Heaven on earth....

is being with your family. I have loved, loved, loved being in Utah for the past 3 General Conferences and having Mom and Dad come up for an entire week each time. Even though they have lots of meetings--especially Dad--we are able to have so many great evenings, 2 family home evenings, fun and fully-packed days with Mom, and pure joy seeing the relationships being formed between them and the girls.

Serious swinging and Hungry, Hungry Hippo...

This spring snowstorm gave us the chance to make an Easter Snow Bunny! Eden was hilarious trying to walk around in those boots. Ryn and Elle worked very hard, lugging 'huge' loads of snow to contribute (huge=the size of their tiny fists), and Mama KK was determined that the snow bunny be taller than Ryn at the very least.

Once the bunny was complete, we headed over to "Michelle and Mary's" house to meet their four adorable chicks. Ryn was the only one who eventually worked up the courage to touch them--check out Eden's wary glance and Elle, who was only happy on Michelle's lap with a cupcake. Lucy, the cat, would have been more than happy to step in and say hello, but we kept a tight circle around the tiny birds while we visited and Mom clicked away with the camera :).

Blowing bubbles against the bluest of blue skies....

walking and playing in the park....

reading books....

decorating Easter cookies...

meeting and having dinner with 2 of Mom's cousins...(cousin Carol and her husband, Rob, on Tuesday and cousin Nancy and her beautiful daughter on Friday)

enjoying conference and Temple Square...

These are days to remember.

Masters of the Universe!

Normally I would post Easter and Mom and Dad's visit before Matt and Nat's, but there is a long-awaited movie that needs to be released....so lets talk about just how much fun last week was! After each day of watching the 6 kids loving just being together (Elle and Eden meeting Mia for the first time....) and playing with each other, Matt, Nat, Rae (for 2 nights--way too short, but we take consolation knowing she'll be here for school in a few months), Kev and I would stay up all night talking and laughing and watching Old Spice commercials :).

We loved seeing beautiful Abby and her knight in shining armor and celebrating with the extended Hogan clan. What a great family Matt married into! I was happy all the 'Easter' dresses were finally done (Eden's didn't make it til the week after Easter) and this was a fun occasion to wear them :).

We lounged around Thursday morning so it was the perfect opportunity for Rachel to get caught up on the last High School Musical movie she had missed on her mission. Ryn and Elle were happy to help break her in :).
One of the highlights of the week was when Matt introduced the old He-Man cartoons to the kids. Immediately, they were hooked--even the girls. Of course, once they were hooked, it led to hours of hilarious action. Matt instructed them on proper sword technique...

...and Kevin even found some of his old action figures down in his parents' basement! (Elle's holding Beastman and Ethan's got He-man)And finally, on our last night together, we made our own pilot He-Man--Cousins Season episode. Be sure to stay tuned after the show (the shortest pilot ever) for several worthwhile Masters of the Universe lessons.....

After looking through the pictures, it looks like we spent every minute just sitting around on the couch! Here's a video of one trip to the park to prove otherwise :). Even though it's mostly of Eden, there are quick shots of everyone else, as well as a good view of the temperamental weather that plagued us most of the week.

Thankfully, the one perfectly clear and beautiful day was Wednesday--Abby's wedding. What a lovely backdrop for Mia's baby blues...

Thanks for a great week guys!!! We're missing you terribly already. Since we've got more than half the family on their way here next year, now our focus is looking for leads for Matt, Darrell and Rob here in Utah ;)

Tickle, tickle, tickle

We're so far behind it's not even funny--Easter, Mom and Dad's visit during Conference, Matt and Nat and Rae's visits and more--, but I do have big plans for catching up here in the next couple of days since the dresses are done and our house feels so empty with Rae, Matt, Nat, Sam, Ethan and Mia leaving us :(. Until we get to all those fun pics and posts, how about a few March funnies and a little tickle from Eden?

Just for the record, we don't have as many funnies for March because we were sick almost the entire month which didn't put me in a really good funny-catching mood. Fortunately, Ryn is feeling completely healthy and hasn't had any more arthritis swelling or pain since the initial testing phase (part of our afore-mentioned March Madness). We will have a follow-up appointment soon to see where we go from here...

March 2--Ryn and Elle had been playing with their dolls in my room and we needed to migrate somewhere else in the house. K: "Get your guys and lets go." Elle, holding up her baby: "Mom, this is a girl. Don't call her a guy!"

March 5--I explained to Elle that a toy wasn't working because the battery was dead. She asked, "Who killed the battery?"

This one isn't really funny--it actually made me cry. Elle said, again, that she wanted to be a bad guy and Ryn really tried to make things clear for her. "Heavenly Father doesn't want us to be bad guys. If we choose the right then we can be His friends! like disciples!" The excitement in her voice at the thought of being Heavenly Father's friend through obedience was one of the sweetest sounds I have ever heard.

March 6--Another Ryn moment, "I'm so excited to have a kid!"

March 7--This was an all-time classic from Elle. Tom had asked the girls to sing "I Know that My Savior Loves Me" in the High Priests class he was teaching at church. For Ryn and Elle, when they think of 'going to class' at church, it means a class full of young children. The song was beautiful, and I was telling Elle that on our way out to the car. She stopped me with a worried look and exclaimed, "But Mom, something happened to those kids to make them old!"

Ryn had filled several sheets of paper with pictures for each of us and I asked her if she was finished (for the night). Emphatically, she answered, "I'm NEVER going to stop drawing pictures for the people I love."

March 14--Eden said "sister"!!!

On the kitchen dance floor, Ryn explained to Elle, "Princes say, 'May I have this dance?' and girls say, 'Why of course you may!'"

March 20--Elle wanted to watch 'just one more' movie and Ryn backed me up when I turned down the request. "Elle, you'll break your chocolate eyes."

Elle had made a design with magnets on the fridge that she wanted some praise for. "Look, Mom!" I nodded and smiled, but that wasn't good enough. "Don't be happy like this (nodding and smiling). You have to be happy like this and jump up and down and say, 'Great job, Elle!'"

March 24--Elle: Mom, I'm speechless. Me: Do you know what that means? Elle: Uh-huh. Beautiful.

March 30--Ryn explaining family order to Elle. "I'm the biggest and you're the middlest."

Sitting by Elle on the couch reading a book, she looked up at me with those chocolate eyes and said, "Mom, you're beautiful."