Mother's Day 2015

Everyone was so nice to me on Mother's Day this year. Maybe it was being 39 weeks pregnant and super swollen that just makes everyone feel bad for you so they are extra nice, or maybe it is because I have the sweetest husband and kids on the planet. Maybe it is some of both. 

Regardless, I felt so loved on Mother's Day. John surprised me with a yummy breakfast before church. Strawberry and cream cheese stuffed French toast. Delicious! John frequently makes comments about how I am such a better cook than he is, but it just isn't true. We learned how to cook together. In case you are wondering about making it, here is the link to the recipe. It is from my favorite recipe blog. Everything off this website is fantastic.

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/strawberries-and-cream-stuffed-french-toast/

Church was nice, but I was pretty distracted during the third hour when I started having contractions every two to five minutes. I was getting pretty nervous about needing to go to the hospital, but after coming home and lying down the contractions stopped.

I am so lucky to have my little family. My girls made me 29 Mother's Day cards!! On top of pampering me the whole day, John made me this little video as a surprise. I love their little responses! Unfortunately I don't actually take them to the park very often or teach them to swim. I am pretty good at dusting though. :)

Everyday fun!

I am trying to catch up in order to keep my blog in chronological order, but the last few weeks have been out of the ordinary due to the arrival of baby Holland. What a sweet baby! I have so much to say about her, but I do want to keep this in order.

I love our low-key family fun time. Going outside to play with bubbles has been an activity of choice recently. We have enjoyed the cooler weather in April and love going outside when we get a chance. It is also a good incentive for the kiddos to eat their dinner in a timely manner, if there is a fun activity to be had before bedtime.

That tummy is getting big! Only a couple of weeks to go!

John loves this picture because he caught on camera, one of "my looks." Whatever that means. :)

Beautiful Ellie girl! How did she grow up so fast?!

Spunky little Miriam! What a fun girl!

My little reader! Can't keep this girl supplied with enough books!

Miriam is starting to learn to read as well!

One afternoon Prince Caspian was a little bit too much for Miriam who fell asleep over her sister. Pretty funny because it shows how into the story that Ellie was that she let Miriam stay there long enough to fall asleep.

Big box from our first diaper order. They wanted to get shipped to Utah to visit grandparents and cousins. Miriam had just woken up from a nap in this photo, thus the grumpy face.

I love how well these two have been playing together recently. They really are best friends. *Knock on wood*

The Coolest Lip Sync Ever!

In case you are wondering if you are cooler than us, you are, and here is some evidence. :)  This is a result of a few long road trips listening to Disney songs for the kiddos. We really sing out in the car though. It is pretty painful--definitely better to not have filmed that. I love doing out-of-the-ordinary things for date night though. My favorite part is how pregnant I am while trying to play Anna. Ellie's favorite part is when we walk off at the end. So clearly this is pretty quality. Enjoy!

Easter 2015

Easter + General Conference = The Best Weekend Ever! Easter is one of those holidays that becomes more and more meaningful as I get older and (hopefully) more mature. I contemplate the Atonement more during the Easter season, and find myself pondering the Sacrament hymns more. When this is combined with the spiritual feast of General Conference, life really seems to mean more.

That being said, being a parent and watching your kids get so, so excited for the 'secular' meanings of Easter is pretty great too! I never thought that dyeing eggs could be so fun as with these girls! When you add in the excitement of having a chick-shaped marshmallow (a peep), they can hardly contain their happiness. :) 

We really do try to teach them the true meaning Easter though. We went to the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant. It portrays the life of Christ. It was a good experience, although I have to admit it was somewhat cheesy. The girls were pretty into it though, especially little Miriam. :) It did remind me how much I hate really big crowds though. I get a little I-hate-people crazy. Maybe I will blame it on pregnancy crazy? Yeah, that's it. :)

We did a bingo game with the girls for General Conference, which surprisingly lasted all five sessions. Ever since we moved to AZ we have watched Priesthood session as a family. It works. Eliza was pretty disappointed though that no one ever got black out. Next time...

Unfortunately, we missed the General Women's Meeting because John had a work dinner that night at his boss's house. We took advantage of my dad being in town and had him watch the girls. They loved it. Before he left to go back to Utah, he finally gave us a couple of his bowls. I told him that I felt like I was receiving my inheritance. Really though, he is so talented, and I love having his artwork in our home.