Along the path...

Thanks for being such wonderful parents. May you have the best year of marriage yet and many more to come. Love you! Happy Anniversary!!!

Friday night, we colored eggs at grandma and grandpa's with RD, IC, and AL. AJ had had to stay home with a fever. Then we had a "sleep" over where we didn't really sleep much and geared up for Saturday's events. This Saturday, our traditional Easter egg hunt was held in my parents' backyard. All seven of the little one hunted for eggs. I'm not certain how excited AM, EL, and ZM were about the finding part. Especially since they couldn't eat the candy inside the plastic eggs and wouldn't be able to spend the money amount written on the outside of the other eggs. Here AJ, IC, AL, and RD show off their spoils. They had a blast finding eggs, eating candy and helping grandpa pay out the money amounts written on their eggs. Our picnic was held indoors due to the cool, rainy weather. Before scampering inside, the adults blew soap bubbles for the kids to chase and pop. Thanks, Bekah, for sharing a picture .

See original here What you need: Tissue paper in different colors , scissors , clear contact paper , hole punch , ribbon Instructions: Cut tissue paper into small, irregular pieces. Place shapes in a random pattern on sticky side of contact paper, leaving some clear spaces. Cut egg shapes out of the decorated contact paper. Punch a hole and thread a pretty ribbon through each egg. Hang in a window to catch sunlight.

See original post here What you need: White eggs (hard-boiled or blown empty) , white felt , pink paper , glue , scissors , floral wire , small pink pom-pom , cotton ball , google eyes Instructions: Start with hard-boiled eggs or whole empty eggshells. To make the feet, glue a piece of white felt to pink paper and cut into a large heart shape. Glue to egg bottom to keep stable. Cut two rounded teardrop shapes out of white felt. Cut a smaller teardrop shape out of pink paper and glue to the inside of ears. Fold the bottom and glue together. Cut floral wire to whisker length. Place wire whiskers and pom-pom on front point of egg. Glue cotton ball to the back. Glue wide end of ears to top front of egg. Add google eyes.

I don't cook much any more. Leftovers get really tiring and it's not much fun cooking for one. Mom's birthday was this past weekend and I offered to make Sunday dinner so she wouldn't have to cook for all of us. Since my ward starts at 12:30, it had to be something really quick that could come together from about 4-5 or a crockpot meal. I opted for the later. About 10 am, I loaded my large crockpot with 2 lbs of baby carrots, brown rice for about 13 people, 2 cans of cricken broth, plus some chicken boullion for added flavor, about 20-25 chicken tenders, and a can of cream of mushroom and a can of cream of chicken soup. For seasoning, I had hoped to use a dry onion soup mix on top. No luck. None in the cupboard. Instead I opted for celery seed, rosemary, dehydrated onion, parsley, and pepper. I'm trying to remember because I thought it turned out pretty well and might want to recreate it later. After church, I was a little worried there wasn't enough liquid in w...

Wendy nominated me for this award. Thanks so much, Wendy!! She is an amazing cardmaker who loves pretty paper. Her creativity blows me away. I think my favorite post of hers is still her Halloween boxes. So cute! If you are a stamp-er or cardmaker or scrapbook-er or in need of creative ideas or just simply like to look through what other people are making-- check out her blog. As a result of receiving this nomination, I am supposed to tell you 5 things I am addicted to and nominate 5 other fabulous sites. Addictions: * My family (especially nieces and nephews) – they are adorable! I love them and love being with them. If you need proof of their adorable-ness ask. I could go on and on and on! * Books – I love to read, mostly fiction. * Belly dancing – it’s a crazy, fun hobby. There is something grounding about the whirl of colors and the beat of the drum. I love the sisterhood we share in troupe and the creativity that comes from the dance. * Cambridge and Oliver – silly, silly dog...

After nearly 32 years as an employee of American Fork City, Dad is retiring. He was recently featured in an article in the American Fork Citizen and the Daily Herald . You can read it here . I remember some of the dirty movies he brought home to watch as part of the job--camera tours of the sewer lines. Ewwww! (Luckily those movies were usually prior to the line being used.) Way to go Dad! We are so proud of you and love you much!

YEAH! AJ turned three today! She went swimming and to the Bean Museum and had lots of fun! Thanks for the sleepover invite. Rain check?

Happy, happy Birthday nAtHaN , dear. Happy days will come to you all year . If I had one wish THEN it would BE, a hAppY , HaPpY birthday to you from me! Hope it's a great one!

On Saturday afternoon, we went to Jungle Jim's Playland in Midvale to celebrate RD and AJ's third birthdays. RD turned three last week and AJ will turn three this week. I think that the kids (and adults) had a lot of fun. E. wouldn't ride the Jeep Safari without her mom. Go, Janette! Erika braved the way-fast elephant ride with Zack. More of the elephant ride. The spaceship ride was a hit! The kids could pull down on a lever to make their ship go up and push up to go down. Mini-tilt-a-whirl anticipation Giant swings RD's dirt cake. Isn't Bekah clever? AJ's Barbie cake. Renee--what a Suh-weet cake! Nathan, Dad, RD, and AL. Mom and EL Party on!

RD! Happy birthday to a sweet boy! Let's make soup again together really soon. (But, can we leave out the ice cream cone next time?) Love you!

Last night, I met up with some friends for a murder mystery game at Castle of Chaos . Daphne nearly decapitated one of the ghouls when he snuck up to scare her. Her days as a prison guard and hospital security certainly have paid off. He may have a bruise today. (Someone may have influenced him a little to pick on her. Sorry, ghoul.) The Vampire Mystery was a tame holiday activity: a great story and fun interaction without the blood and guts. We had to find and destroy the evil residing within the Castle. It was similar to "Clue" in that we went from room to room to find clues and figure out where the evil was and how to destroy it. Based on Daphne's earlier reaction, it was probably safer for the actors and crew that this was our selection. And yes, we made it past the Countess to destroy the evil vampire.

Saturday was the third annual Morrill Family Pumpkin Carving Contest. More to come.

Karyn, Melinda, Andrea, and I decided to jaunt up to Park City this past Saturday to catch some amazing deals at the outlets and celebrate two birthdays. In addition to the discount coupons printed off the Tangiers website , many of the outlet stores were having 40% and 50% off sales. There were so many incredible deals. Karyn wanted some shoes that weren't in stock and the store offered to ship them to her with no shipping charge. One of us spent $28 in The Children's Place for three shirts, one skirt, and two pairs of pants. Another bought a darling, red name brand purse for 1/3 of the retail price. (Melinda- I can't remember, was it Coach?) Here we are showing off our spoils. Melinda is in black; Karyn's in pink. Andrea and I (both on the left) have birthdays in October. This picture is care of Melinda's camera and a lucky passerby. (Thanks for stopping and for Melinda's sharing.) Later, we went to Baja Cantina for dinner. The T.J. Taxi was delish! It w...

A Weird Al song with a little birthday cheer--or was it drear?!?! Adam Sandler joined in on the fun here too! Basically, happy birthday. Happy birthday to me.