bunnies.... eggs....???

Easter was coming and you know what that means.... Bunnies and eggs! It is one hard holiday to teach our children it is really about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We ask our children, "Why does the Easter Bunny come?" They answer, "Because we deserve it." All parents know what I am talking about. So among all the hub bub of eggs and bunnies the true meaning of Easter is the FACT that Jesus Christ was resurrected.... and because he was resurrected we know that we too can be resurrected. That is amazing! So why do we celebrate The BIRTH of Jesus all month long, but the RESURRECTION for only a weekend? I guess that is a question for Commercialized Businesses. As my Dad said, "Hello! You can only buy so much chocolate! The stores know that."
First, on Friday, we went to the Mall to see the Pagan Easter Bunny. Then on Saturday we dyed and hunted eggs. Do not ask me why bunnies and eggs go together. I guess bunnies and chickens are friends. When I told Strong Man we were going to Nanna and Papa's to dye easter eggs he looked at me funny and said, "You mean we are gonna kill them?"




Then on Sunday, After the Easter Bunny hid baskets, we got dressed in our Sunday best and went to church. Nick and Gina were blessing our adorable nephew, Drake, so we went to Sacrament in their ward and then went to primary and sharing time in our own ward. Church was awesome. It was more about Christ than about Bunnies and I liked that a lot! The spirit was thick in primary, even with little bodies full of chocolate. We finished off the day at my parents where we had, yes another egg hunt, and egg rolls. Very appropriate don't you think?




This little family of ours is why Easter is so important...... we will be together forever!

Who wouldn't want to be able to see and kiss these adorable faces forever?

I am grateful for the Resurrection!

Our cRaZy CrAzY Boy!

Sunday morning. Little Miss and Little Man are in the shower....Strong Man decides to join them. Need I say more? Can you guess what he is today?? Hillarious!!!

NINE YEARS!

Yeah I know what you are all thinking........ she married up. To celebrate our 9 blissful years we went to Lincoln City. This is a very significant place for both Dustin and I. We have both been hit by a seagull at the coast, while on a date, but not with eachother. (before we were married for all of you raising your eyebrows) We got to know eachother here at a 4th of July bash, and Dustin got his first head massage from me here. (the #1 reason he even considered marrying me) We also honeymooned here.

We call this location directly behind us "Memory Beach" and have a painting of it, by my Dad, hanging in our bedroom. This is where the Fireworks first flew for us on the 4th of July. If it weren't for that activity, Dustin would have never asked me out.

Here we are in front of our room at the Inn at Otter Crest. We honeymooned in this very same room thanks to my Uncle Don and Aunt Mellie who own this condo. (Thanks a bunch!)

Here we have some romantic sentements written by some mysterious person. It is so wierd that their names are the same as ours!

If you know anything about me it is that I LOVE to swim in to ocean.... so here I go! One just cannot let the cold weather get between them and their love of swimming. I told Dustin he was next, but he declined!

We went to out to eat at the casino once and Mo's twice, we went to the movies, we shopped, we laughed........ we had a gay (happy) ole' time and cannot wait to do it again. Thanks to Nanna and Papa who watched our three little monkeys for us so we could remember what it is to be IN LOVE!

"Dumb Thumb"

As many of our friends and family know, Little Man has been a thumb sucker since he was a wee babe. He was a very mild mannered little guy. He slept like a pro, and never made a peep in the car. When we went to the store and he asked for something.... most of the time I said NO! but it was no biggie, Little Man just sucked his sorrows away. Well...... the thumb sucking got really old. He constantly sucked it. He would bonk into door knobs, fall over nothing, and never wanted to do much of anything for himself because of the thumb in his mouth. I swear he would have sucked his thumb and ate at he same time if he could have. One day it all changed. Little Man decided to quit the thumb habit. For a couple weeks prior to this he became aware when his thumb was dirty or smelled funny. He would go wash his hands just so he could suck his thumb. It was pretty dry and callused, so I put some vasoline on it and told him not to suck it because it would taste funny. That was all it took. For the next few days I put this Vasoline on his thumb and reminded him it would taste funny. We made up a sticker chart for when he went the whole day without sucking his thumb, and when he went twelve days he got to pick out a toy at the store. I wasn't sure if this would really be the end of it... but it has been since January and it has stuck. The other night I asked him if his thumb still tasted like strawberries, he said, "no." I asked what it tasted like now and he said, "It tastes like DUMB THUMB!" That is why we love our Little Man!

SUNRIVER!

We had too much fun while in Sunriver! The Snow was deep but the sun was shining! It was so quiet in the great outdoors. We went to a park to go sledding and we were the only ones on the hill. Someone had built an igloo that the kids thought was pretty cool. Little Man learned how to throw a mean snow ball... I learned how to dodge them. We went rock climbing and swimming at Mavericks, and even got to witness the wave pool. (pretty cool!) Back at the house we were staying at with our friends, the Blanchards, we enjoyed the hot tub and peaceful atmospere! It was so great to get away and play!

Check out my Slide Show!

Making Christmas Fun and Special

Decorating The Tree
The friday after Thanksgiving, Little Miss was ready to bring in Christmas. So we put up the tree and got the lights on. Dustin was not home to decorate with us, so we held off until Sunday after church. The kids were so eager, they got the ornaments out themselves and started going!

Strong Man took the decorating very seriously. He was policing everything everyone else did.
Little Man assumed all the glass balls were there for his sporting pleasure. They were for kicking across the room and hitting with your fist. That drove Strong Man CRAZY!


Little Miss had the smiles, Strong Man had the camera. Need I say more?
Don't pay any attention to the guy who is sleeping in the background. He does like Christmas.

And of course all the little ones fought over who would put the star on the tree for the big finalle, Strong Man was happy to take the picture, Little Miss had the honor!
This is just a small preview of the upcoming Christmas devotional on Dec.9th at the Salem Stake Center. Our family will be starring as a Shepherds family who saw the Baby Jesus. Strong Man is not even dissappointed that he has to wear a DRESS! (should we worry?)