Cookies, Eggs, Chicks and Friends

Let's start with some cookies - a very important part of Easter. Now, I actually made these because I was helping throw a baby shower a few days ago, then I was all cookied out by the time Easter actually came. But they're festive, and delicious, and the recipe is at Our Best Bites.  Lot's of fun, if you have lots of time.

Next, our engaged friends, Hannah Zabriskie and Ken Allen came over for dinner and an egg hunt.  I rounded up our newest family members (in my arms) plus, we managed to get one cat tail in the picture.  No one wanted to hold my bunnies.  Weird.

Let the search begin!

Eggs are much easier to catch with fishing nets.

Or just borrow other peoples' baskets.

The Eyes of the Beholder

The boys and I were looking at past blog entries and we got back to our Christmas dinner with the Zabriskie family.

While looking at this picture we had the following exchange.

Dad: Who's the prettiest one in the picture?
Cole and Grant, in unison: MOM!
A moment later, Grant: Really, Hannah is the prettiest but I just said Mom because I like her.

Spelling Bee

Grant and I were driving today and I was quizzing him on spelling. He easily spelled, "Grant" and "Cole" but when I asked him to spell Bryn he said, apparently sincerely, "B-R-A-T". He then got "Dad" and "Mom" but when I moved on to non-familial objects and asked him to spell "cat" he promptly replied, "D-A-L-E". He seemed rather pleased when I told him he'd actually spelled Papa Z's first name, later proudly telling Sue about his feat.

Good Presents of Great Joy!

Hi! I'm Bryn and this is what we did today.

There were lots of presents under the Christmas Tree. Grant couldn't wait to start opening them.

I, of course, was a model of patience and demureness.

I was pretty excited about my Nemo Pez!

Cole called this his "cremoter" and crashed it into things until the battery died.

Uh oh! Cole cut himself with scissors but we all got band-aids in our stockings so we were prepared.

I finally got a loving family. I like to put the baby to bed.

In the afternoon we went over to Mona and Papa Z's house for Christmas dinner.

Papa Z made something called "cheesecake" but there wasn't any cheese or any cake in it. I ate it anyway.

Then Papa Z asked Hannah to pull a sliver out of his thumb. He was pretty brave and hardly cried at all.

Of course we watched some football.

Hannah let me send some texts.

There was a brief incident where my pants got lost. That seems to happen a lot.

And finally, I helped Papa Z put on his hat.

Well, he's a little less scary than the real Santa Claus.

Now that's what I call a full day. Merry Christmas!

A Halloween Fairy Tale

Little Red Riding Hood was on her way to Grandma's house.

Suddenly the horrible Big Bad Wolf jumped out!

The Big Bad Wolf's twin brother came running as well.

Hmmm, he doesn't seem so fierce in this picture.

But don't believe that smile. Big bad wolves are scary, as this picture taken with a couple of the Zabriskie ladies will affirm!

They cornered her on the doorstep...

But she somehow tricked them into bobbing for apples.

Meanwhile, Little Red made a break for it.

"I'm coming Grandma! And bringing candy."

North West Easter

Let's go look for eggs outside the Zabriskie's house!

The Easter Gnome? Whatever. As long as there's eggs hidden we don't care who hid them.

Nor do we care where they are hidden. Trees are fair game.

That basket is starting to get pretty full.

Peek-a-boo Buzz Lightyear! Someone get that boy a belt.

I think we found them all... I hope.

To the toddler goes the spoils.

They all look pretty spoiled to me.

Nephite Wardrobe Basics

Grant (out of the blue, after putting his candy necklace on his head): "Hey Mom, I'm Nephi!"
It's hard to say what all the Crunchers are getting out of their favorite books (obedience? kindness? bravery? Hard to say.) But they know the basic Nephite dress code.
Head bands, baby! No Nephite is complete without one!
Our Zabriskie buddies Papa Z and B.G. ("Big Grant") give the real life illustration on how they should be worn in "With Mine Own Hand" at BYU Education Week 2008.

What do you get ...

when you combine two boys, a dad, some creatures....
swimming in a lake....
our best buddy, Mona....
a happy baby and a content momma...
perfect weather...
an adorable baby...
a little duck family...

our best buddy, Hannah...
a relaxing hike in the woods...
with a dog...
and the perfect woods (all during the week - with no crowds)?
Well, I guess you just get lucky when a spontaneous idea falls into place, and there's an incredible state park just 20 min. from our house that Evan can drive up to after work. Thanks, Zabriskies, for taking us camping!