Happy Easter!!

 I think I've put a picture before on my blog of Zachy falling asleep at the table before, but I think it is so cute. So here is another one of him falling asleep at the dinner table again.

 We have been enjoying the good weather we've had lately.  Zach and Aria love to be outside.  This is them being silly.

Samuel loves playing on the computer and the Wii.  I'm not a fan of video games but he gets a little bit of time each day.  Zach loves to hang out with Samuel and watch him.

We got to have my friends little girls come hang out with us for a while one day.  Zachy was a little bit left out as he was the only boy but he didn't mind much.  L to R Mayzie, Braylee and Aria.

For spring break this year we went to my parents for the first half of the week.  We had great weather.  One day we took the kids to a really fun park.  My dad spent most of his time pushing Aria on the swing.  Zach liked it for a little bit.

Shadie (my sister Amy's little girl) got to go to my parents for her spring break also.  Sam and her played non-stop.  It was really nice for me as they entertained each other.  They are such good friends and play so well together.  They also stayed up until wee hours in the morning sleeping up in the loft.  Good times for them. Grandma could get these two going pretty fast on the merry-go-round.  They loved it.

Zachary at the park.  He likes the safer toys to play on.

Aria is my dare devil.  She enjoyed climbing the rock wall.  I was just glad it wasn't any taller than it was.  She would have kept going.

Aria, Samuel, Zachary and Shadie all on the slide.

The last part of spring break we went to my sister Maria's house.  Again, we had good weather and took the kids to a park in Rexburg.  Samuel was being a good brother and pushed his little sister on the swing.

Aunt Maria pushing Zach on the swing with Mae watching and patiently awaiting her turn.

Mae and mommy swinging.  It was worth the wait for Mae.

If you wanted to know where Marley was just find one of the slides and there she was.

On the Saturday before Easter Travis's sister Shauna put a really fun Easter egg hunt together for all the nieces and nephews.  They all found tons of Easter eggs and fun toys.  I could barely get a picture of Sam and he was running from one egg to the next so fast.  Thanks to all who put the fun Easter party together.

Aria had a helper (Grandpa) with finding her Easter eggs.  She came home with plenty of eggs and candy.

Zachy also had a helper (cousin Kaylee) and he made out with tons of fun toys and candy.  Thanks Kaylee.  You both are so cute.

Easter Morning... again it is so hard to get a picture of the kids that they are all smiling at the same time.  So this is the best I could do before church.  Now that's a good looking bunch of kids. :)  I'm so grateful for our brother Jesus Christ's sacrifice and taking upon him all of our sins.  He has made it possible for me to have my wonderful kids sealed to me and my husband for eternity.  I thank him every day for them, my husband and his sacrifice for me.

First cutting of the grass this year.  Zachy will do the whole yard with his daddy and love every minute of it.

This is a just because picture.  I love you guys!!

 Samuel lost his first tooth.

 I love to take pictures of Zachy.  He is my goofy one.  Well actually so is Samuel.

 Can you believe I was racking leaves at the beginning of January.  Aria and Zachary are helping me. It actually took me twice as long to rack all the leaves up with my extra help.  But I was thankful for the company.

 Even in the morning I think my kids are cute.

 Grandpa and Grandma Porter rented an indoor swimming pool for all the grandkids.  My kids had a blast.  This is Zachary with his cousin Taylor.  He had a little scare as he went to get daddy out in the deep end and went under.  Grandma was the first to get to him.  I was in getting Aria dressed.  He still loves the water but it has given mommy nightmares ever since.

 Aria sure loves her grandpa and I think grandpa loves her too. Both Aria and Zachy went down the slide by themselves.  They didn't want me to go down with them.  They are a lot braver than I would have been.

 Samuel got to bring his friend Landon and they had a blast.  I didn't have to worry about them as long as they had their floaty's on. 

 Aria has asked me to straighten her hair before so this time I had time and tried it out.  It wasn't that hard and she loved it.  I still love her curls.

 This is Aria's first hair cut finally at 3.  My good friend Lacee came over to do it.  Aria sat still really good and looked cute as can be.

 I took a trip to San Diego with Amy, Shea, Wade and Maria at the end of January.  We had such a blast.  This is at one of the little restaurants by the ocean.  It was so nice to be in the nice sunny warm weather and to being hanging with my brother and sisters.

 We did a couple of hikes and hanging out at the La Jolla Beach.  This is a cave that we walked down to.  It was a beautiful beach and a beautiful day.  It was hard to come back to the cold weather.  Much thanks to Travis and Travis's mom for taking care of the kids so I could go.

 One day while Samuel was as school the twins and I took pictures together.  It was fun and they turned out pretty good.  My sweet daughter and mommy.

 Mommy and her adorable little boy Zach. 

 The twins turned 3 on Feb. 1st.  We didn't celebrate for a few days as mommy and the kids were sick.  They got some really great gifts from everyone.

Zachy blew out his candles and then helped Aria with hers.  She didn't have enough air to blow them out.  I can't believe they are already 3.  Time goes so fast.  I swear I just brought them home from the hospital.  I don't even know where their 1st and 2nd birthday went. 

Happy New Years!!!

For Christmas Eve the kids always get new P.J.'s so they open them up and they hurry off to bed.  We had a little pizza and movie party this night and Sam kept asking when the movie was going to be over because he was afraid Santa was going to come and he'd still be awake. 

