Family Easter Party

We hosted the Meiners' Easter dinner this year. It was such a fun time. We had a full house but the weather was gorgeous and we spent most of the evening outside. My dad sent me pics from his camera...a much better dealy than my little camera on my phone. 

 Eli one the hunt. 

 Helping Sammy and Eli locate the eggs. 

 I get very egg-cited about egg hunts! :) :) :)

 Ashley teaches Sammy to dance. 

My neice-in-law, my sister, my paps, and my me. 

Easter 2012

Easter is waning and I'm going to try to wrap it up here on the blog before too much time goes by. We've had a lovely Easter season. I really do love love love this time of year. Everything is waking up and stretching out and turning green. Our little flock of daffodils are popping out in our front yard and the weather is just beaming. This last week has been one of our busiest. I'm looking forward to a little bit quieter time this coming week filled with picnics and slow days. 

 Eli loved dying eggs. He got a lot of dye on his clothes but who cares? He had a great time. 

 

 Grandpa brought this adorable picture of Eli down with him. I love this shot...a pic in a pic!

 I've been stalking the local classifieds looking for a wooden play structure for the boys. I finally found the perfect one on Friday and was the first to call (whew!). My amazing husband worked out the semantics of getting it home from SLC and with a group of friends and family got it all set up. We love it.

 The egg hunt this year was a blast. Sammy loved going slow and putting every egg in his basket one by one. 

 Eli went a little faster but was still methodical in his attack. 

Easter baskets waiting for their kids. 

 Heading out to church. 

Church Time

Church is a mixed bag with kids. On one hand I love going to worship and learn and if nothing else be there and follow commandments. On the other hand somedays I feel like I just go and wrangle kids for three hours and then go home...especially since I'm in nursery now. For the most part though I really do love showing up every Sunday morning. Today Sacrament Meeting was actually pretty manageable. Eli's getting to a point in life where I can give him an activity or task and he will sit and work on it for a minute or so. Sammy is another bag of worms but we trade off and are surviving. 

 Eli spent most of the long meeting playing with this wonderful old quiet book my friend Margaret bequeathed to him. It was made in 1964 and I've been a little nervous to let Eli play with it because its such an amazing piece of heritage but he found it a little while ago and love to work the snaps and buttons. It kept him and a friend on the seat next to him quiet for most of the meeting. 

 Sammy gets to come with me to nursery. He LOVES it. He won't be 18 months until June but fits right in with all the other kids. 

February Round Up

Like January, February has dragged on and on. Some people love this month for Valentines Day and what-not. I say, if there's snow on the ground, no amount of red paper hearts and awkward FB status updates about not having a boyfriend can make it better. We survived and had a little fun in the process.  Here's our round up from the month. (Can you tell I'm trying my derndest to rush this month on by?)

 Three stooges. 

 I dressed Eli up all fancy-like for preschool on V Day. 

 We met up with some friends at the BYU MOA a few weeks back. It was a great time. There was a super hero comic book exhibit that the kids loved. One of the installations was just an old couch and a tv playing classic cartoons. Perfect. 

 I finally took on the living room. I still have a ways to go and keep stalling but we're getting there. I do hate using yellow paint. It feels like I have to make a thousand coats because I can always see streaks. Oh well. Come see us next year and my dream house will be done!

 Eli helps up pick out paint. 

 Sammy decided he's not a big fan of indoor play structures when Mom isn't standing right by him. 

Babies and spaghetti 

 I'm pretty sure Eli broke his toe. He dropped a big jar of jam on it and has been hobbling around ever since. The doc said there's nothing we can really do for it...but in the mean time I've got a screamer every time I try to put socks on him. 

 Oh my sweet heavens. 

 Puttin on the Rtiz. 

 Milk time. My boys are both mega milk addicts. I have to monitor closely how much milk I give them or they could have it all day. Even still we're going through about 6 gallons a week between the four of us. 

DC Trip!

Every few years I am able to steal away and spend some time with my sister Cristy in DC. Due to some very generous baby-sitting from my folks and an amazing husband I was able to go this last weekend. Cristy and I had a lovely time. I didn't take too many photos...we were having too much fun to stop for that...but I did snap a few. Enjoy!

At the botanical gardens. I love this place so much. It feels like Hawaii indoors. 

 La Casa Blanca

 When Cristy asked my what I wanted to do I said "take me to a restaurant Anthony Bourdain has eaten at". She did. And it was one of the best meal I have every eaten. A little place called "Oyamel" right off the Mall. It was extremely authentic Mexican food. I got a beet salad that made me want to cry and for desert we shared a pastel de tres leches that did make us tear up. 

Goofs. 

 National Gallery Rotunda.

All Aboard!

Eli has been begging to ride the new Frontrunner train since the line opened near our house last October. We see it run by the road all the time and just haven't had a chance to take a ride. We changed that tonight and took off for an adventure in SLC. Eli LOVED it and wanted to run around the train for the whole 40 minute ride. So did Sammy...so it was a little chaotic but what outing for our family isn't these days?!

Window gazing

Waiting for the train. 

Parcour at the station.  

Sammy gets cool.

Eli's a ninja on the train. 

January Happening

January tried very hard to drive me to the nut-house but I didn't let it and we came off conquerer(s). I must say this dreary month has got to be at the bottom of my "favorite times of the year" list. It was SOOO cold in Saratoga. I mean like bitter angry cold. To keep us (semi) sane Dan and I brainstormed what we could for the kids to do. Here is a little run down of our January happenings.

 Dan started school up at the beginning of the month. To stave off the crazies I've been getting very creative with things to entertain the troops from that awful time between dinner and bed. Lately our favorite activity has been to drag Eli's mattress off his bed and turn his room into a make-shift tumbling arena. Its a big hit and surprisingly no one had broken a leg. 

 I've been sewing a ton. Its a good way to keep my mind busy and my nights full. Here is Saminina modeling a little skirt pattern I was trying out. Doesn't (s)he look so dainty?

 Eli went to the dentist for the first time yesterday! He was so so good. It kind of surprised me. He cooperated with the doc, let them fiddle around in his mouth, and didn't squirm or fuss at all. Success!

 I signed Eli up for karate. He LOVES it and is doing pretty well. He was good days and better days but his teachers are super patient and energetic and keep him on track...mostly. 

 Although Sammy looks less than thrilled in this pic he and Eli and really starting to play together. Its not a consistent thing and we definitely have brother fights but I can see a potential good in this whole having two kids gig. 

Eli chills under his new Star Wars quilt made by my dear friend Debby. I mentioned to her one day that I was looking into making Eli a quilt to go with his new Star Wars sheets. One thing lead to another and we ended up doing a sort of "Postal Service" quilting bee. Well...that sounds like I did something productive. I just chose the fabric and Debby worked her magic into this amazing design. I LOVE it...and most importantly so does Eli.