Our Easter.....in PICTURES!

Dying of the eggs

hunting for her basket...each egg led to another clue


Baskets found!



THE SPOILS


Pomp and Circumstance

Family picture in our Easter duds.

Cousins! We got to spend Easter with the Christensens.

A good time was had by all.

Easter Egg HUNT!

The speckled ones have money in them =)

Final score:

Natalie: $8

Henry: $3

Lest you think we are too commercial, please enjoy the following and know that I have a testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know He lives and He loves us, and through Him we may return to our loving Father in Heaven. When asked what Easter was about, Natalie would say, "JESUS!"......success.

This one is also good...in case you haven't seen it yet.

Happenings

Much has happened of late. We have had visits from my uncle and my two sisters (along with their cute kids), visited some Ropers in St. George and South Jordan, and had job interviews and a few "firsts." Here are a few photos to document some of these happenings. Fortunately for you, I am not good at remembering to use my camera =)

Natalie with many of her Cottam cousins when my sisters came for a visit.

Visiting Mom Roper, Laura, and her kids (pictured here with Natalie). We met them in St. George for the weekend.

Playing at the park in St. George.

Natalie's FIRST dance lesson...

also in the way of firsts, Natalie gave her first talk in Primary not long ago. It was precious.

Henry's first prom......just kidding. He just got to wear this little diddy for his one-year-old pictures (thank you, Tracy).

During a brief trip to Utah, we got to meet my good friend Debbie's baby. I am sorry I didn't get to see all my Utah friends, but it was a very quick trip...

Visiting Aunt Laura

Natalie and Aunt Anne pulling faces one last time before her mission.

Good luck in Taiwan, Anne!!

Natalie and Ashley as giggly as ever - they have such fun together.

Visiting John's mom in her classroom.

Taking a break on the horsey on the trek home.

Uncle James surprised us with a visit as well. Note the matching shorts - sweetness.

Uno!

Henry had a birthday (you may shout hooray). So what if it was over a month ago? It's never too late for a celebration and never, never, too late to document a milestone =). So, Henry, this one's for you!

The festivities began with a ride aboard the choo choo train. Please note Henry's "Uno" shirt - made by yours truly for the occasion.

Pizza parties are sooo exciting...and delicious!

Fellow party goers - Papa, Dada, Natalie, and cousins Ashley and Johnny. Note John's matching "Uno" shirt =)

Uno cupcake anyone? Before you go thinking I am terribly creative, you must know that the Uno theme was not an original idea. I stole it from THIS blog.

Henry got his own personal cake to enjoy.

just getting started...

...finishing up

One happy customer!

Opening presents is fun!

A birthday for the ages!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I like St Patrick's Day. It is a fun, quirky holiday where you get to eat green, wear green, and pinch people. Growing up, pinching was taken very seriously. If you didn't have green on, you could legitimately pinch someone, consequence free. One such St. Patrick's Day, many a year ago, my mom came into the kitchen greenless. To counteract the mass of children with pinchers ready she grabbed a green kitchen bowl, placed it on her head , and ran for more safe clothing.

Did I mention my favorite color is green? How great is that? Does your favorite color have a holiday?

This year's highlights included:

wearing the lovely top hat (pictured above) while making dinner, eating green frozen yogurt (mint flavored), and pinching John's bum before he realized his blue shirt wasn't appropriate.

In keeping with the spirit of the holiday- please enjoy the Muppet's rendition of the traditional Irish folk song, "Oh Danny Boy."

Kiddos Update

Natalie is 3 and 1/2 now and so much fun. She is not "all girl," more like 1/2 princess and 1/2 tomboy. She loves role playing as a princess or a mommy. When she is a princess, she dresses up - naturally - and loves having "teacup" parties and dancing with her Daddy (her "prince" - well, he's actually my prince, but I loan him out). When she is in princess mode, she insists that you call her by her princess name and corrects you if you don't: "No mommy, say thank you, Belle." She also loves playing mommy by putting her doll and animals to bed all over the house. In fact, her new doll is either in a coma or she's a younger Sleeping Beauty because that is all Natalie ever has her do. She gets upset if you are loud around her sleeping "children," though, so this activity can be a bit annoying at times. Okay, so maybe she is 3/4 princess - but not fully because she loves boy things too. She likes playing with toy guns and she loves to play bad guy, monster, and pirates as well. In fact her favorite game to play is "monster game," which involves a great deal of running and screaming.

Natalie officially graduated from nursery and is proud to be a sunbeam. She loves attending primary with the big kids (though you wouldn't know it from this picture...)

In other noteworthy news, Natalie had her first In-N-Out burger (really a "grilled cheese" - a burger without the meat) and to say she enjoyed it would be an understatement. She was literally cheering after each bite. At one point she exclaimed, and I quote, "this is so, so, so, so, yummy!" At another point she got up and hugged me. Wow! I wish she enjoyed my cooking that much. And so I could see how the In-N-Out phenomenon of unnatural love and respect for a fast food chain begins as I witnessed a new fan join the fold.

Henry. Oh, my Henry. What a boy! Henry is practically one year old, and over the last couple weeks, he has become a really proficient walker. His first steps were at 10 months, but it wasn't until recently that he really mastered the skill. Henry loves to be held, and his favorite person is definitely his Nana Joan. He likes my mom better than he likes me, hands down. He is still a pretty good eater (as evidenced by his Chris Farley physique), and he has a very pleasant demeanor. His recent accomplishments include pointing, waving, and the doubling of his vocabulary. He now says, "wow"and "ball," in addition to "mama" and "dada."

Henry loves cars and could be pushed around in this bad boy all day if we had the mind to oblige him.

His love of cars made for excellent behavior during his first haircut a few days ago. Not a single peep out of him the whole time until I removed him from the car/barber chair.

I love my kids- they bring me SO SO SO SO much joy.

Hair Day!

Living with my parents has a number of advantages. One of these is that my mom not only makes hair appointments for me, but also for Natalie, with her fabulous hair dresser. So while my color was processing or whatever the correct terminology is, Natalie had her first, yes first, haircut at the Salon Luxe.

Come along and check out the whole procedure:


They began with a luxurious hair wash. Natalie is quite a bit shorter than the regular customer so she is seated on about a dozen towels.

All prepped, and ready for her cut.

Natalie loved getting her haircut from "big Natalie"- after all she is a princess or at least that is what she tells us. She was very cooperative and excited by the whole process.

What hair day is complete without a professional styling? Natalie may have been more pleased with the scent of her hair than her actual cut. She offered everyone in the family a sniff.


Ta da! Still long you say?...yes, but bear in mind she is nearly four and we had never cut it before. Check out the before picture below.


Before


She got about 3 1/2 inches taken off altogether. (I hope she won't expect such special treatment with every cut....then again, if it only happens every 4 years, who knows? =)