Easter 2010

Easter was started off on the perfect note...Lilly slept in!!! After getting up we all ventured out to the living room to discover that the Easter bunny stopped by while we were sleeping. He left a basket full of goodies and a bunch of eggs filled with yummies to hide for Lilly. When she saw the basket her face lit up and she looked at Ziff then at me and said "WOW". She very delicately started going through to see what she got and wanted to start playing right away. So she played with play dough while I started breakfast. We had a fun morning playing and laughing. While Lilly was napping I started making dinner. It was my first real Easter dinner but it turned out pretty good. I made glazed ham, scalloped potatoes, asparagus, and deviled eggs.

After we finished eating we decided to go egg hunting. Lilly was so excited. While I was hiding the eggs she was standing by the door yelling to me that she wanted her shoes on. When we opened the screen door she went running and started filling her basket. Once all the eggs were safely in her basket she came inside to check out what was in the eggs. Ziff helped her sort and pile all of her goodies so she could see everything she got.
We shared a few pieces of candy and decorated ourselves with sparkly princess stickers and then it was time to try out our sidewalk chalk. Lilly had lots of fun with it, but was a little annoyed that her hands kept getting dirty. Thankfully the word wash is one she knows well, so she just kept breaking to "wash" her hands.
After hunting and coloring the patio you would think that one might be tired, but oh no, Lilly had plenty more energy. She was ready to play play dough again and she played and played until finally it was bed time. Alas we had to explain that all of these fun things will still be here to play with when she wakes up. She was not very happy or receptive of this, but guessing by all the smiles and giggles today, I am going to say she had a pretty good day and will forgive us for making her go to bed. It was indeed a happy Easter!

My birthday/ Our anniversary

This years birthday was one of the best yet and as for anniversary's we don't have many to compare to but it was still pretty great! Heather was nice enough to agree to watch Lilly for us while we went out to an afternoon of fun at Dave and Busters. We had never been before but had been wanting to go and this was the perfect opportunity. We played so many fun games and won a TON of tickets. We traded all of our tickets and decided to get Lilly the biggest Elmo we had ever seen. After D&B we went to Dairy Queen for some ice cream and then headed back to be with our family. We were all settled down after dinner and I was watching food network (I was pretty excited about that since we don't get that channel) minding my own when one of the younger boys came over to me and said "don't look in the kitchen, there's a surprise for your birthday in there". Of course I looked and started cracking up, he was so serious too, I don't think he meant to spill the beans, but it was sweet none the less. So after that we enjoyed some yummy cake we spent the night chit chatting and decided to go to bed early since we were all exhausted. I couldn't have asked for a better day or better people to share it with. Ziff and I had a great day, talking and laughing and just enjoying being Ziff and Nicole again, not mama and dada. And then our awesome family who went above and beyond to make my birthday a special one! Not much more a person could ask for.

What's in Texas?

There was so much to our trip I decided to split it up to make it easier. But any hoo we were trying to think of things to do or see while we were in Texas, and since it was spring break for all the boys too, we wanted to make sure they weren't just sitting home bored. So Monday we decided to brave the Fort Worth Zoo, but we were in for a real surprise because we had no idea just how busy it was going to be. It was beyond crowded, so packed that they had to bring on police officers to direct traffic and mediate parking and it took 15 min. just to walk from car to zoo entrance. There were so many people at the zoo I think some of the animals decided to hide, and those that didn't hide weren't visible through the huge masses of people. It was still pretty fun, but exhausting since we spent most of the time trying to navigate through the people and keep everyone together.


After we got back from the zoo the adults decided to go out and enjoy a quiet dinner, right across the street. It was so nice and the food was really yummy. Having adult conversation uninterrupted was so nice and there is no one better to share it with that Jeremy and Heather, they are great company. After our meal we walked back home thinking we would find Lilly running around crazy like always, but to our shock she was passed out right in the middle of the floor. The boys said she cried for just a bit, but her cousin picked her up and held her and she fell asleep in his arms. After all the kids were asleep, Heather and I had girl time and stayed up waaaaaay to late talking about anything and everything. It was almost 2 by the time we looked at the clock, but it was so nice having girl talk and just getting to know each other.


On Wednesday we went a nature center and enjoyed the sunny weather. We had a picnic and let the kids run wild. After lunch the older boys went on a little hike while Lilly Ziff and I hung out looking at the horses, I was really sore and not feeling super great so we hung back. But it was still a nice day out. That night the kids watched planet 51 and the parents watched Old Dogs, both were good movies.

