{Easter Weekend}

We dyed our Easter eggs about 5 days in advance of Easter...a big deal since we are always trying to sneak it in on the Saturday before Easter.  Annual pictures documenting the same tradition each year, but it's fun to see how the kids grow and change.  The kids can pretty much run the show now, so they help one another, and I took pictures and tried to avoid any huge spills. They did really well!  We managed about 3 dozen and ended up eating roughly half of them...pretty good!  

The big Easter egg hunt we usually attend was not being sponsored this year :(  ... but even better, we were invited to my niece's birthday party with all the cousins,  and we tacked on an Easter egg hunt in my sister's perfect back yard.  We had unusually warm weather, and we soaked in every second of it.  It's always a blast getting the Dalley cousin's together (we really missed Graham and Claire!).  These kids are great friends and as our schedules get crazier, we have to try just a little harder to get together, and we are sure glad when we do!

 Miles really enjoyed it this year!

 These always-on-the-go babies just sat and mowed through their candy.  They hardly left this spot for a good 20 minutes.  That's the darling birthday girl in the middle!  

Ry unloaded his entire basket and ate his way into a sugar coma.  He was asleep in his booster seat in the car before we backed down the driveway! 

Thanks for the invite Charise & Chris!  We had a blast with everyone!  

{St. Patrick's Day}

St. Patrick's Day totally caught me off guard...I was thinking I had one more day when we were out with some friends on Saturday night. When we both realized it was the very next day, we ended our date night together at the grocery store buying up chocolate gold coins and anything green we could find. It was a really fun challenge actually! We had to hit two stores to find the rainbow twizzlers...a must!

I usually don't make a big deal out of St. Patrick's Day.  Trevor usually makes green pancakes, you put on a green shirt and call it good.  Carson's kindergarten teacher used to make a big deal of a leprechaun making a mess out of the classroom during the night.  So we've done some of that at home.  Tipping over chairs, turning picture frames upside down. Oh man, the kids eat that up....that naughty leprechaun!

Sometimes the leprechaun has a little scavenger hunt for the kids, other years not.  Depends on how much time I have.  Luckily, I found one here that you just print off! Easy peasy! And then my friend sent me a link to some free printables, found here.  Instant St. Patty's party!   

Here's the stash of goodies!

The kids loved the little scavenger hunt.

 And it didn't take them too long to find the treasure! 

 Miles was popping rolos with the wrappers still on them.  

After church we opted for rainbow pancakes. So fun! You have to use a ton of food coloring (I have the Wilton gel food coloring), but it actually was pretty easy (other than making for a lot of dishes!).  And let's just say Miles' diaper was, uh...very colorful the next day!

I was surprised how much green garb I had....almost all from Miles' Hungry Caterpillar Party last year...now doing double duty for St. Patrick's Day!  

Ry was running a temperature that day so we tag teamed for church. Ry helped me set up the 'green' table.  The kids just lit up when they got home :))

It seems like a lot, but it's just stuff I had in closets and drawers. Might as well use all that party garb!  It was nice to have it on a weekend and be able to have fun with it.  Love celebrating holidays with my kiddos!

{Trevor & Carson: Las Vegas: West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament}

The big trip was finally here!  Remember, back here, when we surprised Carson with a special trip with his dad for his birthday?  Oh man, these guys had the best time! 

I love when we do things all together as a family.  But there is something just so sweet being one on one with your kids.  The dozens of picture texts I got from these two just warmed my heart.  I am so, so glad they got this bonding time.  These two are really close.  Trevor has really crafted a sweet relationship with Carson.  It's a lot of late night chatting, playing basketball or running a couple miles, a lot of listening.  These years are the best for dad/son.  And to step out of real life for a week and go on vacation together was just awesome for both of them!

The arrived late on Wednesday night.  They were joined by one of Carson's good friends and his dad.  As well as another dad/son combo from our ward.  Such a good group!  It totally made the trip to have a friend along too.  

The main event was the West Coast Conference basketball tournament.  Trevor & Carson were in heaven being able to watch both BYU and Gonzaga play!  There were a few games everyday...that's a lot of basketball!!

My dad met them in Vegas too! How awesome to get Grandpa all to yourself??!  

Sadly, they only got to see one BYU game.  They lost at the buzzer!!  The boys really got into the games and the action.  

During the day they played around in Vegas. Checking out a different buffet each night and hitting all the 'kid' entertainment (a little difficult in Vegas!).  And did a lot of eating (I think they hit Cafe Rio at least 3 times).

 Since there were no games on Sunday, they decided to take the group to Pine Valley on Saturday night for a day and a half.  They got in super early on Sunday morning, but the whole crew managed church in the am!

Thank you to my mom for hosting the group! Everyone just loved it!!

The boys loved hanging out in the big house on their own with the adults.  They ate my mom's entire candy stash.  Played in the hot tub.  Played video games, watched movies. I told my mom they are never going to want to come home!

The went sledding over by my grandparent's home.   And had a big father/son snowball fight!

Hiding out in the loft with the movie seats and all the treats!

My mom helped them ride the ATVs around while the dads went golfing.  

Monday came quickly and they headed back to Vegas for the championship game, but not before stopping in St. George to say hello to my grandparents! Grandpa Snow looking so much better!

Gonzaga won the conference (no surprise there...too bad they didn't get too far in the NCAA tournament!).  As they were wrapping up their last night at the Luxor buffet....the entire Gonzaga team walked by!  They had won the championship just hours before...  

The team was so awesome to stop and take pictures.  Look how tall Kelly Olynyk is?? (Trevor is 6'1").  

The boys were on cloud nine seeing all those players!  

Oh such a fun trip! I hope Carson remembers it forever! Although he now thinks this will be an annual getaway with his dad!! And even though planning/scheduling is always tough, I'm so glad we were able to make this happen.