Our Easters......

BEWARE: lots of pictures :)

First of all, Derek and I had the opportunity of going to a Passover feast on Friday evening before Easter. Some couples from our ward put it all together, it was incredible. Too bad I don't have any pictures from the evening. It was amazing. It was such a great education on the Passover feast.

Our Saturday celebration was filled with Easter egg hunts, dyeing easter eggs and more hunts :)
We went to Hee Haw farms that morning for an Easter egg hunt and fun activities. Here's Emma bookin' it just after a lady with a stroller tripped her accidentally. Emma was upset at first, then she got on her cute little feet and booked it for the hunt. :) That a girl!

Helping little Thomas out.

The kids loved the different farm animals. Thomas LOVED the goats...so much that he let one bite his fingers. He was fine.

This was hilarious. I put Thomas in with Emma just to take a picture and then my plan was to take him out right after the photo was taken. Umm....then they took off!!! There weren't seat belts and I was SO nervous that he would squiggle on out. Yes, I did start running after it to make sure he doesn't fall out. I probably looked ridiculous. Then when I realized he would be fine, I calmed down. hahahhahahaha

Emma was such a good big sister. She had such a good hold on her little brother. This picture cracks me up, look at Thomas. hahahha!

Then Emma got to go by herself. :)

Emma was THRILLED to find and hold baby animals. During and after (to this day) she says she wants a bunny for our home. Probably not going to happen sweetie as we have cats (not ours) that wander in our yard.

She LOVED this lamb. He was SO tame and just let all the kids pick him up.

After Emma's nap we let her go out for an Easter egg hunt. Thomas was SO tired he slept a long time AND it rained on us, that didn't stop her. Maybe next year Thomas will be more into the hunt. Emma had SO much fun.

She found a picture I gave her for her room. Kind of ecstatic.

Easter morning. Okay, so you may notice the little red heart card. Well earlier in the week, I was doing Emma's hair and talking about the true meaning of Easter. About ten minutes later she said, "Mommy, I want to give Jesus a present for Easter." My heart melted. I said, "well Emma you know what the best present you could give Jesus, is just to be kind and loving to others..." Then later she said, "I want to make him a card." Here it is.

Her heart felt message to Jesus "I love you Jesus."

I made Thomas his own little drum

Emma put her bunny ears on and hopped around the dining room like a bunny.

By the way, this was my little quilt dress when I was a little girl. I think I wore it when I was five years old. I LOVE IT!

This was a swing my Grandpa Mills made for me when I was like 8 years old. Derek painted it and put new rope on it. I think she likes it.

Thomas loved opening his eggs and putting them in his mouth.

Emma's bunny ears

playing with his new drum

We have a few blossom trees in our yard. It really was amazing when they blossomed for the short time. Emma was out there everyday picking blossoms and smelling them. It was fun to watch them from being little buds to blooming within the day. This will be something fun to look forward to every spring. It's such a short time that they are blossomed, but hey we'll take it :)

Notice not only the cute boys, but also the DEATH GRIP Thomas has on Derek's ears. This happens EVERY time Thomas is on his Daddy's shoulders. He holds on to dear life and Derek is sore and bursting red ears.

We had Derek's family over for Easter dinner. Here is our little Easter table display. We grew some wheat grass just for Easter. It was fun to decorate with.

Derek made this darling bunny bread and veggie tray. Isn't it adorable? This may need to be a tradition.

HE IS RISEN!
I am grateful for this time of year where life comes out all around us. The popping blossom trees, and flowers, birds singing, bees humming all around. We are reminded of the life and Resurrection of our risen Savior. I am grateful for Him, He gives my life happiness. And what I am MOST grateful for is He made it possible for me to be with my family for forever!

Our sweet boy is 1!!!