Thursday morning after showering and eating breakfast we packed up the car and reluctantly said our goodbyes and started our long drive home. Lilly was once again fantastic for the drive and did her best to entertain us so we didn't get to bored. We are looking forward to the next time we can all be together again and hopefully they will be ab;e to come to Colorado and we can show them as good of a time as they showed us! :-) *hint hint*

Texas Travels

This year Spring,break, my birthday, and our anniversary all fell together. I decided a trip would be fun for the whole family vs me getting presents (although I still love presents), So we decided to pack up and drive down to good ol' Texas. Ziff was pretty excited. He loves any chance he can get to see his family down there. He was so excited that he just couldn't wait to leave so Friday after his class, we ate dinner, bathed Lilly, packed up the car and started our drive. It took about 16 hours or so to get there, because by 3 am we were both exhausted and needed to stop for a bit. There are no rest stops though along the way so we eventually had to stop at a gas station and rest there. Lilly was a pretty good sport. She slept the first 4 hours till we had to stop for our first fill up and then she was up and wired till 5 am!! She finally gave in and went back to sleep. We brought some DVDs along, but she only watch 20 minutes of Elmo and the rest of the time she entertained herself by talking to her stuffties and singing. It was a good drive aside from my numb bum and sore ribs (something about sitting in a car that long that just makes you achy). We got to Keller, TX around noon and spent the day just relaxing and hanging out. Heather and I went to Costco, which was actually pretty fun although I must tease her just a bit, I felt like the Duggers, we both had carts that were filled!!! Sunday was a church day, so we spent most of that relaxing too, although their ward starts the time ours usually gets out, so Lilly wasn't able to make it through all of it, she barely survived sacrament (well we barely survived :-) )

Lilly and Landon (who are just 2 months apart) watching the big kids play outside after they decided they were done for the day.

After a long day of playing hard Lilly needed some chill time

Lilly stayed so busy the entire trip trying to keep up with her cousins! We barely saw her all week, it wasn't until Wednesday when we think she realized how little she had seen us. But Ziff and I weren't complaining she had SO much fun and was worn out pretty much every nap and every bedtime. When she would wake up in the morning she would start and go go go till Ziff or I said it was time for a rest.

Lilly is such a great sport for how long she had to sit in her seat, and even till the end she was trying to be our entertainment.

Still makes me smile

While we were in Texas Ziff had a conversation with his 3 year old nephew that still cracks me up. Kaden is so full of personality and catches you off guard with his wit. From the time we got there Kaden just wanted to be by Ziff all the time sitting on him, climbing on him, and wrestling him. It was great for me because he got a little taste of what it's like for me with Lilly. Late in the day on day 2 Ziff told Kaden he needed a little space, but Kaden continued. So Ziff being literal as always went in to explain about personal space and about how he needed about an arms length between them and Kaden's response, he stepped really close to ziff so he was touching his leg and said in his most serious voice "I don't have personal space". That was pretty much the end of that conversation. :-)

Jumpin'

With the weather still being quite chilly and having cabin fever for the last 6 weeks or so, we decided to mix it up with our playgroup. We have been mostly going over to each others houses which is great, but as we all know, it still means being stuck inside. We were technically still inside at Jumpin' but there was so much room for the kids to run free and bounce and climb...it was great, just what they needed. There were lots of blow up toys and then there was a designated toddler's area just for kids 3 and under with "outdoor" like toys and such and even a toddler sized bouncy house. Like usual Lilly was hesitant at first and it took her some time to warm up, but once she did she had a blast. She didn't really care for any of the bouncy toys except for the slide...which we probably went down 3 dozen times. I was okay with her only liking the slide since it would have been hard for me to take her through most of the other ones. I did go down the slide quite a few times, which I got scolded for once I got home, but it was fun!

Towards the end Lilly was confident enough to climb up the slide all by herself and slide down!

Lilly and Naia going for a ride on one of the toys in the toddler area

I loved how Lilly would scream and laugh at the bottom of the slide...every time! I think she had fun.

More playtime in the toddler area

Stacey took Lilly down quite a few times for me so I didn't have to keep climbing up there. Lilly would run around trying to keep up with Lauren and she would call out to Lauren, but Lilly just wasn't ready for some of the bouncy toys Lauren was going on. Which is okay because they had fun anyways! :-)

CSU vs BYU

We had yet to attend a sporting event of CSU. Don't ask me why since it's right around the corner, but we did finally get up the gumption to go to one. Ziff had asked if he and a friend could go to the game after he got out of class and I happily said sure, knowing his love for basketball and his need for a break from studying, but it turned out that his buddy's wife wanted to go to the game too, and so then it turned into a night out for everyone. Needless to say I was stoked! I love to tag along and they are good friends of ours so I knew we were in for a fun night.

Lilly of course lovin' on the purse...can't keep her from accessorizing :-)

Cam the Ram. Lilly thought he was great...at a distance. When he came up to our seats she froze and was not so much about him anymore.

Laurie taught Lilly to say "go Rams go!" So cute! She did watch and cheer for the first half, but by the second half she was more interested in walking around and looking at the noise meter.

We had a great night and it was such a great change of pace. Lilly was really quiet at first not sure what to make of it all, but then she warmed up to the idea of it all. She enjoyed most of the game and especially the dancers. She had fun and kept Laurie busy. Hopefully we can go to another game soon.