Wednesday, April 3, 2013

March Madness

Some might think that this post is going to be about basketball!

But, you guessed wrong!

Todays post is brought to you by the craziness that happened at our house in March!

MARCH MADNESS

So, if you are here stay a while!  Maybe some of these pictures will convince you to come down under and visit us!  Just be prepared...when you get here I will cry and when you leave I will cry too!

March is already a little crazy in our house.  We have 3 out of 5 birthdays in this month.

March started out a little rough!  Jared left for Utah for 10 days.  Not only was he going to be out of town for such a long time but he was going home!  I tried really hard not to be jealous (didn't work out)!  

He got to Utah in time for my nephew Morgan to be set a part as a Missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints.  For the next two years he will be serving in the San Antonio, Texas mission.  Since my family is so close it was really hard not to be there to give him the biggest hug goodbye.  {Jared gave him an extra squeeze for me}  I know that he will do amazing things.  Elder Hughes, is seriously one of the hardest workers I know.   Texas is truly blessed to have him! 

After 10 very long long long long days without Jared we were excited for him to come home!  Not only did we miss him and were super duper excited to see him but he had company.....Uncle Mark and Auntie Erin!!!  The kids were beyond excited.  Boston loves his Auntie Erin.  Like for real life (that is my kids new thing when I tell them something and they don't believe me ha)!  Here are a couple exampels for you

1.  When she got married he was so sad!  With tears in his eyes "he asked why she was getting married!"

2.  After we told the kids that Mark and Erin were coming to visit us Bostons first response was, "can Mark sleep on the couch and can I sleep with Erin in my bed!"

Now, don't get me wrong.  He loves his Uncle but just really has a special bond with Erin!  However, Mark has a fan at our house as well...poor Mark couldn't escape Paxton.  Wether it be at 7 am and Paxton jumping in bed with him to play Wreck it Ralph or Pax simply using him as his own personal pillow wherever we went.

As soon as they got here we took off to the beach!!


Sand Castles were assembled!


Holes were dug!!


These little shacks run along almost every beach.  They are one of my favorite things about the beach.  I love how colorful they are! They bring such personality to each beach.


We stayed at the beach until the sun went down!

Each day after that had its own agenda.  Some days were big and some days were small.  

We celebrated Jareds 31st birthday!  My man is gettin' old! ;)


Sadly, this is the only pic we got of him on his birthday!
{at least he looks happy}

We did got to an amazing cafe for lunch.  Our lunch was really good but our dessert was aMAzInG
brownie + french vanilla ice cream + salted popcorn
{seriously...try it}

On Jareds birthday the kids school had its Twilight Sports
We all went and watched them particpate in each sporting event
They did so good and we were so proud of our little athletes
They both got 1st place in their heat for running!





Good job kiddies!

We took the train to the city one day and that was really fun.
Paxton came with us and he was a champ.
I really think my only complaint of the whole day was my parking ticket.
Oh well!
We walked "straight" to the Queen Victoria Market
Shopped at some shops 
Looked at some old buildings
Lunch and dessert filled our tummies
We walked some more
And more

Train ride!


Best mates

Ok, so now wait...this is the best dessert...EVER!

Took them to see the Melbourne Temple


I absolutely love this shot that Erin captured

Our next adventure was to Phillip Island
We took them to Woolamai Beach
To the coolest
sand 
hill 



 One of the best days ever!
 Their is a reason while Pax is the only one in a towel
Maybe one day I will get to that story... :)
 Love this! 
Erin and I went to High School together.
Both Love to dance!
She has freckles...I have freckles!
We both have a passion for movies!
Penny candies from Johnnys are our thing!
Together we probably have 127 swimsuits!
When I first started dating Jared she is the only one that I really knew.  
She has always been super sweet to me.  
The last couple of years she has been super busy with graduating college, coaching a high school dance team, and getting married.  I have been busy with having kids, working, and being a mom.
Somewhere in all the hustle and bustle of life I feel like we have not really had a chance to be just us and for lack of a better term, connect!  
Soooo, my favorite thing of everything we did (and we did a lot of things) was "reconnecting" with Erin.  We got to talk about life.  Like really talk!  We also laughed a lot.  We cried a little.  I really am so blessed to have her as a sister!  She is truly beautiful, inside and out!

