Easter 2011

Of all the holidays to celebrate with children, Easter might be my very favorite. Yes, even over Christmas, but Christmas comes in 2nd. A cleansing of the earth through the beginning of spring and summer, celebrating the knowledge of the ressurection, little kids in Easter clothes, and cadbury orange creme eggs? Um. Yes, please. I may have stocked up on them to eat year round since you can only get them at Easter. But I also made Brent hide them from me. No it doesn't make a lot of sense, but it does to me! I think the coolest thing was when Easter and my birthday were on the same day 3 years ago. Best year ever.

We started off Saturday morning with baskets and hunting eggs. I had no idea what to put in a baby boy's easter basket but I will say that it is fun to start picking out things that aren't pink and that don't have to do with princesses and glitter. It is actually refreshing and I am learning that one kid of each kind is really a lot of fun.

Brayden trying on new swim clothes and plush ball toys from his basket.

Brooke also got a new swimsuit, jammies and a $1 bubble wand. I really love the tradition of baskets but tried to not go overboard with putting things in the baskets that they don't need. Jammies, swimsuits and a few dollar toys seem to suffice. Plus, I never remember every holiday being so materialized when I was little. The seasonal section at target can get dangerous!

Sweet Easter boy


Kiddos with baskets





Later that day we packed lunch and spent our first Saturday of the year at the pool.

Poor baby. We'll have to try it again with him in a few months.

Much happier trying on sunglasses and looks cute to boot doing it!

Happy to be out of hibernation. This girl was meant for the outdoors.

After long naps, we colored eggs and then made egg salad sandwiches for dinner. Brooke loved them, which surprised me considering they kind of gross me out and proving once again that she loves to EAT!

Next year, I plan to make these to teach about Jesus' ressurection. My sister told me about them and Brooke's primary teacher made them for her class and they were a hit.

On Sunday morning we got all cleaned up for church.
Is that okay to say that I think my children look beautiful? And Brooke's scar is looking pretty good. In the next picture you can see the red line a little more.

Please notice Brayden's baby cowboy boots here

We enjoyed an amazing Easter feast with our wonderful friends that I did not get a picture of. SAD.

And the kids hunted for more eggs because they definitely needed more candy and your supposed to have your kids do like 2 or 3 egg hunts over Easter, right? I'm going to try and get more creative and maybe put stickers in next year's eggs.

Brooke, Lincoln, Henry, Olivia

Ready

Set

Go.....!

We did try for a family picture after church and this was the best we got with the self-timer. Everyone's turquoise matches and I am the sore thumb!

My two boys - one of my favorite pictures of the weekend.

A very Happy Easter was had by the 4 BGs.

Lovin is so much fun!

We had such a fun Valentine's day and got to enjoy having Brent home most of the day. We had crepes with berries and whipped cream with pink smoothies in the morning and Brent gave me roses and tulips with a sweet card. We usually get takeout from Macaroni Grill (a sentimental restaurant for us) but we decided to cook dinner together. We had pesto alfredo pasta with grilled chicken, salad, and cheddar-garlic scones. It was so yummy and fun to cook together! For the past three years, we have had a tradition of baking a heart-shaped cake. We are not cake connoisseurs by any means, but it's always fun to decorate it and eat the whole thing together!

Here is our cake from 2006

And the one from 2007

And this year's.. 2008! We both took a picture with it. Yeah, I know. We're cheesy.

I think this year's was the prettiest and most delicious!

Here is the lady on the love day wearing her heart onsie. She hasn't been feeling that great because of another tooth, (which happens to be on the top left and not one of her two front teeth! My Mom said I got my tooth in that exact same sequence-so crazy!) and a little bit of a cold. But she's still pretty dang cute.

Hope everyone had a lovely love day!

Thanksgiving, Part two.. but a little bit of Christmas, too!

So I know I already wrote about Thanksgiving, but there were a few other things that I neglected to include that I want written down for the sake of my own journaling, so bear with me. Oh and there's a lot of pictures in this one! The day after Thanksgiving, we transitioned straight to Christmas. Some people are against this but I quite enjoy it. As soon as I've eaten Turkey, I'm ready to go full throttle into Christmas music, shopping, and everything having to do with red and green! Anyways, a tradition that has been going on in my family for many generations is the day we make saffron rolls. Saffron is a spice that my Mom has to get from Spain but the tradition comes from our Swedish heritage.

Our great-grandmother used to make them in the winter time because the spice turns the whole roll yellow and was a representation of sunshine during the winter. I'm not even sure how many dozen were made this year but it usually goes on for hours. Here we are (I don't know why Krista was missing in this pic; she did a huge amount of the work!). We all look a little ragged. If you enlarge the picture you can see that our aprons say Nu Ar Det Jul Igen (once you click this, click where it says "listen to a music clip"). My Mom had this phrase embroidered on the aprons for my sisters and me. It is the name of a Swedish song, and every year at the Christmas Eve party we go around the Christmas tree, as an extended family while listening to it. So, it's pretty cool to see the phrase everytime I put that apron on. Ok, I know it sounds crazy and ridiculous and it may even get old sometimes, but deep down we all love it and have since we were kids. Just one of those traditions that you have to be in the family to understand, I guess.

My mother: the epitome of a wonderful homemaker (Remember Sis. Beck's talk.. this is that woman!). She keeps all these traditions alive and does such a great job at it! Here is the finished product. They really are very delicious!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we always go to the Messiah Sing-in at Abravanel Hall. It has always gotten me in the Christmas spirit, and I remember from a young age feeling so strongly that Handel's words were so true... probably the basis for a testimony! We went to the Little America restaurant for dinner before.
John, Amy, and Meg and I went shopping the day before Turkey Day. Fun to help Amy search for jeans, and eat at one of my favorite places-the Nordstrom Cafe. There was a little kiosk of the cutest aprons I had ever seen! Here is Meg trying one on.. Can someone please show me how to make one just like that?

Amy and Meg trying on this beautiful coat at Banana. We were trying to teach Amy that this emerald green and houndstooth print on the hat are HOT this season. She was skeptical but tried it on anyway. Meg is kind of a poser, if you can't tell. :) Love shopping with the sistas! Missed you, Kris!
Meg and her new "friend," Joe.. hmmm.... we'll see what he thinks after he experiences the aforementioned tradition of dancing around the Christmas tree. Brent didn't experience it until after we were married, so there was no going back. :)
We actually kind of celebrated Christmas with my parents, at least the presents part.. because we'll be spending Christmas in St. George this year. We got a wheat grinder! Totally unexpected but definitely treasured. Except.. now what do I do with it?
And, last but not least, here is the star of the show.. BROOKE, with Dad, who is holding her while studying. Isn't she getting so big? Is the pink flower too much? I can't decide...

Merry December!!