Preschool Easter party

We celebrated Easter with Parker in his preschool class and it was so much fun. The snacks were epic as usual. 

 And Austin loved playing with all the toys. Here he is talking to "Sadie's mom".

 And then they had a class egg hunt, where each child had their name written on 12 eggs, and they were to only collect the eggs with their name. Very smart way to keep things even and to prolong the hunt. The hunt in our yard only lasted 30 seconds, whereas this one was about 10 minutes.

 So cute! It turned out to be a cold day, but with the sunny weather, I neglected to send him in a coat. I'm such a San Diego mom at heart. Sorry Park.

 I gave Austin my sweater. He was not pleased with my lack of preparation.

 Parker's class. Such cute kids. Can't believe he'll be in Kindergarten next year!

 With his great teacher, Mrs. Vaughn.

Competition

As I mentioned before, the Superhero Matching game is all the rage in our house. Here is Parker concentrating in order to beat Pete. 

 And when the concentration paid off... Pete cannot believe he lost the game!

 Gloating....

 Parker also started his soccer team for the spring. They are the Cobras (Parker just found out what a cobra is!). It's kind of haphazard at the practices so far, but I'm sure we'll improvement. It's just a rec league, so we aren't expecting much but he loves going to practice and I love to see him running around and listening to the coach. He's really good. (Yellow shirt below...)

Grammy and Papa's visit

On Saturday, we had fun going to Target to spend some of their b'day money from Grammy and Papa. Then we had a great lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. They had tablets with games for the kids, so now that's Parker's new favorite place to eat. Then we headed out to the Navy Base. It was a beautiful day, though very windy!

 Then we went to "Toys for Us" (as Parker calls is). He didn't end up spending is money at Target, so he got super lucky with a 2 for 1 deal at the toy store and made out like a bandit! Lucky boy. Austin also got to round out his collection of Paw Patrol characters which he was very excited about.

We've also been considering getting a bike for Parker, so this was a great place to test out the sizes.

 A near death experience, but Parker recovered like a champ.

We LOVE having Grammy and Papa here to do our everyday type activities.

First days with Grammy and Papa

The boys have been so excited for Grammy and Papa's visit. In preparation, Pete and Park (the shirtless wonders!) washed both of the cars. 

 Then the boys got all dapper to meet them at the airport. Austin helped pick out flowers for Grammy and we made a sign that said, "Welcome to Naw-fock".

 So glad to finally see them emerge from the terminal.

 I write more about this in the next post, but here we are at lunch on Saturday.

 And taking a Toys R Us run.

 Testing bikes.

 Our little Easter Bunny!

 I really love being a mom and prepping Easter baskets was just too much fun. It kind of turned into a Christmas-like spread, but it's all simple things that they enjoyed thoroughly all day long!

Randoms...

This is what you get when your three year old learns to use the camera on the phone. So flattering. 

 Ryan and Chloe gave Austin a Superhero matching game for his birthday. It is such a hit in our house, but not really with Austin. haha. He'll get into eventually, but for now, Parker is obsessed. He has a memory that rivals that of his father, so they really get competitive and play multiple times a day. I am embarrassed to say that one time Parker beat me 18-0 (Parker was telling Pete how I'm not good at this game, but Pete explained that I'm good at other things.  Parker: "Yeah, like sleeping and laundry.") In my defense, I am not well-versed in superheroes and I definitely do not have a photographic memory. But Pete and Park sure do have fun.

 My mind has been with two of my San Diego friends this week. They were both diagnosed with breast cancer on the same day earlier in the year (both moms from Parker's previous preschool class), and they have been such a great support for each other. They had reverse treatment plans: one started with a double mastectomy followed by months of chemo, while the other started with chemo and finished up with the surgery.  And as it turns out while one underwent their last chemo treatment, it was surgery day for the other on the exact same day! Crazy. Anyway, they have both been lovingly supported by friends both in person and via social media. One friend in particular organized several opportunities for friends to submit pictures or quotes of support. This last one was sending kisses to both ladies as they finished their journey!

 How appropriate that as my friends are celebrating their victory of overcoming cancer, that we are on the cusp of celebrating the resurrection of Christ. It is because of Him that we even have the opportunity to have hope, faith, and joy. It is because of Him that we know our potential, and that while we may face trials in this life, we have the reassurance of praying to a Heavenly Father who knows what was, what is, and what will be. He will see us through every trial, giving us exactly what we need to make it to and through that next step. What a comfort that is. I have loved talking about the Easter story with the boys. They have a profound understanding and appreciation for the event, as we focus on the sadness of his death and the miracle of his resurrection.

