Easter

We had a VERY busy and FUN Easter week/weekend. The kids were soo excited for the Easter bunny to come. Taylor asked almost everyday this past week about it. On Wednesday night we had our family home evening talking about why we really celebrate Easter and they really got into that. Then on Saturday morning we had our neighborhood easter egg hunt at a park nearby, it was a blast. As soon as we got there Chase took off to go get some eggs, I had to chase after him and explain that we had to wait for everyone else. It was quite cold, so a lot of the kids went home right after they collected their eggs, but there were of course some "die hards" that stayed to play at the park, us included. Then later that day we went to Grandpa Bryce's for our family easter egg hunt. I guess the Easter bunny went a bit overboard cause the adults ended up picking up the left over candy that the kids didn't want. They were all just too busy checking out their goodies. Then on Easter Sunday, the kids got into their new easter outfits and we all went to church. Then it was back over to Grandpa's for a very nice Easter dinner. Cooked by yours truly, with a little help from Cort...well OK a lot of help. (He's the best!) Then we all watched the BEE movie, which the adults made it through. The kids all slowly made their way down to the playroom. Grandpa and Grandma Welker also sent the kids a giftcard for the kids to go get some books at Barnes and Noble. Thanks again, Grandpa and Grandma! The kids are excited to go pick some stuff out. We had a wonderful Easter. Just being together. What a wonderful time of year this is. The weather is starting to get nicer, which is reason enough to smile. I feel so blessed to have what I have and to know what I know. Life is good, no doubt about it!

LEO

He did it again! When I was growing up this pesky little Leprachan named Leo, would come to our house while we were sleeping and make a mess of our kitchen, and leave us some goodies and treats. Well, the tradition continues. Once again Leo came to our house last night and made quite the mess and left my kids a few little goodies and a lot of candy. They were so excited! The night before St. Patty's Day, Taylor told me that she was going to catch him this year and take all of his gold. Well, no such luck.
Maybe next year, Tay.

Tagged

Ok, so I have been tagged again, but this time it's ABC style!
(Thanks Emily for making me think so hard.)

~ A- Attached or Single? attached!
~ B- Best Friend- definitely Cort
~ C- Cake or Pie? Cake. Or more specifically Costco cake the one with the cream cheese filling. Delicious!
~D- Day of Choice? Either Sunday or Friday. Sunday because it's a day when you can just relax and be with family. And Friday because it usually means date night.
~E- Essential item? I have to agree with Emily on this one, a camera! I love to take pictures, particularly of my kids. Which I must go overboard on because Chase absolutes HATES to have his picture taken. Go figure.
~F- Favorite Color? Pink and Brown.
~G- Gummy Bears or Worms? Bears, for sure.
~H- Hometown? WJ.
~I- Favorite indulgence? a massage. I don't think they will ever lose their appeal.
~J- January or July? July! January is sooooooo depressing to me.
~K- Kids: 1 girl and 2 boys. The beautiful miss Taylor who is 5, the always a good time Chasers who is 2, and the sweet little Talan who is 6 months.
~L- Life isn't complete without? The gospel and my family
~M- Marriage date: August 16, 2001
~N- Number of Brothers and Sisters: 2 sisters and 3 brothers. Who I know I can count on for anything. They are all some of my closest friends.
~O- Oranges or Apples? Mmmmm, I'm not sure, maybe apples.
~P- Phobia and fears: snakes and mice. I swear if I ever found a mouse in my house we would move. I HATE them with a passion!! (Finding a mouse in my house that is the fear!)
~Q- Quote: "While the Lord will magnify us in both subtle and dramatic ways, he can only guide our footsteps when we move our feet." Marion G. Romney
~R- Reason to Smile: When I have one of those moments with my kids, where I just try and take a picture with my heart, so that I never forget how I felt when I saw them do something that just made me smile inside and out.
~S- Season of choice: Fall. All the way, hands down!! I look forward to fall all year round. I love the crisp that is in the air, the excitement of the upcoming holidays, the colors. Everything.
~T- Tag: Whitney McKell, Lynette Hafen, Erin Pugmire, Leslie Walker, Amelia Pearce, Amber Moleff.
~U- Unknown fact about me: Some of you might already know this, but I can be a little OCD on occasion. For example, I can't sleep in a hotel bed until I have pulled the covers completely off and checked to make sure that they are clean. And don't get me started on the hotel's comforters. Seriously, I don't think that they ever clean those things. As soon we get to our room, I take them off and put them in a corner where they stay the entire trip.
~V- Vegetable? Artichokes with butter. When I was growing up we had them at least every other week when they were in season. Now my kids get that same treat just as often, when their in season.
~W- Worst Habit? worrying. I wish I could be more care free, go with the flow, and just realize that things will work themselves out. I swear I waste sooo much time worrying about things I don't have any control over. It's so annoying!
~X- ray or ultrasound? ultrasound.
~Y- Your favorite food? Anything mexican, and anything with sugar. I am such a sugar addict!
~Z- Zodiac sign? Virgo.

There you go! That's me! Very Exciting. I can't wait to read all of yours!

