All of the Easter Festivities

When it comes to holidays we are very spoiled. We get to have most holidays twice! Sound like fun? It is! The weekend before Easter we went down to Richfield to spend some time with Jed's parents. Grandma Jackie took Halie and Gavin down to the local grocery store and there they had some fun Easter activities for the kids and they also had the Easter Bunny visiting! The kids had such a great time with Grandma. They had their faces painted, made bunny masks, frosted cookies, had their picture with the Easter bunny, and then they were given an egg from the easter bunny that said there was a treat for them back in the produce department. So of course like any kid they ran to find their treats and sure enough there by the produce department was one of the Easter bunny's helpers handing out fun treats. This was a lot of fun and the kids loved every second, they have never had this much fun at the grocery store before!

Later that night Grandma loves to cook and always such wonderful treats. Halie and Gavin wanted to help with making some goodies and Grandma will not deny them of that! Halie and Gavin were then joined with Jaren and Keaton, their cousins. They had a little carried away with all of the sprinkles and the frosting! I guess that is pretty common with kids! I think they made a hundred tiny little cupcakes! They had a great time again with grandma and made some fun memories! Thanks grandma Jackie for making our stays in Richfield so memorable!

Gavin and Jaren enjoying the frosting!!!

While in Richfield we were able to go and visit another cousin, Branson. We all went out and said hello to Branson. Natalie and Rob always do something special for Branson each holiday season and Branson's memorial site always looks so nice and you can feel of the sweet spirit and love of little Branson when you are there. We love to visit any chance that we get!

Gavin had a really fun Easter party at school. They colored eggs and went on an Easter Egg Hunt! They made bunny hats and colored fun Easter pictures. I have been very impressed with his preschool and love that he enjoys going to school!

Tradition is that on the weekend of Easter we color eggs for our Easter egg hunt. This is definitely one of the biggest highlights of Easter for my kids. They love to color eggs! We found a neat little gadget this year that you put a few drops of color in this container and put your egg in and then you spin the egg around the container and it colors the egg for you! I thought it was awesome, and so did my kids. So overall it was a big hit!

Here is our second round of coloring eggs! Halie and Gavin received fun egg coloring packages from Aunt Nat and Uncle Rob for their birthdays and they were so excited to use them. Gavin had a Cars pack and Halie Princesses, of course! They had so much fun with all of the stickers and fun little things that came in these kits. Thanks Nat and Rob for the kits they were a big hit!

Easter morning the kids woke up to some goodies from the Easter Bunny and lots of those colored eggs that had been hidden around the house. We love our Easter candy and finding all of those eggs!

Grady was just not so sure what to think of all the candy and all of the running around. He found some treats and he didn't care much for anything else!

I just had to get some pictures of my darling kids in their Easter outfits after church. They were so happy and they are at a point where they enjoy having their pictures taken! These two get a long so well and they are best buds. This is one of my favorite pictures. I just wish that Grady was in there too. He had fallen asleep and even before that he managed to get chocolate all over his outfit before church and so he didn't match like I had planned!

My kids are also into taking pictures themselves! ( I have to watch my camera or it ends up missing because they like to wonder off with it and take pictures of anything they can find.) Anyway, so Halie and Gavin wanted to take a picture of me, so I had them take pictures and they actually turned out and we were in the picture!

Halie loves to make funny faces in pictures!

Later that Easter Sunday we had a BBQ with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. This is where we have our big egg hunt too.

Grady was a little frustrated that he couldn't keep up, that was until he found an egg in the grass and that kept him occupied for quite some time! He was happy with that!

Grady and Grandma watching the kids run around and gather up all of the eggs and candy that was all over the park!

I can definitely say that my kids did not go without this Easter when it comes to candy! They made a haul when it came to the egg hunt! 

Grady found one of our twin cousins basket and his face says it all! He was in heaven!

Two Cooks and a Walker!

Halie and Gavin have always loved to help me cook, and so for Halie's birthday she was given an apron for her birthday that was blue and then Grandpa Gordon gave Halie an apron that he had bought her for her birthday. Halie immediately fell in love with it! So Gavin wanted in on all the fun and so Halie was sweet enough to give Gavin her blue apron because it was a "boy" color anyway. So for dinner that night Halie and Gavin assisted me in making our dinner. They were in charge of grating the cheese and so here is Halie, so proud of her cheese and loving her apron and matching mitts!

