Random Spring Pictures...

Okay, so these aren't toally random pictures, just extras from the last couple weeks, so I thought I'd throw them together in a post! Anyways!

The first ones are from the boy's sports games. I posted some pictures of them playing earlier, but I got a few more good ones so I thought I'd post those too. First is Brady with his soccer team and their coach.

And the next few are of Shawn playing in his baseball game. I realized the other pictures I got of him were mostly from behind and I wanted a few better ones with more of his face showing. 

He did hit this ball flying towards him! :)

One weekend the beginning of May, Grandma and Grandpa McDougal were here visiting. They came to the boys games in the morning, then in the afternoon we went and hung out at their condo with them and went swimming, etc. They had just bought this gigantic bear from Costco and Connor just LOVED it! So funny how much bigger than Connor it is! 

Our kids loved it so much that a few days later, before they went back home to Utah, they brought it to our house and gave it to our boys! So now we are the proud owners of this huge bear! And the boys absolutely LOVE it!! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Brady's Kindergarten Celebration!

On Thursday, April 28th was Brady's Kindergarten Celebration to celebrate the end of their Kindergarten year at school, and show us some of the things they've learned. Their Theme was "The Sleepy Time Alphabet" so they all got to wear their pajamas for the program - it was so cute! 

{disclaimer - Brady's dad couldn't be there that night because he was working out of town, so I was recording it for him to watch later. Therefore, I had to put my 8-year-old, Shawn, in charge of taking pictures with the camera. Needless to say, they are dark, blurry, and kinda random, but hey! At least we have some pictures!}

 Brady and 3 other kids got to come out and lead everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance as well as recite their school's Character Counts Poem. He did so great! He was the only one that knew it all perfectly and spoke really loud in the microphone! (probably because the other kids were nervous.) Brady has no fear when it comes to getting up in front of people - he can get up and do anything in front of anyone! It's such a great talent that he has!

While reciting "The Sleepy Time Alphabet", the kids (entire Kindergarten) came out and up to the microphone in groups of 3 or 4 and each got to recite a different letter of the alphabet (and say their little part of the book that goes with it.) They all did so good! It was funny though because all the kids holding up the letters just held it shyly in front of them, but then Brady marches out and holds it up as high as he possibly could reach in the air. So funny! Everyone in the audience giggled a little! :) Here is his group going up to the microphone:

(again, I wasn't taking the pics, so I don't have one of him actually holding up the letter - darn!)

After they were done reciting the book, they all stood on little risers and sang a bunch of songs that they learned throughout the school year - most having to do with either the alphabet, numbers, colors, etc. They all did such a great job!

After it was over I took the boys out to dinner to celebrate such a good job by Brady! After we got home, I had Shawn take a couple more pictures of Brady so that we had a few good ones if his special night. There's one of mom (me) and Brady, then a couple of just him.

Great job Brady on your program!!! We are so proud of all you have accomplished this school year - especially what a good little reader you are! - and we can't believe you are already going to be done with Kindergarten!!! You are such a smart, good kid and couldn't be prouder of you and how well you are doing in school! Love you!

The Cuteness of Connor!

The other day when Connor was taking a nap, I checked in on him and this is what I found: 

His Pillow Pet tucked in to sleep with blankets on it, with Connor then sitting/laying Indian-style asleep on its back. I thought it was so cute - I just had to get a snapshot of it! 

I sure do love that boy!

Happy Easter!

We had a fun Easter day! As most holidays, it began early {the kids woke up REALLY early, but I held them off for a bit!} :) After everyone was up we of course did the traditional "line-up on the stairs for a picture" picture, before heading down to see what the Easter Bunny brought.

The boys checking out what they got. We never make a big deal out of Easter (we save that for Christmas!), the kids usually just get a bunch of candy with a few little cheap toys (bubbles, etc), a new outfit for summer, then one main thing - this year they each got a Pillow Pet! They have all been wanting one forever, so finally they got what they wanted and they were so happy about it!

Brady (6) showing off a plastic candy-filled egg!

Connor (2) contemplating what he should show us first!

And Shawn (8) happy with his new goods!

As per tradition, the Easter Bunny always hides candy around the room for the kids to search for and find. Then we put it all in a big bowl and divide it up between the kids. Here they all are looking for some of the stash:

Before we all had to get ready for church, I got the kids to all put on their new outfits for some Easter pictures. The color of the year - lime green! (last year it was turquoise) Here is Connor in his cute outfit - and no, he couldn't put that bucket of candy down for a second! :) 

Shawn:

Brady:

While I was taking pictures, the kids all wanted pics of themselves with their new pillow pets, so I of course obliged. Here is Brady with his new "pet" frog:

Shawn and his "pet" monkey: 

(don't ask what he's doing here - I have no idea!)

And Connor with his "pet" puppy:

He loves this thing so much! He has carried it around the house for the last 2 weeks straight since Easter - it plays with him, sleeps with him, everything! It's so cute!

After a wonderful meeting at church, we were able to come home and have a nice dinner before heading off to the airport to drop Mike off (he flew to UT to work for the next week.) It was sad to have him leave on Easter, but at least it was at the end of the day so it didn't really make a big difference in the days activities. Overall it was a very nice and fun Easter together as a family! 

Hope you all had Happy Easter!

Colorful Eggs.....

Easter time brings all sorts of colorful eggs.... the plastic kind (full of candy and goodies!) as well as colored "real" (hard boiled) Easter eggs! And we got to enjoy both kinds this Easter holiday!  

Saturday morning - the day before Easter - we began our day with our ward's annual Easter Egg Hunt and Potluck Breakfast! It was fun as always. It is held at one of the parks right in our neighborhood. After enjoying a yummy breakfast, the kids were all ready and excited for the egg hunt! First they had all the kids 0-3 years old go for theirs. That would be Connor's age group. He had a blast! :) He couldn't believe that he could just run around the park and get a whole bunch of plastic eggs filled with treats! {What kid wouldn't love that?!}

Our cute boys patiently {end excitedly} awaiting their turn!

Next up: Brady's age group! The 4-7 year-olds!

And last but not least, the 8-11 year-olds! Shawn's age group. Theirs they made a little more complicated - instead of the eggs just being all over the grass, they hid them all over the rocks and bushes, etc. More tricky and fun for the older kids!

After the egg hunt was over, it was back home for a little R&R (and yard work:) and then, some "real" colorful egg fun!! Time for the decorating/coloring of the Easter Eggs! I think we didn't do this last year for some reason, so the kids were extra excited! Connor had never done it before and Brady doesn't remember doing it before (although he has) so it was extra exciting for them. 

Here is everyone hard at work getting their eggs that perfect color! :)

And sure enough we ended up with some very colorful and tasty Easter Eggs! :)

That night we also had the opportunity to go as a family to the Easter Pageant at the Mesa Arizona Temple grounds. It was a lot of fun! We met my cousin Allyson Pulsipher (and her husband and their baby boy) there and watched it together! That was a lot of fun for me because she was my best friend growing up and I hardly ever get to see her anymore. The Pageant was wonderful - all about the life, death, and resurrection of Christ! A perfect way to begin our Easter! To remind ourselves of the meaning of Easter - the Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ! I am so grateful for Him and all that he has done for me in my life! I am grateful for the knowledge we have of Him and that we know we can someday live again with Him and our Heavenly Father along with our families for eternity! I can't imagine living without that knowledge and guidance in my life! I am happy that I got to share this story with my children and to teach them more about their Savior this Easter season!