Loves

Today we were super lucky to be able to spend time with my BFF, Mindy and her cute kids. Chloé and Hunter played Lego Batman (which it was so cute how Hunter was THRILLED he could actually play as Batman). Carlee and Easton played together outside on the tramp and Jaylee and Betty enjoyed trying to grab each other's faces. Betty is such a fun little baby and is continually teaching Jaylee new things. Today Betty was showing Jaylee "loves". Jaylee got sad, for a reason I can't remember, and Betty immediatly came over, put her arms around Jaylee and gave her a kiss! SO CUTE!!! Betty was having so much fun showing Jaylee what "loves" were I had to get a picture. Thanks for the great day Min! You truly are an amazing friend! I'm so lucky to have you in my life!

3 Girls! :)

What can I say??? Chlo seems to be SUPER well rounded when it comes to what she's interested in. One of her FAVORITE things to do is play Lego Batman with Dave. It's really cute to watch and to be honest there have been a few times she has to play Dave's guy to get him through some tough spots. Go Chlo! :)

Today Carlee and I decided to play princess Yatzee and eat lemon cake in my bed! Yes, it did make a mess :) Since Dave and Chlo were playing games up front we watched a movie, played games and ate our cake. Apparently I wore her out :)

Jaylee is starting to pull herself to standing but can't figure out how to get down. I heard her crying and couldn't find her until I looked UNDER the computer desk... There she was, stuck... :)

Julie had this cute idea she found on a website that I had to copy. I think it turned out pretty cute. I'm so glad my BFF had the paper that made it all come together. Thanks Min!

So many fun things to do when I have three girls. Attached are just a few random pictures of their "cuteness" and a new project I've been working on thanks to the inspiration of my sister. Thanks Jules!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATE!!!

Jaylee was so cute with Grandpa! She actually ended up falling asleep in his arms!

We got a kick out of watching Chlo "dust" the front porch of the playhouse.

Jaylee didn't know what to think of putting her feet in the cold water with grandma. She does love her grandma though! :)

Nate and Becca with Nate's Cake

The boy table...

The girls table

We got Nate this shirt for his birthday - apparently Jaylee liked it too :)

Big B helped Carlee get all decked out with olives. She loved it! Thanks Big B!

Nate blowing out his candles

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATE!!

Today is my little brother's 25th birthday - and hey, it's the 25th... Maybe that intitles him to more gifts :) Nate is such an amazing brother and quite the example to me. I have been so blessed to have such an amazing family and I'm very lucky to be close to all of my siblings. Nate and I have always had a special bond and he's one of my personal heroes. Thanks Nate for always being there and being such an amazing outlook and attitude towards life. He has a contageous personality and is super laid back.

This last week, his sweet wife decided to do a surprise party for him. With great help from my parents we pulled it off. It was fun to see his reaction and to celebrate and eat with him. We had a great time and we're excited to be able to celebrate Nate.

Thanks for being such a wonderful brother Nate, I love ya!!

WICKED

Nice Face Dave... :)

Mom and dad posing in front of the stage. I had to snap the picture fast so I didn't get in trouble.

Heather, Becca and me in front of the Wicked sign. LOVE IT!!

Nate, Heather and Becca all squished in the back of the suburban so we could all drive up together.

I've been waiting for copies of pictures before I posted this - but seeing as I still don't have them I figured I'd better get on with it anyway :) This last Tuesday night my parents spoiled us "adult kids" with tickets to Wicked. I've heard SO much about it and have heard coutless stories about people flying all over the US to see it. I was really excited to see what all the hype was about and of coarse getting dressed up and going out with no kids is always appealing to me. (thanks for that Marsh!) When the musical actually started I was shocked... It actually seemed super corny and way over the top... That feeling passed within about 10 minutes - by then I was hooked. The perfomance by "Elphaba" was TO DIE FOR!!! I've NEVER heard anyone sing like that. As soon as she started singing my whole body broke out in chills and if I have to be honest with myself I was all but in tears by the end, not only because the story was AMAZING, but the voices were just awe inspiring! The play was, for lack of a better word, SPECTACULAR! I did break down and get the soudtrack which has proven to be well worth the money. My girls have begged to listen to the "witch" songs every day since. They're even getting to know the songs. They ask me to tell them the story that goes along with each song evey time the listen to it too. They're dying to see Wizzard of Oz and I'm actually having a hard time finding it. So any tips on where I can get it and not pay out the nose would be appreciated :)

