Easter Weekend

Easter this year was fantastic in almost every way.  We had wonderful guests to enjoy it with- my mom and my older sister and her two sweet little boys drove up to spend the holiday and the week with us.  The weather was amazing- sunny and warm (it actually felt hot being in the low 70's)- it was so gorgeous.  And we had lots of fun activities.

Our company got into town Friday evening.  Mitchell was so excited to share his room with cousin Carter.  They were great roommates all week.  They even had matching pajamas!

Saturday morning was our community's annual Easter Egg hunt.  We love going to this and look forward to it every year.

Baby Jackson was the first participant in the 1-2 year old group.  He was so anxious to get out there and start collecting eggs before it was time.

When it was time, it was so overwhelming all around.  There were so many kids (and parents) out on the field that you couldn't see anything.  Poor Jax did not like all the commotion.  (Don't mind the bare backed lady with the tattoo... It was too crowded not to get 20 other people in my shot).

Next was the 3-4 year olds- Leah & Alexis and Carter's turn.

They were super excited to get their turn.  I had a hunch that Leah might have a hard time-  I tried to prep her to just go as fast as she could and get as many eggs as she could.

When time started, there were so many kids that she became overwhelmed.  If someone took the egg she was headed for, she had a hard time moving on and finding another one.  She took it pretty personal.

Within just a minute or two, she had given up and was back at the sidelines with me in tears.

Lexi was a trooper.  She ran out all over the field in search of eggs. 

She only got one or so more than Leah, but she had a great time.  It didn't hurt having Grandma there to guide her.

Lucky for us, our community stuffs the eggs with awesome candy- name brand mini chocolate candy bars!

Next up was Mitch in the 5-6 year olds. 

This was his best year yet- I told him not to come back until he couldn't see anymore eggs anywhere.  He took those directions very seriously and hunted and searched for quite some time.  He has become much faster and more competitive than in years past.

Good job buddy!

Finally it was Chloe's turn.  It was a good thing she was last- she just barely made it back in time from team softball pictures.

She did a great job too and got the most eggs of any of her siblings.

Before going home, we had to get a picture with the Easter bunny.  This might just be our first year even without someone crying!  An Easter miracle!!

The Easter bunny gives out candy after pictures- awesome!

Jackson and Carter were next- I love this picture.  Poor baby Jax did not want that Easter bunny to hold him, and Carter smiles on like a good boy.  Carter also thinks that the Easter bunny lives in Seattle, because that's the only place he has ever seen him and they are usually up here around Easter time every year.

Our fun day of activities continued later in the afternoon- Chloe and Mitch had their first softball and t-ball games.  The weather couldn't have been any better for baseball.  It was a gorgeous day to watch two games.

Lucky for us, the games were one right after the other, and in the same location.  We made an afternoon out of it.

We started off on the wrong foot- Chloe forgot her mitt and I had to run home and get it (I was not happy about it).  I missed the first few innings, and subsequently missed the only hit she got all game.  I was bummed.

She started at first base.

She had a great swing that game, but never quite connected with the ball after that first at bat.  It was a fun game to watch- the girls definitely need some polishing up on all their skills, but not bad for a first game.

Mitch's game was next- their team calls themselves The Mariners.  I know tball can be brutal to watch sometimes with the little guys just learning and everyone is all over the place.  But we were thoroughly entertained all game.  Those little boys were hilarious.  Whenever the ball was hit, every single boy on the team would run after the ball and dive on their knees and stomachs to get it.  Every dive they would take, I would hear the coach yell "Stay on your feet!  You don't need to dive!"

Mitchell's coach is amazing.  Not only is he patient (tball would be hard to coach), but the skills that he is teaching these boys is top notch.  Every practice and during this game, I have been so impressed by him.  He is constantly teaching them and was on the field with them all game, telling them what to do every play and teaching them why they shouldn't do some things (like all chase after the ball, etc).  I hope he's still coaching when Mitch gets older- he is very baseball savvy.

My favorite picture- all these cute little boys lined up on the bench, waiting to bat.

Mitchell is a great little batter- he steps right up and whacks that ball as hard as he can.

But his running.... I'm afraid that's not his strong suit.  Bless his heart, he is trying as hard as he can to run fast, but for some reason his legs don't carry him quite as fast as his brain tells him too.  His knees comes up a little too high and his momentum does not push him forward.  At one point during the game, we pulled him aside and told him to run as fast as he could.  He replied, "You mean like a cheetah or a sonic?"  Yes, buddy.  Just like that.

We were sitting right on the 3rd base line.  When Mitch got to 3rd, I snapped this cute picture of my little slugger.

I am probably a bit biased, but I think my little Mitch Man is so adorable in his baseball gear. 

It will be fun to see Mitch learn and grow in this sport.  This is his first time playing sports in a league and he has been so, so excited to start.  He really could hardly wait.  Baseball is one of my favorite sports of all time and I really hope my kids enjoy it and continue to play it for a long time.

