Happy Easter

Dyeing the Easter Eggs

(I'm not sure what these faces mean, but we had a good time.)

Abi and Tal look smashing in their new Easter outfits. Cheeeeeeeeese!!!
Abi, Tal and cousin Walker made a haul at Grandma Hayes's.

With Easter's early arrival we thought we'd be hunting eggs in the snow but enough grass was peeking out for us to have a few egg hunts. We dyed our eggs as a family on Friday night. We had some really vivid eggs and the kids loved decorating them with the stickers as well. Sunday morning the Easter Bunny visited our house bright and early to hide the eggs and baskets. Abi and Tal are terrific finders. They received those little individual cereal boxes of the kinds mom never buys (Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs etc.), candy and a new Liken movie to share. This one is Nephi and Laban. We really enjoy these movies for Sunday movie watching. Abi and Tal looked adorable in their Easter outfits. After church we went to Grandma Hayes for a family dinner and an egg hunt. Then at 4:00 we went to Nana and Papa Fife's for dinner and another egg hunt. I made the traditional Bunny Cake made famous by my late Grandma Rock. Unfortunately I didn't take a pic. The kids received so much candy. Hopefully they will eat it quickly because jelly beans and Easter candy are my favorite and it doesn't last long in my sight.

Joining the ranks of the Soccer Mom

Finally, we have succumbed to the minivan madness. With the upcoming arrival of "the Littlest Meek" or "Sweetie" as we call her, we had to expand. You just can't fit three car seats in the back of a Maxima. We had been looking for months and finally found the one for us, a 2005 Chevrolet Uplander. We bought our last car just a year after we were married so we have been driving our cars for 7 & 8 years and 80,000 miles. I am soooooooo excited to have my van. It has power sliding doors which I love and a DVD player which the kids love, though they have been lectured that it is only for longer trips and special occasions. Our other cars were 12 and 16 years old respectively so our Uplander has bells and whistles I didn't even know existed. I feel sooooooo spoiled. I drive like a grandma, "don't touch my van." But I must admit, when I was running errands while the kids were in school I felt a little lonely all by myself in a van. A big THANK YOU to my wonderful husband who works so hard to take good care of us.

The Big 30!!!

Kris turned 30 on February 24th but due to family illnesses we weren't able to celebrate until Monday. Earlier in the month when Tal had been picking the kind of birthday cake he wanted (Transformers), Kris piped up that he wanted a "Dwight Shrute Bobble Head" cake and that I would be the coolest wife if I could do that. Kris and I are big fans of the sit-com the Office and so I took on the challenge while he brushed the thought aside. I went online and found this bobble head that I knew he had to have. I could barely contain my anticipation in the weeks that followed until his birthday. Tal almost spoiled it by telling Kris that something had come in a box for his birthday but I would not give even one little hint.
On Saturday before his birthday I took him out to dinner and a show at the Theatre Factory here in town. But when his birthday passed without a cake and receiving "his box," Kris was mystified. So on Monday I made his cake and hid it downstairs, then invited our neighbors the Thompsons, to join us for the suprise. After Kris's birthday dinner of Seafood Alfredo Fettucine we were cleaning up the dishes when the Thompson's knocked on the door. I quickly ducked downstairs and grabbed the cake so when I reached the dining room we shouted "Happy Birthday." Kris was dumbstruck. Literally, all he could say was "That is sooo cool. That is sooooo cool." I was thrilled to have suprised him. After singing "Happy Birthday" we dove into the cherry and chocolate chip devil's food cake. YUM!!! He was thrilled with his cake and especially his bobble head that now has a special place on his desk at work.