Seriously…starting May 1st I’m only posting once a week…I’m blog tired!
Also, I meant to start this last week but got behind…This is Easter Week so I’m posting links to the True Meaning of Easter starting on the 8th Day before Easter…
Last Saturday – 8th Day before Easter – None Were With Him by Elder Holland
Yesterday (Sunday) – 7th Day before Easter/Palm Sunday
Monday is TAMMY’S BIRTHDAY!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY SISTER!!!
I went and snagged Tam’s kids for a bit while she went to get a pedicure! Here are the Pics….Monkey Man was SUPER cute. Here’s where J-man puked in the shape of an electric guitar…won’t see THAT on other blogs!! LOL
THEN I rushed home to meet my SIL, Jessica, who was coming over so we could make Tammy a cake!! I had planned to start the cake a week ago but the week was crazy so it came down to me, Jessica, and less than 3 hours…but we did it!! It was SO fun spending time with her and anticipating Tammy’s reaction! Imagine 2 moms, 6 kids, 2 broken mugs (glass everywhere – not in the cake), several injuries, hungry children and us using tools we’ve never used and making up a cake as we go along all on a VERY TIGHT time schedule! It was wonderful chaos! And ALL worth it for our Tammy!!! We luv ya!
So this is not a dead bride cake…Tammy requested a nap for her birthday so this is her getting some beauty sleep!) Oh, and it’s a Rice Krispie's cake!!
And here are the happy bakers!! Thanks, Jessie, for a fun night!
♥♥♥ Happy Birthday, Tammy!! ♥♥♥
Click here>>>Day 6 before Easter
Tuesday Ryan was working on clearing some areas of our yard that have been overgrown for several years. Suddenly he called us all over! He’d found a magical kingdom that was quickly decided must belong to fairies! It’s really pretty amazing! More pics HERE.
The tree trunk was full of water and old leaves so Ryan cleaned it out to make a new fairy lake.
We had some friends over for the day and “A” was very adamant that Fairies were not real…the conversation went something like this…
“But Fairies are just pretend! They’re not real!….well…accept for the Tooth Fairy…She’s Real! Maybe this is the Tooth Fairies house! She lives in your yard!…(pause)…She’s going to come to your house FIRST!!” – I laughed and laughed. I love the way little kids think!
Check out our grass!
Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE our yard? LOVE. IT.
Tuesday afternoon we all headed out to do some service. There are a lot of people around here that will never fully recover from what they’ve suffered due to the Tornadoes on Saturday. We decided as a family to go take some much needed items to the local shelter. We went through Target carefully picking items the kids thought they’d need from the list the shelter provided. Our intent was to take them inside but when we got to the the shelter it was so crowded that we decided not to make things harder for folks, so we just dropped things out front. Sylvie was so excited to help! There were so many people at the shelter…it was humbling to see small children riding bikes around outside and families playing ball to pass the time. Things we take for granted at home in our yard…
I then took the kids on a driving tour of the damage near where we live. I wanted them to see why we needed to help these people and to have a firm understanding of what Mother Nature can do in just a moment. I want them to take storm warnings seriously and to also have a full understanding of the blessing of having been missed by the storm ourselves. It was horrific what happened to entire streets…houses GONE. The neighborhood we usually trick or treat in was hit so badly. As we drove through we noted that there was not one house left undamaged. NOT ONE.
We drove to the neighborhood next door where one of my best friends lives. Again, although minor in comparison…not one home was unscathed. Her son was on the roof when we arrived patching a hole.
Dade climbed up to help but soon discovered a dislike of heights! (Why are all my kids eyes closed in this post???)
Click here>>>Day 5 before Easter
Wednesday we headed south for a day with my sisters at a Ranch! It was so much fun! More Pics HERE.
