Easter Sunday

Our family after Church on Easter Sunday.

I can't believe how many kids I have and how big they are.

We had a wonderful Easter this year. After Baby Animal Days in Logan, we headed up to Grace to spend Easter. Aunt Sarah and her boys joined us at Grandma and Grandpa Newbry's for a night of fun and a morning of Easter Egg Hunting before they had to head home in time for church. The kids played well Saturday night, but they were VERY tired from the late night the night before and then their long day at the farm. We put the kids to bed at a normal time (8:00)and then spent the next few hours talking and catching up. It's so nice to be with adults and I'm realizing how much I crave that time. It was very enjoyable, but it was getting late so everyone went to bed and Kenny and I filled Easter Eggs and hid them around the upstairs for the hunt the next morning.

Sunday morning came too quickly and the kids were up and excited for their Easter Egg Hunt. There were 6 kids (my 4 and Sarah's 2 boys) so we divided the eggs into 2 rooms. The first room was for the 3 and under (Hannah, Trent, and Gracie.) Trent wasn't too into it, but my girls had a blast. The older kids did a good job watching and helping Gracie when she needed it. I was proud of how patient the big kids were especially considering how excited they were. Next it was the big kids room in the old studio. We hid the eggs a little harder for them, but Sarah, Ben, and Travis found all of them in no time. Everyone had fun and we ended up with way too much candy (Sarah, next time you HAVE to take some home.) It was nice to be able to spend the morning with cousins and enjoy an egg hunt together. We're so lucky to have family around.

Ben, Travis, and Sarah emptying out all their Easter Eggs after the Easter Egg Hunt.

After the Easter Egg Hunt, Sarah and the boys had to leave and we had to get our family ready for church. Grandma and Grandpa had Stake Conference which was less than ideal for us, but I was very impressed with how well our kids did. We left about 30 minutes before it ended and allowed Grandma and Grandpa to enjoy the rest of conference in peace. When we got back to Grandma's house it was nap time (my favorite time of day) and thanks to Kenny (I was napping along with the kids) the Easter Bunny came and filled baskets for the kids. They got more candy and a lot of play dough to share. Everyone was very excited except Sarah who is now 7 and starting in that I'm entitled to everything stage. She was a huge stinker asking, "Is this all we got," and I got a glimpse of what may be to come. We were very disappointed in her reaction, but pleased with the other kids who were grateful and happy. We're working on Sarah (any tips?)

Ben decapitating his marshmallow chocolate bunny.

Gracie with the traditional Easter candy face.

Sarah (after her stinkerness.)

Hannah's at the perfect age where everything is wonderful, even Grandma opening a Laffy Taffy.

Easter Dinner

After seeing the Easter Bunnies treasures it was off to a wonderful Easter dinner provided by Grandma. Grandma cooked a very good dinner and we were grateful to be able to enjoy a traditional Easter ham dinner. After dinner Kenny and the big kids flew kites and then he took all the kids for a dip in the hot tub while I packed up to leave. We made it home just after 8:00 which was perfect because Sarah had school then next morning. All in all it was a very busy, but fun Easter Sunday. We feel so blessed to be close to family so we can spend more time with them. We're grateful for the Easter holiday and for the time we get to reflect on the sacrifice Christ made for each of us.

Sarah and Gracie in the hot tub.

I love this picture because I think they look so much like sister.

Another great picture.

I don't like tooting my own horn, but my kids are awfully cute.

Baby Animal Days

The best picture we got of the kids.

This year we combined our Easter celebration by going to both Logan and Grace. We left Friday night (later than we planned, surprise) and headed to my Mom and Dad's. We arrived around 8:00 and let the kids stay up way to late playing with Grandma and Grandpa. We got up Saturday morning, did a little more playing, and then headed to Baby Animal Days with Grandma and Grandpa. Baby Animal Days is located at an old farm called the Jensen Historical Farm. It has a lot of old buildings and tries to portray what life was like back in the late 1800's. We thought it would be cute to take some spring pictures of the kids at the farm, but discovered that there was too many people and our kids were not interested in cooperating (neither was the weather for that matter.) After attempting to take pictures we decided lunch might not be a bad idea so we ran to Burger King and ate while waiting for Grandma and Grandpa Newbry and Aunt Sarah and her boys. After lunch we met up with everyone back at the farm to enjoy the baby animals.

Gracie kissing a goat. She LOVES to give kisses.

Sarah petting the pigs.

Ben holding a baby chick.

Hannah with a baby duck.

The boys! Trenton, Travis, and Ben. We've had so much fun being close to boy cousins for Ben and were so glad they were able to come.

