Easter!

Holidays are a whole new world for me with these little girls loving every tiny bit. The best part was Ryn learning, loving and teaching over and over again the lesson she had given in FHE the Monday before about Christ's resurrection. And then there are all the other fun traditions...

Dying eggs a few days before Easter....Meeting the Easter Bunny at the neighborhood egg hunt on a very chilly Saturday morning.... The pre-hunt excitement building....

What kind of parents make their kids dress up like bunnies for the hunt?!

Pretty cute bunnies, though :)

They had a great time "finding" the eggs. In fact, they loved it so much that they came home and hid and re-found them over and over again all day long :).

Easter Sunday was beautiful--the weather was perfect, the musical program in sacrament meeting was heavenly, and the girls looked lovely. Kevin sang a solo in the program so we had to be there early for him to practice one last time. Getting everyone ready and there on time is a big enough feat for me, so getting there early was more than enough of a stretch to make any picture taking time impossible. Then, by the time we got home, the dresses were wrinkled and Elle was zonked out. Thus my sad story of why I don't have any beautiful photos of the girls in their Easter dresses to share today. But I do promise (mainly a promise for myself) that I will get the picture taken asap on another Sunday when they wear those dresses.

Stopping to smell the roses and feed the soul :)

Conference weekend ranks right up there with Christmas for me. There is no better combination than fun family time and inspired counsel. Mom and Dad arrived the Sunday before Conference and we tried to squeeze in as much time as possible with them in between their visits with adoring fans and meetings :).

Sunday was their first chance to meet Eden and Mom held her almost the entire day. It was precious.

I think Dad's favorite part of that first day with Eden was when she spit up on his suit during Sunday School :). I'm pretty sure I heard him whisper under his breath, "If she were in my will I'd disinherit her." (One of Grandma Hazel's famous one-liners) We had a great gourmet dinner by Kevin and lots of fun playing Pictionary and just being together.

Monday night they came over for Family Home Evening and Ryn was almost jumping out of her skin the whole day she was so excited. She had written every one's names on sheets of paper to mark where they would sit and those papers were in place (covering the living room floor and unable to be moved even an inch on pain of death) from about 10 am until 6:30 pm when we actually started. We loved having them and Grandma and Grandpa Linkous with us for our lesson on reverence, but especially for the rousing game of duck, duck, goose. Elle runs every time, no matter what.

Thursday and Friday were spent shopping and making the food for Eden and Teairsa's blessing gathering. Lots of taco soup and chocolate chip cookies. It was so fun on Friday when we actually got to meet Teairsa for the first time. She looks like a beautiful, tiny doll. Perfect features that are teeny except for her huge, gorgeous eyes. The difference in size between her and Eden is pretty funny to see, especially since they're only 2 weeks apart in age. At their 2 month check ups, Teairsa weighed in at 8lbs 8oz and Eden was up to 12lbs 14oz. Check out those thighs!

We gave them a bath together where you'll probably be able to get a clearer comparison, but I'm waiting for Mark to email me that pic/video :) (hint, hint) No matter what their difference in size, though, we know they will have a blast together as cousins.

The weekend was spent in typical conference fashion with fabulous sessions, playing games and talking as late as possible (sorry, Dad) at the hotel,

and enjoying the beauty of Temple Square as we meet between sessions to eat and talk about what we each felt about the messages. For the last few years, we've moved away from the restaurant meals and we now get box lunches from the church office building. It saves a lot of time and also gave us the liberty to have Sunday's lunch outside since the weather finally started to feel like spring :).

It was so fun to see Jess, Bridgette, Ashley, Haze, Darrell, Joy, Mark, Aup and Emily all weekend!

Sunday evening was spent sharing Eden and Teairsa's blessings with our extended families and good friends at the Rose Shop. Special thanks to Kelly, Becky, Jake, Cindy, Jess, Bridge, Haze and Ash, the Lehnardts, Hunts, Trevor and Heather, and Jody's family for making the effort to come! It was beautiful and wonderful to have so many people we love there to welcome these 2 angels to the world and to know they will have such great examples to look to in all things. Here are a few pictures my friend Michelle took and I'll do another post later with more. Those cute boys holding Eden in the last one are 2 of Michelle's stripling warriors :)

So it was a very full weekend! Luckily we had Monday to hang out with Jody, Dan, Anna, Josh and Zack...

...and Carma even had the day off from work so she could teach everyone to sew, and even grab a granddaughter dance!

