On the Friday before Halloween, Eva had her special Halloween party and presentation for the parents at preschool. They were all so cute, dressed in costume, singing and dancing to the songs they had worked so hard on! She really loves this new school and her teachers!

We trick or treated at TJ’s dad’s work on Friday afternoon. They always put on such an awesome, huge party! So many amazing decorations, tons of candy and treats, it’s was a highlight of our Halloween for sure!

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On Saturday night, we had our church’s Trunk or Treat party. I used one of our old moving boxes to paint a monster face to put in the trunk. We had some old Easter basket filling, which I used as his hair, and topped it with a witch hat! We had such a nice evening!

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On Monday of our trip, after we went to the beach for a few hours, we had tickets to Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland. I talked a little about this on my Disneyland tips post, we really enjoyed all the decorations, the parade, and villains, but probably wouldn’t do the trick-or-treating again. Once we figured out what was going on and realized the rides didn’t have any waits because everyone was trick-or-treating, then we finally got to relax and enjoy our time! The kids, however, loved getting candy (duh!) and looked so cute in their costumes!

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I posted our 4th of July video a couple weeks ago but hadn’t posted photos yet. So here are a couple from our 4th weekend!

TJ had Friday and Monday off, so we had a nice long weekend together. Freedom Festival in Provo, a hike to Donut Falls up Big Cottonwood Canyon, and a BBQ and fireworks with family. Hope you all had a great 4th, too!

We had a really great, fun-packed weekend. On Friday, we went down to Springville for a wedding reception for one of TJ’s coworkers. The bride and groom are both graphic designers, so of course their reception was so gorgeous. It was also fun just to have a night out and not worry about bedtimes. Usually I’m a stickler about getting the kids to bed by 7 so I can finish work, get in a workout, or let’s face it… just have time to myself! But we stayed up late, the kids were great, and it was a beautiful evening outside.

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Made sure to have my shake before the reception so I wouldn’t be tempted by the desserts. IMG_0349

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Wish we could have taken that car with us!

Saturday we went up to Salt Lake to celebrate our anniversary. We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, walked around City Creek and Temple Square, and even watched Eva splash in the splash pad a bit.

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She asked me to take her picture there. It was the sweetest thing.

On Sunday we went to church which was nice because with all of us being sick/taking care of sick kids for the past couple of weeks, we had missed a lot of church. Afterwards, TJ’s brother came over for a big dinner.

Then on Monday, I got to sleep in and then we met up with TJ’s extended family for an afternoon at the park. We spent the whole day there playing spike ball, kickball, bubbles, ice-blocking, and just catching up with everyone. What a great weekend!

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First time ice-blocking!IMG_0360 IMG_0361 IMG_0362

It was a HUGE hill. I walked at least halfway down, then started. Way too scary.

Wow, what a great Easter! First off, we received a fun Easter care package in the mail from my parents early on in the week. It’s always so fun to get things in the mail, especially holiday themed! Then on Friday, Eva had an Easter party and egg hunt at school, they even dyed eggs. On Saturday, we headed over to TJ’s parents’ house for another egg hunt with all the cousins. It was so funny to see the kids wandering around the yard. We were so confused why they weren’t taking all the eggs and then figured out each of them only wanted certain colors or kinds. Very particular little kids! They each had a giant egg with their picture on it, filled with a little gift from their grandparents.

 

On Sunday, Eva woke up after 9 (!!!) and was so excited to search for her Easter basket. The Easter Bunny brought her a little candy, bubbles, and some new ballet slippers since the ones he brought last Easter she has now outgrown. He brought Finn bubbles, socks, and a summer tank top to show off his chubby arms. I prepped for Easter dinner and got ready with some Easter music playing in the background, which always put me in a good mood. After church, we had TJ’s parents over for dinner for a traditional ham dinner, and boy, was it yummy, if I may say so myself! We even got outside for a bit to blow bubbles.

We had a wonderful weekend!

I’ve never really cared about St. Patrick’s Day. We have no Irish blood and we don’t drink. But all month long Eva has been pinching me for not wearing green, so when it was the actual day where she could pinch me for not wearing green, I figured we should do something to celebrate since she wasn’t in school that day. Thankfully some friends at church threw together a cute playgroup activity complete with a scavenger hunt around church leading the kids to gold (candy). Eva really got into, so at the end I said something like, “Wow, can you believe a leprechaun came and brought us gold?! Soooo cool!” And she replied,

Mom, that was just paper footprints on the ground someone put there.

Hmmmm… I guess she wasn’t fooled too easily that day. But her cousin’s lunch was turned green by a leprechaun and she of course believed that story so I think she does believe in leprechauns after all. Either way, at least Finn got to wear this cute little outfit. His name is Irish, so it was necessary that he wear a shirt with suspenders and an Irish looking (?) hat. Seriously… aren’t these kids some of the cutest you’ve ever seen???

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As I was going through my Valentine’s Day photos, I couldn’t believe I didn’t take one of TJ and me over the weekend! So, I only have pictures of the kids, but don’t let that worry you… TJ is my first Valentine and we got to have a fun date out together out at the movies! He also surprised me with a huge box of delicious chocolates. He never has the car since he walks to work so I was wondering how or if he’d get me a gift but then on Saturday afternoon, a box was delivered and it was the best surprise ever!

Eva had a Valentine’s Day party at her school on Friday. That morning, we turned on Disney music, danced around, and put together her valentines. She wrote her name on each card and was so excited about them. She was a little worried about having to give them away, but I explained to her she would give hers out (get to keep one for herself) and in exchange, she’d get a dozen others from her friends at school. Well, I got her dressed up, did her hair and nails, then dropped her off. Well, when I picked her up from school and went through her school bag to see what she brought home like usual, I noticed ALL of her valentines were still in her bag. I couldn’t believe it. Did she not want to give them away? How did the two parents and one teacher not notice this was going on? There was a 3 to 1 kid to teacher, so I just couldn’t understand what happened. I asked Eva what happened and she said she just didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t as distraught as I was, I think I was annoyed no one noticed little Eva sitting there not passing out her valentines. Anyway, she passed them out the next school day and all is well.