We had a wonderful Christmas. Santa was good to us all. :)  This is the kids with their stockings.  I found these at Downeast Outfitters a couple of years and ago and have been happy with them ever since.

After we opened presents we got ready for church to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.  Of course, I couldn't get a picture of all the kids looking at me at the same time so this is the best I could do. 

Aria got this little skirt and matching bow for Christmas.  I couldn't help taking a picture of her. 

In December Travis and I got to go to Mexico for four nights.  It was close to Playa Del Carmen and we had so much fun.  It was at an all inclusive resort.  The only thing I would change next time is that we'd stay for a week instead of just four nights.  It wasn't enough time to relax and explore.  But we are so thankful for the opportunity we had to go somewhere warm and together.  It was good to spend time alone.

I guess we didn't go alone... we went with Travis's parents.  It was so fun to spend time with them.  We had a wonderful time and will always cherish this time we got to spend with them.  With the resort being all inclusive we never got hungry and we had some great food.  I never got hungry because I was always eating. 

On one of our exploring adventures we took a tour to Tulum.  It was so interesting and amazing.

Tulum is right by the ocean and as you can see it is so blue and beautiful.

We decided we better take a picture with the Mayan people after what we just learned about them. :)

We couldn't wait to get home to see the kids.  We missed them so much.  It actually ended up being 6 nights away from them.  A special thanks goes out to my sisters Maria and Amy and my good friend Lacee for watching the kids.  The kids had a great time and I knew they were in good hands.  We brought them home maraca's and as you can see they loved them.  They are easy to please.

Lots of Holiday Fun!!!

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Daddy always gets the privilege of carving the pumpkin with the kids.  He does a great job.  The kids all love to help but I think Zachy enjoyed digging out the seeds the most

For Halloween this year (L to R) Aria was a beautiful lady bug, Samuel was the best Spider Man I've seen and Zachy was the cutest dinosaur ever.

We always go to Great Grandma Spackman's on Halloween.  We love this tradition as we get to spend time with her and she has the funnest bags of candy for the grand kids.

Travis's birthday was on November 3rd.  I fixed meat loaf (obviously he's not hard to please) with a chocolate cream pie.  His parents were able to join us and that's always a treat.  Zachary must have had a big day as he fell asleep during dinner.    It's nice to take a day out and remember Travis.  He has brought so much joy (with just a little bit of stress :) ) into my life.  I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with him.

I got to go to Oregon  (where I grew up) and visit for a few days.  It was so much fun seeing my old high school and seeing and visiting with dear friends. ( L to R)  Me, Wendy and Kathleen

The Moore Family is like my second family.  Kathleen (far right) and I have known each other since 7th grade.  Amer (middle) is Kath's little sister and we have become great friends as she came to Utah for a bit and lived with me.  I will always cherish the memories I have with them both.  I know we have many more memories to create and I can't wait.

My brother Jay lives in Oregon so I got to see him and his family while I was there.  I was lucky to get one picture with him and thank him for taking the time to visit with me.  He is doing well and guess what?? He's a grandpa and he loves it.

(L to R) Elsa, Me and Gabby.  It was so fun to see my nieces.  Elsa  is the proud mommy of Porter (pictured later with grandma) and Gabby is a Junior this year and is on the dance team.  I got to watch her dance and I'm not bios or anything but she is the cutest one out there.

(L to R)  Felix (my nephew), me and Samuel.  I hardly saw Samuel while at my brothers house as he was off playing with Felix the whole time.  Thank you Felix for entertaining my son.

(L to R) Great Aunt Tami, Porter and Grandma (Tammy)  This little guy is spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa with lots of love. 

Gracie is Kathleen's daughter.  She is the sweetest thing ever.  The thing is that she is only 11 years old and only has 1 or 2 inches more and she'll be taller than me.  I told her that I'm going to have to wear higher heels next time.

The funnest part about my trip to Oregon is that Samuel got to go with me.  It was so much fun to have him there with me.

 (L to R)  Samuel, Brady and Brooks (Kathleen's boys)  Sam had so much fun playing with the boys.  He played hard all day long and thanks again Brady and Brooks for playing with Samuel.

Samuel had an extra special experience.  The captain of the plane invited Sam to come sit in the cock pit before the plane took off.  He got to press some buttons and levers.  The captain even gave him a special hello over the intercom. Thank you to that captain.  It made Samuel's trip.

We had Thanksgiving in Arco, ID at my parents church.  We had tons of yummy food and lots of fun.  I wish I would have taken pictures of the table decorations.  My sister Amy did such a good job.  My mom put some games together for the grand-kids to play.  (L to R)  Ty, Briton, Samuel and Jackson.  This game they had to run to a chair and sit down on the balloon and pop it. There where many more games likes this and the grand kids had so much fun.  Thank you grandpa and grandma for hosting this years Thanksgiving.

This is Samuel trying to pop the balloon.  I didn't get any pictures of Aria and Zachary as they were sleeping most of the time.  We were going to say with my sister Maria all week end but end up coming home Friday morning as they had ear infections and strep throat (as we found out after we took them to the doctor when we got home).  I felt so bad for them and they are doing much better now.

This is Grandma Lori (my younger sister) with my great nephew Raydon.  I sure hope I look as good as my sister when I'm a grandma.