Cinco de Mayo Awesomeness

So we had the annual Cinco de Mayo celebration tonight...and boy howdy was it a celebration!

We had muchos deliciouso food.

fajitas

pico

guac

mexican sweet corn cake

pinapple

7 layer bean dip courtesy of Lise and Mike

sangria with citrus

brownies (not exactly authentic Mexican fare, but delish none the less)

aaaaand. . .

yummy fruity beverages, complete with umbrellas made by Tierra and Jacks

 No one can tell me this isn't the most awesome family picture there ever was. 

sombreros

+

fake mustaches

+

fruity bevies in hand

+

a crazy cheeser baby in the background

=

perfection

 We invited a few neighbors over to assist in the pinata bashing at the end.  Unfortunately it was 

not the most awesome pinata ever 

because it was destroyed after the 4th kid had their turn.  

oh well

the candy was loved none the less.

Happy Cinco de Mayo. . . 

and thanks to all those who humor us in our 

extreme love 

of this holiday.

Stella

Wind Caves

We took the kids on a hike to the wind caves up Logan Canyon on Saturday. 

They were all such troopers.  Miles did complain a wee bit going up. . . about 50 times about how exhausted he was and about how bad his allergies were.  He asked for a water break every 20 feet and requested a snack every 40.  And he got really, really hot and needed his shirt removed.  
But. . . he made it! 
And he was so, so proud.

At the very end Stella was done with her pack and we let her walk the last few feet to the car.  She was so happy to be free and so proud to be exploring like her brothers and sister.   
Oh this girl! 
She is constantly amazing me with her wonderfulness and her emerging personality and I can't help but fall more in love with her each day.  She is a character. . . full of spunk, mischievousness, and lots of love!

 

We had such a great time hiking together.  It made me think back on all those hikes I went on with my family growing up.  Those were such fun times - I have so many memories of hiking around the mountains with my family with a huge pack on my back!  

Afterwards we were starving and hit Fredrico's to round out the perfect Saturday night!

Easter Sunday

We had a great time celebrating Easter Sunday at my mom and dad's house.










My kids can never get enough of holding this little Asher cousin of theirs. He is the cutest, smiliest little thing and so much fun to have around! Miles was so excited that he and Asher were twinners.


It seems like group shots always have memories tied to them. . . this is the only picture of the 5 kids that Jackson is smiling in. Asher went straight to bed when we got home from church, so when he woke up from his nap, we made my kids put their Easter clothes back on for a picture. Lola was thrilled to accommodate, Miles did fine, but it was the end of the world for Jackson. End. Of. The. World. Oh. . . he was not happy!


For some reason this picture makes me laugh. Funny Stella!

sPriNg bREaK. . . and a bazillion pictures

We had such a great time with Nate's family in St George over Spring Break. It was so much fun to be all together. We are especially thankful for Nate's parents for being such great hosts and putting up with the overwhelming noise of 8 children!

Some of the highlights:

-Swimming at the beautiful Entrada pool. The kids could have spent the whole week there. Lola and Izzy practiced routines and swim strokes, the boys dove for torpedos and played ping pong. Stella loved running back and forth from the water to the beach chair.






-Goofing off at the park. It was all fun and games getting ourselves dizzy until Jacks got really sick. He spent the rest of the night recovering.



-watching Miles entertain himself during Sunday morning conference by writing words out of crayons



-Freezing at Zion National Park. . . but enjoying the beautiful views despite the rain and cold


I love Stella's little head poking around her dad. She loves getting her picture taken!


-Checking out the shoe tree



-Climbing all over the rocks in Snow Canyon. Stella didn't want to be left out and was so cute trying to follow her siblings.





-Going on pretty Snow Canyon hikes





-Watching the boys team up in the quest to catch a lizard. They spent a whole night making a 'lizard habitat' and then worked together on a strategy to catch one. I loved watching them work together. The best part was the looks on their faces when they caught their lizard. . . they were so proud!






We had such a great trip and were so sad when Wednesday rolled around and it was time to go home.

thirtyFIVE!

Nate celebrated the big 35 last month. . .
We started the day off with a leprechaun breakfast. . .
watched lots of March Madness. . .
Nate and the boys played a little golf. . .
And we met Lise and Mike at Texas Roadhouse for dinner.
Afterwards we came over to our house and finished the night with some cake and ice cream.



Nate's favorite thing in the whole world is a huge Sam's Club sheet cake. No homemade cake for this boy!




Whoa cheeser Miles!





Getting lots of help blowing out all those candles



Even Stella got in on the blowing candles out action


Yay for Lise and Mike always being game to celebrate birthdays with us!


We ended the day with a leprechaun heel click contest. Pretty awesome.

Love this hubs of mine. He is the best dad, lots of fun to have around, always good at making us laugh and my best friend. So thankful to have him!