Opening Day!

We got Kings Island passes this year and I'm reliving my fondest childhood memories!!! The place feels like it did 20 years ago when I remember going. We went opening day at it was insane. I was a little worried about how the summer was going to go with all the lines. Avery was struggling to understand that we had to wait our turn to ride. We got to ride about 3 rides with the girls and then Dave and I rode one big one. We waited in line for the carousel for what seemed like forever! Avery loved the little cars that her and Addi rode on and I was pleasantly surprised. Addison is going to be a rollar coaster lover this summer we well. My parents also got passes which will allow Dave and I to enjoy some bigger rides later on. We all left the park to go to Skyline for dinner. I couldn't believe how much food was in the park! A little break in between was nice and then my parents were nice enough to take the girls home. Dave and I went back and stood in line for an hour and a half for one ride! We managed to grab some blue ice cream (my favorite) before leaving. I'm already dreaming of my next roller coaster ride!

Zoo Time

We've been enjoying our zoo pass a lot this year already! We went for playgroup and the girls loved running around with friends. I'm loving dressing the girls in twinning outfits lately. Addison gets really excited and Avery doesn't scream too much about it:) The tulips were out and they were everywhere! I hadn't been to the zoo in years when they have been in bloom. It is really pretty to walk around and see all the different colors and varieties. We stopped at the cheetah run and ate our lunch. Avery isn't really into the time that we have to sit and wait for it to start. They do a pre show which takes a little while and she is all over the place! I think everyone's favorite is the giraffe exhibit. They have a fence you can walk up to and they are pretty close by eating with their long tongues. Avery was given the pleasure of discovering cheetos for the first time at the zoo as well. I always would choose cheetos growing up and it looks like she will too! We'll definitely be getting lots of use out of our zoo pass this year!

Gone Fishing

We finally put the girls fishing poles to good use! We went with my parents to a pond and the fish were biting. Addison was able to catch a few and Avery enjoyed poking the fish. Avery wasn't really into the sitting and waiting part of fishing:) The pond was located by the warehouse of a snow cone company that we're family friends with. One of the owners came over and we all got to top the evening off with a snow cone. Avery especially was thrilled about this treat and kept stealing bites from everyone. We just need to find a closer spot to fish and I think this will become a summer favorite! 

Ballet, Bubbles and Bedtime

Addison started her very first attempt at ballet and is loving it. She's taking an intro class at the local YMCA with ages 3-5. The only thing that we don't like about it is that it's on Saturday in the middle of the day. I've had to set an alarm on my phone so we don't run like mad out the door five minutes before it starts. She looks so cute in her little outfit and enjoys wearing the ballet shoes. I got her to let me put her hair into a bun once, but that was it. Addison still is in the phase of wanting lonnnnggg Rapunzel hair that flows down her back with only her bangs pulled back. It causes a lot of tangles and tears in the mornings! Once this session is over I think we'll take a break for the summer and look into a dance studio this fall. 

I was in charge of a mission farewell brunch last month for a lady going to SLC. I was excited because I had found a SLC temple cookie cutter. I made cookies for everyone to take home and they turned out pretty decent. I dislike baking a lot so it was a labor of love. Addison thought they were castles and Dave thought they were crowns:)

Addison has reached the stage where she rarely falls asleep during the day now:( It makes me sad that she is becoming more of a little lady and less of a toddler. Her fourth birthday is about 3 weeks away! This past couple weeks I've gone into her room and found her asleep surrounded by lots of stuffed animals. The latest game around here is pulling EVERY single blanket and spreading them on the floor. She then places a stuffed animal on each one and they all have a "sleepover". It drives me batty since its a huge mess to clean up about 3 times a day. She can't fold the blankets herself yet so its a but chore for me. Although it makes me nuts I love that she has an imagination to create something that she finds so wonderful. 

