Anniversary/April Fools, Tanner's birthday, Mariah's birthday/Easter/General Conference....it's exhausting. But this year I had lots of help which made it actually all possible.
Mariah decided she wanted her cake when both grandparents were here. Grandma Young decorated the cake and everyone helped me put together a Passover meal, which I normally would do the Thursday before Easter, but I knew that probably wouldn't happen without helpers this year, so we did it early. This is only the second year we have done it but I love giving my children a little idea of what the Savior would have been doing before his crucifixion. We do a watered down, much shorter version but I feel like they still get an idea of what it would be like. Everyone really enjoyed all of the grape juice.
Mariah wanted a rabbit cake and I was so glad Grandma was here to do it. Mariah was excited to help decorate and she did a great job. It was beautiful and tasted delicious.
Mariah serenaded herself during the song and I love how her excited face while opening presents is the exact same. She doesn't hold back.
We didn't do much for our anniversary. Ten years...A year ago Tanner said he wanted to go to Hawaii for our ten year anniversary. I said I wanted a baby. We all know who won that. Tanner made Tacos and we took a selfie, where I look like I have five children and one of them is a newborn...real life here. Tanner can never take a serious photo the first time and I love how I start to look more annoyed with each photo. Bless him.
A lot has happened in ten years. We have gone through joys and sorrows, sleepless nights and sleeping in mornings, exciting trips and the day to day life. We can annoy each other but mostly adore each other. I'm so grateful for all of our growth these last ten years and I'm excited to see what the next ten years bring. Five more kids? I kid...maybe.
My kids were very disappointed that I hadn't done any April Fools pranks in the morning. Especially after they saw their cool Aunt's prank on Facebook. Sorry kids, no one can compete with Aunt Mandy. I did manage to sneak a craisin into their toothpaste and Chet was the one to find it at bedtime. The look of disgust on his face was great and they decided I was an ok mom for finally pranking them.
Tanner's Birthday was the next day. He woke up on his own and fed the kids Stroopwaffles to buy me a little more time in bed. We decorated the front window for him to see when he got home for work. The kids came up with their own presents for him. Mariah regifted him a box of bandaids from Christmas that she has never used. "He can use them if he gets hurt or for his patients!" Chet gathered up a bunch of scrap wood that Tanner has given him and put it in a gift bag and Austin found a bag of nails to wrap up. Eliza packed her backpack full of odds and ends and declared them all for dad's birthday. They were all so excited to give him their gifts. I got him the wrong pair of slippers...which is probably what he expected from me but was a good sport about it. I'll get it right eventually.
The Strawberry shortcake was good though so I'm going to call it a win. I promise he was happy...he just had already maxed out his monthly allowance of photos the day before. He is such a good sport about the small amount of attention he gets on his birthday and we love him for it.
That night, Brittany's family came. They showered Tanner with confetti when he opened the door and brought some fancy drinks and popsicles for him. It's always more fun when there's a bigger crowd singing happy birthday. Heather arrived late that night with her cat and kittens which Gus spent the whole weekend trying to eat. He was almost successful two times and I'm sure Callie was very happy to leave our house when she did.
The next day we took the kids to the local easter egg hunt. Brittany and I both forgot about Easter baskets so they used plastic grocery bags. I was feeling a little guilty about that until I heard all the cousins talking excitedly about their bags, "I got a Walmart one like you! Look! We both have Target bags! Mine is a gray one!" May they always be so easy to please. We showed up at the hunt right before it started and it was over in minutes. Eliza had a very concerned face the whole time and finally asked me, "Mom, why do they have chocolate on the ground?" I guess I should have prepped her a little beforehand.
We came back home in time for the first session of general conference. The kids ate their weight in candy from that morning so we didn't have to bring out the special conference snacks we had bought. After the first session we went outside to enjoy the sunshine and eat hotdogs. Brittany made us her delicious sushi for dinner and the kids spent the rest of the night playing outside.
My mom wanted each of us to take a picture of the sunrise and read the Easter story. I told her I would if Vivienne was awake. Vivi must have heard because she woke up right at sunrise...
I love the symbolism of a sunrise, especially at Easter. The darkness never lasts, eventually the light will come, ushering in a new day of hope.
Mariah woke up nice and early too, excited to open her presents.
Mariah's cousins got her these tulips and she loved getting her own flowers.
Tanner made crepes for breakfast and Baydon put on the Easter scavenger hunt for me. I asked him if he would come up with eleven clues and set it all up the day before and he did way better than I would have. So I'm just planning on him doing it every year now. I like there to be some excitement on Easter, as long as they remember what it is all about so this scavenger hunt works well because they are remembering the Savior as they read the different scriptures. Baydon put eggs all over the place inside and out so the kids had a lot of fun running all over.
Mariah requested ham for her birthday dinner so we had that between sessions so Heather could leave right after the second session.
Most would think having guests over less than a month after your baby is born would be crazy. But when the guests do most of the work for you it's no problem. I went to bed early each night and caught up on sleep while everyone else snuggled my baby. They made meals, put together the scavenger hunt, and cleaned my house. They can come back whenever they want.
I was so grateful for the messages at General Conference. I especially loved the session where they had speakers from all over the world. And I was thrilled to learn that there will be a temple in Elko, Nevada! I'm grateful for all the preparation made for a wonderful weekend of encouragement and inspiration.
And I'm grateful for all of the help that made this crazy week possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment