My newest video with the kids

Easter Photo shoot

My mom bought this cute dress for Kayla for Easter and the sweater for me. Then we had a perfectly sunny day last week (we've had rain ever since). I love the way the yellow flowers contrast with the purples.

And of course the kids were much more smiley when daddy was taking the pictures than when it was just on a timer.

Easter eggs

I love Easter egg hunts! The kids did 5 this year. I decided not to do an Easter basket from the Easter bunny though. And actually, I don't think I ever will. We'll do at least three egg hunts every year because we have to do one with both sides of the family and then the town one. So that's enough candy. Plus I don't like the idea of giving my kids candy right before going to church!
Anyway, here are some pictures from the hunts we did this year. Both kids were pretty good at collecting eggs. But also very good at sharing them with other kids who didn't get as many!

Flower fairies

It's spring and the flowers are back! And since I got some new flower fairies this Christmas I have several pictures I can take!

Here is the Heather fairie
And the cherry blossom fairie

peek - a -

boo!

I love how excited young kids about that game!

Baby Conner

My brother Russell and his wife had their first baby last Friday! They came down yesterday for a visit so we/Steven and Raime/my dad could meet the baby and also so I could do a photo shoot of him. It went pretty well. I think the whole thing tramatized him a little because once he was really awake he wouldn't go to sleep again (some of the newborn poses definitely require a sleeping baby) and then he got pretty hot under the lights. But for the most part he was a cooperative baby. Then once we were done and he was fed he fell asleep hard and slept for a long time!
He's a cute little thing. Its funny how easily you forget how fragile and floppy newborns are. He of course has that incredibly soft skin too. I love that!
Russell jumped into this whole daddy thing like a pro. He doesn't seem nervous about taking care of the baby at all and he's showing major interest in that gross female stuff that comes along with childbirth like breastfeeding. He's asked me about my menstrual cycle and breastfeeding experience. That's kind of weird considering he's my brother and all, but it does mean he's attentive.

Conner makes those cute little grunting noises that baby's do, which is adorable. And he seems to prefer to put his fists under his chin (see parts poster before). I look forward to getting to know him over the years. Congratulations to Russell and Casey!

haircut

I wanted my hair cut, but couldn't bring myself to spend money on it, so I let nathan cut it. Brave yes, and yes, he cut it a lot shorter then I was expecting. But it's even, so he did a good job. And it works for me for now. I like it the way I leave out those little strands like that, but I think I will like it more when it's just a little bit longer. It's definitely a change, though!

flower bow

Kayla doesn't let me put bows on her head. But for some reason she likes this one. I love it. She looks so cute!

random pictures I love

This is the neighbor's kitty that is patient enough to let the kids pick her up.

Spring fun

It's officially Spring! As evidenced by the excessive rain and the daffodils! I pass by these daffodils in the stump every week when I go to Jared's preschool and I think they're so funny!

The kids and I dyed Easter eggs. I don't like hard boiled eggs, so we didn't actually eat them. But dying is fun, so we did it. Both kids are fascinated with colors now so they loved being able to actually change the colors of the eggs.

Then over General Conference Weekend my mom and I did an Easter egg hunt for the kids. I loooove egg hunts. We'll do at least two more. They both liked it. Jared was surprising really nice about letting Kayla get the eggs. He even specifically gave her some yellow ones since that's her favorite color. Then later he wanted to pretend to do an Easter egg hunt again, so we just spread the empty eggs around the house. It was fun.

April Fools Party

We had our 3rd annual April Fool's dinner party and it was a great success this year; Much more fun than the last two years! We had 11 adults and 4 kids, which made for a crouded party, but it was cool.

The foods people brought were awesome. Nathan made a lasagna that looked like a graveyard, complete with a little bread man that I made, for a main course. I made dog food chili and grilled cheese cake, but my favorite thing was the susi that Tera made. It was so elaborate! Just like a samplier plate at a susi resturant. She should know too, since she's been to several different susi resturants.

The party didn't end until 9:30 because we were having so much fun talking. In fact, at one point Steven and Raime said they were leaving, and then stayed for another 20 minutes just talking. Jared was confused by this since we'd already said goodbye and said "can you please go?" It was pretty funny.