After a long and eventful day, we ended with a fun Easter surprise from Grandma.  She brought the kids the book "The Velveteen Rabbit" and read it to them before bed.  The book also came with a little stuffed Velveteen rabbit and the kids took turns passing it around during the story.

Easter Sunday dawned sunny and was another spectacularly gorgeous day.  I imagine the day Jesus rose again and was resurrected to be just like the Easter day we had this year.

A quick picture of my little Easter bunnies before church.

Ben had meetings before and after church and wasn't able to get a family picture with us at home, so we grabbed a quick group shot right after church.  The kids were being silly (Chloe started first), so we didn't get the perfect shot I was hoping for.

Grandma with her grandkids!

At home, the adults stuffed almost 100 plastic eggs (with candy and a few with money) and went outside and hid them around the yard.

The kids waited patiently inside.  They were so excited!  They had been asking about this event all weekend.

They were all so cute searching for eggs.

Luckily, there were no tears from Leah this time.  She found lots of eggs and had a great time.

Mitch found a tricky egg in a tree.

He enlisted some help to get it down.

Back inside, the kids dumped out all eggs and sorted through their candy.

I didn't get any pictures of our Easter dinner, but it was a full day of cooking and prepping.  We decided to smoke some ribs this year instead of our traditional ham.  (Ribs are still pork- pretty close).  Ben is a rib master and they were amazing!  There were lots of yummy sides and I may have eaten my body weight in all the delicious food....  It's for the baby, right?

The Easter bunny didn't come until right before bedtime.  He kept it simple- a new pair of spring/summer shoes for each kid, a few pieces of candy, and the game "Twister" for everyone to share.

Pink and purple Crocs for the twins!

Silver sparkle flats for Chloe

Crocs for Mitch

Right before bed, the kids got to eat the adorable Easter cake my mom made.  They all had been so excited about this cake all day.

I love Easter time and the opportunity it gives us to reflect on our Savior and His life, atoning sacrifice and His resurrection.  We have had a few recent Family Home Evenings on the resurrection and my kids have really taken to that concept and have asked so many deep and thought provoking questions.  I am so grateful for our Savior's promise of our own resurrection some day.  I also love that Easter gives us hope for new life, new birth, and that we are able to enjoy all the beautiful new products that nature has to offer us at this time of the year.

Happy Easter!

Wedding Weekend

The second week of March (the first full week, to be exact), we headed up to Utah for my baby sister's wedding.  We don't like prolonging our traveling any more than we have to, so we made minimal stops and pushed on through to get to Utah as soon as we could and enjoy our trip.  We made pretty darn good time, if I do say so myself.  The kids were really, really great in the car and the weather was near perfect, which is great for the end of winter.

We arrived in Logan around 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 6th.  We had to drive by the temple- isn't it gorgeous?  What a beautiful greeting into one of our favorite towns.

We stayed at my sister's house that night in Smithfield- she and her husband just recently bought a brand new house and this was my first time seeing it.  It was gorgeous and they were wonderful hosts.

My sweet nephew Jackson took a little while to warm up to me, but I loved every snuggle with that sweetie that I could get.

George and Catherine, the groom and bride to be came over after work.  We had them open our wedding gift a few days early so that they could just keep it at their apartment instead of hauling it to and back from the reception in Idaho.

The twins were very eager to help.

Thursday morning, the Andros family, and my dad, went up to Utah State's campus (our old romping grounds, pre-children) to walk around and of course hit the USU bookstore.  All of the kids got updated Aggie shirts and got to pick out one small toy.

We posed for some quick pics on campus.

Later that afternoon, the Blakeslee women went out to lunch together (can you say Cafe Rio?) and then went and got manicures and pedicures at the local beauty college.  My mom got a mani.

Amanda and I got pedi's

And the bride and Chloe got mani's too.

This was Chloe's first "professional" manicure and she loved it!  She went with blue nail polish (instead of purple, the wedding color), but oh well.  It still looked cute.

I have to admit, it wasn't the best pedicure I've ever gotten, but it was a lot of fun.

The next day, Friday, March 8th, was the wedding day.

We had a few minutes to spare after getting dressed and ready, so Carter and Mitchell took the time to have a quick wrestling match, fully dressed in their Sunday best.

Not sure who won, but Mitch is always glad for a wrestling buddy.

Leah was our sweetheart that week.  She was so friendly and sweet with everyone.  She was quite taken with Great-Grandma Dewsnup, who is always glad for a small child to cuddle with.

On our way to the Logan temple for the wedding, we dropped our kids off at my brother's girlfriend's apartment. She babysat all 9 grandkids during the wedding.  Courtney was so sweet to do that for us.

After the wedding, we picked up our kids and were back at the temple in time to see the newlyweds come out of the temple as husband and wife for the first time.

Aren't they a cute couple?

The kids acted like they had never seen Catherine before and smothered her in hugs.

The twins were wonderful to get in any picture they were asked, and even took requests on actions to be performed during the photos.

It was a fun photo shoot, but boy was it cold!  But it wasn't snowing and it was a really nice day for pictures otherwise.

