Slacker Easter Bunny...

So I don't know about your Easter Bunny, but ours was a slacker this year. Traditionally, he comes on Saturday, so on Sunday we can focus on the real meaning of Easter, but this year Saturday came and went, and no Easter Bunny. And then Sunday came and went, and still no Easter Bunny. The kids were so sad. We reassured them that they had not been forgotten, just delayed. Monday morning the kids awoke to eggs scattered around the house and an Easter surprise on the table. Phew! Hopefully the Easter Bunny is forgiven, and can get his act together for next year :)

Family, oh how we love family!

My brother, Seth, came to the Twin Cities for a school trip, and we were able to visit with him in the evenings. What a treat! We had fun eating BBQ at Famous Dave's and trying not to lose any of the kids at the Mall of America (successful, thankfully!) and then picnicking in Seth's hotel room (hope your roommate didn't hate you after we invaded your room :) and then swimming at the hotel pool. It was great to see you, love you Seth!
(Notice the way Shayla is adoring Seth--this picture says so much!)

On Saturday Brad, Emily, Braden, Dallin and Trevor came over (Tyler's brother and fam). We are blessed to live only 1 hour away from them and love getting together as often as we can. The older kids went skiing and the younger kids stayed and played at the house. It was a beautiful spring day and the kids had a blast playing with each other. (notice Grant in the snowsuit--the phrase "beautiful spring day" means it might have been 40 degrees, and was pretty windy :) But we'll take what we can get.

There is something so rejuvenating about being with family. So, who's next to visit?

Spring Break!

So spring break was March 17-21st. Here's a little peak at what we did...

Made our first snowman--thanks, Kris, for the cute snowman kit! There was VERY little snow on the ground, so our snowballs picked up lots of dead grass, etc. In talking about names for the snowman we thought "Hairy" or "Fuzzy" would work well. But Garrett insisted on calling him "Jacob," after his uncle :)

Tyler took a day off and we visited the Art Museum in Minneapolis. Such a great museum! The kids (and parents) loved it. Then swimming at the Y later in the day--you can never go wrong with swimming.

Mentos Rocket! Mentos + Diet Soda = Fizzy Explosion. The kids loved it, thanks Grandma W!
The photo is of Garrett, diving into Grant's exersaucer, as Shayla mc's the events. We also had some good down time, watched The Bee Movie (funny), colored Easter eggs, and enjoyed a fun date for Tyler and I on Saturday thanks to some great friends who watched the kids. The weather wasn't "spring"-ish, but all in all, a great spring break!

What's for dinner?

Per Angie's request, here is the recipe from Ty's birthday dinner. It is so quick and easy and delicious, too. It is a family recipe from my Grandma who lives in Hawaii. Enjoy!

Grandma Holokahi's Sweet and Sour Chicken with Pineapple
5 lbs. chicken thighs (remove skin and chop in half)
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. apple-cider vinegar
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 large can of pineapple chunks

Combine all ingredients (add juice from the pineapple but reserve the pineapple chunks for later) and simmer in pot for 45 min. to 1 hr. Remove chicken from sauce. Mix 1 heaping Tablespoon cornstarch with water and add to sauce. Let it boil until thickened. Add chicken and pineapple chunks to the sauce and serve over rice.

Is Anybody Listening?

One of our family goals this year was to memorize the articles of faith (for those of you who aren't Mormon, they are 13 statements about what we believe--see link on the side). So we say or sing them during lunch (when I remember). Anyway, we were working on the 2nd AoF ("We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression") last week, but I didn't think anything was sinking in.
Well, on Sunday I was sitting in Sacrament meeting, trying to keep the kids quiet. Garrett kept pulling the hymnbook-holder off of the pew in front of us. After repeatedly telling him to stop, I threatened, "If you do that one more time YOU WILL BE PUNISHED!" He immediately stopped, and I thought, 'Yes! My threat worked!' when he looked up and said, "...for their own sins? And not for Adam's transblession?"
Who woulda thought?

Birthday Traditions

Since this is our birthday season (three birthdays in less than a month and a half) I thought that I would share some of our birthday traditions. We would love to hear some of your traditions as well.

1) The day starts off with breakfast in bed! Usually a healthy serving of German Pancakes, but you may also find crepes, breakfast sandwiches, cinnamon rolls, etc.



2) The birthday honoree gets to choose the activity for the day: Shayla watched princess movies with popcorn, Garrett wanted to swim at the YMCA, and Ty wanted to take us all on in a game of basketball.




3) Dinner is chosen by the birthday boy or girl (Shayla and Garrett both went for taco salad, while Ty had sweet and sour chicken and pineapple), accompanied by each in the family taking turns telling why we love the birthday member.



4) At last it is present time, where our recent tradition is to hide all of the presents, to make it a little more challenging to find them (we have learned to keep a log of where the presents are hidden).



5) Finally to end the day, of course, birthday cake! I had to put the picture of when Shayla turned one as it is still one of my favorites!



With Shayla's birthday in January, Garrett's in February, and Ty's in March, you can see that this is a busy time of year for us! Luckily Grant's birthday is not until August, but we decided to get him excited about it anyway! So what are your favorite birthday traditions?


*Posted by Tyler

Calling all visitors...

My brother, Ricky, came to visit over President's Day weekend, and we so enjoyed having him here. He didn't even mind that it was cold, although he did mention SEVERAL times that he could never live here. And that was a warm weekend :)

We enjoyed racing around the house (Ty beat me, and will NEVER let me live it down),

hiking to Willow River Falls,

having a snowball fight, swimming at the Y, and hanging out together.

Thanks for the great visit, Ricky! We love you!

And, here is an open invitation to any and all who can visit--we would love to have you come! (FYI-our airport code is MSP). And thanks for your great comments on my blog--
I love hearing from you!

Meet the family...

So I thought I'd start by introducing the fam...


Ty just turned 7 yesterday and is our big 1st grader, loves ALL sports, math, reading, watching Saturday morning cartoons, battling with his bro and sis in the basement, playing piano and learning. And he looks just like his Dad--what a cutie! (The pic is of Ty at wrestling practice)



Shayla is now 5, can't wait for Kindergarten to start, loves keeping her brothers in line, anything princess related, scootering, coloring, writing her name on everything, attending Joy School, gymnastics and playing with friends. She can often be heard saying, "I love Grant, but I sure wish I had a sister." She loves having sleepovers in her brothers' room, staying up late telling funny stories.



Garrett is our entertaining 3 year old. He loves to dribble a basketball (he's better than me at it), can break-it-down on the dance floor, color, look at books, play "princess" with Shayla or "battle" with Ty, and loves giving his baby kisses.



Grant is 7 months old and such a sweet baby. He loves eating baby food, sitting up, spitting up, smiling and laughing, spitting/blowing bubbles, eating Cheerios, sticking his tongue out, and being adorable. Ty sums it up the best when he says, "It would be so sad if we didn't have Grant in our family."