Happy Easter

Today was a wonderful day. The girls were able to find their little Easter baskets then sit down and enjoy conference. I loved how many talks spoke of our Savior. I love Easter and remembering all that He has sacrificed for us, even me. This past year has been a whirl wind of roller coaster trials and emotions. I have seen remarkable change in people observing others. Some I am totally amazed by the changes they have made for the good and others that I am sadden by their decisions. I have always known about the amazing power of the Atonement and what it can do for all of us each and everyday. But to actually be able to see someone go through that amazing change and see that we can be forgiven as long as we are willing to take the steps necessary for forgiveness is truly amazing. I can see how every bishop probably feels when a lost sheep has accepted their actions as wrong and fights for the will to return. That feeling of seeing the Atonement at a personal life changing level is .... amazing just doesn't seem to give it the credit it needs.

My heart is full this Easter Sunday with love for my Savior and all that he has given me. I am grateful for the blessings we have and for my family. The peace that it brings me to know that I am not perfect and the Lord has made it so I can be forgiven and strive for that perfection is wonderful. I am grateful for all the friendships I have, who I have been able to lean on for strength over the years. You have all taught me so many great things.

What better way to finish off an amazing day than by going to a baptism. We had a dear sister baptized into our ward this evening. There was a wonderful spirit in that room. Cassidy's 'I Know that My Redeemer Lives' was a tear-jerker and completely fitting for the occasion.

Happy Easter!!

Diners, Drive - Ins and Dives

So Chad and I are dorky food network geeks. We love the show. It is good (as in yummy) and I don't have to worry about content as much, I mean come on its food. We always talk about wanting to go to the restaurants he goes to. Well I was waiting for Charlotte in finish in the tub and I went through the HUGE list of all the places he has been and made one up for Phoenix. So if you are ever in the mood for a new restaurant to try that has the stamp from Triple D then here you go. Hope you enjoy it as much as I 'hope' we will.

Robertos Mexican – 675 W Union Hills

Matts Big Breakfast – McKinley & 1^st Street

Thee Pitts Again – 5558 W Bell Rd - BBQ

Chino Bandito - 15414 N 19th Ave Suite K – Chinese/Mexican

Joes Farm Grill - 3000 East Ray Road Buld

Aunt Lena’s Creamery - 4040 S. Arizona Ave.

La Piazza Al Forno - 5803 W Glendale Avenue - Italian

Giuseppeson on 28^th - 2824 E Indian Road - Italian
Los Taquitos - 4747 East Elliot Road #17

Over Easy 2 locations - 4037 N 40^th – Breakfast

9375 E Bell Rd, inside Ice Den

Time for Tea

My friends have the best ideas and are so creative. Raschell who moved to St. George but comes back from time to time, threw a tea party. It was so much fun. Who knew tea was actually good. I had raspberry. I quickly learned with 2 bags of tea and 2 sweeteners I was good. We all had our fun hats and fabulous dress up gear. It was so much fun and the company was even better. Thanks ladies for all the hard work. Can't wait for the next one. What will we come up with next?!

Kindergarten Field Trip to World Wildlife Zoo

Savannah had a field trip the day before Spring Break started and she wanted me to come as one of the parent helpers. I had a group of 4 kiddos. I think Savannah would have had more fun if I wasn't there. She whined a ton! But the other moms said their kids did too. So we told them, pretend I'm someone else's mom. Ha.. Didn't work. But it was a lot of fun.

Who Hair Do Day

A few weeks ago it was spirit week. It was Who Hair Day. (the school is doing seusical soon).

This was Savannah's Who Hair.

She said, 'It looks like a princess hat and my curled hair is the ribbons coming out.'

HCG

In case you haven't heard about the HCG diet it is awesome and works so well. You have to be strict with your diet but when you can lose 10+ in a month it is soooo worth it. Anyway, lots of places are selling it with all these strings attached. The DIY one is the best bang for your buck if you decided to do it. The link is on a little button on the right. My sister in law goes through another company and mixes it herself which she can get it for about $33 an ounce, but I don't want to mess with the needles and what nots to mix it. It is a great way to melt away all the 'excess' curves we tend to get. What is awesome is that is where it melts from hips, butt, thighs, lower back. Good ole pregnancy hormone is great at helping us shed that weight, who would have thunk it.