Lexi made a new best friend- Steve's girlfriend Courtney.  She was such a sweetheart with all the kids all weekend.  We were so glad to finally meet her.

There were lots and lots of photos taken that day.

The entire Blakeslee family with the bride and groom.

The Blakeslee siblings

My favorite picture of the entire weekend- Neil surprised George with a big kiss.  He was totally not expecting it.  It was hilarious.  That's a face of pure shock.

After all the pictures, we met at a local church for the luncheon.  Cost Vida catered it and, well, it was delicious. 

The kids decorated the white board in the gym to congratulate the happy couple.

After the luncheon, we all helped clean up, especially this handsome husband of mine.  There's just something about a man pushing an industrial sized vacuum...

It was a wonderful day!

Everyone was exhausted though and slept great!

The next morning, we got up bright and early, packed up all our stuff, and headed to Burley, Idaho for the reception.

Saturday was a busy, busy day.  A crew helped set up for the reception at the church and the other half stayed at my parents house and helped get food ready for that night.

Chloe and cousins Jace and Paige were put to work making food for the reception.  They worked hard and did a great job.

Catherine had some friends over to do her hair before the reception.  She also had a friend that did her hair yesterday for the wedding and it looked gorgeous.  I had to do my own hair for my wedding- unheard of!  And I'm not even good at hair!

Before the reception, my parent's good neighbors/friends made the whole family a fabulous Dutch oven dinner.  It was so, so good.  This pregnant lady ate so much that she could barely move the rest of the night (and prayed she could keep it all down).

After dinner, we all did a mad scramble to get dressed and put the finishing touches on hair and makeup to get ready for round two of photos for the weekend.

Amanda and Jax

The gym looked beautiful all decorated.

There were extra lanterns left over, so my mom gave them to the kids to play with to keep themselves entertained until the reception started.  And boy, did they self-entertain with those.

Mitch and George were playing catch with a lantern and either Mitch was a bad throw, or George was a bad catch, but something went awry and the metal piece on the lantern hit George's forehead and scratched him.  We felt terrible that he had a huge red mark on his face for pictures.  George was so sweet about it though and wasn't mad at Mitch at all.

The gorgeous cake.

Cath and all the little girls

Two beauties

The whole family

Blakeslee siblings

Bride and groom with all the grandkids.  They could totally have 9 kids of their own, right??

My little family.  We clean up all right.

The three little boys had the job of being the present takers.  Mitchell was very excited about this assignment and took his job very seriously.  He'd run over to guests all over the gym and take their present from them.

Then he'd carry it over to the gift table.  I'd by lying if I said he didn't "drop" or set down heavy gifts a little too hard, but luckily everything was in one piece when gifts were opened later that night.

The reception line

Once the reception started, the rest of us "non line standers" had a great time sitting at a back table, eating our body weights in reception food and drink.

Chicken salad crossiant sandwhiches, cream cheese ham and pickle roll ups, dessert pizza, fruit, and frappe.  Yummy!

Mitch, waiting by the sign in table to take gifts.

At the end of the reception, Cath and George got to cut the cake.

Will the smash it in each other's faces??

Yes, yes they will.

A kiss will make it better though.

 My second favorite photo(s) of the weekend- with all the other food served at the reception, they decided not to serve wedding cake.  Only the smallest top layer of the cake was real.  Cath and George couldn't eat all of it and told the rest of us to help ourselves to it.  Amanda and Steve wasted no time with that and were over cutting cake within minutes.  They looked like a bride and groom themselves.

So funny!

If we thought Friday was exhausting, it was really nothing compared to Saturday.  Lexi fell asleep on my lap around 8:30 p.m. 

And Leah crashed on Ben's shoulder shortly after.

We put both girls down on the floor in a classroom so we could help clean up.  Leah woke up seconds later and was wide awake again, not wanting to be left in a dark room.  Lexi slept until we went home.

The kids were so excited and a little over anxious to help the happy couple open their gifts.

A quick sister picture before the night ended.

It wouldn't be a Blakeslee picture without a little 3 in the key and crazy eyes.

After gifts, Cath threw the bouquet to the two most eligible "bachelorettes."

Chloe caught it!  See how excited Grandma is on the stage?  I'll be excited too... in about 20 years! :)

Leah wanted to catch it too, so Cath threw it again.

Hooray!

George didn't have a garter to throw, so they grabbed a loofah from their stack of wedding gifts.

My nephew Jace caught it.  The 3 other boys wanted to catch it too, so George threw it 3 more times and let everyone have a turn.

After cleanup, we finally headed back to my parents house around 11:00 p.m.  The kids didn't get to bed until 11:30 or so.  I think everyone fell asleep within seconds- I know I did!

The next morning, with Daylight Savings time rearing it's ugly head and making it an even earlier morning for us, we headed back home to Seattle, all in one trip.  The kids were excellent travelers again and all took great naps in the car.  

We had such a great week and were so glad we could attend the wedding and show our love and support to a wonderful couple.  Congratulations George and Catherine!