Extended Family

Last week Great Grandma Asplund, my Uncle Jim (my dad's brother) and my Aunt Debbie came for a quick visit. So my parents had some of us over for dinner and to provide a little entertainment, of which all the grandkids do plenty of. Grandma made a fabulous dinner (of course) and yummy ice cream dessert. Ame shared a bit of her talent, and then the boys had to try to share theirs.












We had such a pleasant time hangin' out, catching up and just chatting. I just get such a kick out of our CANADIAN relatives. They are so fun to be around. I am soo looking forward to our trip to Canada in the Fall.








Little Tay Tay was so taken by great-grandma, and I think the feeling was mutual!

5 months and growing...

My precious boy is growing up way too fast!

He continues to make me smile

and just brings each one of us so much joy!

He got to try out something new this week...was thoroughly entertainedhappy

and even excited!!

I just can't get enough of his sweetness!!

His smile is just soo contagious. No matter how

grumpy or upset I may be, all it takes is a

look in my direction and he melts me!

*We LOVE you Nalu*

Easter Egg Hunts

Friday afternoon the kids and I dyed eggs.

And after the eggs were dry, the kids

took turns hiding the eggs around the

house and having their own hunt. afterwards I found egg shells all over

the house and lots of left-over cracked eggs.

hhmm, maybe letting them run wild

with all those REAL eggs wasn't such a good idea.

Saturday morning we bundled up & headed out
in the FREEZING COLD to join
the hundreds of other crazy people in on the city egg hunt.
Which pretty much is a 1 minute egg grab.
*Note to self...don't waste our time
next year on this one!
(we were all in agreement on this future decision)
Easter morning the kids were all smiles
to find some fun surprises left by the
Easter Bunny.

After stuffing themselves to the max with candy

and then enjoying some breakfast burritos,

the kids gathered around (with their jelly beans)

to play Conference B-I-N-G-O,

as we all listened together and learned.
I thought it was wonderful

to have Conference on Easter weekend.

I was impressed at how much my kids

kept reminding me why we really celebrate

Easter and who we should be thinking of...

Jesus Christ,

our Savior and Redeemer.

I am soo grateful for their simple reminders

and how they help me re-focus my

own thoughts.

I can't really seem to express

the gratitude I feel for my Savior.

His life, his love and his sacrifice are

truly beyond words.

How am I soo deserving?

I just know I still have soo much

to learn, to change, and to do, but

I am appreciative of the words shared

in conference, that make me want to

be better, do more and try harder to

be more like my Savior!

******************

After a morning at home, we headed

to Provo to spend the rest of the day

with QUinn's family.

We ate, had yet another hunt

(this one was by far the best)

and just enjoyed our time with loved ones!

I love to give my kids flip flops for Easter,

but of course this year the weather

was not IDEAL for that kind of foot wear.

The kids still insisted they wear them anyway!

(yes that is snow on the ground)

All the cousins showing their loot!

Ash ate sooo much candy!!!

Every time I turned around he was stuffing his

face yet again with candy. No matter how many times

I said NO MORE or put it out of reach,

he always found more!

I can't believe he never puked

(only his brother did).

At the end of our day,

we were each filled...

in more ways than one!

An Incredible Lady

Today was my DEAR FRIEND Jodi's birthday,

so we met for lunch (with our kids-hence the location)

and enjoyed some time to catch up on each others busy lives.

Jodi and I met when we first moved into

our old ward in Riverdale. We had an instant

connection for so many reasons. We have such

wonderful memories together, and have been a huge

support to one another through some difficult times

in each others lives. She fought through the greatest

challenge last year, and beat the odds of a

brain tumor. She has had a bumpy road of recovery

(of which she still faces incredible challenges, daily)

AND through it all SHE has inspired me and taught me

so much! I love and admire her beyond words!!

Jodi is one amazing lady

and I feel blessed & privileged to be her friend!

I miss not living a block away from her so we can see each other

every day & I miss our morning runs together.

But I am glad we still find time to get together, even

if it is with our CRAZY kids.

Our boys are very close in age, just within

months of each other.

Kaipo, Ash, Casen, Daven

* Happy Birthday Jodi*

MORE PLEASE

So I was feeling like a LAME mom,

since I didn't MAKE Ash a cake for his birthday,

only store bought one or his party.

So today I TRIED something new.

I made a funfetti cake, and then made it into

an ice cream cake by putting rainbow sherbet

on top and freezing it. OOOHHH yummy!

Everyone wanted MORE!!!
I am all about making it easy, and this one
is soo simple AND way delicious!

Competition

Ame joined the competition dance team this year.

And now after LOTS of practices

it is competition time!

They had their first of three on Saturday.

They have learned 2 dances.

