Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter 2011

We took a bit of a different route for Easter this year. Normally for Easter we load up a ton of goodies into baskets for the girls and buy them new dresses for Sunday. This year we decided to shift their attention more towards an Easter of gratitude. Ü We made sure the girls understood the true meaning of why we celebrated Easter (or any holiday) and how thankful we must be for the sacrifice that was made on our behalf by our Savior and more importantly to know and understand that He Lives!

We did plan on having an Easter Egg Hunt but with our busy weekend and having family in town...that got pushed to the back burner. What surprised me, was that our kids didn't even mention it! It kind of made me think that maybe the Easter hullabaloo that I tend to get wrapped up into...is more for me. Ü Well, I did decide to make little goody bags for the girls and for their cousins. It ended up being just the right amount of goodies for them and they really enjoyed it.
After church on Sunday, we headed over to grandma & grandpa's house. The food is always good. My hard-working hubby had to cover for someone at work that evening so he had just enough time to fill up on his favorites before packing up some lunch and heading to work. So thankful once again for all that he does for us. We sure did miss him when he left. Ü
After dinner, we had cake and ice cream for dessert and spent the rest of the evening hanging out, chatting and having the kids pester me to take silly photos of them jumping in motion. :) Happy Easter.

Out & About

My little cousin, Sonne, is visiting from Samoa for the first time and we decided to take him, my other little cousin Stephan and our girls out on Friday. A lot of the super fun (for Utah lol) places are still closed here because of the cold weather so we opted for a trip to Chuck E' Cheese. As soon as we arrived, the kids were antsy to start playing the games...especially Sonne! I told them they couldn't play until we ate so they quickly gobbled down pizza and chicken wings before grabbing their tokens to start playing. Sonne wanted to play every single game and he couldn't get enough of the monster truck ride. :)
After the tokens were done and the tickets collected, we turned them in for a few dinky prizes and headed over to our girls' favorite park. Down the slide they went and up the stairs and ladders. Over to the swings they swung as high as they could til their tummies began to tickle. They chased each other through the play buildings, laughing and giggling all along the way.
After about an hour of playing, we heard music from what we thought was an ice cream truck. But this wasn't just any ole' ice cream truck...it was the So Cupcake ice cream truck! So Cupcake is a place that I discovered here in Utah when I was trying to find a cupcake cake for Mady's 4th birthday. Their gourmet cupcakes and cakes are delicious! The chocolate cupcake was a favorite amongst us that day. I chose the regular and the kids thought the mini's were fun. Ü
After our delicious cupcake treats we headed over to the store to scope out the toy aisle and to get some toys for the kids. Sonne had his eye on almost every toy in the store and finally decided on Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear. We headed to the check-out stand where all the kids had to have their own bag for their toys. :) We made a quick stop at McDonald's and made our way back to grandma's house. The kids had so much fun and were completely exhausted by the time we got there. So glad that our girls have so much fun with their cousins...they make the best family.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Blossoms Popping Right Before My Eyes

Winter is trickling away and even though the last bits of cold struggle to hold on...the grass is greener, the trees are budding and we're eager to enjoy the warm Spring air.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Kindergarten...Here I Come!

Today I took our youngest daughter, Madysen, to Kindergarten Orientation! When people say they can't believe how fast kids grown up...it's because it's true. Madysen turns 5 this June and she couldn't be happier! When the letter came in the mail inviting parents and their kindergartners to orientation, she was beyond thrilled! I read it to her in the car and she was squirming and giggling in her booster seat, hardly able to contain her excitement. :) When our daughters were born, I often daydreamed about the milestones they would reach in life and where we would be at the time. Each time these milestones arrive, it's always bittersweet to reflect back on the years that have passed and how much our children have changed. When we arrived at Kindergarten Orientation, we turned in the usual school forms and picked up another packet of forms. Madysen was given a book that read, "Kindergarten, Here I Come!". They also gave all of the kids a box of crayons and a name tag.
We sat in the gym and listened to the Principal speak about the upcoming year before hearing a few of the Kindergarten teachers speak. Madysen turned to me and asked which one her teacher was going to be, and of course I told her we would have to wait until school started. They invited the kids to join the teachers on a tour of the classrooms while us parents listened to more jib-jab from the District Health something-or-another. Lol I would have rather joined Mady on her first tour of the kinder classes so I could see her reaction, but then again this must be one of the moments where we have to learn to let go. :0( After the kids returned, they concluded the orientation with donuts and milk for refreshments.
I do have to say that I'm really excited that Mady will be attending the same school as Sariah next year. I mentioned in a previous post that Sariah was accepted into the advanced learning program and so she'll be changing schools for the upcoming year. They instructed parents that any child with siblings would have to be placed on a waiting list. Well, we headed on over to the new school and immediately placed Madysen on the list because it was imperative to us that they attend the same school...especially with it being Mady's first year. You can imagine our excitement and relief when we received the call that Mady had been accepted. I'm sure by the time the new school year approaches, we'll have gotten over the fact that our girls are growing up and that it's time to let go just a little. But then again, is that even possible? :)

