Catchin' Up

We've had a good (and busy) past few weeks.  Here's some shots of what we've been up to.  For Conference weekend we headed to the Wales House with some of Doug's siblings for some fun and relaxation (and to let cousins play!).  Doug was actually able to join us Saturday morning (after working all of Friday night) so that was nice!  Here's all the grandkids (minus Mabel and Gracelyn who accidentally got cut out of the picture).

More cousin fun.  I think they were enjoying "Wreck It Ralph" at the time.

There was a lot a lot of rope swingin' goin' on.

As well as a lot of 4-wheeler rides.  This one was so stylin' in his helmet and glasses.  And a little more excited about wearing the helmet than his cousin was.

The next weekend 2 of my cutest friends threw me a shower for this little guy.  The theme was "Once in a Blue Moon" and it turned out so cute.  Thanks again for all your hard work Erin and Lauren!  You guys are the best!!!

Here's the cutest quilt my mom made for baby brother.  I love it so much!  The back has really cute and soft minky with a car pattern too.  Again, I love it!  Thanks again mom!

Some of the loot from the shower.

And more of the food/decor. These bottles had wrappers that said "Once in a blue moon."  Love all the detail!

Here's the 2 cute girls who threw the shower.  We were all roommates our freshman year at BYU.  It's hard to believe how long ago it was but here we are all expecting our 4th child within a month of each other!  Don't mind the fact that I look like a beached whale next to them!  Such cute girls.

A few weeks ago Lilly and Sophia locked themselves in a room with the easel and wouldn't let us in because they were "working on something".  When they finally let us in they had each drawn a picture of our family.  Love their little portraits.

This is kind of random but this is our little tax season countdown.  We were so excited when it finally said "0"!

Once we finally had a dad who wasn't so busy with tax season we put him to work building us a play set!  I think it turned out pretty good.

It only took about a day and half of work (with a 3 hour trip to the dentist for Doug factored in) but we finished it!  So far the kids have LOVED it!  So have we!

Deliciousness in Buffalo

I forgot to post about some delicious things I tried in Buffalo.  One of the nights I was there my sister took me to the Dessert Deli.  So yummy!  I had an almond joy torte which was completely delicious!  My sister's Boston creme pie wasn't too bad either.

Another night she took me to this really fun oil and vinegar shop called D'Avolio.  They had tons of different flavored olive oils and little bread slices so that you could taste as many as you want.  They also had some pretty delicious flavored vinegars.  I brought home coconut vinegar.  I seriously could almost drink this stuff.  The grapefruit vinegar was way good too.  It's a good thing both of these places are not in Utah!  We also had yummy wings from Duff's (which are supposedly better than Anchor Bar) and of course some delicious NY pizza!

I also found these fun pictures on my phone from the zoo.  This little gorilla was hilarious!  I wish I would have taken a video of him. He was so crazy!  He was seriously running around all over the place and kept hitting his mom.  It was cracking us up!  I've never seen such an active gorilla!

 Here's a cute bonus one of Jane and Sophia too.

Fun in NY! (Part 2)

The next day was Easter!  My sister's cute neighbor brought them this tray of Easter goodies.  I thought it was a pretty cute idea to put sprouts on the eggs to make them look like baskets.

The Easter bunny still found us in NY which my kids were excited about!  Here's Mabel's loot.

Lilly jumped right in and started coloring her bunny.

 All the kiddos ready for church.

 Me and my girlies

After church we had another hunt in my sisters yard.  The kids loved it especially the money eggs!

 We also had a pretty delicious Easter dinner.  Jane made these bunnies out of bananas.

I saw a cute idea to make chicks out of deviled eggs but we couldn't think of what to use for the eyes.  My sister had these awesome sugar eyes.  They made for some pretty spooky Easter monsters!

 We also had bunny rolls!

And some delicious coconut cupcakes!

My brother-in-law made cedar plank salmon and grilled asparagus.  So yummy!

Overall it was a good holiday but it made us miss Doug like crazy!  We were able to Skype with his parents in Brazil which was nice though.

Here's a few random shots from things we did there.  We spent plenty of time on devices

Mabel sang, danced, and played with Barbies.

Movies in the basement (that were supposed to turn into basement sleepovers but my kids are chickens!)

We also went and saw "The Croods".  It was pretty cute.

This is kind of random but a huge Easter tradition out there is to have butter in the shape of a lamb at dinner.  They seriously sold these everywhere!  It cracked me up every time I saw one.  My sister bought one after Easter for 25 cents just for a laugh.  Here's another funny about the lamb butter.  I was waiting in line at Panera (so yum!) and these women behind me were talking about what they had for Easter.  They rattled off their menu and then one of them said "but my daughter-in-law forgot the lamb butter!  That was the only thing she was supposed to bring!  How can it be Easter dinner without the lamb butter!" I enjoyed a silent little chuckle after hearing that one.

 The kids also played outside a lot and had fun with scooters and sidewalk chalk.

 and sleepovers in the boys room.

The last day we were there we went to an awesome museum in East Aurora (where the Fisher Price Factory is) called "Explore and More".  It was a huge open room with a bunch of different play areas for kids.  Some were for different countries and others were things like a garden and play kitchen.  Here's Sophia in Mexico I think?

Mabel loved these little houses they had to play with.

 Here's Lilly and Kate cooking up a delicious meal

and picking tulips in the Netherlands.

Here's a giant Mancala set they had in Africa.  I thought this was awesome.  I want one of these in my house!

Here's Mabes playing with a little hut in Africa

We also stumbled across some beautiful Monarch butterflies!

They do a little activity for different countries every day.  The day we were there they were doing Ethiopia.  We made these cool flags and bracelets

and Sophia painted a Guinea Fowl on a tile.

After that museum and a visit to the Fisher Price store we went to this awesome nickel and dime store called Viddlers.  It's the most fun store ever!  They had this awesome horse you could ride for a dime.  Once again, Mabel was in heaven!

 Sideways sidewalk chalk.  We love you too!

The last day we were there we took a quick trip to the science museum.  Here's the kids in the hurricane simulation.

and playing with the sand and water table.

They also had this game in the "body" area of the museum.  I wasn't quite sure what was going on but the kids loved it!

 Here's Lilly exploring the body.

The kids also got to draw what an elevator would look like in space.

Finally, as sad and hard as it was, the time came to say goodbye.  We sure love these crazies and miss them a lot!  We're so glad they're coming to visit in July!  We can't wait to see them!

When I was unpacking I found some presents that Jane had packed for us.  She's so sweet.  The note for me said "Having you here was a sure a "treat".  I hope you get home safely to find something sweet!"  She's too cute.  Thanks Jane!

 We also brought home this gem from Kate. I love how she thought Mabel's name was Mabels.

Overall we had the best time and it was such a fun trip!  The kids could not get enough of each other!  We are going through withdrawals and we miss them like crazy!  Can't wait to see you guys in July!  Thanks again for letting us come!

P.S.  In case these 101 pictures were not enough you can see more shots on my sister's blog.