We were thrilled to have a few more days with Mom and Dad before they had to leave, as well. so we had them over for FHE again Monday (Ryn gave a great lesson on the meaning of Easter) and then Tuesday we inaugurated the bee tea party set we gave Mom. It was hilarious!

Once we'd cleaned up the mess...I mean, tea party :)...we went for a walk on Temple Square with Mom. It was simply beautiful and wonderful to spend such a day with my sweet mom and angel girls. "I often go walking...

Dear Mother, all flowers remind me of you...for if I love meadows and flowers and walking, I learned how to love them, Dear Mother, from you."

I can't say how blessed I feel. Every day and every person in my life is a gift.

G.I. Ryn part 2

Ok, I forgot to tell you the cute ending to the story. About 2 minutes later, Ryn came up to me and asked, "Can you help me save him?"

I asked why she would want to save a bad guy and here was her reason:

"He decided he wants to be nice now."

G.I. Ryn

Ryn and Elle found these robots that must have been left by Josh and Zack on a previous visit. They were immediately named "Bad Guys", but then I saw Ryn tying some yarn around hers. I asked my sweet, girly 3 year old (notice the pink twirly pettiskirt), "oh, are you giving him a bow?"

"No," she replied. "We're going to kill them!" How's that for a sweet, girly answer?!

More singing, dancing and fun in the sun (while it lasted)

I know I haven't posted in a while, so here are some great peeks at the fun we've been having with our 3 girls. Eden started smiling last week and it's honestly like a drug. None of us can leave her in peace--we get all goofy and annoying every time she has her eyes open.

Could YOU pass up on a chance to see that?!

This morning the girls decided to make a few castles....

Yes, we were hanging out in our pjs after a late night--we were the "entertainment" for the Relief Society birthday dinner. Kev and I were asked to sing for 30 min, so we decided to put our best foot forward and start with a song from the girls. We didn't get it recorded last night, so I had them do it this morning on camera. Not quite as good as last night (you can see Elle is a little distracted by the Eiffel Tower, but she really does know all the words), and they're not wearing their beautiful Brazil lace dresses from Mama KK, but still cute.

We don't need an event to sing, though. We sing 24/7! Here's a clip from the ride in the car on the way to dance class.

Up until Sunday (when we got 6 inches of snow), we were enjoying absolutely gorgeous spring weather and taking walks every day. Ryn and Elle love 'helping' me push Eden's stroller :)There's the daily dancing that just makes me smile...

And the whistling while they 'work' is completely adorable.

So my life is full of the wonder of Ryn, Elle and Eden. And I say to myself, "What a wonderful world!"

Eden opens her eyes!

Every time I talk to Mom she reminds me that she hasn't seen any pictures of Eden with her eyes open yet, so here are a few I took yesterday. :)

It won't be like this forever

Today was a wonderful day. My friend Michelle generously offered to let Ryn and Elle come play with her and Mary so I could have a day of ease at home alone with Eden. As I looked around at all the things I could spend the few precious hours on, I thought about how much I could do every day if I didn't have these little people who needed my attention and love every single second. I got to indulge in reading the Ensign, taking an unhurried shower and skipping lunch because I didn't have to make it for anyone! It was a much needed and appreciated break, but I was excited to pick up the girls by the time the afternoon came. You see, there is nothing I can "get done" without them that matters as much as what I feel and do and become when I'm with them.


When I got to Michelle's she commented on how much work it really is to have little ones who need that constant attention. There's always something they need, or they're getting into, or mess they've made, etc. I laughed and agreed and put the girls in the car to go pick up Kevin from work. I was sitting at a stop light reflecting on these things when I heard a most unwelcome sound from the back--Elle had thrown up all over herself and her car seat. I just laughed as we cleaned it up, thinking, "Yep, there's always something...." :)

And then, as we were driving home together, listening to the complete array of toddler sounds (whines, screams, laughter, singing, and adorable phrases in tiny voices), Kevin turned the radio to a country station (sorry, Joy :) ) for some distraction music everyone could dance to. The song was one I hadn't heard, but could identify with immediately, especially today. A father was singing about the hard moments of parenthood--the sleepless nights with a newborn, the crying and clinging toddler who won't let you leave them at school--and how you take hope in the knowledge that it won't be like this forever. But then the father remembers, as I did today, that "it won't be like this forever" means that every stage will be over all too quickly, and therefore should be cherished instead of just endured or wished away. Kevin and I just looked at each other and smiled through the tears we both had in our eyes.

So, to Michelle or anyone else who might feel pity for the amount of work I have to do every day, please don't. Because as much as Kevin and I wish that it could, it won't be like this forever.