Au revoir April

Wow, it feels like April came and went before we could even blink! We have been super busy with school, callings, and just having fun as a family! Here are a few more things we have done this month- enjoy!
At the first of the month Jared was able to attend the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Conference in Pittsburgh, PA.  He learned tons and was also able to make lots of new connections- it's all about who you know! Here is Jared with Alex and Brent (2 other PhD students at IU with him) taking a rare break to try out the local cuisine!

Jared, Brent, Jenna (another PhD student), and Alex at the NARST Conference! (These 4 all started their programs together this year!)

Despite what you might think, bike helmets can be used as a great hat whenever you feel like wearing one around! And so he wouldn't be left out, Garrett used his velcro catch mitt thing as a hat too!

Garrett has such a grasp of color and an impressive command of his paint brush!

Love these cuties in their jammie t-shirts- so adorable!!!

Tori has discovered new hair accessories- her princess doll dresses!

Daddy was a good sport and let Tori put some dresses in his hair too!!!

Derek and Camila will be getting married in July- we are so excited for them! It has been a great excuse (not that we need one) to practice fun new hairstyles for Tori! Here was our first try- it turned out so cute! 

The next Sunday we did this one!

I really liked how it turned out- but I definitely need to practice this one to get it a little tighter!

Love this beautiful girl!!!

Hope you all enjoyed your April as much as we did! Here's to a great May!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today we celebrated my 34th birthday! It really seems strange because I distinctly remember when I was a teenager thinking that people in their 30's were soooo old. And now that I find myself in my 30's, I realize how young that really is and how much of my life I have yet to look forward to! Kind of a fun change in perspective!
Anyways, back to today- I had a grand birthday!  I had an unexpected visit from my Relief Society President, heard from all of our family, and received a few cards and gifts too! Jared made it a special point to come home early so he and Tori could make my birthday cake- Tori was so excited!!!

When Garrett woke up from his nap, he joined in on the cake making fun and helped with decorating! Here is my very own cake making and decorating crew- they did such a great job!!!

Tori and Garrett couldn't wait to give me my birthday card and show me where they had colored pictures for me! Tori even wrote her name for me!

Yeah for new clothes!

Jared did such a great job picking everything out!

And then we had to have a fashion show! I love that Tori and Garrett were my very special helpers with all my birthday fun!!!

Now for the cake!

I even had help blowing out my candles- which is probably a very good thing!

Talk about a fabulous birthday- thanks so much to everyone who helped make it so special!!!

Easter Family Pictures

Every year Grandma Allen totally spoils us by sending us new church outfits for Easter! We were all so excited when the packages arrived!

What could be inside?!!

Garrett couldn't wait to try on his new tie!

And Tori just had to try on her new dress- it is so beautiful!!!

She absolutely loves it (as do I)!!!

We were able to wear our new outfits today and made sure to get tons of pictures! These two looked so adorable!!!

This girl looked like a princess!

Me and my kiddos- I love these two so much!

Daddy and his two munchkins!!! (This is one of my favorites!)

Love this beautiful and sweet girl!!!

She has just the right amount of sass!

Oh how we love this handsome little boy!!!

Tori said she wanted to take a picture of us- she did such and awesome job!!!

And here is my most favorite of the day! I love our little family and am so grateful that we can be together forever!!!

Thank you so very much for our new outfits Grandma! We had so much fun wearing them today- and we got tons of compliments too!

Happy Easter!

I absolutely love this time of year! I love the newness of everything around us- flowers starting to bloom, the days starting to warm up which leads to more time outside enjoying all the signs of Spring, and the celebration of Easter! What greater gift of newness and renewal of life could there be than the resurrection of our Savior? I love that Easter helps us to remember that amazing gift with more focus and to really contemplate what that means in our lives!
This year we were able to participate in an Easter egg hunt with friends from church and even our next door neighbors! Garrett was in the first group to find their eggs!

He was a pro!

Garrett in egg-finding action!!!

He was so proud of all the eggs he found!

Tori got to find her eggs with the second group of kids!

She took her time at first and then we couldn't stop her!!!

She was so proud of herself!

Checking out what their eggs were hiding!

Our chocolate monster- who knew?!!

Yesterday we colored Easter eggs! 

A little egg dying action!

Tori and Garrett loved checking on the eggs to see if they were done!

They found it so exciting to see how the eggs had changed!

Oooh, that one's done!

Tori and Garrett looked so adorable for church yesterday!

Tonight we had a lesson about Jesus and all that happened on that first Easter for FHE. Tori was able to tell us almost the entire story all by herself! It is so neat to see our kids learning of their Savior and feeling of His love for them!
For our FHE treat we made Easter cookies! Tori loved rolling out the cookies!

So Garrett had to give it a try as well- he did great!

We made cookies shaped like eggs, bunnies, carrots, and butterflies!

Then it was time for frosting and sprinkles!

Yummy!!!

Yep, they were definitely yummy!!!

Happy Easter from our family to yours!!!

Hiking at Griffy Lake

Today we ventured out to Griffy Lake for our first hike in Bloomington! We soon located a map (Tori was so excited) and then we were off!

Tori made sure we stayed on the right path and Garrett ate many a pretzel!

Tori has figured out the secret behind never getting tired when hiking. She would run up ahead and then stop to take a rest at every good log we found. Occasionally, she would let us join in on the rest before she would take off running again! (Garrett is eating another pretzel!)

Garrett decided he still wanted to eat pretzels, but he didn't want to walk anymore. Daddy was so nice and gave him a ride for a bit!

Garrett and Tori found some interesting logs to rest upon!

Jared finally found a way to encourage Garrett to walk on our hike- give him a stick and let him hit anything non-living he would like!

These two had such a grand time exploring!

Having two sticks is way better than having only one!

Tori used her stick to dig for buried treasure! We struck out today, but there is always next time!

Garrett's favorite thing to hit- the old leaves still hanging on the trees from last year. Hey, at least he was walking!

Daddy got to take a break this time around!

The last portion of our hike was pretty steep!

Garrett took a couple good spills- so sad.

Garrett's tears were soon gone as we finished up our hike and discovered the lake. Throwing rocks and sticks in the lake...

made for one very happy little boy!

Tori loved seeing how far she could throw her rocks!

Love these two munchkins!!!

Griffy Lake gets two thumbs up from us- I'm sure we'll be back!!!