This is the house I mentioned in a previous Christmas post, that decorates so well for the holidays. I love the eggs dangling from the trees. Parker wants to live at that house.

 In other news, Parker starts soccer this week and he was really excited to get his first pair of cleats and a shiny new ball. Can't wait to see him in action.

8 year anniversary

8 years... wow. I say this every year, but the time really has gone quickly. It has been a big year of change and challenges for our family, but I see now that even through the hard parts, having a partner by your side that loves you and wants the best for you is the best way to get through anything. Happy anniversary Pete! Here are my 8 favorite memories with him (in no particular order):

1. Applying for law school was a fun process. He worked so hard to be competitive for several great schools, and with no kids in tow, the world was our oyster. I really loved traveling to a few different schools and thinking about the next chapter for us. But my favorite moment was when we had just arrived back from Christmas vacation in San Diego to our little apartment in Utah, and we had a large envelope waiting for us... from the University of Michigan (his dream school). It was so special. We then went for a late night dinner at Macaroni Grill to celebrate (I told the waiter our news, but he probably thought I was lame for being so excited).

2. While we were good friends in high school and we never actually dated in high school. Being a grade older, I came back from college to watch his spring choir concert his senior year. It was Disney themed which was super lame to a bunch of high school kids, but I think they all had some fun with it (excluding the Mickey Mouse club shirts with their name on it). Anyway, I was in the third row in the huge concert hall, and he could easily see me from the stage. Interestingly enough, his girlfriend's parents were sitting right in front of me. During a Newsies medley involving some impressive dance moves, he kept eyeing me and winked at me. I think he got a little flack for that from the gf's family. Don't worry, they were planning on breaking up after graduation anyway:)

3. After he returned home from serving in Spain, we decided to make homemade tortillas together. His brother was also there and he gave us such a hard time about how impractical it was to make them, when we could spend less time and money just going to the store. We would not give in! Too bad they tasted terrible in the end.

4. This is not an isolated memory, but a prolonged one. After he left for his freshman year of college at BYU and I returned to Point Loma for my second year, he decided to email each other every day. Cell phone plans being what they were at that point, the minutes were limited and this was the most economical way to communicate. We wrote each other EVERY SINGLE day! I even printed off all of the emails he wrote me. We came across them the other day and they are hysterical. He thought he was such a hot shot. Hilarious.

5. Our wedding day is one of my most favorite days ever. And one thing that stands out is when he sang to me. Not only did I love hearing his sweet voice singing me a love song, but I pictured a lifetime of singing together and with our future children. It's what I always dreamed of.

6. I'm going to lump together the births of our two boys. As much as he does not enjoy the childbirth process (who does????), I loved having him by my side (err... head) and welcoming our boys into the world. I love that Parker looks just like him and Aussie looks like me. And as the boys get older, I have seen Pete come alive as a dad and enjoy seeing the fun bond he has with them.

7. Binge watching shows. Mostly in our pre-children days, we would find a TV series to watch and go nuts watching episode after episode. In those days, we would track down dvd's at a Blockbuster and have a marathon. We watched 24, Jailbreak, Lost, etc... So fun!

8. And last but not least, we met when he was only a freshman and I was a sophomore. We were both up for the "kids roles" in the Musicman and were paired up for the dance audition. After meeting at that point, we reconnected in choir when he was a Jr and I was Sr. I was auditioning for "Joseph" and I knew we were desperate for good boy voices, so I recruited Pete Dahlquist, that cute choir boy who had a great voice. I told him there would be an easy, short dance audition, but it was no big deal. I was surprised how easy it was to get him to agree to participate (apparently he loved me even then), and when he told me he couldn't dance, I didn't quite understand the level to which he was talking about not being able to follow choreography. It was a disaster and he basically free-styled the whole thing, but I loved that he never gave up. He had such a good attitude and those months of driving together to rehearsals was one of the most special times of my life. I didn't know him very well, but I could tell very early on that he was a true friend. I loved being around him and we would just laugh and talk. That was the beginning of our love story.

A story that will continue on forever...

Night-time discussions

As I mentioned, the boys love chatting before bed. Here they are "reading" together and chatting. Oh the love!

PS... Austin told me I was his best friend today. Be still my heart! And he told me the baby in my tummy loves me too.