celebrations!

celebrations!

Well, our celebrations have been well underway! It’s hard to have this much fun. Thursday afternoon, we were invited to an Easter ‘cookie decorating party’… my friend Liz invited me, realizing that I needed to start getting reacquainted with everyone around here (no nice). A bunch of mom’s got together and brought everything you need to decorate cookies to the park after school. there were sooo many kids, it was the cutest thing- they just went crazy! We are talking 1” deep sprinkles! LOL. They were in heaven. Thanks to Heather for putting it together, and making easter just that much more FUN and memorable! I did love seeing everyone and reconnecting. It’s funny how ‘out of it’ I feel… there is definitely more than just a time-change adjustment that is going on! Chuckle.
   

Capri LOVED the sprinkle fest… below: another Heidi, Becky, Heather (party planner extraordinaire) Liz Eaton (cute preg belly! can you even see it??) and DAX who is SOO cute, and a perfect little buddy for Conn

i contributed choc. chip cookies.. because what is a cookie party w/o choc. chip cookies!!

below: connor "eenie meenie minie mo".. and DAX loving the lip sprinkles!

Thursday night we went to the Easter Pagent at the Mesa AZ (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) Temple. It this HUGE, amazing production that they do on the gounds of the Temple every night the 2 weeks or so before Easter. I have actually never been before, just feeling like my kids were still too little (we only took the older 3)…you have to get there EARLY to get seats, it’s hard to see cause there are SO many people, and I thought that for sure we’d end up clear in the back. it starts at 8:00pm, goes to 9:15pm. Anyway, when Eric suggested we go, we called some friends, and went! I was sooo glad we did, it was awesome! I have no idea how many people are there each night, but it was a lot- tons of chairs set up, and you can also just pull up some grass(free for all). Everyone brings dinner from wherever, and just talks and eats until it starts. Really fun. 

The pageant depicts the life of Christ. And starts even with Adam and Eve, and the first promise of the Savior of the world. It was such a well done, beautifully lit and great sound system- we had great seats, and we really enjoyed the production. It was a huge cast, and really powerful message- beautiful portrayal of Christ death and resurrection. 
It was the perfect way to remind our children what Easter is about, and why it’s so special. I took lame photos. Not even a group photo of us. seriously!

Friday kids were out of school for ‘good Friday’, and my SIL Kiley invited us to go to Pecos Park.. it’s just a city park, but holy cow- it’s an amazing park! 5 gold stars! We had the best time! ok, so I have been a park kind of mom since we got back. Every single day we have gone to a different park, sometimes 2!! It’s just beautiful weather, and it’s been critical to get the little ones out and playing. But this Pecos Park was the best by far.  There is a big skate park that was perfect for the boys… not too hard, not too many kids skating… just right. We did have a minor injury or 2, but that is to be expected. Wink.

Then there is an AWESOME park that has really fun parts and pieces that can be enjoyed by a variety of age kids. Totally the best park toys I have seen yet.  And then the best part: a SPLASH park. this is where little fountains and sprinklers shoot out of the ground and sides etc. the kids had a blast, and it was just the perfect amount of cold water, for a pretty warm day. the only downside is that it’s clear out in Chandler (Chandler blvd and 48th St).  so we packed a lunch and stayed awhile. I thought it was worth the drive.
So I celebrated by staying up all night to scrapbook!! Smirk… I made a really cute interactive book for my little ones with a kit from ‘concroption.com’. here is just a little sneak peek! (i will be giving one of these away soon!! so stay tuned!)

 i will say, that I SO needed some creative time, even with painfully limited supplies. I brought hardly anything, so it was perfect to get a kit! I am so dumb, I totally brought all my distress inks and didn’t pack ANY applicator tools. UGH.
Last night, all the kids, everyone slept through the night!! I think that we have made the transition! YAY!!!