Kaylin the photographer

Kaylin wanted Lauren to lay on the (three) blankets with "Baby Susie". Notice that Baby Susie has toys, including Kaylin's favorite purse that Nana and Grandpa brought her from Mexico, and Lauren has zero toys. Kaylin decided that she wanted to take their picture. All of the pictures in this post were taken by Kaylin.

"I want to take a picture of you, Mommy." Uh... nice one.

Ah, yes, the finger picture. I think another finger was blocking the flash.

Vancouver temple open house

This past Saturday we were able to attend the open house of the Vancouver temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The temple is located in Langley, BC. First we watched a short video about the history of temples, dating back to Old Testament times, and the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Vancouver area. Then we were able to walk through the Vancouver temple. It was beautiful! The attention to detail is truly amazing.

Pictures are not permitted inside, but here are a few shots of us outside after our tour.

Us at the back of the temple. As you can see, it was a little windy.

Us with my parents at the front of the temple.

The front.



Kaylin smelling the flowers.

ANYONE can attend the open house. It continues through April 24. It is from 8:00 am - 8:00 pm Tuesday - Saturday and 8:00 am - 8:00 pm on Monday.

Easter Festivities

We went to Eric's parents' house for Easter dinner.

Look! I do exist!

Kaylin and Ryanne at dinner. Ryanne wore the... uh.... head wrap for half the night.

Kaylin really got into the jelly bean hunt.

Kaylin and Ryanne showing off their loot.

I made these cupcakes for dessert. Toppers from here.

Lauren was worn out.

My grandparents were in Kent visiting my grandma's sister. After dinner we visited them. Lauren had a "wardrobe malfunction" so she didn't get to show off her pretty Easter dress.

Lauren and Gigi.

Lauren and Papa.

Easter Basket

Kaylin often gets up earlier than we do. Especially on the weekends. Especially when she knows that the Easter Bunny visited her house and left her a basket full of fun stuff. Eric got up to check on her and she immediately took him to where her basket was hidden.

She was most excited about the Princess puzzle.

She also got egg shaped sidewalk chalk, a pez dispenser, and of course a bunch of candy. Interestingly, the pez dispenser was empty when we got up. The Easter Bunny filled it with pez. It took Kaylin a long time to admit to eating the candy.

She had to do the puzzle right away.

She did the puzzle a few times that morning. Notice the awesome hair that sticks out the back of her head in the morning.

Egg Dyeing and Family Dinner

Between sessions of General Conference on Saturday, we dyed eggs.

Kaylin had fun coloring on the eggs before putting them in the dye.

She cracked a few eggs while dropping them "carefully and gently" into the dye.

The stickers and egg stands were a hit.

Some of Kaylin's finished eggs.

After Conference we went to Buca di Beppos in Lynnwood for a DELICIOUS dinner. Eric's sister and her family and an aunt and uncle were in town from Portland.

Kaylin loved the HUGE lazy susan in the center of the table. She would move seats and have people spin her food and water to where she was sitting. In the above picture she was attempting to sit in a high chair. She didn't fit very well.

Grammy, Kaylin, and Uncle Parker enjoying the tons of pasta and the views of the Pope.

Church Easter Egg Hunt

Our ward at church has a potluck on the first Friday of every month. Since this month's potluck was two days before Easter, the primary put on a great Easter egg hunt in the classrooms.

The kids 3 and under hunted for eggs in the Nursery classroom.

Kaylin had a fun time finding the eggs.

Kaylin is super excited that I am taking a picture of her and her friend, Kylie.

Eric and Lauren had a fun time too.

Lauren is 4 months old!

Here is our sweet Lauren at 4 months:

I think she was thinking, "Uh.. Mom... why is there a bright light in my face?"

She had her 4 month check up today. Here are her stats:
Weight: 14 pounds (60%)
Length: 2 ft. 1.75 in. / 25.75 in. (94%)
Head: 40.7 cm / 16.02" (43%)

Lauren is still such a good baby. She is starting to reach for and grab things and she rolls from her back onto her side. She has started spinning herself around while on the floor or in her crib. She loves her sister and will always give Kaylin the biggest smiles. We love her so much!

Baby Shower for Angela

Last night Kristina and I hosted a shower for our friend Angela. Eric was fabulous and kept Kristina's girls and Kaylin upstairs in the bonus room for about 3 hours! Lauren went to bed early which worked out great.

The baby's room is going to be decorated in light blue, navy blue, red, and stars. Thus our theme:

I made little tissue paper flowers and a fun star banner with the baby's name. I should have taken a close up picture of the flowers. I put each one in a glass pop bottle and tied a piece of ribbon with colored stars around it. I gave the banner to Angela to take home. We'll see if it ends up in the recycling or on display :-).

We had yogurt parfaits with blueberries and strawberries (plus extra berries on the side), red licorice, red velvet cake balls, and gummy worms.

I just loved this alligator (or is it a crocodile?) box. Too cute!

Angela wasn't too surprised by my gift, a car seat canopy, because she "ordered" it from me last week.

We played Family Feud, baby edition, which was a lot of fun. The shower was a success and Angela got lots of cute clothes and other fun stuff for baby Ian. We can't wait to meet him in 3 weeks!!!

April Fool's Day Crafts

I saw this online and had to share. Hilarious. My favorites are the girls dress to man's shirt refashion and the multitasking mom necklace.