Thank you to all who made this amazing night happen! And yes, I would be one of those crazy people who would fly somewhere to see it if I could :)

Spring, Spring, Spring...

Carlee loves to swing super high on the swing.

Chlo was trying really hard to actually catch a butterfly... Maybe next time :)

What could be more spring like than an ADORABLE little girl wearing yellow???

These butterflies weren't the most colorful but still beautiful to watch!

Today it finally feels like spring to me. YAHOO!!! I got super ambitious and actually mowed our lawn for the first time this year. LOVE IT! There is nothing better than a warm day with the smell of fresh cut grass in the air! The girls have been LOVING being able to be outside riding bikes and scooters and playing on the neighbor's swing set. This year the girls and I decided (with the idea from my sister) that we wanted to start a butterfly garden. My girls ADORE butterflies so I thought it would be fun. Unfortunatly when I went to get the "butterfly bush" we were looking for they were all sold out. So you'd understand my surprise when I noticed we had several butterflies enjoying our tree blossoms. Sweet! I had to snap some pictures. I thought they turned out pretty good - my photogrophy pro dad may even be proud of these :) I love all the signs around showing that we may finally be able to say "It's SPRING"!!! :)

Happy birthday Marsha!

I had to add this picture to show Marsha's personality. She is such a determined personand is willing to do just about anything to get things fixed. :) This picture was actually taken several years ago and it still makes me laugh. Marsh - once again you prove you're amazing!

This weekend has been fantastic! We've been able to celebrate for the last two days with my MIL. Last night we went to dinner as a family and suprised Marsha - she didn't know that Dave's sister had planned the whole thing. Thanks Shan! Dinner was, of coarse, fantastic - we went to tepinyaki's. YUM!!! Today we were able to have another family dinner. The kids had a blast hanging out and loved helping blow out "gran's" candles.

Happy Birthday Marsh! Thank you SO much for being such a wonderful person and for all the great times. I hope you had a fantastic birthday!

Love ya!

And yet new messes emerge

So today we had another first with Jaylee. She got into the pantry and pulled out some of her snacks and decided she wanted some... She not only wanted a few but the WHOLE container. When I found her in the midst of the mess she was SHOVELING handfulls of treats in her mouth. Huh, she looks like she's starving doesn't she??? :) Time to take the doorknob off the pantry again.

I also had to add a picture of the new headband I did for her. She looks so cute in it I had to share :)

Easter and Spring Break

Jen was showing Jaylee the pictures she took of her - SO CUTE!!

Grandma and Jaylee enjoying the tea party put on by the other girls

The "bride" spinning in the grass

The "Groom" Isn't he a DOLL??? We've decided we'll keep him :)

The happy couple - They decided a few minutes later they were going to break up - then they decided to work it out... How they knew all that I'll never know :) I'm just glad they worked it out.

The girls were SO cute - they came skipping out of the play house.

Check out the cool costumes - the posing is pretty funny too.

Dad taking down Carlee while Chlo is cheking out her candy and Jaylee is eating some.

Super Dan, getting ready to gather some eggs :)

Carlee actually collected the most eggs out of all the kids... She was pretty excited.

Jaylee still hasn't grasped the concept of gathering eggs. Maybe next year :)

The kids decided to eat outside. I was so happy it was warm enough on Sunday to do it.

The girls in their Easter duds.

The girls with their treasure.

Yes, the "family easter basket" was in the tub.

