Happy Easter

We had the missionaries over for Easter dinner last night and they asked us if we had any Easter traditions. I thought about it for a minute and realized we did.

On good Friday we drive to Mesa for the Easter Pageant.
On Saturday we have family and friends come over for an Easter Egg hunt, egg decorating and a treat. This year we decorated cupcakes.

This year I hid one special egg that had a $10 bill in it. My girls were so intent on finding the one egg that they didn't even gather the 10 eggs they were allowed to find and collect. I guess their searching paid off because Rebecca eventually found the coveted egg.

We like to eat the cupcakes as soon as they are decorated.

On Easter morning the kids all frantically search for their Easter baskets and the eggs they decorated the day before. That silly bunny likes to hide everything. On Sunday we also get dressed up, go to church, and have an Easter feast of ham, scalloped potatoes, jello, creamed corn and rolls.

We don't let the kids go downstairs to find their baskets and eggs until Chad and I are up. We forgot to talk to the kids about a good time to wake up mom and dad so at 6:15 am we had a room full of kids telling us that it was time to get up.

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the kids before they left for church, but it was a great day. I loved the Easter messages at church and the enjoyable time we spent together as a family. Happy Easter.

Crunch

About 10 days ago I was in a car accident. I was driving with my son Joey to pick up the older kids from school. We were cruising down the road going the speed limit when Joey asked me for a piece of paper to spit his gum out in. I looked down for about 1 sec to get a piece of paper and when I looked up the car in front of me was slamming on his brakes and going to the left. I slammed on my brakes and went to the right, but the split second I lost looking down was just enough to cause the collision. Apparently up ahead was a bus stopped in front of the train tracks with cars lined up behind the bus. The driver in front of me couldn't figure out what the guy in front of him was doing and when he realized what was happening he slammed on his brakes.

After meeting with an appraiser, the insurance company determined that our van still had enough value to pay for the repairs. We started looking into the value of our car and realized that if we did fix the car it really wouldn't be worth much in another year, so we began looking at used vehicles. The end result was this. . .

We bought a 2005 Toyota Sequoia. I am a little concerned about the cost of gas, but this vehicle is a lot more comfortable and roomy for the kids. The car seats 8 which is great and Chad really likes it. We got a killer deal and had the best experience buying the car from a Lexus dealer.

But. . . . I miss my minivan. I guess after 7 years you get a little attached. Our minivan has 200,000 miles on it and a million and one memories. It's strange to see it sitting in our garage awaiting it's future fate. We still haven't decided if we are going to sell it for parts or eventually fix it so we can have a back up vehicle. I know that getting new cars is a part of life, but I was really happy with what I had. I will miss you little minivan.

Prior Family Beginnings

For those of you out there who like to make Photo books, here is a little pitch for blurb.com. I have made books using other popular sites in the past, all of which turned out great, but the only thing that wasn't so great was the cost. Then I found out about blurb. If you want to make large photo books, the price is right and the quality is awesome. I did my first book when we left NM. It was over 200 pages and spanned four years of our life. Now I have decided to go back in time and write a new book about the early years of our marriage.

I am having so much fun re-reading old journal entries, scanning pictures and remembering what it was like to have 3 small children at home. I had forgotten so many of the cute things my kids used to do and say. Luckily I did write some things down so all is not lost, but for those of you who may not get a chance to see this book I thought I would include a few fun stories and pictures from our past.

Rebecca

-When I am scolding Rebecca or telling her she shouldn't do something she says to me, "Listen to your mother." (Meaning listen to Rebecca.)

-When we visited my family before coming to San Antonio, Rebecca told everyone in my parent's ward (church) that Chad, Jacob and I were moving to Texas but her and Sara were staying with Grandma. A week before we left we had to inform Rebecca that Sara and her were coming to Texas as well. She was sad.

-Rebecca came out of preschool today with a sad face, so I asked her what happened. She said, "I was disappointed. All they did was talk and talk and I didn't even get to paint. " So, I asked what they talked about and she said, "I don't know, I didn't listen."

Sara

-When Sara went to bed, Chad was getting her tucked in and he said, "Okay Sara, it's time to say prayers." Sara bowed her head, closed her eyes, and then in her own language said a prayer. She paused where she thought it was appropriate and when she was done, she looked up at Chad and smiled. It was so cute that I had a hard time not laughing a little.

Later that night I was saying my own prayers and said, "I know you probably couldn't understand Sara, but I know that you must know what's in that little heart of hers." When I said that a very warm, powerful feeling came over me. The words that came to my mind were, "Yes, I know."

-We started a preschool for Sara rotating thru people's homes. This week it was at our house and on one of the days we had oranges and learned about the color orange. The whole day Sara would call me teacher not mom. The day after she said to me, "Mom can you cut and peal me an orange like my teacher did." (I was the teacher)

Jake

-Jake is trying to learn how to crawl. He isn't quite there yet and so he puts his head down and lurches forward. It's hilarious. He looks like a bulldozer. The sad thing is that sometimes he bulldozes right into tables, chairs, the couch, etc. . .

-Jake is such a fun baby. He has this cute tongue he likes to stick out. It's so long and skinny cuz he rolls it. I seriously think he could touch his chin with it. I've been calling him my little lizard boy

-Jake spit up all over Sara-her hair, sandwich, arms, and legs. She was soooooo grossed out and crying. I got her all cleaned up and then she started to gag. I had her lie down in her bed and went to get something. When I came back she had thrown up all over her blanket. I asked her if she felt better now and she said, "Yes." It was so sad, I gave her a bath afterwords.

A Birthday Present Worth Waiting For

About 5 years ago my husband took his first woodworking class. We started subscribing to woodworking magazines and bought a few books hoping to one day build all of the cool things we had been reading about.

This year my husband asked me what it was I wanted for my birthday and I said,

"If you really want to do something for me that I would LOVE, you could make the window cornices we keep talking about."

I wasn't really expecting him to get the project done, but taadaaa, only a few weeks late I have my window cornices. Yippee!!!

(Now if I can only get him to make some for all the bedrooms upstairs as well. . . . . )