Happy Easter

We had such a nice morning! I woke up and put the Easter eggs outside on the patio table. Started to make yummy yumma coffeecake. Ashton woke up and came out to the kitchen. He looked in the backyard and noticed that the Easter eggs were hidden. Easter bunny is amazing.  I was just busy making coffeecake and the Easter bunny came and quietly hid all the eggs without me even noticing. :) Ashton was so thrilled and just kept talking and talking to me while I finished up the coffeecake.

 We had a spiritual thought. We watched a mormon message video "He is Risen" and then watched a talk by Elder Holland on Easter. We said a family prayer. Then we hunted for Easter eggs.

 Never to old to hunt for Easter eggs.

 No candy in our plastic eggs this year. Just strips of paper that the kids can use like coupons. "Foot rub by mom, back scratch by dad, let's get a red box-your choice, let's go ice-skating, let's go hiking, let's go bowling, let's go get a treat-your choice, you pick the dinner" The rest of the eggs had quarters in them and 1 had a dollar. The kids loved this because we get to go do really fun things and they don't get a tummyache from eating too much candy. :)

 Opened their really simple Easter baskets. Ashton got a pack of skittles, bag of pretzels and a Kobe Bryant jersey that he's wanted for a LONG time. :) Sierra got a chocolate Reeaster bunny, a bag of pretzels, a bathing suit and this adorable dress she's wearing. :)

 Went to Jake's parents house for Easter dinner. I made rolls last Friday for the funeral so I froze the rest and brought them for Easter dinner. :) I also brought some veggies, green beans and roasted orange cauliflower. :)

 

 Sierra received her recommend to go to the temple on Easter Sunday. She was SO excited. She came in the chapel trying not to run. Hurried over to me and said, "I GOT IT!" We hugged each other and admired her first temple recommend. She went and told her dad, he was setting up chairs, and he hugged her too!

Ashton and I sang in the Primary choir. Sierra and Kate sang in the hymnbook choir. Sierra was excited that she didn't have to sing in the Primary choir. :)

Happy Easter! He is RISEN! So grateful for my Savior and for the plan our Heavenly Father has for us, such a detailed yet simple and beautiful plan for us.

 

 

Beehive

Sierra had a cake decorating class at her activity this last Tuesday night. She made the cutest cake! So grateful for talented women in our ward and great Young Women leaders! She is always so happy when I pick her up from mutual.

It's overwhelming!

So much to catch up on. I had my first BIG exam in Microbiology today so I feel a tiny bit of relief. However, I have a quiz I need to be studying for on Thursday. I just can't forget the most recent events, cause they are kind of big ones. :)
Ashton received his 2nd tip on his orange belt in MMA. He was pretty excited!

This beautiful little lady had a birthday and we went to PC's for dinner,  I will talk more about her later. :) Holding you in suspense.

At PC's Ashton made his first business deal with his Uncle Norris. :)

We just love this little baby! Tate is precious and when we get to snuggle him it's heaven.

Ashton had his very first baseball tryouts. It's getting serious now. Watch out! :)

We were driving home from MMA one night and the sunset was so pretty. Couldn't resist taking a picture. We were still driving the Tahoe we were renting. More on that in a bit too. :)

Ashton had a great season playing for the Heat with Coach Shawn and DAD. Ashton LOVES basketball and plays every waking moment.

Sierra went to a Valentine's Party at Chloe's house and she was dressed so darling I had to take her picture. We even did her hair in a heart. She has tiny hearts on her pants. She brought a candy apple as her gift to exchange, YUM!

Happy Valentine's Day! We had pink, heart pancakes for breakfast with chocolate chips.
I did the 14 days of Valentine's for Jake and the kids this year. This was the last one on the Martinelli. We got to drink Martinelli with our Chi Chi's dinner. Such a treat!

 For Ashton's class party I brought veggies and I cut the cucumbers into hearts. CUTE! (He asked me to...he's so clever!)

 Sierra went to the Valentine dance with her friends. They are SO darling! Ashton went to a birthday party sooo Jake and I went to dinner. Date night!!

 On February 24th Sierra met with the Bishop for her interview right before she turns 12. He came out and told me "she's wonderful!" She graduated Primary too! She walked the path and left the Primary room with all the Beehives. I was just a little emotional. :)
Shane spoke in Sacrament meeting that same day. We had a family dinner and Open House at our house that evening. So proud of Shane, so happy and excited for him!

Then on Tuesday night Sierra and I wrote down the 11 best things about being 11...
1. It's the time to prepare.
2. 1 year from being 12
3. mature A LOT!
4. start babysitting
5. declutter your room
6. 1 last primary program
7. 6th grade
8. enter middle school
9. start really thinking about the future
10. got to dances at school
11. time to get ready and gain a testimony

 Then on February 27th it happened, my baby girl turned 12. How did this happen?! All I can say is, it is a pleasure to be her mother, a true honor! I thank my Heavenly Father daily for sending this sweet angel to me. That truly is what she is! She is maturing into a beautiful young lady with such sweetness and kindness within her. She always has a desire to do what's right. She worries about what Heavenly Father thinks if she does something wrong. She has such a strong testimony of the gospel. She watches Mormon Messages in her free time. She is such a good example and is always silently teaching me how I can be better. I adore her! She brings love, joy and pure happiness to our home. Happy Birthday my darling girl! No matter how much you want to be grown up, you will always be my "baby girl!"