Now that there is no snow and little rain we've been meeting Grammie every chance we can get. We met at the Mall a couple weeks ago to look for a flower girl dress for Addi. Aunt Makel is getting married and we haven't had luck finding Addi one. We shopped for almost five hours! The girls did great and we even went to the Cheesecake Factory for an early dinner. It was a lovely lady evening and it's what I've always dreamed of when I think of living by my mom. We topped the night off with ice cream and Avery was kind enough to share with Grammie:)

The girls are starting to play more together and especially at bath time. They try and talk me into doing bubbles which ends in a giant water fight all over. They like to dump water on each other and scrub at their backs. Avery usually will start it and then try and scrub all of Addison's hair. Bath time will always be a favorite around here!  

Happy Number 8!

We made it past the seven year itch onto eight years of blissful marriage! This year we hit the jackpot with living by my parents and Dave having a couple days off of work. We dropped the girls off and Dave took us on a little road trip to Indiana. He planned the whole trip so I didn't really know what to expect. On our wedding night we stayed at a themed hotel room. Dave was trying to recreate that and it turned out to be a pretty funny situation. The hotel was actually some what of a motel and was in a really random location. We drove through back roads and corn fields forever! I was getting a little worried and I think Dave was too. He pull up and check into the "Caveman Room". I about died when we walked in. It smelled like smoke and I don't think the carpet had ever been cleaned. Despite the smell there were fake rose petals all over and that was a big deal for Dave to "splurge" on that. Although, he was pretty ticked that they looked recycled petals I still appreciated the thought. There were some pretty awesome caveman drawings on the wall (I'll leave those to your imagination!) and there was a large hot tub in the middle of the room. The bed was round with square sheets so the night was a little bit of a struggle. We made the best of it and I will remember it because of how much we laughed. They wouldn't open the breakfast bar for us in the morning which put Dave in a not so happy mood. There was a Waffle House just down the street so we ventured over there. We were both happy to leave and we drove more into the city to find some furniture stores. We've (and by we I mean me) been looking for some nightstands for our room. We've been sporting the white containers I had in collage when I lived in the dorms. We found a place that had really expensive things, but lucked out with a set on clearance. I felt blessed that we found what we wanted at half the price. We barely fit them in the back of the car and the trunk! Next, Dave took us to a movie theater that served dinner. It was the coolest place ever! It was nice food and you got to enjoy it while watching the movie. We headed back towards our house afterwords and took a more direct route this time:) We were both full from lunch still so we went out for some appetizers and dessert to top the night off. It was a perfect little getaway and I appreciated all of Dave's efforts to make me feel special.  

 
 
 
 

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter 2015! Easter is the one holiday that I enjoy cooking the big feast for. I love all the food involved and so I offered to host this year. Easter fell on conference weekend which helps make it even more special. The girls and I spent the weeks up to Easter running around going to activities. By the time our egg hunt rolled around the girls were pros! My parents came up early and we had a nice brunch before we checked to see if the Easter Bunny came. I made an overnight egg casserole that has croissants in it (it was amazing!). Addison helped me made Jesus's tomb for everyone's place settings. They turned out really cute and she really enjoyed making them. It was made out of a graham cracker, green frosting, chocolate donut (tomb) and a mini oreo (the rolled away stone). At breakfast Dave shared his testimony of the Resurrection and what Easter means. This is the first year that Addison has really begun to understand why we celebrate and it was fun to watch it click in her eyes. Addison peeked out the blinds and indeed saw that the Easter Bunny had come. We all went outside and the bunny had left close to 50 eggs so the girls were busy for a while. Addison was really good about helping Avery find the lower eggs and some special Elmo ones. Addison also had some special Hello Kitty ones that she found. Up in the playhouse the girls each found a Frozen themed fishing pole, a camo fishing chair (someone the other Easter Bunny thought that was a good print) and a pink tackle box. As tradition the girls got a new movie which was a Tinkerbell one this year. Avery was so funny carrying her bag around hanging on her arm. It was a beautiful day with the sun shinning and I loved watching the girls excitement.  Addison had been asking if the Easter Bunny could bring her a fishing pole for like a month. On top of that request she wanted it to be an Elsa from Frozen one. When I told her how lucky she was that the bunny knew just what she wanted her reply made us all laugh really hard. She said, "It's just from my favorite store Field and Stream!" She is too smart for her own good! We came inside and got ready to listen to conference. I tried a new set up with putting pictures of topics on the outside of cups. Each cup had a snack in it and every time the word was said you could take one. It kept Addison occupied for the majority of the sessions. She of course liked the M&M cup the most. Avery kept standing on her tip toes and stealing the oreos. She would pull them apart and lick the frosting of and toss the rest of it. Both girls did some coloring and Grammie helped Addi draw the faces of the speakers. We ate a nice meal in between sessions that had us all rolling ourselves over to the couch after. Avery loved the ham which made me happy since Addison only ate rolls and lots of butter. My mom topped the day off with homemade pies that were delicious. I love spending holidays with family near by. We are grateful for the holiday season of Easter and all that it reminds of what blessings we have. Jesus Christ has risen so that we might live with him again. We are forever blessed because of that knowledge. 

