Happy Easter

So I'm a little slow, but Sunday was Easter. It was Conference weekend, and it was a great family weekend. James came home for Easter and brought the lovely young lady that he is dating. It was fun to have James home and to spend some time getting to know Cass better. She's a sweet young lady who has been a really good influence on James. We decided to have a big Easter dinner this year and invited Angie's family & Hannah's family over for dinner. It was so fun to have the house full of family and friends on Easter. We had an Easter egg hunt for Angie's young kids. Not surprisingly, the teenagers got in on the hunt and I'm pretty sure that they got almost as many eggs as the young kids did! Dinner was delicious, mostly thanks to Angie's culinary skills and Hannah's amazing cake! It was a truly wonderful day spent with those I love the most!!



alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457237479232229506" />


I couldn't believe how long the table was! And the centerpieces were so fun to play with and make...they were the product of the trip to the Candy store on Friday that was so very much fun.





After dinner was time to play! Hide 'n seek, soccer, and basically just enjoying the last few minutes of sun and warmth to wrap up a really terrific day! I hope everyone was able to have a wonderful Easter and spend time with your family and loved ones.

Spring Break Fun

Josh is on Spring Break right now. Yesterday, I took he & Emmett to Idaho Falls. I dropped them at James' apartment & they hung out with him while I did some actual work, in the form of three inspections. We all met up for lunch, and then the boys went to see Percy Jackson & The Lightening Thief. Not having any interest at all in that movie, I took myself to see The Last Song. I have to say, I loved it. It is a movie I will be watching again & probably buying on DVD. It was a sweet love story, a father/daughter story that I found extremely personally touching, and really, could he be any more adorable????

Emmett's a goof



So after the movie, we went to this candy story called Sarah's Candy Cottage. The store is entirely devoted to candy. I hadn't been there in awhile & I knew that neither Josh or Emmett had ever been there. We walked in the door and there were shelves of candy EVERYWHERE. Josh & Emm's eyes got wide and they got these huge smiles on their faces! They were so cute picking out their candy choices and charming samples of just about everything from the lady who was helping us. The size of these lollipops made me laugh!


And since I had some grocery shopping to do, we ended our day at Wal-Mart. I swear, walking through the door turns Josh & Emm 5 again. But they make me laugh so hard. They head straight to the toy department. After playing a little bit of baseball with the bouncy balls, they found a couple of little kids who were willing to play with them. I think it's fair to say that Josh & Emm lost & the little kids won.







This was the two of them in the car on the way home. How do they always end up asleep at the end of a trip?

Changing your life

I've come to the conclusion that sometimes, there are people who are supposed to stay in your heart forever. The heart heals and moves past any pain, but there are sometimes people who stay in the heart, no matter what. I don't believe that you should try to force someone out of your heart. Occasionally, you meet someone who finds a place in your life and your heart and changes you forever. When you meet someone who has the power to make those changes in your life, let them in. Let them make you a better person and make you better for having met them and having had them in your life. Cherish them, cherish the changes they make in your life and your heart, and keep them close to your heart for always.

"Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just said it would be worth it. Friends are like balloons: once you let them go, you can't get them back. So I'm gonna tie you to my heart so I never lose you."

Thank you John & Denise!

If you were to ask Josh or any of his friends what the first thing they think of when they think of our house, I'm pretty sure there would be two words. Pizza and cookies! Well, Emmett would add Twizzlers, but that's a whole different story. Josh's crew loves it when we have pizza parties here. The pizzas are always home made with my secret recipe that as of this weekend, has been passed down through the family in the form of me giving it to James. And they know that the cookie jar is always stocked. In fact, they generally walk in the house, say "HI" and head to the cookie jar!

Two years ago for Christmas, I got what I thought at the time was a funny Christmas gift from my brother John & sister in law Denise. It was this little guy. He's kinda funny looking, awesome because he's got the Sox logo on, of course. Little did I know that this guy would provide so much happiness and joy to Josh & his friends. So thanks John & Denise, for a gift that makes the entire house happy every weekend!

Stake Prom

Last night was the Stake Prom. This is something that was started about 5 years ago for the kids in our stake. James went a couple of times & always had fun. This is the first year Josh was old enough to go. He took a friend, Desiree, and they doubled with one of his oldest friends, Jaiden and his date, Ariel. The kids all looked so good last night & they had a great time!! I remember teaching Josh & Jaiden in Primary when Josh first moved here. They were 7 years old and became very fast friends. They sort of raised trouble in my Primary class & have been close friends and causing trouble together ever since! I can't believe how old they are!!!

What a sweet face...

...how could you ever get mad at this cute, sweet face? That cute, crooked smile, those dimples. Maybe it's because I live with him that those dimples and that cute crooked smile do nothing for me!! Kidding. I love that sweet face. Josh & I get along really, really well about 98% of the time. But boy oh boy was yesterday one of the 2%!!! Yesterday I would have been more than willing to give that boy away to any takers. Today's back to a good day though and even when he's a big ol' pain in the butt, I do love that guy!!

Sugaring Season

One of the things that really makes me miss New England is sugaring season. Tapping the maples for maple syrup. My brother has maple trees and they always tap them & make their own syrups. I can't wait for the package to arrive in the mail with the syrup!



The Sugar Shack


Andrea cutting wood & Michael being a typical little brother!


Andrea, Wendy, and Diego


Wendy


My gorgeous nieces, handsome nephew, and my brother and sister in law at their wedding reception.

Happy birthday Angie!!

Ok, so her birthday was actually last Wednesday, but we celebrated with her on Sunday. I did make her cute little cakes for her & all her kids on Wednesday & brought the birthday cake on Sunday. Then on Sunday, Angie's gorgeous, wonderful daughter Desiree invited us over to share a birthday meal that she made for her mom with their family. Of course, Emmett was part of the package for us. It was a very fun afternoon spent with very good friends, filled with lots of laughs and warm friendship and the vow to do it more often!

Desiree and Angie cooked together, we ate delicious food, Josh & Emmett did dishes, we ate yummy cake & ice cream, and talked and laughed. Thanks to some of my favorite people for a wonderful afternoon. Relaxing and having fun was exactly what I needed!