April: This Month is Such a Special One

April 

It is kind of a big deal in our house.

It's the month that two of my favorite people in all of the world came into the world!

Ammely had her golden birthday this year - she turned three on the third! And we celebrated Ammon's 27th birthday too.

When I would ask Ammely what she wanted for her birthday she would tell me one of two things:
1. She wanted to play with friends.
2. She wanted to be happy.

She's a very loved little girl and lots of people came together to make sure both of those things happened.
We threw her a bit of a party at a local park where she would be able to play with friends AND be happy. With some date juggling, we managed to make it all come together on a day that just about everybody could make it. THANK YOU everybody for being so flexible and for showing up. Truly, she had a wonderful day.

In fact, the next day she, on her very own accord, said "Mommy, thank you for my birthday park." Gosh. Heart melted. That's what moms work so hard for. I think it was a total success.

We didn't just party at the park for her birthday though. Grandma and Grandpa Breakall and Uncle Jared came in for the special occasion. Which, of course, made everything more special and more of an occasion.

In fact, Grandpa Breakall's arrival was a complete surprise. Grandma and Grandpa Lords (sneaky, sneaky people) dropped him off at our house mere moments before we left to the park for her party. Talk about a birthday surprise! We were SO glad he could be here.

There was a LOT going on that weekend (Ammely's birthday, Easter and General Conference to name a few) and so we did a LOT with our special guests.

We went to Queen Creek's Easter bash.

It was pretty sweet for a free event. Went last year and will probably go next year too.

We hit up In-N-Out.

We ate at Grandpa Lord's house. His Chinese noodles are good enough to bathe in. 

We had a full day of birthday fun on Ammely's actual birthday day.

Including the traditional wake-up singing and presents.

She got the Minnie Mouse boat when we sang to her when she woke up. Then she took it downstairs to go with her other present from Mommy and Daddy...

...A water table! Best $5 we ever spent. Seriously.

Perry the Parrot from Grandpa

Minnie Mouse Umbrella from Uncle Jared

She LOVES to have an umbrella when she plays in our "raining" - a.k.a. sprinklers for our backyard.

Dress-Up Clothes from Grandma and Grandpa! Plus a camera, that I ironically never took a picture of.

And an ice cream run with Grandpa.

It's a tradition after all. No, not a birthday tradition. Just a Grandpa tradition (those are the best kind)!

We love Grandpa ice cream trips!...even if it hurts us...

1st brain freeze

And the aquarium.

Ammely loves aquarium fish. She goes to look at the fishies every time Daddy goes to the store with us. In fact, we recently had a random conversation where we asked Ammely what kind of animal she would like to be. Her answer? "A fish at the store." Haha. Who picks that? Ammely does, I guess.

Anyways, we thought it would be perfect to take her to the aquarium on her birthday! And Grandma Breakall was SO nice to take us all.

Grandma, even though Ammely had her cranky moments, you should know that she loved it. She still talks about seeing the fishies with "Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa and Jared"

And Organ Stop pizza.

How did we not take a single picture? This was awesome. If you've never been to Organ Stop Pizza, you must go try it. It is a one of a kind experience that adults and kids can both enjoy. Plus, the pizza is delish. 

We had some down time around the house.

We had an Easter egg hunt with the cousins!

We had an awesome hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Baysinger's this year!

Aunt Amber and Grandpa Breakall kept the kiddos distracted in the back yard while the "Easter Bunny" went to work in the front yard - gosh, Grandma and Grandpa Baysinger sure have the BEST set up for family fun.

Then we gave the smaller ones a headstart.

And by the end, everyone had quite the haul. It was a truly amazing assortment of goodies.

We watched Conference.

Conference is my favorite time of year! I am so lucky that it happens TWICE a year. We always get Donuts and chocolate milk for breakfast during Saturday morning session - this year from Bosa. Mmmm.

Lunch and afternoon session at Grandma and Grandpa Baysinger's. (this year also included the egg hunt!)

**cute sidenote**

Ammely hurt her foot at the egg event. She wouldn't let me or any other adult anywhere near her. But when her cousins offered to help, well, she was totally cool with that. Thank heavens for thoughtful cousins.

Sunday morning we stay at home.

Sunday afternoon and dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Lord's house (this year also included Easter dinner! - YUM!)

We had Easter Morning fun.

The Easter Bunny hides all of the kiddos eggs and then leaves their basket next to them while they're sleeping. Then as they follow the eggs the bunny left around the house they find their very own chocolate Easter Bunny.

Goodbyes.

The weekend of all weekends came to a close quickly though and we had to say goodbye to Grandpa Breakall. Then Uncle Jared. Then Grandma Breakall.

What could we possibly do to after a weekend like that? What could we do to pass the days away until Daddy's birthday?

Plleeenntty.

The Sandbox

Daddy spent lots of time and lots of muscle converting a giant old tractor tire we had laying around into a sand box for our girls. Goal? Complete it by Ammely's birthday. With a bit of help from Uncle Jared when he was here we had total success. It is awesome and has already been a source of hours of fun. Aren't dads the best? (And helpful uncles!)

HAHAHA - this is actually an excited look - not an angry one.

The shade Ammely received from Grandma/Grandpa Baysinger for her birthday works perfectly.

The sandbox and the shade are even fun when the moms refuse to open it! Haha.

The Water Table

Did I mention that this was the best $5 I ever spent? We play with this ALL of the time.

The Garden

Ammon has really discovered a passion and gift for growing things. His favorite thing to do is head straight out to the backyard and check on our nine trees, three grape vines, two raspberry bushes, one blueberry bush, strawberry patch, watermelon patch and garden box. (Can you believe that all grows in our yard?!) 

He is basically amazing and the girls LOVE to join him. Such good memories and lessons they are enjoying together.

Family Pictures

Amber was SO nice and spent SO much time with us. She got a few WAY cute shots despite the difficulty in working with our children.

FHE

Still going strong on our re-commitment to Family Home Evening each week. This was a particularly memorable lesson about Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden.

Bathroom Re-Do

I saw this wall decal on Amazon and fell in love with it.

This spurred me into a passionate bathroom decorating craze. I started throwing together possibilities on the computer.

After listening to several of my daydreams, my mom generously surprised me with the decal AND the shower curtain that I wanted. SUCH a surprise - I am SO spoiled!

And Ammon was kind enough to let me go crazy with it - he even helped me paint! For a man that hates to paint, that is a sign of true love.

I think it all turned out pretty dang cute. 

Daddy's Birthday

Daddy's birthday came at last - signaling the end of the month. We always LOVE celebrating with Daddy. He is so much fun and we love him so much!

This year we celebrated mostly with food.

Birthday Blini for breakfast.

Ribs/Corn on the Cob/Watermelon for dinner - it was amazing if I do say so myself.

M&M Suicide Bowl - every kind of M&M in one bowl

He also got Big Hero 6. One of our favorite new Disney movies.

We built a giant fort in the living room and ate our hearts out while we watched his new movie.

Then we ate ice cream cake.

It was a good night. Turning twenty-seven never tasted so good.