Happy Easter!

It took us a while to finally get these pictures taken of Oswald and Matilda in their Easter outfits, but we thought they were worth the wait!

We also went and took pictures with the Easter Bunny, they weren't quite as  cute...

First of all, it looks like I was the most excited to be there, but the truth is Kevin and I weren't even planning on being in the picture.  Matilda did a 180 on us and went from being so excited about the Easter Bunny to psycho crazy scared! She started kicking and screaming right as we were going to set her on the Easter Bunny's lap then knocked Kevin's bunny ears (like mine) off his head, pulled the bow out of her hair and acted like we were trying to abduct her or something. Kevin had to sneak her back into the picture, by blocking her view of the Easter Bunny. On the other hand we had Oswald who was excited to be held by the Easter Bunny and get his picture taken...one good baby is better than none at all!

We celebrated Easter with Kevin's family everyone got together and it was super fun to have a big Easter get together it's been YEARS since we've been able to do that.

Unfortunately, we didn't get many good pictures, we were using our camera to video tape the kids finding their baskets (which we hid) Matilda found Oswald's first then, she easily found her's. We hid them in Kevin's parents entertainment cabinet (where they keep toys) so we knew it was just a matter of time before they were found.

Here is Matilda finding her's (it's kinda blurry)

Daddy helping the kids with their baskets/treats.

The Easter FAVORITE this year...Marshmallow Bunny Pops!

In-between Conference sessions it wasn't raining very hard so we headed up to the Portland Temple to walk around.

Matilda REALLY liked the flowers...maybe too much...

Oops!!

We MOVED!!!

With Kevin no longer working at Neff, we packed up and headed north!! (Our kids were already there so we were able to get packed and moved in 3 days!!) Whoo hoo!!!

We couldn't have done it without the help of my AWESOME friend Lisa who showed up at our doorstep ready to pack!! THANK YOU SOOO MUCH, LISA!!!!

We moved in with this CUTE couple!

Moving in with the "in-laws" I know sounds horrible, but built in "babysitters" who can complain?!!! It's GREAT!!

This is the view from our "new" bedroom, our "new" home is right on the Willamette River.

Kevin's parents live just about 15 minutes from Portland, it's such a FUN city! Our favorite dates have been downtown.

The Photo Shoot

So, of course I happen to be wearing the SAME swimsuit as my pregnant niece Ashley, so of course a photo shoot was necesito!

Ashley is seriously the most AWESOME pregnant lady ever, she was the only chic who could hang, although I do have to admit I'm surprised she never went into labor!

While the Kids are Away...the Parents DO Play!

While our kids were up at Grandma and Grandpa Wattles, Kevin and I were able to fit in some much needed FUN time.

We saw Alice in Wonderland in 3-D IMAX, not quite sure why the guy taking the picture said it was a good one?! (I think he might have still had his 3-D glasses on!)

I also got to go to the skate park and watch Kevin skate, which I haven't done for years! But, I used to do almost everyday while we were dating...I was such a good girlfriend! (I think, I also need to add, before we all forget and Kevin says it never happened!) I taught myself how to: pump up to the top of the 6ft half pipe(dropping in never ended well), ride a few small ramps and of course kick around...this was all while we were dating and because I got really bored with just watching! )

We also were finally able to use almost all of the restaurant gift cards that we've "collected" over the years!

We only had one weekend that Kevin wasn't out of town on business that we could go to Magic Mountain, we'd been wanting to go for almost 10 years now and just haven't made it there. Turns out that one Saturday happened to be also the one Saturday that it rained in Southern California (not really but that's what it felt like) ...but we went anyway - we're hardcore!! (or desperate!)

By the end we were cold and wet and our shoes were soggy, but it was totally worth it and we had a blast! (But I do need to add that when you're going really fast on a roller coaster, rain feels more like hail and your face stings for a few minutes after the ride is over!)

