and Beth joined us along with their dear friends Debbie and Tony Twigger. They were here for a couple weeks visiting from England.

After we stuffed ourselves full we took to the outdoors and enjoyed the beautiful sun and surroundings. We took a nice long enjoyable walk around our neighborhood.

We relaxed outside after our walk to cool down and had a quick and thoughtful Easter lesson.

This wonderful Easter idea I got from Pintrest and the kids really enjoyed it.

 Following dessert the kids were tumbling around on the trampoline and Rachael's hair was so full of static it was straight up in the air. 

We love our holiday traditions and being able to spend them with great family and friends!

Spring Break 'stay-cation' - Tuesday

I didn't know what to title this post as it is about all sorts of random things.

I spent the first part of the afternoon with Rachael seeing an Allergy/Immunology doctor. She has ongoing skin and asthma problems that needed to be sorted out. It was quite a long appointment and one particular test proved some results. A skin allergy test on her back is what you can see from the pictures below (taken with my camera while she was wiggly from trying to scratch). Number 14 & 16 are Cashews and Pistachio Nuts. We knew she had an allergy to pistachio nut as she had a reaction just after putting one to her lips a couple Christmases ago. After 15 minutes the welts were huge (seen on the far right picture after the pen was wiped off) She has a severe allergy to tree nuts. Particularly these two. With new plans and prescriptions we hope to get things under control soon. 

 There is a story I didn't want to forget about the tile picture above. While waiting at the doctors office we were playing I Spy and other color games. While pointing out the colors on the floor she said "I Spy Bread". Huh? Bread? It took a few minutes until she pointed to the tan color on the floor. Oh, I see, bread color... I guess I need to teach her the color tan or light brown. Very clever that she associated the tile with bread. Even the texturing fit her description :)


Once we finally made it home my mom stopped by with gifts for the kids from Disneyland. The kids were so thrilled and loved them. After visiting with grandma for awhile we had dinner and then headed outside. It was beautiful. Both Josh and Rachael pulled up all the weeds in my garden bed. I dug them up and they pulled them out, root and all. It was fantastic!

Here they are with their buckets full to the rim. I do not help fill their buckets one bit, they did that all themselves. Joseph sat on the side with his new toy and watched.

They were awarded afterwards. I let them eat their suckers from Disneyland while they made funny faces at the camera. They look so comfortable in front of the camera :)

Just before the sun set I agreed to take them to the park across the street. It was a fab filled day!

Spring Break 'Stay-cation' - Wheeler Farm

Spring Break came at a great time for us. We are all past the horrible sickness and it warmed up (well at least for the first 3 days). Yesterday we took a trip to Wheeler Farm. It was a gorgeous day. The kids came away nice and tanned and me, well, i'm now sporting a serious farmers tan :)

We first ate lunch while the kids played on a fun tree house park.

The first animals we ran into where these 2 geese above. Josh and Jayce were so intrigued with them and I swear the geese liked to be chase by kids, it was so funny to watch them. They were definitely used to people and children.

The animals were all very interactive. Rachael loved the baby pigs, goats and sheep. 

The sheep and geese were very vocal. The boys would make a sheep like sound and soon enough all of the sheep were calling out to them. I think they were quite amused.

Joseph loved the chickens and the bird pond. He was quiet most the time we were there until we reached these, then he became very vocal and his legs pumped in excitement.
The blossoming trees were gorgeous!

The best part is that this farm is free! We did pay $2.00 for a wagon ride and you can also pay to milk a cow (we might try this next time).

We all had such a great time and I am so glad my great friend Kari and her kids joined us!

These pictures crack me up!