That Crazy, Wonderful Week

We did it again, and we survived. Anniversary, Tanner's birthday, Mariah's birthday, and Easter.

Tanner had to leave for Missouri the day before our Anniversary to take a test. Even though we weren't together he still managed to make the day special for me.

Because he knows what is important to me, there were chocolates too. Yeah, he's a keeper. 

Then the lucky man got to take tests all day on his Birthday. Doesn't get much better than that. His great friend Chase got him a cake. And his sister Brittany made him a big yummy breakfast. They probably treated him better than I would have. I'm not the best at Birthdays; it is something that I need to work on.

Close to our home there is a place called The American West Heritage Center. Basically you can walk around and see the way people lived in "the old days". Every Spring they have Baby Animal Days and I thought that would be the perfect thing to do with Mariah for her Birthday. Aunt Boo and Uncle Mike came along as well. Though holding and petting the baby animals was a kick in the pants, I don't know if it was worth the $9. I mean, thats what fairs are for, and they don't cost a thing. But we still had a good time. Mike treated us to deep fried oreos, so that made it all worth it.

Baby goats are perfect...and then they grow up.

Sweet little ducking!

Chet tried to squeeze the little ducklings and chicks so he just got to look at them. 

Farmer Chet checking out the tractors.  

Mariah got to ride a mule and Chet was really jealous of her super-cool helmet. 

That night we had Mariah's birthday dinner of Mac and Cheese and Chicken Nuggets, her favorites. She requested pink ice cream and I requested a chocolate cake (I birthed her so I felt I had some say in the matter). We ate way too much and had a great night.

This girl's smiles. 

The cake was fantastic and didn't look too bad...from one angle.

I ran out of frosting and in true Ashley form decided it really wasn't essential. Still tasted great; I don't regret a thing.

The next morning Mariah was surprised with a bunch of balloons. She and Chet had so much fun with them. It's the simple things in life people.

Then we made a big breakfast.

After breakfast Mariah got to open her presents.

Tanner's brother was nice enough to let us borrow a violin. I'm excited/terrified to begin this musical journey, seeing that I have very little musical experience. But here goes nothin'! Mariah loved her princess dress that left sparkles everywhere. She also got some lace up shapes and sat through almost the entire first session of conference working on them.

In between sessions we dyed Easter eggs. I now know why I waited until I had a three year old to do this. Several bowls of dye were dumped, but luckily it all cleaned up quite nicely. And I was a smart mom and kept Chet in his high chair. He got to put stickers on the eggs later.

Tanner went down to the Priesthood session with his Dad. His Brother Ty was singing in the choir. Tanner got some great shots of the temple, this is my favorite: 

Easter morning I came into the kitchen to Tanner pouring jelly beans and chocolate chips into Mariah and Chet's Cheerios saying "Happy Easter!". Yeah, not exactly the typical way to celebrate but they loved it.

About ten minutes before the morning session started I decided we must have Easter pictures. So I frantically dressed my children and hollered for Tanner to come up with his superior phone. And we managed to get a few keepers.

Yes, Chet should have dark socks on, but he is wearing a bow tie and smiling at the same time...a miracle.

After the afternoon session we headed down to Tanner's cousin's house for a little family get-together. Mariah was so excited to see her Grandma Crossley and some of her awesome cousins. She also rocked the Easter egg hunt. After she was done, she immediately plopped down and ate almost all of the candy. The girl comes by it honestly I guess.

Chet was so excited about all the balls and insisted on playing with them on the basketball court. He only picked up a couple eggs because he thought the balls were much cooler. I think he may have regretted that decision when he saw Mariah chowing down on her candy. 

A group of the older kids starting playing basketball and Mariah ran right down into the pack. She pranced around with her sweet little run, laughing the whole time. She may have more interest in the sport than her mother, though I suspect she just enjoys being in large groups of people. She probably thought they were dancing...

Although having General Conference on Easter Sunday makes the day a little more hectic, I am always so grateful when they fall on the same day. I can't think of a better way to celebrate the life and resurrection of our Savior than through the words of His Prophets. If interested you can find those talks here. Elder Holland summed it up perfectly when he said:

"So today we celebrate the gift of victory over every fall we have ever experienced, every sorrow we have ever known, every discouragement we have ever had, every fear we have ever faced--to say nothing of our resurrection from death and forgiveness for our sins. That victory is available to us because of events that transpired on a weekend precisely like this nearly two millennia ago in Jerusalem."

How grateful I am for this knowledge! I know that my Savior lives and because he lives I can too. May we have the Spirit of Easter in our hearts each and every day.