 We had a great day together! I helped in Ashton's class and then I grabbed her at lunchtime and we went to In N' Out. Then we went to the mall and I bought her some makeup. :0 Then Grammy came and bought her 3 pairs of shoes. :0
We went and got Ashton from school and went to Target to get her a makeup bag and got a frozen yogurt at Golden Spoon.
When we got home Sierra's room had been heart attacked. OH, how cute!!! The beehives did such a great job! She loved it and still to this day has all the hearts hanging up. I think they will have to come off on their own.

 When we got home from PC's we ate Sierra's giant Reese's Peanut Butter Cup for dessert.

 Sierra went to YW's for the first time on March 3rd. She was nervous but LOVED it! She went to her first mutual activity on March 5th. It was all the YW combined and they all wrote nice things about each other and put them in paper bags for each girl to bring home. She was nervous to go to mutual too but LOVED it!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Sierra was introduced by the Bishop on Sunday as the newest beehive. The Bishop said "she's a rockstar!" :) She said the 13th Article of Faith and did such a great job! She sat down next to me and said "that was SO scary! I'm still shaking!" :) She didn't even seem nervous.
Oops, these pancakes I made on Saturday after running with my mom, in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

 We fasted on Sunday for blessings for Aunt Suzie suffering from cancer. So, no fun breakfast on Sunday but we had everyone over for a fun St. Patty's Day dinner. Mom made pesto pasta and chicken and cabbage and a salad. Brenna brought asparagus and broccoli. I made homemade lemonade and colored it green. Sophi brought rainbow fruit kabobs. We had mint chip icecream for dessert. Sierra did a leprechaun scavenger hunt with the kids. We facetimed with Aunt Suzie and Uncle Mike and said a prayer with them to break our fast. Jake said the prayer and he was emotional, it was very sweet.

 In other news...We got my 4runner back and she just wasn't the same. Awful in fact. We had our Insurance adjuster come out and inspect and he found all kinds of things wrong with her since the accident, things that should have been fixed that weren't. He turned in his report and they decided to total our car, a total loss. (Should have done that from the start.) So last Wednesday they took my car away. It was bitter sweet. She was not nice to drive anymore but, we brought Ashton home from the hospital in that car when he was born and she kept us safe in the accident. She was a good car.
I got a new car, on Saturday. A newer 4runner, 2005 4x4 SR5. It was delivered from Tucson, Arizona, from a BMW dealership, yep we bought a car on-line. She's so beautiful and so nice to drive. I know I will grow attached to this one too. :)

B is for...

Ashton did great in his basketball game. He scored 6 baskets. He even cheered for the other team when they made a couple of shots. He was a team player and a good sport. That's all part of playing a sport and I'm so proud of him. We had a great crowd cheering for him too, Uncle Norris and Aunt Brenna and Tate. Papa came too.
Sierra babysat for the first time last night on her own for my sister Sophi. She did such a great job. Lucy gave her a hard time at bedtime but she figured it out. She came home so happy. She is so capable and responsible. I thought about her but I never worried. So proud of my baby girl growing into a beautiful young woman.

New pics

 When we brought Nixon home with us that first week of January the boys built Ashton's volcano. They had to wet the plaster strips and layer them on top of the string that I had assembled. When it was all dry, the next day, they painted it. So cute! So fun!

 When Brenna came over and spent the morning with us, going on a walk and teaching Ashton some basketball skills. The kids were both playing on ipads cause my mom had left hers too. Tate was playing with them. So cute how he is looking at the camera! :)

 We didn't finish the volcano when Nixon was here. One night when Uncle Norris came over our volcano exploded. You have to pour vinegar in the volcano, Ashton doesn't like the smell of vinegar. :)

 but he sure liked watching it explode! :)

Quickly approaching...

Tonight Sierra has her door shut and behind the door I can hear music playing, Taylor Swift. The teenage years are quickly approaching and we are no way near ready for this.

Hiking

Today is Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and last night Brenna texted me to say her and Norris had been talking...how about hiking in the morning. We were thrilled. Ashton was going to get to use his new camelbak. :)
I drove my mom to the airport at 5:45am, she was flying to Hawaii to be with her friend Cheri who has a place on Kauai, lucky momma!!
At about 10:00 we gathered up in our awesome rental car, 2012 Toyota Sequoia, we have had many rental cars cause they keep switching them out...we had an awesome Yukon too! Blessings of getting your car crashed on Christmas day! :) We met Norris, Brenna and baby Tate at Placerita Natural Area. Quickly walked through the museum and took a snapshot, how cute they are! We had a great hike. It was such a beautiful day. There were so many people on the trail, Norris and Brenna weren't the only ones with such a great idea.

After hiking Jake and I went and picked up El Pollo Loco. Then we babysat Tate so Norris and Brenna could go and pick out their new carpet for their new house.
Tonight we went to dad's for dinner to celebrate Trina. She and Kai are in town and today is her birthday. We had a great evening!
Last Thursday evening was another Pack Meeting. Ashton got 4 belt loops. So blessed to have great leaders and so blessed to have a boy enthusiastic about scouting.

Ashton had a great bball game on Saturday. I would say he is obsessed with this sport. He lives and breathes basketball. He plays every minute that the sun is shining. He watches the Lakers every chance he gets. He wears his Lakers jersey, Kobe Bryant's jersey to be exact, while he plays in the backyard. He takes my ipad out with him so he can time his quarters. 

At his game he made 4 baskets and they were great shots. He was also a great team player and happy when   his teammates made shots too. He had a great pass, Jake called it a great assist. He was a great defender too. 

Can you guess what Ashton wants to be when he grows up?

We went to baby Jane's 1st birthday party too. She is a doll and it was fun to be with family!