On the way too and from the Ranch today we passed some horrific tornado damage along the highway. It looked as if the tornado had aimed for a line of houses on one side of the highway, destroying them all, then crossed the highway, dumping the debris in a field across the way on it’s path to a trailer park in the distance that was also completely destroyed. I later found video footage of this same tornado as it crossed in that exact spot! Click HERE to view.
That evening, it was Ella’s turn to stay home with me while everyone else hung out with my mom at Scouts. We had so much fun together!
Click here>>>Day 4 before Easter
Thursday was our Playdate! We scheduled it for the morning to avoid the rain and the rain came in the morning! That’s okay…we still had tons of fun in our raincoats and just did our planting inside to avoid the brief thunder! – Click HERE for more pics.
That evening, the kids were playing karate in the living room and Sylvie got chopped on the head…Corben took good care of her, though, and when she came to me she had a bag of ice on her head and was laughing about the whole thing. I later slipped out and went to a Relief Society gathering (so nice to talk to grownups!) and let Dade leave afterwards for a sleep over!
Click here>>>Day 3 before Easter
Friday was Good Friday AND Earth Day! – More Pics HERE. We headed out in the rain to pick up trash. Proper rain gear means no one minded and we actually had fun! The girls gathered a ton of trash and were very proud of themselves (as they should be).
Somewhere in here Dade went from one sleepover to another with my Mom! I’m sure missing him!
Day 2 before Easter: Sunday Will Come by Elder Wirthlin
Saturday we ran out to get new Sunday pants for Corben. Lucky for me, he grew out of his old ones just in time for Easter Sales! Sylvie wore this great ensemble to JC Penney…beret, scarf, hot pink sequin dress, leggings, and….rain boots. Somehow, on her, it all seemed to work. She was the talk of store. Luckily the Easter Bunny (or Tammy from the Salon downstairs) was making her rounds. Ella later asked how that big Easter bunny was going to make it up onto our roof! I told her big bunnies can jump really high!
Here’s a brief explanation of our weird bunny down the chimney story from last year!
“Saturday night Ella was telling someone how Santa comes down the chimney. (She has a Christmas book that she loves to read every night.) Well, her aunt asked her if she knew who was coming down the chimney in the morning. Ella didn’t know, so her aunt told her it was the Easter Bunny!
SO…..Early Easter morning the girls came down to find that the Easter Bunny had, in fact, come down the chimney and left them bags of candy where their stockings would have hung. Generations from now, my great great grandchildren will wonder how this weird family tradition got started! Anyway, Ella was very excited but Sylvie was very concerned about going near the chimney. Wouldn’t want any rabbits to jump out!”
After the store, my mom took Dade to visit yet another friend and picked up Corben & his best friend to go Letterboxing!! They had TONS of fun! In the mean time, the girls and I spent some of our own time outside and decorated eggs. – More Pics HERE.
At last, by nightfall, the family was all back together again….I sure love my kids!
Click here>>>Day 1 before Easter
Later that afternoon, Ryan’s family came for our Family Easter celebration. We had attempted to have it Saturday but too many wouldn’t be able to attend so Sunday it was. There were fun family games, lots of full on belly laughs, squealing children, and, best of all, Family Scripture 
Easter – His Sacred Name: An Easter Declaration
I know that for most of you, this is where Easter ends… A huge part of my faith is my testimony of yet another miraculous event that happened after the resurrection of our Savior. After His time with His apostles, Christ went to visit His children on the American continent. You can read about this amazing moment in 3 Nephi 11-26 (though the tempests start in ch 8) of the Book of Mormon. Christ had other sheep who were keeping records and waiting for Him to come. They, too, had prophets foretell of His birth and His death. He came and blessed them, healed their sick, taught them, let them see/touch the wounds in his hands, feet, and side, and held and blessed their children (encircling them in angels). My Easter story wouldn’t be whole without my acknowledgement of this sacred event and without me telling you that I KNOW this to be true. I’ve read, studied, and prayed about it. The Spirit has touched my heart and told me it is true.
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