Easter Bunnies

This little bunny was prejudice against all eggs not pink. Cozette ran right by eggs of various colors. We were incredulous. 

Brad yelled to her, "Cozette, you're missing some eggs!"

"They're not pink, Daddy!"

Brad looked at me with an expression of complete unbelief!

She finally realized if she wanted more candy, she needed to consider all of the colors.  

On Easter morning, she loved pulling each item out of her Easter basket and aligning them on the kitchen table. Two of her treats were a princess brush and a princess puzzle. Later when she was playing with them, she looked at me and Brad with a perplexed expression and said, "Maybe the Easter bunny hopped on over to Target to get these for me!"

Susie was too busy to let me take her picture. I am glad that I was able to capture her in this one.  She loved wearing her bunny ears. She and Cozette are partners in crime! And I must admit they get away with it, because of their cuteness!

Kayleigh said if she lives to be 99 years old that she will never be too big to go on an Easter egg hunt! I told all of the cousins that I was amazed at how much candy they received.

I love this picture of my sister gazing with pure joy at Isaac. It's a perfect picture with the Savior in the background.

I am very grateful for the celebration of His resurrection and a sure knowledge that He lives!

Important Events

There are some notable events that I need to blog about. Springtime has arrived and it seems that we become busier during this season. I do not want to forget about some of the wonderful things that have been going on.

Kayleigh left us for the sunny beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama over spring break, so Everett, Cozette, and I had a great time spending the week together. One of the highlights of the week was spending the day with Mommom and Papa at the Yellow River Game Ranch. What was most memorable was visiting our old house. My family lived there for almost 17 years. I came home to this house for the first time in 1987, when I was a freshman in college. This is not the house of my childhood, but it was a kindred home, a place that greeted me every summer break of college, it was a place of refuge when I returned home very sick from my mission, and I distinctly remember sleeping in my room for the very last time-- the night before I married Brad.

Kayleigh and Everett loved this house too, and they always looked forward to spending time with their Mommom and Papa. The rock garden was  special place where Mommom spent many hours playing with them. They had picnic lunches and played all sorts of fun games.

  
 Bill, Shirley, Barbara, and Mary-faith came to visit the weekend Everett received the Aaronic Priesthood. The kids go crazy at the hotel they stay at. It seems that our time with them is always too short.

    There are some things a person never forgets. Seeing my son pass the sacrament for the first time left an indelible impression upon my soul. And I will never forget the joy we all felt that day. A dear friend of our family recently told my mom that she was so touched at watching Everett pass the sacrament, that she cried off and on all day that Sunday. I later told Raelle that her experience was the sweetest thing I had ever heard.  

And lastly...

Today was the Easter party for Cozette's preschool. We enjoyed spending the morning at Betsy's house. The little children were so excited for the Easter egg hunt.  I do believe one of my favorite things about springtime is watching children hunt Easter eggs!

Serious little egg hunters!

Boys Night Out

It's possible, no actually, it's probable that I was more excited for this B.N.O. even more than the boys were. Everett joined his Daddy and Papa for his first priesthood session of General Conference. Brad has been anxiously awaiting for the past six months for them to attend together. When they returned home, Everett immediately reported to me that he did his best to pay attention.

"Tell me all about it, Everett!"

Everett proceeded to tell me about a great rugby story and that President Monson spoke about living in the world and not being of the world.

" Mom, that was a very long meeting, he truthfully admitted."

The boys then undressed as quickly as possible, so they could play sports games on Everett's new game system for the rest of the evening.

The world would be a better place if every B.N.O. could be so wholesome.

He's 12 Now

We used to joke that Everett was a preschool delinquent. I often gave him the choice of going to school, or staying home with me. He always chose staying home with me. We had the best time playing hookey. We would go feed the ducks at the park, run errands, or eat out for lunch. He held my hand everywhere we went. I remember asking him once if he would always hold my hand. "I will hold your hand until I am 29 years old," he promised me.

The good old days of holding hands ended very quickly.

Then there were the times I tried getting him to hold my hand secretly while we were at church. He had absolutely no part of that conspiracy, so I decided to outsmart him by offering him money. He reluctantly agreed sometimes for a few seconds if I gave him a dollar. It's been a long time since we played that silly game.

