Nice Threads . . . . . .

Since we didn't have church meetings on Easter Sunday, I didn't get the kids dressed up until later. Here are the pictures of my beautiful, amazing, gorgeous, photogenic, precious, sweet, lovely kids. (What? I'm their mom!)

How we pass the time . . . . . . .

Kai's Mohawk. I LOVE it. The grandma's think he looks cute no matter what, but this may not be their favorite hairstyle. :)

Ava had a playdate with a couple of her little friends. She LOVES these girls. I love that they love playing Barbie and Dress-Up with her. Sometimes I just need a little break from that type of little girl stuff. As you can see, Kai is happy when there are kids to play with and a tiny Barbie in each hand. Just so you know, he would be just as happy with a ball in each hand. :)



We had our first picnic in our backyard a couple of weeks ago and the kids loved it. We've spent a lot of time back there since. With this weather it's hard to stay inside!





This is how Kai crawls when he's outside. We've tried to get him to understand that it would actually be easier to walk, but he's pretty nervous about that first step. In the mean time, his arms are getting a great workout.


Ava for Pajama day at preschool. She was so excited!



And I'll leave you with these little gems. You think girls are dramatic? They've got nothin' on my little guy.

I Need to Find My Mommy . . . . .

SO yesterday morning, I got up early enough to go for a run while the kids and Randy were still sleeping. It was a pretty great run honestly. When I was on the last stretch and walking it out, I looked ahead and saw an older Asian lady and a little girl walking down the street. My first thought was, "That must be a grandma and granddaughter heading to the park." Followed by, "That little girl has the same jammies as Ava." Followed by me yelling, "Ava! What are you doing?" Yep, my sweet little thing was a good 3 blocks away from our house, outside of the security gate, walking down a busy street with a random lady. At first she was excited and said, "Mommy! I came to find you on your walk because I want to play with you!" Then she saw my face and wasn't so excited anymore. The lady didn't speak great English, but I did get that Ava was wandering by the security gate telling her that she needed to find her mommy on a walk. Well, I immediately knew that Randy was either still asleep and Ava had somehow slipped out undetected, or he was flipping out. It turned out to be the latter and we found him walking around the neighborhood with bare feet yelling for Ava.

Yep - fun morning for us. Bottom line - she got a good talking to and cried and cried. We told her over and over that somebody could steal her and she would never see Mommy and Daddy again and Kai would be so sad without his big sister. We definitely used the scare tactic because what else do you do in a situation like this? She understands fear and not wanting to be away from her family. I understand the same thing and that's why as the day went on yesterday, the situation became scarier and scarier to me. On a spiritual note, I wasn't actually planning on running up that road. I was planning to turn earlier and make the run a bit shorter, but when I hit that point I decided to go a little further, which took me up that exact road. I think it was a bit of my own personal revelation and I'm so grateful that she was safe. It's devastating to think of the "what if's." Apparently, when I was Ava's exact age I took a stroll home from a dance class all by myself and my mom found me at the front door. Apparently the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I hope Ava understands the seriousness of the situation and has a bit of fear instilled in her about this.

Since she probably doesn't, I'm headed to Home Depot to buy a lock that she can't open. Better safe than sorry. :)

Dam . . . . . . .

We decided to make a day trip to the Hoover Dam one Saturday. It's really close and something every American should see right? The traffic wasn't horrible and the kids honestly enjoyed it. The first thing Randy did was to lift Ava up so that she could see the dam and how far down it went. It made her nervous and she was a little sketchy about the whole thing for the rest of the adventure. Notice her "I'm smiling for the camera but actually terrified out of my mind" look in the first picture. I don't blame her. The dam is huge and it was REALLY far down. I think looking at it gave me a bit of vertigo too. We went to the visitors center and the observation area. There was a lot of cool information. Granted, we only saw a little of it because 2 children who can't read really don't get into that type of stuff, but it was fun nonetheless. They did have some little games for the kids to play. We also made a quick stop to see Lake Mead on the way back. It's so close and it was really beautiful. If only we had a boat . . . . .












The highlight of the day (insert sarcasm), was the fact that after we paid for our tickets, they took a fantastic family photo of us with the Hoover Dam in the background, ummm, I mean a blank background inside the building. Luckily, with the use of amazing technology, they were able to photoshop the actual Dam behind us. You had your pick: The Dam with the water spilling gracefully out, in the evening, in the day, with a rainbow, and get this, with the largest American flag ever. If you so choose, for an additional $15.00 you could have a picture of you in front of the Dam where, in reality, it is not humanly possible to stand. I can just imagine it hanging in your house when a friend stops by. "Wow, that is a beautiful picture of the Dam! How did you get to that exact spot at the same time as that gorgeous rainbow?" Or, "What a beautiful flag! That's got to be the largest I've ever seen!" I'm sure there are plenty of people that buy pictures like that. We just don't happen to be one of them. Because, we were actually there, so we got a real picture of the dam. Hmmmm . . . . .

Just call me Granny . . . . .

Because that's what my husband is calling me. I learned how to crochet at a ward function a few weeks ago for a service project and I'm so proud! 3 bibs and a sore neck later I feel so accomplished. I think we need a new baby in our family so that I can crochet a blanket. *hint hint* (you know who you are) Anyway! If you don't compare these side by side to say, my Grandma Warren's projects, they look pretty good. Especially if you have an untrained eye. :)