Happy Easter!

We had such a great Easter Sunday today. We had to wake the kids up so they could see their baskets before we had to leave for church. Ava and Chase were both very excited and Blake could care less what was going on. Once the eggs were open Blake got into it more, that kid LOVES chocolate. He opens the candy and shoves it in so fast, it's hilarious. The Easter Bunny brought the kids new church outfits and they all looked very sharp for church this morning. Ava had her first opportunity to say the prayer in Primary today. I wasn't able to be there because I was teaching in RS but Eric went to help her and said she did such a good job, we are so proud of her. I can't believe she is getting so big.
Today marks a huge milestone for my two little munchkins. They are exactly 18months today which in our world means "Nursery time" at church. We no longer have to wrestle with these guys for two hours of church each week. Chase walked in like he owned the place and never looked back. He was happy and content the whole two hours. Blake had a meltdown in the beginning but once Eric stayed with him for a 1/2 hour he was fine and had a good time the rest of church. I think they are happy to finally have some play time on Sunday mornings.

After church we enjoyed a nice dinner together as a family and then did a little Easter egg hunt with the kids. It was so fun to watch the boys get so excited gathering the eggs. They are at the age where gathering things to fill up a bucket is loads of fun by itself, then you add candy to the mix and you've got real fun! Ava was such a good big sister and let her brothers get a fair amount of eggs.
Our home teachers showed up with this cute bucket full of little chick eggs that are actually sidewalk chalk, aren't they cute? Ava couldn't wait for them to leave so she could go outside to try it out. They gave a cute message to the kids about how each color egg represents something about Easter or our Savior. I thought I would share with you:

Red - The red egg symbolizes love. Our Savior's great love for us made the atonement possible.

Orange - This egg is the color of forgiveness, one of the very important principles that Jesus taught.

Yellow - The yellow egg is the color of the sun. Jesus wants us to be sunbeams, shining for him.

Green - This egg symbolizes life. Our Savior was resurrected, and we will be also. Jesus and Heavenly Father want us to have the gift of eternal life.

Blue - The blue egg symbolizes truth. Our Savior brought us the truth. He was true to himself, His Heavenly Father and the gospel. As we are true to the truth, we are free.

Purple - The purple egg is the color of royalty. Jesus is our King.

So, as you can see the kids had a great time with the sidewalk chalk. And for those of you wondering, yes, it is still cold enough for blanket sleepers here in Michigan!

Las Vegas Part 3

We also got to spend lots of time with aunt Katie. Ava was again spoiled with lots of love and b-day gifts, are we seeing a pattern here? Katie gave Ava the movie Annie which is her favorite movie right now. Ava loved that Katie put the soundtrack to Annie on her ipod so she could sing along wherever we happened to be. The boys loved cuddling with Katie and playing at the park, all the kids love Katie. A big thanks Kate for helping me with the kids, especially when we were all sick. Your the best!

My dad also came to Vegas from Missouri while we were there, we almost didn't get to see him because everyone was so sick but we're glad it worked out for him to come. The boys haven't seen grandpa Seeley since they were 6months old. Blake especially warmed up to grandpa which is a big deal considering he only let 3 people hold him our entire trip. Grandpa Peterson, Grandpa Seeley and Katie were the only people he would go to. Grandpa took us to see the fish at Bass Pro Shops, the kids really liked this. Ava thought is was cool that she got to see the mermaid. We love you Grandpa, thanks for coming to see us!

We had a good time with Grandma Seeley, although we didn't see much of her. We planned our trip right at the busiest time at school for her. We managed to get some time in there though. Ava and I went to visit her classroom and meet her boys. She took Ava and Ali to the Shark Reef and Mandalay Bay and out to lunch, so she got her special date with Grandma Seeley too! And thanks to Grandma I got some sleep while she stayed up all night with my sick baby, aren't mom's the best! We love you Grandma!
Grandma also babysat for me to spend time with friends while I was there. I got to go out to eat with my cousin Jennifer a couple times which was really nice, I haven't seen her in awhile and it was nice to catch up. I even tried Thai food for the first time, it was pretty good. Thanks Jen!

I also got to spend time with a very good friend of mine, Rebecca. I've missed her so much since we moved away. It was so nice to have girl time with no kids!

I also had the chance to stop in on one of my high school friends, Marylin. This was so much fun to see her and her kids. She has such a cute family and I'm so glad we had the chance to catch up!

A BIG BIG Thank You to all the grandparents who made this trip possible. I feel so blessed to have so many family members that love us so much. The best part of my trip was to see how much my kids are loved by extended family. We love you all so much and can't wait until next time!

Las Vegas Part 2

Aunt Rachie came up from Arizona to see us, we love aunt Rachie! Again Ava was greeted with more b-day presents, more trips to the park, a special date to the mall to ride the carousel and lot's and lot's of love! Thanks for coming to see us Rach, we miss you!