Thomas is just a ray of sunshine to our family. He is SUCH a happy boy and we feel incredibly blessed that he was sent to our family.
Thomas is a total crack up. He's always just waiting for a reason to smile or laugh. We went to Thomas' 12 month check up and is a whopping 23 lbs...big boy!
Thomas has learned to wave and say "Bye Bye". It's so cute when he does because he is SO proud of himself.
He says "Dada" for almost everything
He loves to eat, and is good at feeding himself. He let's you know when he's full by putting his food in the little compartment on the table of his high chair.
He loves his old school toys such as "little people" as well as his stacking blocks, etc...
He loves nap time (most of the time) and will snuggle with his teddy bear right away.
He is INTO EVERYTHING!!!! Like we turn our head for a second and he manages to be crawling up the stairs, or trying to come down the stairs (he's still learning that skill), putting EVERYTHING in his mouth, kitchen cupboards, pulling ALL the videos off the shelf at least three times a day, and the list goes on.
He is crawling and is SO close to walking.
Loves bath time
He loves following Emma around and sometimes harassing her. :)

We had a great family get together to celebrate his birthday! Here are some pictures.


This is what Thomas woke up to his birthday morning.

He loved waffles for this birthday breakfast

We went to one of his favorite activities, story time at the Provo Library. It was a big treat for him. He absolutely LOVES the storytellers, songs and puppet show.

Look at our sweet boy! Doesn't he just bring a big smile to your face? He does to mine. :)

I had all 12 months of his life hanging up on a ribbon line.

Here he is playing with his cousin Drew.

These are a few of his favorite things :)

We had light finger foods. I made these little yummy pizzas. (Thanks Maqueca for the recipe)

My nephew guarding the jelly beans with his life. :) hahahha

His little birthday party had a vintage toy theme. He LOVES his vintage fisher price 'little people', wooden tower, clock, etc.... I also made our little family party hats.

Emma trying to show Thomas how to blow out the candle.

His Uncle Dylan brought his mad guitar skills and played happy birthday! Loved it.

Ok, what is with my children? So far, both of them have not liked their bigger cake for their first birthdays. He wasn't havin' it!

We ended up slicing a little heaven out of the cake, then he was all over it.

But I'll tell you who DID enjoy his cake, his sister Emma and cousin Lucy. They were ALL over it!

Here he is watching his first year video.

playing with Aunt Pam.

Oma and Opa gave Thomas a little tent for his birthday and look who is enjoying it. Emma has it in her room and loves bringing a flash light in there to read. She takes naps in it and sometimes even sleeps in it at nights. She LOVES it. Someday Thomas will enjoy it I'm sure. :)

Here's the video of Thomas' first year Derek put together. It took a VERY long time, but we cherish it SO much. Happy Birthday sweet Thomas! We are SO grateful to have you in our family, what a blessing you have been to us.

Thomas' 1st Birthday....to be continued

Here is a little collage of pictures of our sweet Thomas' FIRST BIRTHDAY!! What?! Is our little "Turbo Thomas" really already 12 months. I have to say, it was a wonderful celebration with loved ones all around. I will give more details of the special day later....Ta ta for now!!

ONE?, bunny buns, party planning, and American Girl

First of all, is our little Thomas REALLY turning ONE in 4 DAYS??!!! Holy moly!! He is just getting funnier, cuter, smarter, and bigger everyday.

Emma was helping me with our family home evening lesson and found these" Bunny Buns"and couldn't wait to make them. We finally got around to making them this week. Kind of time consuming but they turned out yummy and Emma LOVED them. We found the recipe in our current issue of the "Friend" magazine.

they were finally ready to eat for a bed time snack, that was a big treat!

I've been working little bits here and there on Thomas' birthday party celebration. Many polka dots and primary colors can you tell? :)

This morning when I was getting ready, Emma brought a big box from under her bed that I thought she wouldn't bother on getting into since I've had it under there for like two years. It had my American girl Samantha. I was hesitant to let her play with it since it's VERY old but then heck why not. We changed Samantha into her spring party dress. A I found her playing tea party in her bedroom with Samantha and a couple other buddies. She was talking to them, so cute. I love seeing her imagination run wild. :)Emma hasn't ever had a doll that's a little older, just babies.

I think she really likes her. I found her dancing and playing with her in her bed when she was supposed to be napping. :) hahhahaha

What are you doing today?

With the snow coming down hard today, this is what it looks like in our home.
Happy Friday!

siblings....

Me: "Emma will you please go play with your brother in your room for a little bit while I finish getting ready?"

And this is how I find them. I know Emma girl LOVES her brother but I just wish she would play with him more. I'm sure it will change once he's walking and talking and following her :)

I LOVE watching them play together during bath time. This picture is hilarious because this was Thomas' first 'bubble' bath. He wasn't quite sure what to think of all the white suds all over.

Then he got the hang of it :)