Easter Week 2011

What a wonderful Easter week we had! The fun began the weekend before when the kids got to have a pre-holiday egg hunt at the Steffenhagen's house. Sadie is one of my Visiting Teachers and is so thoughtful, creative and talented! With four boys (the youngest being twins, no less!) I have much to learn from her in regards to patience and multi-tasking. :) There have been quite a few shake-ups with VT'ing in our ward lately and I'm just praying I don't get removed from her list!

Anyway, we went over to their home along with the other families they either home teach/visit teach and had a great time BBQ'ing and just chatting while the kids played. We are grateful for our friends and a ward that truly feels like family.

Last year Norah had no idea what was going on. This year she knew exactly what to do!

Beautiful Girl!

Eddie and Jack checking out their spoils.

Beckett just chillin' in his bouncy (with leftover dinner on his face) while the rest of the kiddos dyed eggs.

Well, two out of three smiling isn't bad! :)

One, two, three, "Smile!" Yes, that means you, Justin! :) Let's try this again...

There's a smile! :)

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Blue Ridge Mountains

Easter Weekend

2011

Our rental cabin - appropriately named, "A Walk In the Clouds." It was a two bedroom/three bathroom loft-style home that was just perfect! Secluded, beautifully decorated, great location in regards to nearby towns and activities. Again - when can we go back??? :)

One of their favorite activities at the cabin was the hot tub, which they repeatedly (despite correction) referred to as the, "hot bath." The boys were in heaven. Yep, definitely their Daddy's sons. :)

Good morning in the mountains! It felt SO GREAT to be away from 'life' and just focused on our little family for a while. Since returning I've tried to convince Justin that it would be in our best interest to buy a cabin - or at least a time-share. :) I grew up in the mountains and have missed them terribly! And while the Blue Ridge aren't exactly the Rockies, they're beautiful, too.

When in need of a little snack there's nothing like a little fresh belly. :)

And a little bit of sugar on top. :)

Jackson took this picture and I thought it was actually quite artistic! I plan on printing and framing it for the wall soon.

Some beautiful flowers at Blowing Rock.

Looking over the clouds at Blowing Rock. Eddie was so concerned about being 'in the clouds' that I had to reassure him several times that we were still on the earth and that we weren't in the sky with the clouds. :) (I kind of brought that on myself when I told them we were driving through clouds the night before as we were first getting to the cabin. The fog was pretty thick and we were pretty high up so I mentioned we were driving through clouds because I thought they would think it was magical. Jack was excited, Eddie was freaked, and Norah just wanted to get out of her car seat. :)

Blowing Rock, NC.

Little rock climbers at the Blowing Rock. I'm not going to lie - it's pretty high! I'm not a huge fan of heights so my adrenaline was up a bit during our exploration of the actual Blowing Rock and surrounding area. :)

Hiking to Hebron Falls.

We made it to the river and could see some of the falls from downstream, but were unable to keep hiking because the trail became too difficult for the kiddos to handle. Plus - I was wearing Beckett and didn't feel comfortable scaling a rock-face, lol. (If it were just Justin and me it would have been totally fine, though.) However, the kids were content to park at the river and start scouting out snails and skipping rocks.

Eddie-O. He looks so different without his curls! I gave him and Jack hair-cuts the week before because the heat had already started to get pretty intense here. Sadly, his curls seemed to be losing their 'curliness' over the past few months and I'm afraid they won't come back this time. Hopefully they will prove me wrong, though! I just LOVE and miss the curls!

Daddy vs. Norah. (Of course Norah won and got her turn in the river despite Daddy not wanting to have to take his socks/shoes off. :)

I had no problem wading right in. Yes, it was pretty cold... But any Montanan knows that once you've been in for a few minutes your submerged appendages begin the process of hypothermia and therefore soon become numb. You just have to be able to stand the cold for a few minutes and then be sure to get out of the water before the final stage (i.e. death) of hypothermia commences. :)

Silly Eddison.

Mommy and Beckett. Really, he had the best seat in the house. :) And I couldn't have asked for a more amiable hiking companion!

Jack was in HEAVEN in the mountains! There were bugs, snakes, sticks, rocks, and everything else a little boy needs to be happy! More than anything I'd love to live somewhere he could step outside the back door and be in this element. Both he and Eddie were just SO happy to be there. It was awesome and it made Justin and me so happy to see the kids so happy. Loved it!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for...

Ice Cream!!! This may have been Norah's first waffle-cone and she was enjoying every last drip!

Jack was, too. :)

Better add Daddy and Eddison to that list, too. :) (And Mommy - while not pictured, certainly enjoyed hers, too!)

Despite their initial concerns that he wouldn't be able to find them, the kids were ecstatic to wake and find that the Easter Bunny DID know they were at the cabin! In fact, Ms. Easter Bunny (Mr. Bunny was busy watching a Laker's game and then sleeping) stayed up until 3 a.m. preparing trails of chocolate eggs that lead from the kids' beds in the loft to the living room downstairs, piling little nests of candy and Easter grass on the stairs and around the living room, filling and hiding candy-filled plastic eggs, and organizing Easter baskets.

In the early morning (around 6:30 a.m.) I woke to whispers from upstairs. Jack and Eddie had obviously noticed the trails from their bed and could peek through the rails in the loft to the living room downstairs where their baskets were in front of the fireplace. I was so surprised they didn't just come down until I heard Jack tell Eddie, "We have to stay up here because the Easter Bunny might still be down there and we're not supposed to see him!"

So I woke up Justin and we called to the boys and Norah to come downstairs (where the Master bedroom was - right next to the living room) and then asked them, "Did the Easter Bunny come?!" And they were beyond excited trying to tell us about everything they saw. We quickly got up and let them run to their baskets (after telling them how proud we were that they didn't just come down and start finding eggs without us. Jack then told us the same thing he told Eddie about not wanting to come downstairs in case the E. Bunny was still on the premises. This was funny because the night before Jack was wired and just wouldn't go to bed despite us yelling up to him several times. Finally we heard Eddie pleading with him, "Jack, if you don't go to bed then the Easter Bunny will not come!").

Daddy and Little B at the park. Happy First Easter, Beckett!

Daddy's Girl hitching a ride on our walk around a beautiful park.

Norah and Beckett soaking up some sun while Jack and Eddie were fishing for the very first time!

Daddy unloading his catch into the bucket! Both Justin and I ended up catching a fish (trout), but we let the boys help reel them in and then Jack got to scoop them up with the net.

He took his job very seriously. :)

Washing his hands after fishing while the owner of the farm gutted and cleaned our catch.

Million dollar smile! I think he enjoyed fishing...

Mommy and Mr. Snuggles. (Yep, I did just call him that.)

More Mommy and Beckett.

Jack managed to find the smallest inchworm on the planet. How he spotted it I don't know! Can YOU see it?! (You can click on the photo to enlarge it.)

Not to be outdone, Eddie wanted me to take a picture of him with a rock. So I did just that! :)

And it made him happy. :)