We also were invited on an AMAZING trip to Mexico!

Thank You!!!...Ashley, Brad, Holly, and Mark

(P.S. B-Rad your family is AWESOME!)(Oh, and Chelsea you're pretty cool too!)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

2010

Matilda  2yrs

Oswald  9 months

And as an added BONUS!!...

A look back through the years...

Matilda 1yr

2009

Matilda 3 months

2008

 

Dexter almost 2yr

2005

03-02-01....The Count Down to Eternity!!

On March 2, 2001 Kevin and I got Hitched!! So our anniversary has always been easy to remember 3-2-1. (I'm a numbers person so our wedding date had to be a special number...silly, I know, but that's just me!) Then I came up with the "Count Down to Eternity" thing, because well...I'm just sooo creative!! And I used the "term" a lot while we were engaged, just about as much as possible! I'm sure it drove more than 1 person nuts, but I thought it was funny!

So, here is one of our wedding pics...

And here is my favorite one...

The reason this is my favorite is because the photographer told the guys to "dip" the ladies and give them a kiss and he told the ladies to "kick up" your leg...Kevin and I were the only ones who followed directions correctly!! Kevin's parents you gotta give them credit for trying, and obviously my parents were too busy making-out to hear the rest of the instructions!!!

Our anniversary was special this year because we didn't have our kids, they are on vacation visiting Grandma and Grampa Wattles. So, Kevin and I took FULL advantage of that and we first celebrated by going out to lunch at this really good pizza joint, Toppers, where we both got 1 trip to the salad bar and a personal double pepperoni pizza....mmmmm!! (we don't usually eat out so this was big time!)

That night I got to pick dinner and Kevin got to pick the movie. (Two things we haven't done together since Matilda was born)

I picked The Cheesecake Factory

And Kevin picked Avatar IMAX 3-D

We didn't end up making it to the movie on our anniversary, because we missed the earlier showing and frankly we go to bed early and the 10:30 showing that ended after 1am just didn't appeal to us old fogies! But, our anniversary didn't just end at dinner; since we hadn't gotten each other a gift, we decided to just go to See's and hand pick a box of chocolates. The box ended up weighing way more than a pound by time we were through picking, but it was soo worth it and so much fun! Our anniversary was a BLAST!

Photo Shoot Gone..."Woof!"

While Tara was in town (she is an excellent photographer) we decided to do our St. Patrick's Day pictures of the kids. Turns out somebody's dog came and "stole the show!"

He gave Matilda a kiss...

She actually liked it and started giggling!

Oswald got a few kisses too...

He didn't like his as much!!

Matilda has always LOVED dogs ever since her very first introduction to "Dusty" on her 1st Christmas (he was Zeb's gift to Holly/himself that year) and coincidentally "ruff, ruff" ended up being one of Matilda's 1st words.

So, she made great friends with this doggy

And we ended up getting more smiles out of Matilda than we ever have in a photo shoot, she usually HATES pictures and makes me question everytime... "Why are we doing this again?!"

And poor Oswald, our little HAPPY baby who always performs sooo well and always gives a perfect smile on demand....

He DIDN'T like the dog!!!

Even when Matilda gave him hugs...

And kisses....

He still didn't want any part of pictures, it could have been because he was uncomfortable because he had an ear infection again or perhaps it could have been because...well, did you notice the top button of his shirt was buttoned!!! Yeah, my Mom nearly choked him out getting that thing done up!!!!

So this was our SAD little boy...

And this was our HAPPY little girl...

And this...we aren't quite sure what this is...

But, we thought it was a pretty funny picture!!!

Matilda wasn't too happy that the doggy's owner took it away, but it was probably for the best because...

It looks like she may have gotten fleas!!

Don't worry, we did end up with some good pictures, because...well, Tara is AMAZING!!

And this last one really has nothing to do with the story, but we begged our Mom not to "steal" this from the grocery store!!!