Easter at Nana's

Aunt Amy made a new discovery: Derek likes to perform puppy tricks. He and Amy spent several minutes playing while Derek pretended to be a dog and perform tricks like rolling over, playing dead, sitting up on command and so on. After that, we sent the kids upstairs so we could hide eggs. To be fair, we let the kids come downstairs youngest to oldest. Bryce took a few helpful pushes to figure out how to put the eggs into his basket but he eventually got it. We had a lot of fun talking, laughing and just enjoying being together.

Derek playing dead

Panting like a puppy

I have no idea what he's doing here, but this is hilarious!

RIP Rocket Cup. This was the last sip. It broke shortly after. Derek and Bryce both loved this cup.

Aunt Bella and Clara

Bryce went first. He needed some help to put his eggs in the basket. He was pretty content just to get one in each hand.

Derek came next with Ally and Tyler not far behind

Derek had a better eye for eggs this year than last year

Bryce found some smelly eggs, haha!

"In here, right?"

Tyler found eggs in some pretty high nests

Amy helped Derek find some sneaky eggs hidden in cracks

Got it!

Aunt Jenn, Derek, Nana, and Bryce

Aunt Bella helped Derek empty the spoils of the hunt into plastic bags. She probably slipped some math into the conversation, too. :)

Aunt Jenn and Nana helped Bryce empty his eggs

Happy Easter! Tyler, Dillon, Ally, Amy, Uncle Tim and Danny

She Rolled Over!

This big girl just rolled over! Four and a half months old!

I Love Being a Mommy

These boys make life so fun!

I love being a mom to boys!

My plush and cuddly boy - he's always got a cuddle and a kiss for me

My wild and crazy boy - he sure keeps me on my toes!

If Derek picks on Bryce too much, Bryce just sits on him. Ha!

This happy little princess has two valiant princes who adore her

I love being a mom to a girl! There is something so sweet and special about my relationship with my Clara. 

Church Easter Egg Hunt

The ward missionaries were asked to put on the Ward Easter Egg Hunt this year for Prosper 2nd Ward. Mitchell, Austin and Liz are ward missionaries, so I got roped in to planning meetings, too. It was kind of fun! The big day rolled around and everything went wonderfully! Great food, face-painting, socializing, great Easter message from bishop and then the Primary kids went crazy looking for eggs outside on the chapel grounds. We tried to keep the nursery (18 months -2 years), junior primary (3-7) and senior primary (8-11) age kids separate, but they all meshed together almost from the start. Bryce wasn't getting the idea that you pick up an egg and put it in your basket for later. He was just (mildly) excited that he found one egg. As he was reaching for another egg, an older kid, maybe seven or eight years old, swooped in to grab the egg. I stepped in between them and I thought I was being mildly reproving as I told him to save some for the other kids (he had a basket of at least twenty eggs!) but the poor kid got so startled, he tossed a few eggs out of his basket to Bryce as he backed away slowly. I still feel bad. Derek dashed up at that moment though and insisted that I admire both the big spider one of the young women drew on his cheek as well as the cardboard cereal box he had scraped up from somewhere to act as an Easter basket. We took a couple of quick pictures with the cousins and the sister missionaries and then we headed home. What an evening!

Bryce with the tribute eggs.

My sweet sunshine boy

Kitty cat Emeri!

Katelyn was all decked out

Evil Master-mind Andrew is going to take everyone's Easter eggs - look out Emeri and Nathan!

Sister Birch, Sister Allred (she's transferring out :( on Wednesday), Katelyn, Isaac, Emeri and Andrew. We love our sister missionaries!

There's a spider on your face!

Daddy and Daughter!

Pictures with Grandma

Grandma wanted to take pictures with the kids so she (and they) would have something to put on her walls while they're away. This was just too cute of Grandma and Savanna!

Elephant - yum!

Funny faces with Grandma

Grandma and her Logan

Derek wanted to be part of the photo fun, too

Family "Camp Out"

OK, OK, so it wasn't technically a camp out since we didn't spend the night, but the kids refused to let us call it anything but a camp out, so I guess majority rules, lol. We did however make a campfire to roast hot dogs, sausages and smores. Yum! Liz brought some bikes for kids to ride, but they mostly wanted to run around and play tag around the trees. It was so fun to watch them laugh and scream and run against a background of beautiful greenery. The guys took turns splitting firewood and we taught Isaac and Derek how to roast their own hot dogs. Derek wasn't too interested in waiting for his hot dog to be ready, but Isaac turned out to be a pro! Andrew kept tipping his plate and dropping his hot dog on the ground, poor kid. Savanna kept trying to get into the fire but luckily Lanae and David were extra vigilant and nobody got hurt. Bryce almost fell in once and I swear it took me a few minutes to remember to breathe. Uncle Colton brought some awesome sausages that I quickly became addicted to. I'm pretty sure they're going to become a staple in this house. We all made it back to the house smelling wonderfully of smoke that night with bellies full of chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker goodness.

 So it begins... her fascination with flames

Austin went all Boy Scouts to make a fire. Cool.

 We're so glad they're here to visit!

  Jenna is a rock star. She very serenely passed out treats to the horde of screeching children who mobbed her. You can see Bryce is walking as fast as he can to claim his share.

 This picture makes me tear up. I'm going to bet this picture will look a lot like teen-age Derek.

 Roasting weenies

Mitchell was hungry but that's MY sausage there on the end, buddy!

Derek was too impatient to meat roasted hot dogs, so he helped himself to a few cold ones.

 Andrew's poor hot dog is doomed to be covered in dirt

 Bryce wanted to add some wood to the fire

Isaac is a true child prodigy when it comes to roasting hot dogs

 Hanging in the hoodie

These two were so cute huddled together on a log!