HaPpY EaStEr!

Easter!  First thing in the morning, they found their baskets.  Lots of sugar induced hyper activity followed!  hahaha.  

 So we stayed busy by coloring eggs!  They took it very seriously!

And then before church, we had an egg hunt in the yard.  (Egg hunts in AZ are not necessarily difficult, they are more about being stealthy... and cautious!  hahaha.)  But they loved it anyway!

And then there was the attempt at a cute picture of the 3 of them together!  ...At least no one was crying!  Right?  Right!  :)  I love my little family, so VERY VERY much!

The past couple of months, I have found myself thinking a lot about Mary.  Not to take away from what Christ did for us as our Savior, but what she must have gone through being his mother.  What who He was and what He did must have meant to her!  


Our RS had the opportunity to hear an amazing lady (from our ward) speak at an activity called "You Are Incredible".  She spoke with an amazing spirit, lots of tears and laughs!  But completely and directly to my heart!  She spoke a little bit about Mary, and how she must have felt when she realized they had lost Jesus when he was a boy. The panic and fear.  And making the long trek back to find him... in the temple.  But that we know, because she was obviously a important part of his life, that she didn't punish herself forever because of one mistake.  She was not expected to be perfect.  She taught us to trust the faith the Lord has in us.  That we are where we are for a reason and that the children we have are specifically meant to be ours.  That spoke to me in a very deep, heart-wrenching way.  


I don't always feel like a good mom, in fact I rarely feel like a good mom!  And I have questioned a million times that I am the best mom for my children!  But then I think of Mary.  What must have seemed like an impossible request, to be the mother of the Son of God.  How easily doubt and fear could have been her enemy and even her demise.  How she knew that part of being His mother would mean inevitably watching Him die.  And yet, what a blessing it must have been.  To converse with angels, to bear the Savior of the world, to watch Him grow and learn from Him, and to witness His sacrifice for all.  And His Resurrection.


She was on my mind a lot this year as we celebrated this Easter season.  Because she was His mother. I am humbled to think of the love she must of had for Him as His mother.  I wonder if she knew then the magnitude of what He would mean to the world so many hundreds of years later.  And that because of Him, I am able to be more than I ever could be on my own.  Better than I ever could be on my own.  Forgiven.  Saved.  Redeemed.  Changed.  


I am so grateful for my Savior and for His perfect example.  And for a loving Heavenly Father who has blessed me so much and entrusted me with a few of His precious children.  I'm grateful for the opportunities He gives me to learn and grow and stretch, even when I don't want to!  And I'm grateful for Mary, and for her example of strength and faith and humility.  And I am endlessly grateful for the Atonement!  For the strength and perspective it gives me.  But especially for the opportunity it gives me to be with these people I love so much forever! 


HAPPY EASTER!   

Curtains, Ice Cream & Goggles

Here's some randomness, just for fun!  Miss Reagan has a spot, it's her favorite spot!  It's where she lays to drink her bottle.  It's got a window to look out and blow-fishes on.  AND it has curtains... that just happen to be perfect for peek-a-boo!  Even if she's playing all by herself!  :) 

We have been eating a lot of ice cream lately!  It has already gotten up to 100 outside and it's only April!  So for FHE the other night it seemed like the perfect treat!  And it was!  :)  They got to create their own.  Jackson likes him some chocolate!  Chocolate ice cream, syrup, chips... and whipped cream!  He has his dads' sweet tooth!

Harrison likes a little bit of everything!  Except fluff (whipped cream), he's all about substance!  He even got brave and tried it banana-split style.  And they both like sprinkles! :)  

The goggles:  Harrison got some goggles... for swimming.  He has a hard time opening his eyes under water which makes swimming lessons kind of tricky.  So I got him some... and he wore them for 3 days!  hahaha.  He wore them in the bath, to ride his bike, to eat his ice cream, breakfast, lunch, dinner, indoors, outdoors, ALL DAY!  I did make him take them off for bed!  There were tears, but he complied as long as he could keep them under his pillow!  hahaha.  And sure enough the next morning he'd come in to find me after waking up, orange eyes and all!  Funny kid!  *They are now safely stored in the swim bag!  :) 

Preschool Field Trip

We have been part of a co-op preschool this year for Harrison, it's been a fun little group of kiddos!  And to help end the school year, one awesome mom from our group planned a behind the scenes/interactive animal tour at the zoo!  We combined with a few other preschool groups just to add to the fun!  :)  

We got to walk behind all of the cages and see in the kitchen where all the food for the animals is prepared.  They learned about different animal diets.

