Easter Morning

I was on call the night before Easter so when my shift was over I stopped by Krispy Kreme and picked up a treat for my sweet family. They love donuts!! When I got home it was still quite early in the morning so I hurried and hid the Easter eggs and assembled the kids baskets of goodies and didn't have to wait long for them to start waking up. They were so excited! I was worried that on our new budget they would be a little disappointed with their baskets this year because it wasn't nearly what they are used to. I was so pleasantly surprised and proud of them as well. No one even began to mention that their basket was a little "bare". They were all smiles and so grateful for what they had received. We really do have great kids!! I couldn't ask for any better. After looking through their baskets, we all went outside and had our egg hunt. I always love watching them run around excitedly looking for the eggs. I think I'll still make them do it even when they're all in their 20's I love it so much. Hopefully they'll cooperate!!

Easter Egg Hunt at Tanglewood Park

Our friend Christi told us about a free Easter egg hunt at Tanglewood Park this past weekend. So we went of course. We like any free entertainment these days. The only bummer is that we were a little bit rushed because I was on call that night and had to be at the hospital by 2:30 to start my shift. There were sooo many kids there, but luckily they broke up the kids by age group. The boys held their own and got plenty of eggs, but I had to jump in and scold a boy who was trying to steal my girlie's eggs after she tripped and spilled some out of her basket. How rude, right!? Right after that we turned around to find another little girl crying because she didn't get only single egg. I was so proud of Lize because she gave some of hers eggs to the little girl to make her feel better. The prizes inside ended up being REALLY random, like girl scout patches, but it was fine. It gave us all a good laugh at how random it was and besides that it was free. Who can complain when it's free!

Gage is so social. He loves to get in on any game he can.

Easter Weekend Fun!

After the zoo, we came home and dyed Easter eggs and made cupcakes. The kids get so excited about the holidays for reasons like these. They love frosting, sprinkles, and crafts! This year we made some monster eggs, they were pretty cute. We made a huge mess and had TONS of fun!

North Carolina Zoo

A member of our ward had a bunch of free tickets to the zoo and we were lucky enough to get some of them. This zoo is HUGE!! I'm used to the Hogle Zoo in SLC which doesn't even begin to compare. They have a North American side and an African side that divides it up. We started on the African side and began with all of our church friends, but by the time we left here to go to the other side we were all split up. Even Gage split from us. I wanted him to come with us, but I knew he REALLY wanted to hang out with his friends so I decided to give him a little independence and go with another family. We've come to such a hard time in his life for me. I want to still watch him and protect him every minute, but I realize that I also need to start letting go a little at a time and allow him some independence. Sooo hard!! Eliza realized Gage was gone when we went to get on the tram to go to the other side and she was sooo concerned. She is often not very nice to Gage so I decided to play with her a little bit and pretend he was lost to see how she reacted. I was relieved to see that she was upset by it. This is how it went:

Eliza: Mom, where's Gage?!
Me: I don't know.
Eliza: We have to find him, he's missing.
Me: But you don't even like Gage sometimes. I (I know, not the nicest thing to say, but she really isn't very nice to him sometimes.)Eliza: Yes, I do! I love him.
Me: Oh good, well we better find him then.
Eliza: We better draw some pictures of him to put up and write Gage is missing.

It was sooo cute! I loved that she wanted to make pictures of him to put up. After that I told her the truth, that he was with friends. She was quite relieved. I am so thankful that our kids love and care about each other and look out for one another.

Our happy family. Well most of us at least. Eliza sure looks grumpy about something.

Gage with his friends Ethan Adams and Matthew Whitaker.

Eliza and her friend Raelyn Long.












Grumpy again! It was a really hot day and she wanted to sit on this buffalo, but it was WAY to hot.


We had an amazing time at this zoo! I hope we get to come back again someday.

Kindergarten Easter Party

Eliza had an Easter party at school and unfortunately I was unable to go. I hate when I can't be there sooo much. Blake was able to go and support our little sweetie though. She really likes having us come to her class so I was glad he made it.

Eliza and Jenna anxiously awaiting for the egg hunt to begin.

Blake just had to get a picture of Eliza biting her nails. We tell her and tell her to stop, but she still hasn't kicked the habit. Who am I kidding though?! I mean really, what did I expect, she is my girl after all and I still haven't stopped picking my lip. Poor girl never had a chance.

No Peeking!!!