Museum of Ancient Life

Yesterday I finally had the chance to be a chaperone for Sariah's class field trip! Ever since Sariah started school, I've always volunteered to go on the field trips but they've always had a surplus number of parents who wanted to attend and I never got the chance. When the notice went out a few weeks ago informing the parents that they would be needing chaperones for this upcoming fieldtrip, I jumped at the chance! The school district here requires that any volunteer parents have to complete a mandatory background check and fingerprinting. It was a bit odd to me (because it was never required in CA) but I'm actually really happy that the school district takes precautionary measurements as far as who can chaperone these students on field trips.
We woke up early on the day of the field trip to get ready and to pack our lunches. Sariah was really excited and since it was picture day too, she wanted to look extra pretty...as if my little gal isn't pretty enough. Ü We arrived at school and I headed over to her classroom where I met my little group of only 4 kids! That was good enough for me. :0) We loaded up on the buses and headed over to The Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. Sariah and I hadn't been there before so we were both pretty thrilled!

We went through so many rooms and awesome exhibits. There were several other 4th grade classes there as well so it was a bit chaotic overall. I had to make sure the kids answered specific questions from the papers I had and between writing down their answers, taking photos and keeping track of my 4 little 4th graders, I barely had time to really enjoy the exhibits! We're definitely planning on going back as a family and we're going to make sure it's not on a day that any of the schools are visiting. Lol! The dinosaur fossils were amazing and the kids really learned a lot and enjoyed themselves. After a few hours, we settled down for some lunch and visited the museum gift shop where I treated my little group to a few souvenirs. :) Another great day in the books.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Busy Birthday Weekend

What's better than celebrating a birthday on a weekend...celebrating three birthdays! This weekend was a pretty darn busy one. We spent Friday evening helping my aunt set-up, prepare and decorate for her sons' birthday bash. She asked me a few weeks ago to create an invitation flyer for her sons who were turning 16 and 18...and how cool that they have the same birth date?! Royal & Kingzlee are die-hard Steeler fans and so it became the subtle theme of the party and invitations.
After setting up we quickly got into preparing an array of foods and desserts which included croissant sandwiches, egg rolls, chicken salad sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, dipping veggies, chips, Steeler cookies (they were super cute), several varieties of cupcakes, mini cheesecakes, and a chocolate fountain with strawberries, shortcake and pretzels for dipping. My absolute faves were the croissant sammies and the egg rolls...delish! Ü
It didn't take long before the party was packed. I mean...Stake Conference Youth Dance packed! Lol The music was really good too. When the crazy teenagers weren't being wall flowers, they were up and getting their groove on! We had to leave before the party was over but we scored tons of food to take home because all the teenagers were too busy trying to be "cool and cute" to eat. Haha Lucky for us! Ü

On Saturday we had dinner plans to celebrate the 30th birthday of one of my besties (specifically my sisters best friend) Verona! I got together with Verona and Gloria that afternoon to make cupcakes for the dinner party. I created the invitation a few weeks before and whipped up some matching cupcake wrappers on photoshop for the cupcakes. Ü They turned out great!
Fred had to work that evening so it was a bit of a bummer having to fly solo, but it's hard not to have fun when you're in the company of awesome friends and family. Ü We met at a Japanese Restaurant-Ichiban. The restaurant actually use to be an old church! The sat us in an upper loft area where we sat Japanese-style on pillows. They cheated a little bit because there was an open area underneath the table where we could stretch our legs. Lol The decor was really cute and the restaurant still had a few hints of the little chapel it use to be. I had steak and some sushi that was pretty good. After spending some time laughing and chatting, we sang "Happy Birthday" to the birthday girl before having a few photo ops and heading back home. It was a great evening and I think the only thing missing was having my sisters there to join in on the fun. We love you Verona...Happy Birthday!