Grandma Perkins got to come up from Arizona a couple times while we were there. She was there to greet us at the airport when we arrived which was very nice. Ava spent quality time with grandma having sleepovers, making cookies, reading books, getting new clothes and again just being spoiled! The kids all love playing with grandma Perkins, she is the only person I know that can capture the full undivided attention of all three of my children at the same time. I can't even do that! We love you grandma Perkins.

Ava left for our trip knowing she was going to see someone special while we were there. I wouldn't tell her who it was because we wanted to keep it a surprise. Her and Dallin were both VERY surprised to see each other. These two were best buds when we were in Missouri and they've missed each other so much. It was so fun to see the cousins back together having so much fun. It was nice for me to see Jen too, she's the best sister n law you could ask for! Can't wait to see you guys again!

Las Vegas Part 1

The kids and I have been busy traveling the last couple months. We went to visit family in Las Vegas the end of January and into February and in March we went to visit Rachel and her family in Washington D.C. (I will post about this trip later).

Since we moved away from Vegas about 3 years ago we haven't had very many opportunities to see the Peterson side of our family. This was the first time for some of the family to meet the boys. It was so great for them to get to know their grandparents and great grandparents. Our trip started off with a traditional Sunday family dinner, just like old times. It sure felt good to be back. Dinner was followed by cuddles with G.G., jewelry making with Grandpa, feeding the horses peppermints, driving the tractor and the mule, collecting the eggs (which Ava loved), feeding the chickens and getting into lots of stuff we shouldn't get into!

Chase wanted to give everyone something really good to remember him by so after the first great day we had he managed to give every family member we have in the Vegas area (with the exception of aunt nani) the flu. Thank you Chase! But lucky for us they still loved us enough to let us hang out with them even with our germs.

The kids had such a good time with Grandma and Grandpa Peterson and Great Grandma and Grandpa Anderson. The boys had no problem warming up, Chase cuddled up to G.G. like he's known her his whole life. Both the boys had a blast playing the plastic cup game with Grandpa. Grandpa Peterson is known for giving grand kids all kinds of food and drinks they shouldn't. If you know my Chase you know he was in heaven at Grandpa's. I have to give it to him, he's knows how to win em over! The boys loved having Grandma show them all the animals on the ranch and getting kisses from the horses. Ava got to ride horses with grandma, which she is still talking about 3 months later!

We had a great time with aunt Nani and Uncle Chris. Ava enjoyed all the b-day presents, the special date they went on (her first time bowling) , sleeping over, watching Nani play soccer, playing with Lexi and Layla, going shopping and to the park and pretty much being spoiled rotten by Nat and Chris the whole time. The boys love their aunt Nani and Uncle Chris too! A huge thank you to Nat for flying home with me to help with the kids, your the best!

Sunbeam

Sunday was Ava's first day of Sunbeams. She has been looking forward to this day for a long time. Because she has a January birthday she had to stay in nursery until she was almost 4. She was SO excited to be a Sunbeam, that's all she could talk about for the last month! So, on Saturday her and I had a "special date" and we bought her a new dress. Sunday morning it was so cute how she wanted to get ready and was worried we were going to be late. (Me, never.)

She had a great time at her class and loved her new teachers. She got to draw a picture and play with play dough. It was such a good day for her, she is such a good girl.

Cabin Fever

We have had some seriously cranky kids in our house this week, not quite sure if it's the freezing cold weather or the fact that it's the first week since before Christmas that we haven't been around extended family. It's back to just momma and papa, or to be realistic, it's back to just mom, boring. So we had a family night out to the mall so the kids could play at the playplace. Ava is so funny, she is my little social butterfly. She loves to meet new kids and have people her own age to play with. The boys enjoyed getting out and climbing all over the toys. Although they had the most fun trying to escape the playplace all together, gotta love those toddlers!Just to give you an idea of what I see out my window each day.Ava and Blake playing with magnets at the children's museum. We went their last week for family night! Blake and Chase (not sure who the other kid is) playing at the mall.

Introducing the next Oksana Baiul!!

Ava had her first experience ice skating last week and can I just tell ya, this girl has impeccable balance! I took her downtown to the outdoor park because it's only a dollar to skate and I didn't think she would last long, but boy was I wrong! She didn't want to leave!
I was impressed when she just got up and started walking out to the rink like it was no big deal to walk in ice skates. Then Katie and I held her hands around the first time and that didn't go to well, so we got her one of the helper things to use and she went around once with that. That didn't go so well either, she fell quite a few times. Then she turned to me and said "mom, I don't want this thing anymore" and took off on her own! She did so well, it was so cool to watch her enjoy it so much.
There were quite a few falls, but I was still impressed that she was skating all by herself and even doing a few little turns! I decided she deserved a little reward so it was off to cold stone to finish off the night! I hope you enjoy the video!