Easter Sunday

This Easter, Grandma Allen started a fun new tradition- Easter pajamas!  All of the pajamas had the kids' names on them along with their grandchild number.  For example, Tori is the oldest grandchild, so hers had a one on it.  The kids looked so adorable, so we tried to get a few pictures of them all together.  This is what most of them looked like:

 But them we had a few gems, like this one:

 And this one: (I just wish we could see Linken- then it would be perfect!)

Easter morning felt much like Christmas- we all got so spoiled!  Garrett loved playing with his new Mater truck!

Grandma and Grandpa Allen picked out the most fantastic new clothes for us! (Again- we were spoiled!)

 Garrett and Grayson showing off their new duds!

 Oh, I just love the facial expressions in this one...

 and in this one, too! Tori and Linken both looked adorable!!!

 Our beautiful little lady- her dress couldn't have been more perfect!!! (And the matching shoes were to die for!)

 Tori had a grand time dancing with Grandma's Easter Bunnies!

Just like last year, we were in Texas for the blooming of the Bluebonnets.  So, after church we went to attempt a few family pictures.  And yeah, none of the family ones turned out very good.  But we did get a few fun fun ones!

Daddy and Garrett checking out the Bluebonnets!

Tori and Garrett in the Bluebonnet field!

Mommy and Garrett- I so love this Texas tradition!

I always love Easter!  I love watching the Earth come alive again and the feel of newness all around me.  And this year, I love that we have been able to share this special day with family!  I love that Tori and Garrett got to spend the day with great grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins!  It made celebrating the Atonement of our Savior that much more special.  For through that Atonement, we can have our families with us forever!  What a most wonderful and amazing gift we have been given!  Happy Easter!!!

Texas- Day 1

This year we were able to go to Texas for Jared's Spring Break!  We arrived in Spring last night and we all enjoyed a wonderful night's sleep after 2 crazy days of driving.  We have been planning this trip since January-ish and had finally come to grips with the fact that Douglas, Nikki, and family just weren't going to be able to make it this time.  So, we were shocked and pleasantly surprised when Linken and Grayson ran around the corner this morning.  Douglas and Nikki drove all night long to get here in time for the day's festivities- and then the went to get some well earned rest!
This morning started out with Grandma and Grandpa's neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt! Tori and Linken were all ready to go!

Garrett was more than content with his two Easter Eggs!

Garrett and Linken in action- what pros!!!

Jared and I had thought Tori might be a little shy during the hunt- not so at all! Check out this girl in action- and note that her basket is almost all full!!!

So, we thought it would be great to have a picture with all the kids and the Easter Bunny. Yeah- not so great!  Even though it wasn't what we expected, I still love this picture! I love that Linken and Grayson are both just chillin' while Tori and Garrett are having major meltdowns!

At least the traumatic event didn't slow them down on the playground! Garrett had a ball climbing all over the place!

And Tori found all of the really fast slides!  (Thanks for helping Grandma!!!)

Our next stop was a place called Bouncing Bears- basically a big bounce house place. To get there we decided to test Cam out a bit.  And voila- she can fit 4 car seats!!! (Another fun cousin shot!)

Bouncing Bears was so much fun!!! Tori and Linken hit the ground running and we were lucky to keep up with them as they ran from bounce house to bounce house!

 Daddy and Garrett had to tackle this slide!

And Tori showed us she could do it all by herself!

So, Tori is the one in the yellow that is scaling that wall with ease! And Garrett is the one at the bottom- trying so hard to keep up with his sister!

 And there they are again- they had a blast!!!

 By the end, even Garrett was going down slides by himself!  What a big kid!!!

After our bounce house fun, we went to McDonald's for a yummy lunch.  You may think the kids would have been worn out by then.  Perhaps a bit, but not enough to forgo playing on the Play Place!  Our fun first day ended with a wonderful dinner outside at Scrappn' Savvy!  I so wish I had captured a few pictures- it was so fun to be together as a family enjoying the amazing weather and the even better company!  Hurrah for a fantastic first day in Texas!

Much Ado About March

March is almost over- crazy!  Here are a few more precious moments that I don't want to forget- hope you enjoy!
Tori has moved into the stage of wanting to pick out her own outfits.  One day she came out wearing this gem!!! (She really is pretty good with matching and she loves to layer!)

Tori thoroughly enjoys using Prince as a pillow!