Gavin with his big grin because he has enjoyed helping with the cheese as well! Of course every good chef has to have a good drink while cooking and as you can see Gavin was enjoying his! I love my little helpers and I love that want to help out and learn new things!

Grady has figured out how to maneuver his walker on his own. So now when he runs into something he can move on his own instead of just getting frustrated and screaming for some help! He is growing up so fast and although sad, at the same time it is a lot of fun to watch him learn and grow!

A Week All About Halie!

Being the Star of the Week is something that every kindergartener looks forward to all year long! Halie has been so patient in waiting for her turn to make her poster that would hang in the hall for all to see, to take her show and tell and to be spotlighted! Halie's turn came on the week of her birthday. Halie helped make her poster that hung up in the hall at the school all week. She loves her poster and will not take it apart just yet! Halie had a great time taking her favorite toys to school to show her class. One of the highlights was when on Friday she took the entire class a treat! Halie loves to make things and then give them away. She loves to serve others and to see the smile on their face when she gives them something that they will enjoy!

For Halie's birthday she recieved a new desk to put in her bedroom. Halie wants to be an artist and she loves to color, draw, and paint any chance that she can get. 

It didn't take her long to get to work! She was very excited to have her "own" spot to do all of her projects!

On Halie's birthday we had grandma's and grandpa's and uncles come over for some cake and ice cream. Halie wanted to have cupcakes so that is what we did instead of a cake! Even though Halie loves her birthday because it is all about her she is still a little shy when she is put in the spotlight!

Grady enjoyed the cupcakes and thought that it was his birthday all over again! He loved this run of birthdays and all of the fun and treats that come along with them!

Halie opening her present from grandma and grandpa! 

Great Grandma Chipman shared her ice cream with Grady! If someone has food around he knows about it and will sit at your feet and beg for some until you give in!

The day after Halie's official birthday we did the friend party! I think she had a great time with all of her friends. When I say all, I mean almost ALL of her friends. I didn't know that when you invite 6 year old girls to a birthday party that they ALL want to come and will do all that they can to come!!! I think we ended up with a total of 16 girls! I know it was crazy and at the same time it was a blast. The girls had a lot of fun and they all got along great! As you can see they loved to dressing up! I thought that I had a lot of dress ups, until I had 16 girls that all want to dress up then I ran short!

Most of them even brought presents that were so sweet for Halie on her special day! They were so sweet and enjoyed giving to Halie!

So when you have 16 girls show up and you only have a dozen cupcakes we had to turn to plan B. I made a last minute cake while the girls played and lets just say that by the looks of this cake that there is a reason that I have such wonderful and talented friends make my cakes for me!!! It turned out OK and the girls and Halie were happy with it and that is all that really matters!

I think that everyone had a great time and I know that Halie did!!!

 I am so greatful for my Halie Sue Bear! She is such a sweetheart and is, most of the time, such a great help around the house and with her younger brothers. Halie loves to do all that she can to make others happy and to feel special. I love Halie's birthday because that is our turn to make her feel special and loved. I can't believe that she is 6 years old! Time goes by too fast. We love you Halie so much and hope that you know just how loved you are!!! Happy Birthday Halie Sue!

Testing the Waters

So this was the day after Gavin's birthday last month when we had one of our tricks with the weather. It was pretty warm that day and Halie and Gavin didn't want to wait any longer to try out their new swimming pool... So we did! It was a lot of fun and to tell you the truth Grady and his little buddy Reed enjoyed it more than Halie and Gavin did! We had a great time outside and look forward to a summer full of days like this one!

Grady didn't know what to do with himself! He loves the water and to be outside so to combine the two was more than this little guy could take in all at once!

Reed and Grady having a good time together! I think this is just the beginning of lots of good times spent together. These two will be tight!

Here is my good friend Elise helping Reed go down the slide. As you can tell he enjoyed this a lot!

Little Grady has no fear of the water!!! This is a good and a bad thing all at the same time. He is going to be a handful this summer, and very fun as well!

I just love this look that Reed gave me when I was taking his picture! He is such a cute kid and he has the best facial expressions! He is a little flirt too! Thanks for coming to play Reed and we can't wait to do it again!