We had a wonderful time with our family and the baby animals. We started out by exploring the old barn and playing some instruments, the kids pet some large oxen and played bean bags toss. After all that fun we headed over to see some baby animals. We started out with the baby goats. They were very cute and the kids had a blast petting them and holding them. Next the big kids tried shooting a bow and arrow (it was a lot harder than they thought it would be.) Then it was off see more animals. We saw baby pigs, baby cows, chicks, baby ducks, baby bunnies and more. It was so much fun to see the kids holding and playing with all the baby animals. They had so much fun and I was impressed with how soft they were with the animals. I have such good kids.

My girls holding a baby bunny.


Ben and Grandpa Newbry with a baby bunny.

After seeing so many animals we headed over to look at old wagons and tractors. The kids loved playing on them (especially Sarah's boys who LOVE 'Thomas the Train' and thought the tractors looked a lot like old trains, they did.) but I think the men enjoyed the old tractors more than the kids. They examined them and tried to figure out how each of them worked. It was not the most exciting thing to me, but I enjoyed watching the kids and the guys enjoy them.

The kids on an old wagon. Ben, Gracie, Sarah, Hannah, Travis, Trenton!

Hannah taking a walk with Grandpa Gass. We were so happy to have both sets of Grandparents with us.

After the tractors we went to ride the horses. The kids had been waiting all day to ride the ponies and nothing was going to stop them. The line was long, but with a little help from some kettle corn bought by Grandma Gass it went by quickly. Though the line really wasn't that long, Hannah decided it was time to ride the horses even though we were still a few groups away. When no one was watching her she walked up to the front of the line and got herself a helmet. She was standing in the front of the line, with her helmet on, waiting patiently for her turn when we found her. It was very funny and very cute, a little scary that she wandered off, but really cute at the same time. When our turn finally came the kids had a great time on the horses (well everyone except Travis who was mad that Ben took his horse even though Ben didn't know he had taken Travis' horse.)

The kids waiting patiently, with their helmets on, for their turn on the horses.

Sarah Kate had a blast and was soooo happy that she got to ride the biggest horse.

I think Ben may be concentrating hard on his pony ride.

The little girls shared a pony and had a lot of fun.

After the horses we noticed the weather was starting to turn bad. We decided to take a few more minutes and go into some of the old stores. One store was full of reptiles from little turtles, to HUGE turtles, to snakes. They had a large python that they were letting kids hold. I paid the dollar and let Ben, Sarah, and Travis hold the Python. They thought it was great and Sarah commented that it was really heavy. I'm proud of them for holding it.

The kids with the snake. It was so big and I was so proud of them for not being afraid.

After the store with reptiles we stepped outside and was hit by a strong smell of rain. Dark clouds were forming and it was raining in the distance. First we stopped to take a picture with the Easter Bunny and then we made a quick dash to the car before the rain came. It was a great day and I believe everyone had fun. Baby animal days is so much fun and has become somewhat of a tradition for us when we live here. It's our western activity to replace the Cherry Blossom festival and we love it.

With the Easter Bunny! Hannah and Gracie didn't want to get out of the stroller.

Gracie's Fun In The Tub

Tonight was bath night for the kids. I love bath night. I can put all 4 kids in the bathtub at the same time and get 30 minutes of peace. The kids love bath night too. All of our kids enjoy the water and most nights they hate it when it's time to get out. Today was no exception. Hannah and Gracie were in their bathtub and Ben and Sarah were in my bigger bathtub. Kenny had the job of getting the little girls out while I finished up the laundry. I was in their room folding clothes when he brought the 'dirty old towels' (a game the kids love to play when their done in the bath and Kenny swings them around in their towel) into their rooms. I helped him get them dressed and then finished the laundry and headed into the kitchen. I got myself a little snack and sat down in the living room. The big kids were still in the other bathtub, Hannah was in the bedroom talking to Kenny and I heard splashing in the kids bathroom. It dawned on me that Kenny hadn't drained the bath water. I immediately yelled at Gracie to stop, (thinking she was splashing in the water with her hand) put my snack down, and walked to the bathroom. This is what I found . . .

Apparently Gracie was not done taking a bath as we had originally thought. Out of all the kids she loves the bathtub the most, but I really didn't expect her to hop right in it fully clothed. She was just sitting there, in the dark, splashing around with a huge smile on her face. I had to laugh, it was so cute. I told Kenny who grabbed the camera and came to take pictures. Gracie decided sitting and splashing wasn't enough, she needed to lay down and really enjoy herself.

After laying down for a few minutes she got back up and played some more. She stood up and discovered she was a little cold (the water was cold by this point.) She didn't last too much longer before she wanted out. I took her clothes off and she helped me hang them up in the bathtub to dry. Next I took her diaper off. I didn't know diapers could hold that much water. It was amazing. She got wrapped up in a towel and taken to get new clothes. I immediately drained the bathtub. I think we've learned our lesson. Always drain the bathtub.