Happy Easter

Jace and I went to Heath's parent's community for their annual Easter Egg Hunt. It was quite the event! I event got Jace to sit with the Bunny. Yeah!!

Jace and his cousin, William sitting somewhat happily with the Bunny.

It's plain to see that Percy, the train, was his favorite easter present this year!!! He didn't let it out of his sight all day!

Oh, mom, just more candy. Just want to squeeze those cute little cheeks. Jace gets cuter every day. I sure love that kid!

Hair Today ... Gone Tomorrow

With the onset of spring and the quickly approaching 110 degree weather, I decided to do a little "personal" spring cleaning.

OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW

A couple weeks ago, I decided to cut Jace's out-of-control curls...I think he looks adorable and like such a little man now. And a couple days ago, I decided I didn't want to spend an hour drying and styling my hair anymore.

Here are our new do's. I really like mine, but it's going to take a while to get used to. She chopped off 10 inches!!! My stomach was in knots while she was doing it, but it all turned out fabulous. I had a little bit of "cutting" remorse yesterday. But, I have to say one thing, I LOVE how fast it is and hopefully it looks cute too.

Heath was not so happy about either of the cuts and I think he might have a bone to pick with our hairdresser, Chelsea. J/K. It's growing on him too! He's such a boy...loves that long hair. If only men would realize how much maintenance it requires.

California Fun

This last week, Jace and I got to go and visit my friends and family in California. We had a Great time! Some events that took place:

1) Morning walks up and down the hills of Thousand Oaks. I got a great work out every day pushing the stroller or being pulled/dragged by the dog and visiting with my mom.

2) Walked around the Simi Valley mall where Jace got to ride the train around and attempted to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap. (maybe next year)

3) I got to see one of my best friends, Lane and her sweet new little baby -- Lily Claire. She was so adorable and happy. I was lucky enough to help out with her bedtime routine and sing sweet songs to her.



4) Trip to the water fountain that started off exciting and fun and ended with lots of crying and frustration from Jace because he wanted to stay longer, of course. This boy is fascinated with water.

5) Heath drove up on Thursday and that night we all watched Dan in Real Life. It was a really cute movie! I love spending time with my parents. I'm such a homebody.

6) Pedicures with my mom... thank you, mom! It's so expensive in AZ so I always take advantage of the lower prices in CA. It's probably the only thing that's less expensive in CA.

7) Friday night with good friends: The Olsens and the Moberleys. It was so fun to get together and see how much all of our kids have grown. Gavin and Jace had a rising game of baseball in the backyard and the night ended with the kids all watching Ratatouille on the couch. It was great to catch up with old friends. (notice Jace--every time he pitches he thinks he has to wear a catcher's mask...it cracks me up...he uses anything he can conjure up)

8) Grandma bought Jace some Easter paint to decorate eggs and we had a great time getting messy and being creative. Jace was very proud of his creations.

9) Jace and Haylee debut as the next American Idols. Kids are so imaginative! They used the guitar holder as the microphone and an ab exerciser as a guitar. :)

10) We tried to go to the beach and it was soo cold and windy. The sun was out but it was NOT a beach day. We got all the way down to the water and the wind was blowing so hard that the sand was whipping into our legs so fast it stung!! I turned around to see Jace completely covered in a sweatshirt--face and all. We turned around and got back in the car and over to a park instead.

11) We celebrated my Dad's and My Grandma's Birthdays!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I made mini cheesecakes with a strawberry topping instead of cake. I hope everyone liked them.

12) Easter Egg Hunt-- for young and old. Everyone came to my sister's for the party and we certainly had fun! It was so nice to have us all together. Heath and I are the only ones that live outside of CA, so we miss a lot of the family gatherings. The kids LOVED the Easter egg hunt and got their candy fill....and the adults got a chance too. My mom had a hunt for the adults and she hid a golden egg...filled with something special. It was fun! Heath found it too. It was $5 and a silver dollar. It was the perfect amount...enough to be grateful and not too much for everyone to be jealous. It was the anticipation of it all that made it so fun. Thanks MOM.

13) Snow on the way home. We drove out of Hunginton Beach and saw snow on all the surrounding mountains. And about 30 minutes out, there was snow so low down to the homes. I couldn't believe it. I knew we had a cold night and it definitely showed. Anyways, it was picturesque.

14) Rainbows. We hit a huge storm outside of Phoenix and it left a beautiful rainbow behind. Rainbows never get old and they always remind me of the Lord's promise. He does keep his promises and he blesses my life daily. It's an outward reminder of his hand in our lives.

15) FAMILY - need I say more? I love my family.

One Down....

We have some very exciting news!! Heath got accepted to the Urban Planning Graduate Program at PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY. We are so thrilled! I guess we might become true tree-huggers here pretty soon. Heath is flying up for the orientation in a few weeks. We have yet to hear from Colorado and we've decided to forgo the CA applications, which makes me happy and sad. Happy that we don't have to do any more apps. because this was his top choice and sad because I won't be living near my family. :( If he does get accepted to Colorado, then we'll have to be making a choice--it has a more specialized program. As for me, I think I want to go to Portland. I hear it's beautiful and everyone loves it! I've been to Denver and loved it too, but I don't think I want to live in the snow again just yet! So, yes, we will be saying farewell to Arizona some time this summer. I have mixed feelings of course about leaving. We've made some good friends and Jace has too...and we won't be living by heath's family anymore. :( Change is usually hard but rewarding in many ways. We'll sure miss a lot of people. Thank goodness for email and blogs :) But AZ...you aren't getting rid of us quite yet!