Six months old

WOW! Hard to believe, but true...Talan is now half way to his first birthday. He had his six month check up just a couple days ago and handled those shots like a champ! Poor kid. Chase came with me to the doctors, while Taylor was at preschool and he was really quite concerned about his little brother. He just held his hand and told him, "it's ok baby." Chase really is quite protective of his little brother. Actually, he always has been. I remember when Talan was first born, and people would come over to visit, Chase didn't want anyone he didn't know well, to hold his little brother. There's no doubt in my mind that they knew each other in the pre-existence. Talan now weighs a whooping 16.25 pounds. Here's a list of some of the things he's doing now: he is sitting up all by himself with no problems and has his hands on everything, he can shake his head NO, and you can tell he's real proud of this one cause he does it with the hugest grin on his face, he also has said da-da a couple of times, but he will only say it in a whispher. He still is quite mellow; he'll just sit in his bouncer or on the ground and just entertain himself with whatever is around. He is also now eating solids, and doing really good with it. So far, he has had rice cereal, sweet potatoes, squash, and pears. He is the smilest kid too. We took him over to have his pictures taken the other day and I swear, in every single picture they took he was smiling. The lady taking the pics said it was the easiest session (and fastest!) she's ever had! It is so fun to watch him learn new things. We all love him so much and can't imagine life without him!
....One more thing that I wanted to write so that I don't forget it...How excited Talan gets when ever he sees any member of our family. He kicks his legs oh, so very fast and just grins from ear to ear. It's adorable!! It totally makes me smile. I guess it's one of those things you have to see for yourself. But that's our Talan, he is so easy to love.

Hubba hubba

Just look at this little guy, isn't he handsome? About a week ago I decided to cut Chase's hair. It was just time for a change, besides it's hair right?? It'll grow back. Anyways, I just think that his new do is way too cute! Even though it makes him look so much older now. Regardless, he is just too cute for words! Also, the past couple of days his new thing has been trains. He has a train set that we got him for Christmas two years ago and the other day he got a bunch of the tracks and a few of his cars and set them up in the family room all by himself. Well, he will sit there forever connecting the tracks and running his cars along them. I can't decide if he's more into connecting the tracks or playing with his cars on them. Either way it's so much fun watching him get sooo into it. He really is growing up and changing into a little boy. In fact, yesterday he took his diaper off and went and got some of his big boy Cars underwear out of his drawer and told me that he didn't want to wear diapers anymore. I guess I'll have to buck up and get on the potty training pretty soon. I'm not so sure that I'm ready for that yet! Anyways, I sure am lucky to have such amazing kids, who make life so worth living.

5 years old

Where does the time go?? It's official our little Taylor bugis now five. And we really partyed it up for her this year. Me and her went out on Friday, just the girls, and got pedicures, and then went out to dinner, and then went and did some shopping. It was so much fun just being with her. She was soo cute at the pedicure place. She had the hardest time trying to pick a color, but finally decided on hot pink. And at dinner she wanted us to sit on the same side of the booth and she wanted to order the exact same thing. I asked her what was her favorite part of the night was and she said "putting my feet in the warm water with bubbles at the pedicure place, it felt so good!!" Then on Saturday was her big birthday party. She invited 18 kids, so it was a bit chaotic! But a good time for sure. We played a cake walk game, freeze dance, ate and decorated cupcakes, broke a pinata. What a fun party it was. I could tell that Taylor felt pretty special, when all her friends sang her happy birthday she was just beaming. Then on Sunday, (her actual birthday) I made her favorite breakfast for her and Chase, pancakes. Cort was at church meetings, so me and Chase stuck a candle in her pancakes and sung her happy birthday. Then after church we had a few family members come over for dinner and fun.

What proud parents we are! Taylor is such a joy to have in our family. She is so beautiful inside and out and incredibly smart! She tends to pick up on new things so easily, I think she gets that from her dad and her memory never seizes to amaze me. She bring up things that happened forever ago and I'll think to myself how does she remember that! She is such a huge helper with the boys and an amazing example for us all. Tonite after we got done reading scriptures she told us she wanted to bare her testimony, which was very sweet. She has the HUGEST heart and makes friends whenever we go. Even at such places as the store, I will turn around and find her playing around with her new friends, calling them by name. She is such a girly girl, loves to play dress up and put make up on and yet at the same time she loves to get dirty and run around with her brother. She absolutely loves to sing and dance and learn new things. She loves going to school and is starting to learn how to read. I feel so honored to be her mom and have her in my life. She makes life so grand!!! We love you Taylor. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Better late than never...

I can't believe that I forgot to give a big shout out to Cort for his BIG birthday last week!! Oh, life has been a bit crazy, as most of you reading this probably know. Last Sunday was Cort's 30th birthday!! That's right we are both in our thirites now and loving it!! I decided that this year we were going to make a really big deal of his birthday. So, I planned a surprise birthday party for him, which his parents actually flew in for without him knowing which made it even more special. We had a wonderful time just being together with family. I feel so blessed to be married not only to my very best friend in the whole world, but also to a wonderful man. Some of my favorite things about him are: his smile (He has the best smile!), his love for the gospel, how hard of a worker he is, how he loves to spend time with his family, how he gives me a back massage almost every night, (most of the time without me even asking), his willingness to help others out no matter how busy he is, his sense of humor, how he loves our kids so much, how he can do just about anything he puts his mind too, how he is always there for me, if I have a problem or just need to talk he is always there to help, how he's always got a positive outlook on life, etc. etc. I could go on and on. I love him so much. I'm not quite sure how I got so lucky, but I'm sure glad that I did. Love you Cort, Happy Birthday!