Photo fun

Dave and I don't have a whole lot of pictures of the two of us together as of late. One of us is usually the photographer and the camera is generally aimed at the kiddos. So, when we were made the official photographers for a church dance for adults, we made sure to get a few pics of ourselves!

And we snapped a few of some friends in our church congregation who were in attendance.

Can't forget the dip.

The purpose of this post is to show that we actually do exist as a couple!

We just celebrated our 12th anniversary! For some reason a dozen years of marriage seems like a very long time! It has been an eventful and wonderful 12 years!

Birthday Treasures

Best birthday ever! I love these birthday treasures from my kids! Notice the "trofy" for "best mom ever." I also loved the 'bouquet' of flowers in the middle of the picture. Of course the leftover easter candies from our pantry are always a treat too.

I love the random Post-it note and label that I can take off the card and use as I wish.:))

The poems are always special too. My kids love acrostic poems and write them whenever they have an opportunity. The free verse: "Everything I speak is true! I love you, my family does too. Without you, there's nothing to do. If you want, I can buy you a shoe! Cow's go moo!"

I love being in my 30s, with a wonderful husband and four beautiful children who love me unconditionally!

Happy Easter

Easter is one of our favorite family holidays as it reminds us of the hope that we can be with each other for the eternities because of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

This year was especially fun as we were treated to a Grandma Taggart visit.

The highlight of Saturday was the annual dyeing of the Easter eggs. Kyler is looking extra suspicious in this picture!

Aubrie was all business as she attempted the perfect look for her eggs.

Here are this year's beautiful results! These kids are getting so good at decorating eggs!

Not quite sure what caused this reaction! In real life this look comes when they are trying to be weird. Perhaps they are just reacting to one of Dad's 'great' jokes.

Forced smile...

The annual Easter egg hunt was extra fun this year because of all the new hiding places in our new house.

This year saw the introduction of the first ever "boy" Easter egg basket. Kyler loved his Spiderman basket. (Notice the still unpacked boxes in the background ... ughh.)

Here is the sweet big sister in her Easter Sunday best. 

The cute middle sister...

The darling little sister....

And....Kyler...."Kyler! Look here! Stop playing with your candy Kyler...Kyler look up for a second." No chance on getting his attention away from the huge supply of candy on his level!

We are so grateful for these precious children that our family has been blessed with. Every Easter we are filled with such happiness, hope, and gratitude that Easter brings.

Cheers for a Cousin Visit

At the end of March, we were treated to a visit from my sister Heather's family, who visited from Nebraska. The reason for the gathering was my cute niece Elizabeth qualified for the regional YMCA swim meet that happened to be at the University of Minnesota.

I think Elizabeth had the cutest cheering section of all.

We cheered her on as she smashed her personal best time!

This was the first time our kids had watched a swim meet, and it sure was a fun one! Way to go Elizabeth for swimming your way to Minnesota!

After the meet, we walked across Stone Arch Bridge, and explored the Guthrie Theater. The kids loved their cousin time. It was such a fun weekend! I hope this is an annual event!

Playin' in the City

While Daddy worked in Chicago, these kids played hard!

 

First stop: the Field Museum. Notice the famous Sue in the background.

We have been to Chicago a handful of times, but this is the first time we stayed downtown. Thank goodness the weather was perfect, even though it was March, and we could walk down Michigan Avenue to the American Girl doll store, the Disney Store, and of course to get free chocolate samples from the Ghiradelli store.

My favorite stop: The Museum of Science and Industry. However, it wasn't the full-sized submarine, airplane or locomotive that impressed Kyler.

It was the gigantic John Deere tractor that he could pretend to drive. He is certainly impressed by trucks and tractors. It's fun to have a boy who is interested in things the girls never cared much about. I admit that I often hide the four books we have on trucks/tractors/diggers, so I can have a break from reading them.

Riding the cow was also a treat.

Cranes are another favorite!

The Chicago Children's museum happened to be the girls' favorite stop.

I couldn't resist a handful of these raincoat pictures!

Kyler's second love is building things. So, he was right at home in this section of the Children's Museum.

Aubrie was a good sport and helped him operate yet another crane. I was so nervous about taking four kids all around Chicago by myself, but Aubrie and Ellie were amazing helpers and the kids were all so good! Topping that with perfect weather, we had the best time!

What trip to Chicago would be complete without a trip to Gino's East for some Chicago style deep-dish pizza? Make that two trips to Gino's East. Notice Ellie's gluten free pizza.

We also loved our stroll to Navy Pier,

 and doing Glamour shot poses.

 

Dave couldn't resist capturing the moment with a little kiss. Thankfully, he was able to join us for at least a little fun! We love Chicago when the weather is ideal!

Feelin' Green

When we found out that Dave had scheduled a business trip to Chicago over the girls' Spring Break, we jumped at the chance to tag along. 

Coincidentally, we found out we would be staying in the city over St. Patrick's Day. St Patty's Day in Chicago is quite the celebration!

For years, Chicago has been dying the river green in downtown Chicago. This picture doesn't do it justice -- it was a bright, florescent green color. Isn't it so ... well ... green?

We decided to brave the crowds in an attempt to see the annual parade -- the masses were even greater than we anticipated -- and we saw some pretty interesting people. Daddy even tried to fit in with his unique display of green. A few people heckled him about the shirt, which he explained that St. Nick is actually Irish.

Here is a sampling of St. Patty's day in Chicago: green hair...

 green lei and sun glasses...

 green ninja turtles...

  green cars...

and masses of green people reflected in the famous Millennium Park jelly bean.

The weather couldn't have been more gorgeous!!

As this year's St. Patrick's day fell on Saturday, and the day had temps in the 80s, the crowds were even larger than normal, estimated to be about 350,000 people. We had to forget about trying to catch a glimpse of the St. Patty's parade as there was no way we were getting through this crowd with a stroller and four little ones.

 But we were just fine people watching, being together, and enjoying the sunshine.

I think the kids' favorite part of the day was the chant they learned from some drunk college kids: "I say 'Saint.' You say 'Patty.' Saint. Patty. Saint. Patty." The kids continue to chant it months later! This might go into the books alongside a similar family joke of "Disney World! Disney World! Boo ... Orange World. Boo ... Orange World!" Do all kids like to chant things repeatedly, or do just ours?

It was definitely a good experience and probably not one we will ever seek out to repeat. But it certainly was memorable and interesting nonetheless.