Talk about working together! To get one of the clues for our scavenger hunt Chlo had to lift Carlee up so they could reach it.

Jaylee was SO warn out by the end of our shopping day we finished our shopping with Jaylee sleeping in the cart. It actually looked pretty comfortable.

Chanel's shower - with Marsha and Shannon and my girls.

This weekend has been crazy and fun all at the same time. We were able to go to Chloé's school party on Friday, my SIL baby shower on Saturday and a family Easter party on Sunday. Phew - what a weekend! We had a blast! Chlo's class is always a fun place to be - the kids are wonderful and always so excited for everything. It was even Chlo's teacher's birthday which she made her a card and gave her a little bracelet charm. The rest of the day on Friday we spent Easter shopping. Yes, I did have to take the girls with me shopping for their Easter gifts... oh well. We do what we can right??? All of us were super warn out - but it was a success. We came home and enjoyed a quiet night with pizza and root beer. Saturday was great too - My SIL Chanel had her baby shower. She looked adorable and she seemed to be having a blast. She got some AMAZING things for her little baby, Jack. When we got home the girls and I decided to plant our 3 lilac bushes I got for them for Easter. Once that was done we decided to prune our trees. They've become quite over grown in the last 5-6 years...That was a HUGE project and needless to say I was exhausted when I was done.

Sunday was of coarse Easter. My bff Mindy gave me the cutest idea to do a scavenger hunt based on Christ's life and his teachings. It worked perfectly! The girls thought it was pretty funny finding their gifts in the tub though :) For dinner we had our annual "Nelson Easer extraveganza" We had a fantastic meal then had the monster egg hunt. This year the party was hosted by Dave's sister Shannon. Thanks Shan! The kids had a blast.

Today we decided to have a play date with our buddies, the Taylors. We spend the day at my mom's house with all the kids. You'd have thought the kids had died and gone to heaven. They played hard all day, Carlee and Bonden were married for the 3rd time but only the second where they both said yes :) We had tea parties, a picnic, the wedding and lots more. I even got my first sunburn of the year!! YAHOO!! Thanks, mom, for being such a spectacular hostess and letting us come enjoy you and your home.

Tonight we decided to play a little family soccer. It was AWESOME! Talk about a fun way to get in a good workout. Chlo was actually really good. Carlee just wated to stand in one place and have the ball magically come to her to kick - when it didn't she'd cry... I tried to tell her she had to chase the ball but she said she wasn't fast enough. Carlee is definitly more of our little dancer - Chlo LOVED chasing the ball and kicking it as hard as she could.

This is just the beginning of the week too! Wonder what other fun adventures we'll have this week...

Oh boy - the fun continues

So Jaylee has been learning more and more every day. I was finally adjusting to the fact that she's EVERYWHERE with the crawling thing - then she moved onto pulling herself up to her knees. On Monday she pulled herself up to standing and today she found the stairs... I tried to get video or a picture of her actually going up the bottom step but I think she gets camera shy. I did get a shot of her standing up at the base and a video of her actually going from sitting to standing up... Yikes! Time to bring out the stair guard! :)

Girl fun

This was Jaylee's first official egg hunt. I know she had no idea what was going on - but she always enjoys something new to put in her mouth. It was perfect having the hunt the night we had Hollie too. She actually ended up with the most eggs by far. Go Hollie!

I had to snap this picture quick. Jaylee really doesn't care to wear these glasses but she looks so dang cute!

I think all the girls were in heaven playing outside in the WARM weather. Even our new little neighbor Brelynn came over to play. LOVE IT!

The girls had a blast together! It does my heart good to see good friends have a good time!

Today we had a pleasant surprise come our way. Chlo has a dear friend who moved to CA at the end of last year. We found out this afternoon that she was in town and wanted to spend the afternoon with Chlo. Needless to say - Chlo was beside herself! The girls played and played - inside and out. We were even able to go to the neighborhood easter egg hunt. It was SO great to see Hollie again and to watch the girls play. Nothing better than re-uniting old friends.