Easter 2011

(this years prize table)

Easter is always a big celebration time with our family.  We have a tradition where we have a big Easter egg hunt with several prizes to win.  The Francis family drove from Vegas to spend the week with us and to have this egg hunt.  It was sooo much fun to have them around.  

(Ashtyn and Branson)

All the kids got to hunt for their eggs outside.  We are lucky enough to be outside every few years.  Usually the weather is no good so we end up hiding eggs inside.

(Haylee)

Macy had a lot of fun finding her eggs.  She caught right on and enjoyed walking around looking for them.

Brigham

Our family getting ready to find out what prizes our eggs held.

Part of the family waiting for the reveal to start.  It usually takes us a few hours to get through it all.

Dying eggs with all the cousins.  Macy got into this too.  She thinks eggs are apples for some reason but other than that coloring the eggs went well.

Brigham getting creative.

The kids helping Macy see what was in her basket.  She really likes Curios George these days and watches Curios George 2 at least once a day.

Too much candy!!!

All the fun aside.  I am grateful for the Savior and his sacrifice for us.  We are truly lucky to know what we know and to be blessed with the gospel.

Haylee Gets Baptized

Saturday was a special day for Haylee.  She choose to get baptized.   We had a total of five from our ward that got baptized so there were a lot of neighbors and friends there.  It was a very nice day. 

 

After the baptism all the family came over to our house for some lunch.  Thanks to everyone who came and supported Haylee on her special day.  :)

{Haylee Turns 8}

Miss Haylee is finally 8.  She can hardly wait to grow up and having to wait ten days after Ashtyn's birthday is like torture for her.  We are excited to see her grow even if it has to be after her sis.  Her birthday fell on a Sunday this year (she so didn't think that was fair) so we compromised and celebrated two days in a row.   On Saturday we took her to the movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2. then we took her to the dollar store and out to eat.  It was a fun family day.  :)

 (Brigham is there too, he just refused to be photographed)

 Spinning her new hula hoop.

 A TON of new squinkies.  Yes, they are all over my house. 

 She picked her cake and candles, the 8 was just for keepsakes she said.

 Opening gifts on Sunday with Grandparents.

Cool new jacket complete with her name from Grandma and Grandpa.  Happy Birthday Haylee!!!

A few facts about Haylee:

• She is a girly girl!  Loves, makeup, fingernails, nail polish, dresses and dressing up.
• She goes the extra mile to try to look nice.  You alway know when Haylee is pleased with a particular look she has put together. 
• She loves gymnastics and goes to gym each week. 
• She can be feisty and likes to run the show.  She will tell it like it is which I admire about her because I am soooo the opposite of her.  I wish I had a little of that in me sometimes.
• She does really well in school and loves to read.  Dr. Suess books are her favorite as well as Junie B. Jones
• She loves white chocolate
• Favorite color is pink
• Loves to hang out with friends
• Is very loving with little kids and will take them aside and play with them

Double Digits

I still haven't wrapped my head around the fact that Ashtyn is ten!  I don't know how it happened but I guess I get to face reality.  She requested Orange Julius for breakfast so Scott actually got up early and made a few batches for everyone to enjoy.

 We let her open her gifts before school.  She got Pixos, wimpsy pets, an oragomi book and a new set of Scriptures and a body pillow.

 All of the kids are distracted by Curios George on tv.  Ha ha

We also let the kids eat cupcakes for breakfast (gasp!)

 At school we delivered balloons and a treat and then after school we took her to Wingers.

 I had to throw this shot in of Macy for memories sake.  She hasn't been feeling too well and was soooooo grumpy while we were there.  She ran away and was trying to hide from us to show her disgust.

 Grandma and Grandpa Ricks show up at Wingers to give Ashtyn her gifts.  They gave her a summer outfit, new earrings and a card game. 

 After dinner the plan was to go to Mars Needs Moms at the Theatre but out of all the days they had canceled the show for some stupid BYU game (yes, I used stupid and BYU game in the same sentence)  We had to think fast and the next best option was to let the kids do arcade games.  See how thrilled Macy is to be on this ride?  She was terrified!

We got pretty good at Skiball and all the kids were able to buy a few dorky toys to bring home from all the tickets we earned.  There was a lady there that was earning thousands of tickets playing one game.  I have never seen anything like it.  Lets just say she was able to buy the PS3 with all of her points she earned. Too bad she probably spent $600 to get her $300 game.  LOL.  It was a great day.  Happy Birthday Ashtyn.  We love you.

For Memory Sake, here are a few things about Ashtyn D.

• Her favorite food is Popcorn
• Her favorite candy is pixie sticks
• Favorite Movie is Despicable Me
• Her favorite color is blue
• She is in 4th grade
• She loves crafts & sewing
• Still enjoys hanging with the family
• Would rather chill with the adults than play with kids
• She loves to ride horses with Grandpa in the mountains
• She likes to read
• She likes to pester her siblings! (she is fighting me on this one)
• She has a very cute giggle, she is funny, silly and goofy.

{Valentines Day}

I left my camera at my Mom's house so this if the first I have had a chance to blog about our 2011 Valentines. As usual we had our Vday Hotel stay and the kids enjoyed some swim time. Every Monday we have FHE out at my parents house and this year Valentines landed on Monday so we spent Valentines out there. I was in charge of the meal that night so I decided to go fancy and make Chicken Cordon Bleu,salad and asparagus. We also had fancy pink drinks and ate via candlelight. It was a fun evening acting all fancy for a change.
I am too lazy to label all the photos so I will just explain, some are of the hotel stay, some are of their Vday gifts, and some from the dinner. Enjoy the love...

Awesome Clothes

I came across this website and really like their clothes.  Sometimes I get tired of shopping the same stores so this was a fun find.

New Years Party

We sent 2010 out with a bang.  I put together a small little party for our little family to enjoy.  We played Xbox Kinect for a few hours.

We ate lots of yummy snacks including chocolate fondue and bubbly.

Of course we had to carry on the tradition of silly string. 

Brigham got hammered.

We discovered our new favorite game.  Make n' Break.  You have to build the blocks to match cards as you flip them over.  Each card has a point value based on how hard it is and you get different times on your turn.  It was addicting and all of us could play it.  Highly recommend this one.

We are looking forward to another good year.  2010 was good to us but we are ready to say goodbye and see what 2011 has in store for us. 

~Happy New Year!~