This past Sunday at church, Everett sat by me. My thoughts were centered on what a good boy he is. He will be receiving the priesthood soon. The next time we attend church, he will pass the sacrament for the first time. I guess I was overcome, because I discretely cupped my hand between us to see if he would hold my hand. Without hesitation he slipped his hand into mine. He never made any attempt to remove it either, he lovingly sat there and allowed his Mama to hold his hand for a few minutes.

These are the special moments in life that are priceless.


I asked Everett how he wanted to celebrate his 12th birthday.

His requests were very simple this year.He asked if he could stay home from school and spend the day with me. "Of course, you can!" We had an easy day preparing for his party and running errands.  Cozette loved having her Prince Eric home with her. (She loves The Little Mermaid).  He requested Chic-fil-A for dinner, cake and strawberry ice cream, and a competitive game of Bingo. The invitees to his celebration were Mommom, Papa, and Nikki since they are the only family that live near by.

He made it very clear that everyone was to give money. He has been saving to get an X-box 360.  He received a generous amount of money, too! As soon as the party was over, Brad took him to go buy his new game system. He was in heaven when he returned home.

 

Nikki was the recipient of the Bingo gag gift.

Before Everett went to bed that evening he told me that it was a great day.

I'm already plotting for the next time he might let me hold his hand again!

His Last Day

A lump formed in my throat as the Primary sang Happy Birthday to Everett. I tried to resist the tears, but I was overcome with emotion. Today was Everett's last day in Primary.  He will be 12 years old tomorrow. I asked him if he had any last words to say about Primary.

"I'm glad I'm finally out."

They all are at that age.

Still, it saddens me that he is growing up so fast. I distinctly remember his first day of Primary. He had the curliest red hair. I had a fleeting thought that he would be 12 before I knew it.  I am thankful that I was there to see him stand in front of the Primary for the last time. I love that he blushed as the Primary president acknowledged him. He stood there with that sly little smile of his. He was absolutely adorable.

I can't believe that he is now a young man.

The Sneaky Leprechaun

For the past 24 hours  Cozette has not stopped talking about the sneaky leprechaun.

"Mommy, you won't believe it, that sneaky leprechaun turned the toilet water blue at school today!"

"No way!" I responded.

Then I asked her, "What other tricks did the leprechaun pull on your class?"

" He turned our chairs over, he pulled out the books, and he pulled out all of the play clothes!" Cozette responded with great animation.

"Did you have to clean up the mess?" I asked her.

"Yes, but Mommy, the leprechaun left us gold coins to eat!"

"Mommy, are leprechauns girls or boys?

I told Cozette that a leprechaun could be a girl or a boy. Truthfully, I was not sure, so I looked it up . Leprechauns are usually in the form of an old man, so I corrected myself later.

"Mommy, did the sneaky leprechaun mess up my room today?"

"Go look at your room and see for yourself, I instructed her."

Cozette came running downstairs and said, "Mommy, that sneaky leprechaun made a huge mess in my room!"

"Actually, three little leprechauns made that mess in your room, and their names are Kayleigh, Everett, and Cozette!"  My answer struck her funny.

"Mommy, are leprechauns real?"

I hesitated for a moment, but I decided to tell her the truth.

"Cozette, leprechauns are pretend."

"But the real leprechaun is at school, right mommy?"

I guess I'm not ready to be that truthful, so I just agreed with her.

Last night I asked Cozette what she thought a leprechaun looked like.

" I think a leprechaun looks like a little fox."

I burst out laughing. I wasn't sure how she came up with that answer. I later remembered that sometimes, Cozette and I like to hide behind the wall when Kayleigh and Everett come home from school. I always say that we have to be quiet like a sneaky fox while we wait for them to open the door. I believe she associated a leprechaun to a fox, because they are both sneaky.

The last thing Cozette said to me before she fell asleep is that she was not afraid of the sneaky leprechaun. 

Believe it or not, one of the first things she asked me this morning was if the sneaky leprechaun would come back to her school next year.

And she asked if the leprechaun was going to turn the toilet water at our house blue!

My Favorite Martians

For some strange reason, we never get tired of posing for these crazy pictures. One time I thought my stomach muscles were strained from laughing so hard.

Seriously!

 

.It would be so sad to really look like this!

I

Beware:

The lips might get you!

I need to take a video of Everett laughing at this nonsense.

Watching him is hysterical.

Believe it or not, there's a few pictures of Mommom too!

If you need therapy, just go buy Photo Booth!