A Week of Easter Fun!

 Happy Easter!

After our visit with my family, my parents and little brother drove us back home. That meant they got to spend Easter with us! We tried to do something Easter related every day.

 We died eggs at Aunt Patti's house one day while Tate chilled in this HUGE chair.

 I think he got a little too relaxed :)

 Collin and grandma made chick cupcakes.

 They turned out way cute but....when grandma turned around for a split second Collin snatched two black jelly beans and ate them.

 So we had to scrounge around the house for some candy and improvise. 

That is one scary looking chick!

 We also did a glow in the dark egg hunt and we did the Resurrection eggs with Collin but didn't get any pictures of that :(

 After church on Sunday we went back to the Arnsdorff's for a family Easter Egg Hunt. Over 150 eggs were hidden around their house.

 My little brother Logan and younger cousin Austin hunted for some, but Collin was the only child there.

So guess who found the most eggs?

My cousin Maggy was his partner in crime :)

 

 Grandma entertained Tate with her dancing and singing bunnies.

 And Collin ate waaaay too much candy.

 I love Easter and am so glad we were able to be with family.

I'll end this post with a quote I found 

 "Jesus of Bethlehem would be but another baby without the redeeming Christ of Gethsemane and Calvary, and the triumphant fact of the resurrection." -Gordon B. Hinckley 

I still can not fully fathom the atonement. I get glimpses now and then and sometimes, if I really try to understand, my heart fills with so much joy and gratitude that for a few split seconds I really feel like I get it.  I can comprehend in at least a small measure, the sacrifice that was made. I love what Jeffrey R. Holland said.

"I ask you, what father and mother could stand by and listen to the cry of their children in distress...and not render assistance? (Heavenly Father) had the power to save, and He loved His Son, and He could have saved Him...

In that hour I think I can see our dear Father behind the veil looking upon those dying struggles, His great heart almost breaking for the love that He had for His Son. Oh, in that moment, when He might have saved His Son, I thank Him and praise Him that He did not fail us. I rejoice that He did not interfere, and that His love for us made it possible for Him to endure to look upon the suffering of His Only Begotten and give Him finally to us, our Savior and our Redeemer."

Flying Solo

 

We did it! Collin, Tate, and I flew to South Carolina to visit my family for a week. My dad bought us the tickets and Collin had the time of his life riding a REAL airplane!

I was a little worried about flying alone, but since I had never really done it before I had no idea what to expect and therefore, what to really worry about. It could have been WAY worse, but lets just say you haven't lived until you spend 5 hrs in an airport with a 2 yr. old who announces every 5 min. (very loudly) that they have to poop or pee, chase a two yr. old into the busy men's restroom, get sprayed in the face with yucky toilet water, and then try and use the restroom yourself with a 20 pound 4 month old strapped to you, and a 2 yr. old who thinks that everything shiny in the restroom needs to be touched and that the reason the bottom of the stalls are open is so that you have easy access to your neighbor. Yep, that's real living right there :)  

We did make it alive though and the worse thing we caught was a little head cold.

 (Which is very surprising considering how many things Collin ate off the floor)

We had lots of fun with my family that week.

Collin LOVES his uncle Logan and the fact that Logan built him a huge fort under the dinning room table, might have sealed Logan as the "uncle of the year" in Collin's mind.

(please excuse these next set of photos. I guess my lens was blurry :(

 Collin got to hand feed Aunt Tori's ducks everyday! 

 Uncle Logan taught Collin a mean game of "chase the ducks"

Collin also enjoyed chasing the three cats around.

He would probably live with them if I would let him.

 Aunt Tori bought Tate a matching SC shirt.

 Collin and papa grilled for us

We call Tate "lil Lonnie because he looks so much like my dad.

Collin and Sam 

(a neighbor who is just a few years older than Collin. They got along pretty well)

 Getting some grandma lov'in

My dad made Collin a car for their Ward Pinewood Derby and let Collin paint it. I'm not sure how Collin managed to paint himself with 4 adults around...

  

Collin wanted a Lightning McQueen car so that's what he got. It didn't go very fast but Collin didn't care. He just liked watching it run down the track.

 

 Hanging with Uncle Bryce

 Collin crawled beside his papa for a snuggle so I had to take a picture since this kid does Not snuggle.

 15 min. later I realized the reason for the snuggling. This was probably the only nap he got the entire trip.

 And of course at night he just played till he dropped.

 Someone got into Aunt Tori's jewelry  and had to put on every single necklace :)

I'm saving this for future blackmail

Hopefully we can visit again soon

And Just Where Have You Been?

Where have we been all month? 

I really don't have any good excuse as to why I haven't posted in FOREVER.

 Don't worry though, you're about to get a overload of posts in the next few days :)

 My "second parents" the Brinkle's happened to be in Florida last month and stopped by for a visit. Collin and Tate both took to them very quickly. I'm so glad they stopped by to see us. I really really enjoyed their visit. It made me realize how much I miss this family.

We LOVE us some Brinkle's!!!

Collin has been conducting several science experiments. 

The first were these Magic Bubbles!

I found the directions on how to make them here

Just dish soap and water!

These were so awesome! We had so much fun blowing and playing with these.

 Did I mention how huge they got???

Know what happened in these next two pictures? 

Tasty :)

 We also worked on mixing colors. I let him do this all on his own. His face was priceless when he mixed the two colors together and made orange. It was like magic! (unfortunately I didn't catch it)

I caught Collin and Tate sharing a private joke. I was standing right there, but I never could figure out what was so funny. Probably some joke at my expense :)

 Michael and Collin reading bedtime stories under his blanket.

There's nothing sexier.....I mean more attractive (my mom reads this blog so better keep it clean) than a man who plays with his children.

 See what I mean!?

 Oh yeah, Collin got a buzz. I think I was more traumatized than he was. I made one too many mistakes when cutting his hair which forced us to take drastic measures. I was so sad. Thank goodness hair grows back. And he still looks cute in my opinion.

 And to end our blog post, I leave you with this picture.

I went to get Collin up one morning and walked in to find this. I started getting scared until I saw a little hand. Who sleeps like that? Well, besides Collin.