Hippity Hoppity, Easter 2021

We had a low key Easter at home this year. There were no sports that weekend, we did not attend any community egg hunts, and it was Conference. It was kind of nice to just be home and not have anything we were supposed to be doing other than eat candy and watch lots and lots of church. 

For Easter/Conference breakfast we decided to try something new and Dave made crepes. It was met with mixed enthusiasm. The kids all said they liked them, but did not eat more than a bite or two. Griffin did enjoy fishing all the broken egg shells out the garbage to suck on - ahhh! He is so naughty sometimes.  I guess we'll go back to coffee cake or cinnamon rolls next year. 

There were lots of great messages at Conference, as always, and I think we were all surprised by the announcement of 20 new temples! At that rate, maybe there is a miniscule chance that Amarillo will get one someday. I think the talk that stood out the most to me (other than the one about the family with 4 kids who thought they were done until being prompted to have 2 more), was the one from Joyce D. Jones about having intentional, essential gospel conversations with your children. She spoke about making sure our children "were far enough in" and that eternity is the wrong thing to be wrong about. It's something I need to work on more, and I guess that will be my priority for the next 6 months. These early years are so important, but fleeting and I don't want to mess it up!

I still had the kids dress up for Easter even though we never left the house. I was in pajamas :)

Dying eggs at the 11th hour. This is not my favorite tradition because it's messy and no one at our house even likes hard boiled eggs, but I do it for the kids to have fun.

These bunny tongs I found on clearance the year before worked so much better than the little metal dippers that normally come with the dye sets!

Davey and Sophie both drew pictures to leave for the Easter bunny

The Easter bunny left some great baskets this year! On Easter morning they were all hidden and the kids had to follow clues hidden in Easter eggs to find them. Sophie's was in the oven, Davey's was in the shower, Charlie's was in the dryer, and Griffin's was behind a chair.

If Griffin becomes a quarterback someday, I'll have to pull out this photo of him with the little rubber football he got in his Easter basket

The kids hunted for eggs in the backyard. I guess Davey was the only photogenic one because these two pictures that are both of him were the only ones I took, ha! 

With their egg haul. Afterward they pooled all the candy in a big bowl, each chose 10 pieces to take to their room to eat at will, and then the rest went into the general supply (aka mom's treat supply)

Watching conference with my little guy. This time last year I was watching with a little baby that was just a few days old!

Sophie got this 500 piece Pokemon puzzle in her Easter basket. She worked on it with Davey during conference and they finished it by themselves in one day!

We had a yummy Easter prime rib dinner that was half fancy, half not. My grandma would have died at the plastic tablecloth I used and serving beans right from the pan, but she would have been proud that I had my jam in a little crystal bowl.

The best part of dinner was the rolls that I did not make! A friend in the ward made an extra dozen to give away, and chose us as the recipients! I am rarely successful with anything that involves yeast, so this was such a welcome gift. Davey thought they were delicious and told me that every time I make rolls I need to make THIS kind. I guess I need to up my roll game for future dinners. 

Easter 2021 Video Clips

Conference Weekend

The first weekend in October was Fall Break for Sophie and General Conference. Since Sophie had time off school, we contemplated making the drive to Dallas to see family, but ultimately decided it would be too many hours in the car for such a short trip and stayed home.

On Friday I met a friend at the Discovery Center for their kid's program. Sophie loves this program, but hadn't been in awhile because of school, so this was extra fun for her. The theme this month was Halloween related so they made Halloween I-Spy jars and played with "spooky" dry ice bubbles.

After the program ended we stayed to play at the museum with our friends awhile longer. Sophie and  Emery were having a fantastic time together, but started getting a little too crazy, which led to Sophie falling off the back of a wave runner game (it was her fault). I saw the whole thing in slow motion, including her cup of hot chocolate go flying everywhere. She hit her chin hard on a corner, which made her bite through her tongue, which started bleeding everywhere. I grabbed her, assuming someone would watch the boys, and immediately rushed to the bathroom, catching all the streaming blood in my hand. I wasn't sure what to do, and was frustrated by the automatic sinks that wouldn't turn on and that there were no paper towels, only hand dryers. 

I eventually got some water running and had her rinse her mouth, while I cleaned her up as best as I could with toilet paper. Then a worker came in to use the restroom, and I asked her for some ice. She brought back ice that was dyed blue (for science experiments!) and it helped slow the bleeding and made Soph feel better. In fact, she didn't even want to go home and went back to playing with her friend. Her chin had quite the bruise the next day and I'm just glad it didn't split and need stitches! 