Anyway, just thought I would put in a plug for it.

New little Hobbie

A lot of my friends are having new little bundles entering their homes. I got this crazy idea to make some baby booties. It is such a great thing to do while watching the Olympics. My fingers are a little sore but I am having fun. Here are a few I've made. I also made a baseball one but literally finished it right before the shower so I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it. Janae if you ever take a pic of your little man with them shoot it over to me.

The one with the little rose buds was my first. Got a bit more creative as I went along.

Tax Time

I really dread this time of year. Our taxes are such a pain in the rear to do because we are both 1099 employees. I have to go through and add all the receipts and calculate the square footage of my little 'home office space' to figure in the rent/utilities. After all day of running back and forth finding all the little scrapes of paper to get every deduction possible I am FINALLY finished. I do not know how it happened (I triple checked because I didn't believe it) we are getting a refund. Boy am I sure glad we don't owe. I was SURE that we would. Someone was looking out for us. For a while we did owe $1 and I was happy to pay that dollar.

Good luck to all those yet to file your blessed taxes. I hope they come out with a positive number. I am so grateful mine did!!

Valentines Do's

I got a little creative with the help of my online hair blogs I check out from time to time. I did these on the girls for Valentines Day. Savannah thought it was SO cool. Charlotte didn't really care, but had to watch Little Einsteins while I did this. So it took me a little longer to do hers since she and I were sitting on the floor.

And yes that is Charlie on the potty. She was falling asleep but wanted a sticker. Closest I got to getting a good shot of her hearts.

THUD .... what was that!

I'm sure everyone who has a 2 year old thinks this many times throughout the day. To which when you find out what 'THAT' is the 2 year old reply's in the oh so cute voice only 2 year old's have 'I sorry'. Lately we have been having A LOT of these moments in our home. Just in the past week Charlotte has had me hunting online for a boarding school that will take 2 year olds. I love her to pieces but sometimes I need a BIG timeout from her. She desparately wants me to do glitter toes on her cute little piggies. But she is so small and will definately NOT sit still it would be a disaster. So what does she do? She takes matters into her own hands and proceeds to try to do it herself. This was a day I was trying to dedicate to cleaning MY room since it seems to be the room that all sorts of odd things end up in. As I am doing this, I thought she was downstairs watch Snow White. Oh, no it was just background noise. I head downstairs and she has all my products laid out just as I do when I do toes. I'm sure she would have hooked the light on to the little table if she knew how. But the best part was she had my gel poured on her toes and took one of my glitter bottles (of course it is the most popular red) and poured it all over her toes, her legs and the carpet. There is a phrase from Toy Story 2 that I thought of 'How shall she die? Sharks or Death by Monkeys?' I really considered these options, but then just sent her to her room.

Which then brings me to her next adventure. Being alone in her room. She is now in a big girl bed as we are potty training. I would hate to have her have an accident because she couldn't get out of bed. She does have a little potty in her room for just in case. Anyway, she is trying to give up naps these days but I still need those 2 hours of quite to clean up the tornado that she has done throughout the day. Some days she just looks at books and is quietly terrorizing her room for a few hours then knocks and yells 'Door!' when she is ready to come out. I LOVE these days. But the day I'm referring to, it was not so nice. She played for a bit and then climbed in her bed to sleep. I had to wake her up a little bit early to head over to the school. I enter her room and smell a familiar smell. This is a smell I haven't smelt in a while but if your a mom you know the smell. Ahhh ... Destin. Then I looked to see where it was smeared at. I didn't see it plastered anywhere and the tubes were on the floor, caps closed. Then I went to grab Charlotte. She was sleeping in her little bed and she had given herself a Destin facial. It was even on her eye lids and all. She won't have chapped cheeks for a while.

Other fun things have been breaking all the steams off the flowers Daddy got the girls and I for Valentines, taking a package of Ritz crackers dumping them all on the floor and smooshing them, pulling a DVD out of its case and breaking the DVD. Currently she is in her room and is suppose to be in bed sleeping. It is 9:45p. She went to bed at 8:15p, but no she keep jumping around her room and hiding in the closet when I come in to check on her.

So here is to reminding myself that I have a sweet little girl with a few cute pics.