Our Easter

Hope your Easter was as relaxing, fulfilling and wonderful as ours. Sunday was spent as a family of four--eating yummy food, getting in new Easter duds and remembering the precious gift of our Savior Jesus Christ. It was amazing!

Easter Hunt & Baskets

A family from church invited the whole ward over for a Easter brunch and egg hunt on Easter Saturday. There were TONS of people and it was so much fun. Everyone brought 12 eggs and everyone could find 12 eggs, but T got really lucky because I brought 12 eggs for Evie too (so he really got to find 24!) He was in heaven!

The boys checking their loot. Evie loved sucking on the eggs, and T got right to work inhaling a ridiculously large amount of chocolate. He would open an egg, unwrap the candy, inhale and repeat. It was hilarious to watch! I think Everett felt like a big boy and really enjoyed having his own basket.

Everett showing us an egg and his cute smile. Talmage picked out the easter baskets for himself and his brother--his had to be yellow (his favorite color for quite some time now) and he wanted Ev to have a blue one. They looked great.

That little cheesy T! I would love to get a picture of him looking at the camera with a real smile--but we're in that phase right now.

Family of four at the Easter egg hunt. It was a great morning and T is still talking about it.

Both boys needed new carseats so they each got baskets and seats! Neither have even taken a second look at the carseat, but the baskets were a big hit for both. (Note to self--next year buy 2 rolls of cellophane because one roll doesn't cut it. And even though this year Evie didn't care that he had the unwrapped basket, I'm guessing next year he will!)

T looking through his goodies WAY too early on Easter morning.

Evie was so sweet. He loved looking through his basket and it kept him busy for almost 45 minutes! Happy first Easter baby boy.

All of us in new Easter clothes getting ready to go to church. Other than baskets in the morning, our Easter Sunday was focused on the Savior and the true meaning of the holiday. We loved it.

The boys looked SO cute. I love their guts and I'm so glad that they're mine. Cuteness!

Oh Evie Ev. Has there ever been a baby that smiles more than you? I don't think so! You're a doll.

Ana's BIG fat greek Birthday party

Remember that one time when a big bunch of goofy & giggling gals got together to celebrate Ana's birthday party and ended up dressing up and acting out her life? Funniest.night.ever. My cheeks still hurt just thinking about the hilarity of it all. Thanks girls!

So their personalities

Call me crazy, but something I missed most while we were on house arrest was taking the boys to the store with me. Is it always smiles and joy? No. In fact, during this trip to Costco the boys sat next to each other in the cart for the first time and Talmage punched Everett every time he made so much as a peep. It was not ok. Everett in turn attempted to steal every sample that was offered to his brother. It was war. BUT...it feels good to be out with both of them. I like not having to explain that my baby is at home, and I really don't like feeling awkward as I try to decide whether to tell them the full CHD story, the watered-down version, or perhaps just that he's with a 'sitter. I like myself as a mom of two little boys, and I like it when they are with me--crazy or not.

This picture shows their personalities so well. The person standing behind me in the returns line was making faces trying to get the boys to smile. Talmage was skeptical and not impressed. He's a sweet little boy when he wants to be, but he is definitely not a pleaser. He's not going to smile just because you've asked him to, and he doesn't care if you dance or sing or make faces. Everett, on the other hand, would smile at a card board box if it asked him to! Such a flirt. I love learning more about these two and seeing their personalities shine.

Stanford Easter Party

Talmage wasn't at all scared of taking a picture with the Easter bunny (who frankly was a bit on the freaky side for me) but he was scared to get his face painted. The goldfish on Evie's face didn't even persuade him.

Monterey Bacation

We decided to get away for a few days during Jim's spring break and went down to Monterey. It was supposed to rain our whole visit, but we lucked out with mostly clear skies and beach-friendly weather. We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, multiple beaches, tide pools and hung out in the hotel. And even though the boys both put up major fusses on multiple occasions over nothing, Talmage was heard saying on day three, "Dis is da best bacation ever!" and "Dis is da best day ever!" and in his prayer the night we got home, "And pwease bwess dat tomorrow we will wake up and go on anudder bacation." I guess it was a success!

Of course cartoons in the hotel was very high on the list of coolest parts of the vacation, those poor deprived children of ours.

T's favorite part of the Aquarium--the waterfall.
T and the cop at Louie Linguini's for lunch.

Loved, loved, loved the colors of that flower against the colors of the wharf. Beautiful.

Another favorite for both boys--the spa. It was too cool for the pool but the spa was like a big bathtub and both boys loved splashing around.

Talmage got to stay up late with Mom and Dad every night to eat dinner and watch a movie. He thought it was so special and to tell you the truth I did too!

The beach by the Aquarium. T's favorite part was making "Talmage tracks" in the sand.

My favorite part of the Aquarium--the jellyfish. I also really loved the octopus.

That pack saved our lives on this trip. Evie took almost all of his naps right there on my shoulder, bless him! But I really need to invest in a pack that doesn't kill my back.

T and his friend the seahorse.

Monterey State Beach--eating sand by the handful.

Dennis the Menace park was INCREDIBLE! We only spent a few hours here but we could have spent all day.

Jim: T, How about I help you.

T: How about I help myself.

Point Pinos tide pools. Seriously amazing!

Our family!

Asilomar State Beach--running from the waves.

Evie and I flew a kite...

while these two built a sand castle, and an amazing one at that!

From day one of our vaca T kept saying he wanted to visit a lighthouse...and go inside! Jim did some research and on our last day we got to go to the Point Pinos lighthouse.

He was kind of bummed that he couldn't go into the tower (it's still a working lighthouse) but he did get to see a replica of the light and got to ring the bell which he loved.

We also stopped by the mission in Carmel, bought artichokes, oranges and strawberries at an awesome market, and then headed home. It was a great trip to Monterey and I can't wait for another bacation!

Big boy swim lessons

We spent a wonderful spring break in Monterey and boy do I ever have pictures to prove it! Life has been awfully busy since returning home and I still need to sort through the million pictures I took, but hopefully I can do it soon. The week was super fun and I can't wait to share!

In the meantime, Talmage had his first day of "big boy" swim lessons today and loved.every.second. His teacher, Jeff, was amazing and called him T-Bone, which T thought was hilarious! He was fearless in the water, a little too fearless sometimes, and by the end of the lesson was actually swimming from Jeff to the wall. 30 minutes passed by far too quickly and he's already talking about next week.

Class was even more fun and special because T's buddy Rowan is in the same class. They were so cute together, and hopefully next week T will follow Rowan's lead a little bit more in following the swim class rules!

Evie the angel baby entertained himself by playing with toys and chewing on T's flip-flops. He was way past-due in the nap department, and yet still was all smiles. Gosh I love that kid!