On Saturday we had Conference. I always look forward to Conference, but it is so hard with young kids. The long hours sitting around the house watching church is hard for them, which makes it hard for us to focus. We did absorb some through osmosis though, and maybe someday we'll be able to revisit the messages we missed. 

One thing we didn't miss was the announcement for two hour church starting in January!! As a parent of toddlers, this was the greatest news. We already went through the church/lunch/nap struggle with Davey and Sophie, and I'm glad Charlie will never know that schedule. 

I always love to work on a puzzle while I listen. Davey also wanted to help, and although he was just sticking random pieces together, he did manage to get one right!

Sophie went back and forth between helping me and working on her own puzzle

All finished! This was a fun one to do for fall. 

We also made banana muffins in between the sessions. Normally I would make coffee cake, but I had the supplies on hand for muffins, and we added chocolate chips so they were well received.  

Both boys decided to nap at the same time during the very last session so we were actually able to sit and really listen for a bit.  Hopefully with each year it will get a bit easier!

Conference Weekend

This was an interesting Conference with the new prophet and all the announcements. I'm excited about the changes! With the kids I was only able to catch a fraction of the talks, but still felt the spirit of the messages. It was a nice way to spend the Easter holiday and I'm glad we had family here to watch it with us. I didn't take too many photos, but here are a few things that happened over the weekend:

Working the traditional Conference puzzle. This one was 1000 pieces and we were able to get it done in just a few hours thanks to all the help!

Sophie had a soccer game between the Saturday sessions. Her team got killed, but the girls said they still had fun. We had to wake Davey up from nap to go to the game and it took him awhile to come out of his funk. 

Charlie was really spoiled this weekend. With all the family here, he got passed around from person to person and was rarely set down. I only ended up with him for a short part of the afternoon session. 

Davey loved spending time with Papa

And Sophie took every minute Grandma had to spare. They spent a lot of time playing with her Hatchimals, coloring, and doing puzzles. 

At one point Davey randomly ran up to me and said "cheese!" I wasn't ready to take a picture so it's a little out of focus, but he still looks cute! 

Saying goodbye is always hard. Sophie cried at the window as they pulled away. I remember doing the same thing every time we had to leave my grandma's house when I was little. I'm glad she loves her family so much, and that we will get to see them again soon when we drive down to Dallas in May. 

Grandmari & Paco Come to Visit

We had our first ever house guests arrive at the end of September. My mom and dad flew down from Seattle and were nice enough to also bring all the jam I had made over the summer in their suitcase!! (We had been eating store bought jam for the last month and it just wasn't the same.) They came to stay for 6 days and I had a full line up of activities planned. Sadly their arrival coincided with our week of torrential rain, so all my plans didn't really work, but we still found plenty to do and it was fun to show them around our new city. I know we don't live in the easiest place to get to (it took them 8 hours and 2 layovers), so we are very grateful they made the trip!

Sophie made this card to put on their bed as a surprise. She was so excited to have visitors for the first time and wanted them to feel welcome. Paco is green, Grandmari is red, and she is purple. The blob on the left is a heart. 

On Friday we paid a visit to the WT campus to see Dave's office, and then we went over to the activity center for pizza and some fun.  

After dinner we went bowling. It was the kids' first time and Sophie dropped a ball on her foot at one point and took a while to recover, but she had fun and can't wait to go again. Davey was fascinated by the ball return and it's a miracle he never got hit in the face or had his fingers pinched. I can't remember who ended up winning, but I'm guessing it was probably my dad. 

After bowling we went swimming. In my rush to get everyone else ready for the night, I forgot to bring a swimsuit for myself. Oops. It worked out fine though, because I was able to try the rock climbing wall with my dad instead. We both did three routes before meeting the others back at the pool. 

Video: Activity Center Fun

My parents were here for Conference weekend, so watching all those session filled  a lot of our time. We made sure to have our traditional coffee cake, and worked on a puzzle during one of the sessions when Davey was napping. 

We made a quick trip out to Cadillac Ranch on Sunday afternoon. Forty years ago someone decided to bury 10 old Cadillacs nose first in the ground. Kind of strange, but it's only a few miles from our house and made for a quick, fun side trip!

Cheering on the Seahawks to a victory over the Colts

On their final day my parents drove out to Palo Duro Canyon for some horseback riding. It's the second largest canyon in the country, and located about 30 minutes southeast of us. We will hopefully make a trip out there with our family once the kids are a little bit older. Right now Davey refuses to be carried in the backpack, but is also not willing to walk so we wouldn't get very far on a trail.

My birthday isn't for another month, but we went to celebrate early at Texas Roadhouse since I won't see them again until spring. Hooray for yummy steak dinner!!