Party On!

 On Keilie's actual birthday we celebrated at home with our little family.

 This is how I usually start my day, with this beautiful girl smiling at me.  I LOVE my job!  Today she had two very excited siblings running in to sing happy birthday to her.

 She loved playing with her balloons!

Kenna was a great helper and wanted to be apart of all the party planning.  Her favorite parts were the cake testing and balloon placing.

 Later it was time for cake and presents.

 Because she had already had a cake smash party a few days ago with friends, she knew exactly what to do with that cake.

 And was super excited that it was happening again.

 That's one big cupcake for one little girl.

Much to her dismay, we didn't let her destroy it by herself this time.

 But she quickly forgave us once we gave her some in her chair and quickly shoved it in her mouth.

 Once it was gone, she started signing 'more' as fast as she could.

When that didn't work she tried the trick Grandma Shinney taught her, lick it clean!

Now, that's one happy baby! I can't get enough of that crooked smile.

Then her siblings spoiled her with some gifts.  Jaxson made her this homemade rattle, which she loved!

I can't express how much joy this girl as brought to our family.  I LOVE watching Jaxson and Kenna interact with her.  These three make my heart happy!

Easter Morning

Growing up we always had to hunt for our Easter treats.  We never just found a basket full of goodies, but since we've usually not had the best weather for a Easter morning hunt we've just always had our kiddos go on a little scavenger hunt to find their Easter stuff.  

They've got their first clue and are ready to go.  I've used the same clues for the past three years, and I wonder when they're going to figure out how lazy their mom is.

Each clue would lead them to some place in the house and they'd find a filled egg,

and some other little fun thing that will hopefully keep them busy for a few minutes.

They had a blast with it.

They also got new beach towels this year since our family has been using my old ones for over 10 years now.  

Then we had a quick Easter breakfast of bunny biscuits, fruit and of course chocolate covered marshmallows!

Then came the Sunday morning rush of trying to get us all ready and out the door on time for church, which leaves most of us feeling or looking like this. (He's LOVES church, can't you tell?)

  I was able to snap a few quick pictures, which I probably should have done inside because of the crazy morning lighting.

But most of our Easter pics had to wait until after church, which luckily everyone still looked fairly decent.

This was my first year getting matching dresses for my girls and even though it was kind of hard finding the right sizes, it was fun.

Keilie really liked being the Easter bunny for us.

I'm so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ who overcame sin and death and that because of Him I can be with my beautiful little family forever.  Happy Easter!!!

Easter Fun

We've been very blessed to have good friends, while we've been so far away from family.  While in Michigan we've gotten together with friends to do a fun egg hunt with the kids and potluck before Easter.

Of course the egg hunt is always a hit with the kiddos.

The winter has been so bad this year and a late spring but we had awesome weather for our party and this was the first time Keilie really experienced being on grass.  She wasn't so sure what to think of it at first and she didn't want me to put her down but once she got used to it she liked it and of course wanted to eat it.

This is Keilie's buddy, Ron who is only 5 days older than her.  Can't you tell?!?

My crew eating their goodies!  We had a great time and love our friends here to so much!

A couple of days before Easter we went over to the Postons to dye eggs.  Luckily Roni has the bigger house, which means she gets to host most of the time, which means she gets most of the mess.

Needless to say the kids had a blast, and enjoy making a huge mess.

Dyeing eggs is always fun and a great way to get into the Easter spirit!

St. Patty's Day

Just a little St. Patrick's Day fun!

We sure love these cute little leprechauns! 

We can always count on this goof ball to do something crazy to make us laugh.  I'm not sure you can get more crossed eyed than that!

Keilie hates hats and was not happy to be a leprechaun.

Some leprechauns left some gold and green for these kiddos on St. Patty's day morning.  And I forgot to get pics of them eating their green leprechaun cakes.  Kids sure make holidays more fun!

Valentine's Day!

We had fun getting ready for Valentine's Day this year.  It's pretty much what got us through the first few weeks of the month.

I wouldn't exactly say that taking these pics was fun but making this card and sending it out to grandparents was enjoyable.

We also had fun making homemade Valentine's cards, and our traditional treats of heart sugar cookies and oreo truffles.

On Valentine's Day I wasn't able to pull off our heart pancakes and pink milk for breakfast and get us out the door on time so we decided to do it for dinner instead.

Can't go wrong with heart shaped pancakes!

They got a few treats and little toys in their buckets.  Kiss anyone?!

Keilie loved banging her bucket around on her highchair.