And that even animals like a Popsicle in the summer!  (This is a giraffe Popsicle!)

Then we got to meet a few smaller animals.  

And last, we had to check out the new elephant habitat and family!  How cute is that little guy?!  :)  

 Harrison and Levi (one of his best little buddies)!  We love the Zoo!

He is just about the cutest kid in the whole world!!  Man, I love him!  And I'm secretly not the least bit sad that he has another year before he starts school all day!  hahaha.  He's my buddy! I love our little adventures together!  :)

We have us a Baseball Player!

Jackson has started his first ever season of baseball (coach pitch) and has proven to be quite a good little player!  :)  He was super nervous about it because most of the kids he's playing with have played before and "it's on a big field with lots of people watching", but there has been no need for worry!  He's been doing GREAT!  
Here he was for opening ceremonies: GRASSHOPPERS #3

After the teams were introduced they got to slap the hands of the High School Team players! Super cool!  :) (He's the second one behind the coach.)

And these are from his first game later that same day!  It was a very hot but fun first game!  We are super lucky to be part of an amazing little team!  Lots of kids we already know!  And just about the best coaches/parents in the whole world!  

He had some good hits!

He has been steadily improving over the last few weeks.  He's a good little play maker!  :)  He is particularly good in the 2nd and 3rd base and shortstop positions.  And he's even had a HOME RUN!  Which earned him a Blizzard from Dairy Queen! :)  It's been great for our family too!  I was a little nervous about trying to squeeze in 3 evenings at the park every week with everything else that is going on, but it's proven to be good for all of us!  Even outdoors/sunshine hating Reagan!  hahaha.  I'm SO proud of him!  And I LOVE being his cheerleader!  :) 


His team has a blog you can visit, the link is tied to his picture in the right side column.  


GO GRASSHOPPERS!  

New Hair Do

We all know Reagan has hair control issues!  So to help, we gave her a new do!  :)  I cut off more than 6" in the back!  
Before:

After:

Holy cow!  What a difference it makes!  

Sea World San Diego

This was the highlight of the entire trip!  They loved everything, but the favorite all-around was Sea World!  :) (Although I realized as we were parking that I had left our camera at the hotel and almost cried!  Luckily Patrick's phone takes excellent pictures!)  :)  The shows were amazing! And this is going to sound totally dorky, but I got kind of emotional sitting there with my kids watching their faces!  We don't get to do things like this very often! (In fact this was our first family trip ever!)  They LOVE and know so much about these animals... it was kind of a dream come true!  And this mom couldn't help but love every second of their excitement!  :)


Bracing ourselves for the wetness!  Patrick decided it was a good idea to sit in the "Soak Zone".  :/  He was rethinking that idea while we watched as people around us got drenched!!  Luckily we got off kind of easy!  We definitely got wet, but no one drown!  Thank heavens!

 Feeding the sea lions. The one up on the rock was hilarious!  And LOUD!  :)

Harrison LOVES polar bears!  

She was giving the rays kisses!  Blow-fish kisses.  :)

Watching for Shamu!  :)  He could have stood there all day!  

This picture is going in a wedding video someday!  hahaha.  And Harrison was the one who wanted to go again!  :) 

Patrick said I HAD to go on the river rapids ride because he rode the Atlantis one (he got wet, but not that wet)!  As we were walking up to get in line there were multiple signs that read "You WILL get wet!  And probably SOAKED!".  They don't joke around!  We might as well have been swimming in the river!  hahaha.  But it was fun! 

We headed home the next morning... sporting new Sea World threads!  :)  Woot Woot!  For family vacations!  :)  I LOVE these people SO STINKING MUCH!!!  :)

  

The land made out of Legos...

Better known as Legoland California.  It did not disappoint!  As we were waiting to pay for parking they could see the park and the front gate, Harrison started to sing his own little song about Legos and the land made out of Legos.  Nothing melts my heart like happy kids, and nothing says happy like a 4 year old singing while his big brother is speechless and giggling with delight!  :)  

I can proudly say they both rode everything!!  Which is a pretty big deal!  This was right after our first roller coaster... and they LOVED it! :)

Reagan got to be the cheerleader!  :)  

Getting ready for some healthy competition!  ...They killed it!  :)

Cutest shark bait ever!  :)

The closest to New York City we've ever been!  :)  The miniatures were incredible!

Always the kid at heart!  Patrick wanted his own picture with Darth!  :)  (He was huge! Patrick is 6'6"!)

2 days of giggles and fun!  :)  We were nervous about how it would go!  We weren't even sure they would ride anything!  But it was SO worth it!  :)