Tender Mercies

I've been thinking a lot lately about tender mercies. What do I consider a tender mercy and how often do they really come past my way. I'm preparing to teach a relief society lesson on Mother's Day and I chose to teach on compassion. I invited all the women to join us and I am scared out of my pants! I've prayed a lot about it and for some reason whatever I have to say we all need to hear! I started to draft my lesson and I came across the words tender mercies. Last Saturday Dave had to work. The girls and I get bummed when Dave is gone on Saturdays. On top of that it was the day before Easter and I wanted to go do something as a family. I got a call late at night (around 10pm) that a newly baptized sister in the ward needed a babysitter for her 1 year old. It was going to be for 9 hours and I really didn't want to say yes. I've been having some stomach problems lately and I was feeling like crap that whole day. The woman was desperate and I ended up saying yes. The next morning rolled around and I had slept terrible. The lady dropped off her daughter in less than desirable circumstances. The girl was really sick and clearly wasn't feeling well. I decided to load the girls up and go to the grocery store. Everyone behaved...I was shocked. We then headed to an Easter egg hunt with thousands of people...everyone behaved. The day went on and it didn't seem like much to have an extra set of messy hands around. Her mother was late to come pick her up and then left with out a thank you. I found out that her husband had been home and she showed up with new painted nails. That usually would of set me off. At the end of the day I knelt down to pray and felt a heart full of love as my head hit the pillow. What normally would've been a day that I complained about the whole day was a day that went better than normal. Avery took a longer nap than normal. Addison played with the new friend and kept her entertained while I prepped for Easter dinner. I accomplished a lot and enjoyed the day. Those are what tender mercies are to me. The day was an answer to prayers and I truly enjoyed serving. I'm learning to serve without hesitation and judgement. I've had to do some hard things this week with my calling. Uncomfortable situations of sisters who are in impossibly hard spots. Situations that I couldn't even dream of being put into. I'm learning what small amount of love Christ has for all of us. It's difficult for me to want to help those that don't seem to want to help themselves. Especially when it pulls me away on a night that I'm tired and haven't seen Dave. This ward has stretched Dave and I to capacities that I didn't think would happen for a long time. Dave help two families move this weekend and then had meetings all day Sunday. I struggle supporting him constantly leaving. Tonight I received an email from a family expressing appreciation for attending their sons baptism tonight. We didn't really know them, but I wanted to go with Dave so we could spend some time together. That was another tender mercy. I needed that affirmation today after a hard day.  After putting thought into what is a tender mercy I hope it makes me more aware of what I can do to show compassion. I hope to pay it forward this week and allow someone else to feel what I've begun to recognize :)