Spring Break 2011....

We headed out to Cherry Creek on Wednesday for a long weekend full of sand. It's always a pain to get ready for the first camping trip of the year, but so worth it. We did lots of RZR riding, eating, baseball, sand castle building, and laughing. It was a much needed Vacation from the stress of life! The kids loved every minute of it and hardly complained.

I found these glow stick wands and swords at the dollar store and man were they a hit.

On Thursday a storm rolled in so it gave us time to color our eggs...

On Friday the storm cleared so we went for a ride over to sand mountain. This was the first year we have taken the RZR in the sand so I was a little nervous about getting stuck, but it turns out that thing will go anywhere. We had a blast and all Kensie could say was "go fast, go fast daddy." At times she reminded me a Ricky Bobbie....

Hal & Kalee

Chris, Jakoye, & Girls...

Gary & Linda had to be pushed out here.

The Family Wag...

Abbie, Kaitlyn, & Kensie

Every year Cheryl & Cody entertain us with fashion show. This started a couple of years ago when everyone gave Cheryl a bad time about her ugly horse sweater. Cody has since tried to compete with the ugly sweater by wearing several ugly sweaters and one chicken suit. This year he surprised everyone by actually finding the exact sweater online. You can't tell but Cheryl is also dressed like a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader. Too Funny...

Nephi City Easter Egg Hunt 2011

Nephi City Chamber of Commerce delivered again with a fabulous egg hunt. They had over 16,000 eggs out.....amazing! Last year most of the candy wasn't in an egg so my kids didn't even get one, but they stepped it up this year and had every piece of candy in an egg which made it that much funner.

The Easter Bunny was there handing out tooth brushes. I think my kids were more thrilled about this than the candy.

Halle was all over the face painting. Kensie stood in line and then when it was her turn she refused.

You would think that my kids would be use to pictures by now....

Wyatt & Halle

Cael, Gavyn, Jimmy Rosenbeck, & Kale Wilde waiting for the 6-8 year old hunt to start.

Look at all the eggs

Run!!!

We checked all the eggs to make sure that we hadn't won one of the special prizes...luck was not on our side.

Thank You Nephi City!!!

Kensie's new bed....

For the past 3 years our little princess has slept in this room. Tonight she rested her head on a new big girl bed. I know what you're think...She's still in a crib! In my defense the only reason was because I've been trying to find a bed I liked. I've had my heart set on one from Land of Nod for a year and have been saving to make the $500 purchase. When we got our tax return Casey told me to just order it so with a big grin I pushed add to cart. Then I saw something disturbing.....$175 for shipping! What! I could not physically pay that much for a bed besides I was already sick about the $500. So I began google searching again. When I looked about 6 months ago I couldn't find anything similar, but this time after one search for a Jenny Lind style bed a Target link came up. I thought it was too good to be true, but sure enough they now carry a similar style bed. YES!!! Drum roll please.....they wanted only $149 with free shipping! I was so excited and it showed up at my house within a couple of days. Today I went up north to find a frame and mattress. Now it has been a couple of years since I went mattress shopping and I had totally forgot how expensive. After looking around at a few places we went into IM Home which has been going out of business for what seems like at least 15 years. I was doubtful that they would still have any mattresses but they proved me wrong and still had quite a few. They wanted $119 for a pillow top which was about $100 cheaper than anywhere else, but the cherry on top was getting the box spring for $20. We stopped at RC Willey and picked up a frame on our way home. I was pumped...I love good deals!

Kens could not wait to sleep in her new bed because as she put it " i not a baby!" When bedtime came she actually was really nervous and requested that the lights stay on. This is the total opposite of how she usually goes to bed with all lights off and her door shut. After an hour I went in to turn her lights off and she was sitting up staring at the wall. I told her it was lights out and she threw a total fit. I turned a lamp on and let her cry about not having the lights on. She finally went to sleep and did pretty good with the exception of falling off the bed and then crawling under it. Casey could hear her crying and said when he went in there she was no where to be found. He then saw her legs sticking out from under the bed. He pulled her out by the legs and laid her pack down with out her even opening her eyes. My kids are such deep sleeper! It was kind of sad taking the crib down. My kids are growing up so fast. And No I'm not making any baby announcements.

I've ordered new bedding and will be redoing her room as soon as it comes. I've loved the purple in there, but she has requested a pink room so there will be pictures to come.

Melt my heart.....

I love this picture, but not as much as I love these kids! My heart skipped a beat when I took it and I wanted to remember this moment forever! How often do I take these sweet kids for granted? Our health, our happiness, a sweet kiss goodnight, or laughing together in the car. Most of the time I think that this will last forever when in fact it could be taken away in an instant. I'm so lucky! I actually took this picture the same day I found out that my boss and good friend had been diagnosed with brain cancer. Our lives can change in an instant. I'm holding my kids & hubby a little closer tonight.

Spring is clean....

I {heart} everything about spring. The sound of birds singing outside my window, a cool breeze when I'm out playing with my kids, and most of all the energy I get to deep clean my house. With an early winter, holidays, wrestling, church callings, and busy kids the past winter has been hard on my Casa. The past couple of months I've been tearing everything a part trying to make the flow better with hopes of being able to keep better control of clutter. Casey has been extra busy finishing things around the house. To date I have deep cleaned and organized my kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room. Here are a few pics of our progress. I still have the kids rooms & basement left so I'm hoping my energy keeps going and I can get all my spring cleaning done before we start spending every spare minute cruising in the RZR!

WARNING: Some of the following images may be to frightening for small children and OCD housewives. Proceed with caution....

Mud Room Sink

Laundry Room Makeover....

Still need a cute curtain, but you get the drift.

Mudroom Cabinet. This is the first and last cabinet we pass while coming and going from life. For that reason is seems to accumulate all the misc things for outside play. (snow pants, swim towels, gloves) When I took everything out I noticed that it was pretty much in two categories....Winter & Summer. I went to Big Lots and found the fun totes....two for winter & two for summer. I will then just rotate as needed for the season. We have lived in our house for 7 years and Casey finally got the shelves cut so I could organize it. Looks about a million times better!

Junior Prom 2011...

Tonight was Kalee's junior prom and she looked like a true princess. I loved everything about her dress. The only thing I didn't love was figuring out that Kalee was five when Casey took me to my prom! Uggh, I'm getting too old. Anyway, we went as a family to watch and Kensie kept asking if it was her "dance". I told her that her dance review wasn't for a couple more weeks, but after Kalee was done dancing then she could go down and dance. When the floor show was over Kensie had a total melt down and we couldn't figure out why she was so upset. Casey tried to take her down to dance, but she kept bawling. On the way out she kept saying "but I have my dess(dress) and my whipstick and my make(makeup). She must have misunderstood what I meant by "you can go down and dance" and thought that everyone would stay seated and watch her do her dance. She loves dancing and I can't wait for her dance review.

Trevin Greenhalgh & Kalee
Shaylee

Samantha

I love this one...

Kalee & Jadin

Kalee & Trevin her date for the night.

Kadin Park is actually her current boyfriend, but he is a Senior and I guess now a days Juniors ask Juniors. This was not the case in my time when all the girls my age always went with someone older.