On Friday...

...we left Livingston at noon for Idaho Falls to photograph a wedding and finally have our anniversary overnight temple trip. I had never been to the IF temple, but that's where Rich was endowed, so I was excited to check it out. My awesome visiting teacher Marianne and her daughter, Caitlyn, came adn had a slumber party with my kids Friday night, then Gram & Gramp Melin picked them up on Saturday morning when they got home from the Billings Temple. Rich & I stopped briefly in Bozeman at I Spy Design so that Rich could submit some photos to their new stock photography site, Wild West Photos. It was a great visit and I am really excited about the new site.

Althoug it was warm and sunny in IF, spring hasn't quite sprung there yet...I thought this bare tree was so beautiful!
We arrived home to WINTER in Livingston. This is a photo taken in Bozeman as you head toward the pass that leads east to Livngston. Beneath those clouds lurked frosty, windy, twenty-degree weather and lots of left-over snow. (Luckily, the sun blessed us on Easter morning).

We had a lovely little vacation--thank you so much to our babysitters and to the Harveys, who paid for our trip and were sealed on Saturday--congratulations!

Easter Part I: The Booty

Okay, before the booty, I have to show you our Easter decorations from Grandma Lynn and Nana... Grandma gave me this tree years ago, but I didn't have a nice, safe place to put it until this year, and we had so much fun putting it up. She also gave us the egg jar, which we filled with Cadbury mini-eggs, of course, and the pearly eggs and the bunnies in the window sill.

Nana sent us cute cards and those cute egg boxes are from last year.
Last week during spring break, I had to be creative with Addie, so we made these Martha Stewart party puffs from gift tissue (8 sheets of 20x20, fan-folded, tied, and poofed out) . I have also succumbed to the window clings because the kids LOVE them and they are a fun and easy decoration (cheap, too--most of the time I get them at Community Thrift for 25 cents!)

Easter Morning...Addie checks out her basket and her book, "A is for Abigail" by Lynne Cheney (whom I once met at an Independent Women's Forum thing back in 1996).
Heidi with her basket and her Pixar story collection
James was suprprisingly excited about his Peter Cottontail book!
(excuse my appearance--it's 7am on a Sunday!)
James gives his bunny a kiss!

Easter Part II: Dressed Up for Church

You probably know that we go a little crazy about special days around here. This year for Easter, I was so proud of myself for showing such restraint. We only gave the kids a few plastic eggs filled with fruit snacks and jerky (hey- they LOVE the stuff, and they'd already had way too much candy this week anyway); they each got a book and a small, bouncy stuffed animal from the Target Dollar section (they were super cute and fit into church bags). I also didn't buy any new Easter clothes for them this year--Addie wore a pretty dress from Michaela Claar, Heidi wore an Addie hand-me-down, and Bubby wore a cute outfit that was a gift from Grandma Becky when he was born (Thanks, Becky--isn't it CUTE!?). The day was topped off by the fact that THE SUN CAME OUT FOR EASTER! If that's not the most beautiful symbol of the day....! Here's Addie looking so grown up, I almost cried!
I'm not sure what the girls were looking for, but this picture reminds me of THIS picture from Mother's Day two years ago.
Heidi, my little joy-bubble!
Here they are climbing around at church--love Heidi's face!
My three little duckies...
Sweethearts in the Sunshine!
I love all three faces in this picture!

Easter Part III: Dinner & Egg Hunt at Grandma's

Heidi found lots of eggs at Grandma's.
Addie found one of Grandpa's trickier hiding places

--look how excited she was!

Danny, Heidi, Addie, adn Grandma on Gram's back porch. The kids got those darling embellished bags as a gift from their super-fun grandparents.

What a Happy Easter!

New Heidi-ism

Sometimes when Rich is referee-ing the girls, he says, "Addie, you worry about you, and Heidi worry about Heidi!"

Heidi has turned this on us, so that when we tell her not to do domething, she says, "Mom, you worry about you and I worry about me!"

Spring, My Eye (II)!!

This is how my street looks...not so spring- ish.

You may recall my writing about last year's April (click) snowstorm with the same title. Yeah...it's snowy, but we need it! I just hope it doesn't stay cold for too long! Here are some fun pix from this past week...

Heidi with our first daffodil bloom last Friday
Heidi with our "Spring Fever" flowers...
...and the same flowers on Monday.
Poor Daffodil in the snow!

Week in Review: Tuesday in Springdale

It snowed all night Monday night but the sun came up in the morning and melted the snow away. We got ready and headed out to the Orton's ranch in Springdale.A shot of blue sky above my mini-van on our way out of town
Here Summer takes us and the Larsons to the barn to get ready to feed the baby cows. Some of the mommy cows had twins and they can't feed both babies, so Summer has to bottle feed them.
Here's Heidi with her mud-protector bags on her feet in the barn.
A sweet little calf begs for milk
Summer Orton helps Heidi and Cailin Orton feed the calf
Jenny Larson and Addie feed the calf
Heidi is just as excited about the mud!
On the way home, we saw all these deer near the Orton's
This is the school house (still in operation) in Springdale...I think it's so cute and Cailin is so lucky she gets to go to school there!

Week in Review: Saturday in Billings at Cousin Ryan Melin's Wedding

In teh lobby of the Baptist Church: Me, Mom Melin, and Aunt Judy
Cousin Dan & Addie
James Ole over Grandma's shoulder
Bride and Groom: Nikki & Ryan Melin
The awesomest cowby wedding cake ever, complete with Cowgirl Bride Barbie and Cowboy Groom Ken (the reception was pretty fun, held at the Billings Depot with a delicious catered Italian Dinner).
Heidi was hosting her own Boogie Session at the back of the reception with a bunch of other kids--she was so rowdy, we headed home right after dinner.

Week in Review: Friday Night at the Park

On Friday night we decided to have a family date and not get a babysitter, so we took the kids to the park and for a long walk before dark. James mostly hung out in his stroller, enjoying his sisters' antics...
The girls rode the fun swing,,,
...spinning and swinging and sliding...

Heidi tried to get brave and ride the tall bumpy slide herself...
...Heidi got scared and wanted Addie to help her...
...Addie tried to coax her down...
...but Heidi made Addie go first--which was a little scary for Ad...
...and Heidi, too! But Heidi was laughing by the time she landed at the bottom!

Afterward, we walked up and down Main Street (by our old apartment) and then shared a blizzard at Dairy Queen, where we saw the Larson family from our ward. It was a fun Date Night with all the kids!

Week in Review: Heidi Last Wednesday

I had some stickers set aside for Heidi's Potty Chart... ...this is what Heidi thinks of the Potty Chart....
...gotta love'er.