In Saturdays comp. they got

1st place for their jazz routine and

2nd for hip-hop.

WAY TO GO!!

When we signed up I knew it was going

to be a BIG commitment (both financial & time),

but I think it was even more than I anticipated.

Quinn had class on the night of her practices,

which meant I had all of the kids to entertain

for an hour and a half while she was at practice

(as it was too far away to come home).

She has really enjoyed it, but I think we are

going to take a break from this dance

(still take hula) and try something new-

sports, music,...whatever Ame wants.

She's young and this is the time to explore, right?!

I am very proud of Ame for her hard work & dedication
even when we got to twice a week practices and she

was WAY oversheduled (also doing the play and hula),

and she had little time to just be a kid.

You are one very

cute & amazingly talented girl

Ame'lia!!

Its Hard to Believe...Ash is 3!!!

Friday was

Ashkiilani's

3rd birthday.

He started off the day with

DONUTS with his CRAZY sister

(Kaipo surprisingly woke up after the pictures)
That afternoon we met some of our cousins
at Boondock's (again) for a PARTY!!

Nalu being a patient sweetheart

(as usual)

waiting for everyone to arrive

Quite a funny expression!

He was very excited about his

BOWLING cake, since he is obsessed

wth 2 things:

bowling and golf
which was the reason I chose boondocks,

so we could do both.

But unfortunately we ran into a few disappointments.

#1-the Draper Boondocks doesn't have any

bowling, which was soo surprising since the

Kaysville one did when we went for

Kaipo's birthday (mini AND regular).

#2-we had COLD, RAINY weather,

which meant no outdoor mini-golf.

Such Bad Luck!

But we found some other great entertainment

The only thing they did outdoors was go-carts,

cuz they are quick, not like golf which would have

taken forever in the COLD!

looks like the birthday boy was happy anyway!

Quinn and I even tried out this CRAZY Ride.

It closes up and takes you on a simulated ride,

that spins upside down about 15 times and in ever

other direction, just like a REAL roller-coaster.

WAY FUN!!

I hope Ash knows how much we LOVE and ADORE

him. Despite all the tantrums, he is such a sweet boy

that has definitely figured a few things out.

Like how to handle his own with his brother

& sister; how to work the I-Phone and BEG to

play it all the time; how to hit a golf ball

(I really need to video him, because this kid

has some potential and determination already);

eat cocktail shrimp (w/the sauce) like no other;

drink & beg for milk 24/7; do puzzles and trio's

all day long (when he's not playing Wii or the

I-Phone that is). These is just a few things

about our Ashy Boy, at age 3.

A Date and A Party

I got to have a lunch date last week w/Ame.

Oh boy, school lunch is soo yummy!?

Ame was soo proud to have her mom there.

She held my hand and made ME feel special.

I know I won't get many more opportunities

like this one (at least where SHE is proud to have me there),

so I am enjoying them while they last!!

Ame has some crazy friends, just like herself!!

Saturday we got to go to our friend
Kade's 4th birthday party
(he is sitting next to Ash).

We had pizza, games, cake & ice cream

AND a pinata. What more can you ask for

at a party?! We always have fun when we

get together with our good friends the Jordyns

(and the Tongs)!

Happy St Patricks Day

Kaipo came home from preschool yesterday

with these crazy glasses and explained

that they were to help him find

the leprechaun. So what kind of mom

would I have been, if we didn't put

those glasses to good use.

So we made Ash some glasses too

and we headed outdoors on a hunt...

we didn't find a leprechaun, but we did

find a bag of goodies

Ash's favorite licorice...rainbow

Kaipo was SUPER excited to find

3 dollars, one for each of the (older) kids

The kids enjoyed lots of GREEN stuff throughout the day.

First-it started with Green Eggs and Ham, at the request

of Ame and Kaipo, who after like 2 bites said they were

FULL! Should have made it easy with good ol' lucky charms!
The boys also had green (lime) yogurt, green jello, green

apples & caramel dip, green juice...

and that is where it ended. Around lunch time

Kaipo had a stomach ache, which lasted the rest of the day.

Maybe mom went overboard with the GREEN food???

I am hoping that is all it was, and not really sick.

We shall see how the night goes and how Kaipo

feels in the morning?!

But I think they had a Happy St Patricks Day anyway?
*************
And here is Kaipo's leprechaun picture

he drew before our hunt.

Quite a scary guy WITH his pot of gold!

MORE fun!

While Ame was at school and Ash was taking a nap,

Kaipo and I had some FUN with Nalu.

We put him in the bouncer swing for the first time.

He had so much fun, just bouncing and spinning

around and around and around!

I really forgot how exciting this age is,

with the introduction of soo many

NEW things and just more & more fun!