Sheesh, didn't mean to get all mushy!
My bad!

On their last day we took them to Healsville Sanctuary so that they could see all the Aussie animals at their finest!
Back seat pictures are a MUST!








We came home that night and made fruit salsa!


Six days goes by really fast when you are having so much fun!
We literally had the best time. 
Our kids were in heaven with all the attention.
I was in heaven with the extra hands!
And, I am going to say that Mark and Erin were in heaven 
surrounded by all of our Aussie Awesomeness!

Thank you so much for coming and visiting us! 
Love you guys!



Don't forget to see our movie coming out this summer!

3 Yr. Kinder


Paxton had one of his firsts…
 





































His first day of school ever!
He was so excited and such a little champ!

 





































He seriously was so excited and didn’t even look back.
Parts of me wanted him to be that kid that was clinging to his mom.
He is my baby and as happy as I am that he is at school I am shockingly, just as sad.
Since moving down under he has been my one true constant thing.
He is with me when I wake up and he is with me when I go to bed.
He comes on my errands.
I go on walks with him and he takes naps for me.
We sealed that deal with an Eskimo kiss.

As I walked out the door and was feeling sad.
I got into the golden zit and I am not going to lie
That little piece of freedom felt a little good.
Okay, maybe more than a little!
It felt good!


But when it came time to pick him up I got excited.
When he saw me between all the other kids he just took
Off running as fast as his little legs would take him.
His shoulders were up and he was swaying them from side to side.
When he got to me he jumped with all his force
And in the cutest and not so quite voice exclaimed
“I DID IT MOMMY!!!”


Pax is 3

We woke up bright and early on Paxtons birthday and off we 
headed to the airport!  
(Jared was on the Sunshine coast with my mom
spreading the doTERRA love!)

We got to the airport and three little kids
could hardly wait to see Grandpa Terry!!


We waited....

And waited.......


Best Birthday Present eVeR!!!

My poor dad was so tired but we had plans! 
It was Paxtons birthday for goodness sakes!

So off we headed to TIME ZONE
Or, as my dad called it
"Time Out!"

The kids def. got their game on



The kids had the best time playing with Grandpa
and each other!

We went to lunch, had ice cream, and opened a few presents!

We went to the store and Pax fell asleep.
In all my years as a mom
{all 7 of them}
I have never had a kid fall asleep in the grocery cart!

But, now I have!

We finally got home and my dad had brought with him the movie
Here Comes the Boom

The kids {and my dad} are a sucker for Kevin James
We love Mall Cop at our house!

They were totally glued to the show.
At the end when he goes into his big
fight they all got a little scared and they jumped
onto Grandpas lap!


And when it got all emotional at the end..
everyone cried!
Even my dad! 
That is probably one of my favorite things about him.
He is all big and macho but underneath all that
you will find a guy with the biggest heart in the 
whole entire world!  Softie!

I put all my kids to bed after the movie and my dad to bed
and then I came downstairs to clean up the kitchen
and just relax after an exhausting day.  

After about an hour I went to go upstairs to put on my jammies
and I decided to check on my kids

and this is where I found them!!!

Kind of a blurry picture but it melted my heart into a million little pieces!
Safe to say that someone {or two or three} really misses Grandpa!

We celebrated Paxtons birthday again on Monday when my 
Mom and Jared were home!

We had the missionaries over for dinner and 
we all celebrated with Pax.

We sure love this kid with our whole heart.
He is such a good hearted little boy!
We love him!

Happy Birthday Pico!
{loves + hugs + kisses}






"I'm free!"