He must not mind, because he gave her a bunch of kisses in return!

Toys in our house really get the royal treatment!  Pony got to take his nap in Tori's bed and was even tucked in with her special Blankie!!!

The ball pit is a great place to hang out and escape a few kiddos for a bit!

This was another favorite- so love the swimsuit with her snow boots!!!

On St. Patrick's Day, we talked to Tori about how it was a fun day to wear green.  She went into her room to get dressed and came out dressed all in red.  When we reminded her about wearing green, she said, "this is for my red Patrick's Day!"  At least we got Garrett in green this year- together it looks like we had Christmas in March!!!

This afternoon we are off to Texas for Spring Break!  We are so looking forward to spending time with the Allen clan and enjoying some nice warm weather!  Stay tuned for some awesome pictures of all our adventures!!!

Gobs of Garrett

Our baby boy is getting to be not such a baby anymore.  Just over the last little while, Garrett seems to be changing and doing so many fun new things!  Sometimes he can look so serious!

He loves to sit/lay in the rocking chair just like this- it must be comfy!

For the longest time, Tori has loved to run- especially around our couch.  I am pleased and proud to announce that Garrett has joined the Allen running club!

What a big boy!

Garrett was really enjoying his story- so love the arms behind his head!!!

This boy loves, loves, loves to climb.  One day I turned around and found him in the sink with Daddy's toothbrush!

In case you didn't know, wheels are really fun to chew on!

Garrett's hair has been getting really scraggly and we knew it was time for another hair cut.  Isn't this the cutest before shot ever!?!

Baby Einstein helped make this hair cut much better than last time!

I think Garrett loved his new do!!!

He has so much fun playing with Prince!

He especially loves throwing his ball for him!

This is what Garrett does if we leave him upstairs- notice he has climbed onto the gate so he can almost see over the top!

This little boy is just that- all boy!  He has such a fun personality and it is so great watching him grow and change day by day- I just wish it wasn't happening quite so fast!

Our Sleeping Beauty

I have always loved taking pictures of my kids sleeping.  They just look so cute and peaceful.  And it makes it even more fun since Tori has ramped up her sleeping poses and outfits lately.  For instance, one night we went to check on her and found her like this:

It totally cracked us up that she figured out how to get her blanket placed just so and then her hands make it seem like she was praying!  I was laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my face!  Then, a few nights later we discovered that Tori had been playing dress-ups after she was supposed to be in bed.  What a cute sleeping Cinderella!

Tori doesn't take naps very often anymore, but she is great at doing quiet time.  On this afternoon I noticed that it was awfully quiet in her room.  Upon further inspection, I discovered that not only had Tori fallen asleep, but she had also changed into her pajamas!

During this quiet time, Tori not only changed into her pajamas, but then she got all dressed up on top of that.  It must have just tuckered her out!!!

Now you may think that this was during a nap.  Nope, this was at night- Tori changed out of her pajamas into an outfit.  She even has one of her shoes up by her arm.  And she must have been lonely, because every friend living in her room was moved onto her bed with her!  They must have had some party!!!

Oh how we love our sleeping beauty and all the fun things she does- our lives would be so boring, and a lot less sparkly, without her!!!

Our Little Scientists

Tonight our family got to attend the Pike Math and Science Fair!  It was such a neat event.  A bunch of the math and science teachers from the Pike school district as well as people from the community were able to participate.  Each person had a table where they had some sort of hands-on experiment you could participate in.  It was awesome to see so many families from the community there to support the event.  I wish I had a few more pictures, but it was hard to take pictures while helping Tori and Garrett do their experiments.  Jared had a table last year and loved it, so he jumped at the chance to be involved again.  His experiment was shaving cream art- the take home message was about hydrophobic and hydrophilic substances.

Tori had a grand time making her shaving cream art with Daddy!

 Garrett was happy just to be with Daddy...

 especially when Daddy pulled out some fun snacks!!!

Here are a few of our highlights from the evening- we got to make paper, see the planetarium, see turtles and snakes, and race cars!  It was a great event- I am so glad we came up to support Jared and the rest of the exhibitors!
After the fair, we went to hang out in Jared's room to have dinner.  Garrett loves being able to walk down the huge halls in Pike!

 He also loved hanging out in Daddy's rocking chair!

 Garrett had a lot to say about his adventures tonight:

Hurrah, tonight was so much fun!

Pike High School- Tori and Garrett love coming to visit!!!