here we are at the zoo

                                          

Cater the Spazzzzz! Cutest kids ever!

Memorial Day BBQ

Michael and Ashli had everyone over for a pre Memorial Day BBQ. Their backyard is so nice and the meal was delish! Thanks for a fun BBQ! After dinner we walked down to a farm that had exotic animals. It was fun to spend the holiday with family. It was also nice to reflect on loved ones who have passed away (I thought of Mema a lot) and to pay tribute to those who have fought for our freedom.

I gave Anna a dill pickle and she loved it. Reminded me of when Emily was a baby. She loved pickles.

Ethan thought it was so cool that Ashli and Michael have this torches in their back yard like on Survivor. Elsa by her torch :)

Yum, grilled corn on the cob. Anna sure did love the corn. She couldn't get enough. She worked this corn cob over like no ones business.
Sweetness!

Roasting marshmellos for smores! Cute brothers!

This Kangeroo was awesome. So weird to see one on a farm in Utah!

Anna smiling at me! This guy really was a chomper! We had fun feeding him carrots!

Memorial Day

Birthday Girl!

Gracie, Ethan, and Elsa came over for a slumber party and then we spent Memorial Day together. We watched movies (Fantastic Mr. Fox and Astro Boy) and took our time getting ready the next morning. I gave Elsa her bday present since I won't be with her on her actual birthday. I can't believe she is 4! She has such a sparkly personality and heart melting smile. I LOVE her! She cracks me up. We went to lunch and then headed to the park!

AHHHH
We decided to spend the afternoon at Liberty Park. It was so much fun to be there with the kids. They could not believe how big the park was. We walked around the lake and went on rides. We didn't actually get to the play ground. As usual the kids were so good, I love spending time with them.
So we decided we would go out on the paddle boat. My first word of advice...do not wear a knee length skirt on a paddle boat. I felt like I was giving a peep show. The kids and I had so much fun. We did end up going around in circles while trying to figure out how to steer the boat. Gracie and Ethan did a great job peddling like crazy and also got the steering down pretty well also. It was fun to see all the ducklings on the lake.

Snow cones at Liberty Park

Fun weekend! I'm looking forward to the next slumber party!

Spring Break!

I was so excited that Emily invited me to her house for Easter. I had been working really hard at work and hadn't had much down time. I really needed a vacation. So perfect for me to get away for Spring Break! Emily picked me up on April Fools Day. Seriously, why didn't I think to call her and tell her I missed my plane! That would have been a great April Fools joke since it would be very believable! She is such a cute mom! She told me that she was going to pull an April Fools joke on the kids (Mom was the best at this and she was going to carry on the tradition)! She decided to make grilled cheese sandwiches, which the kids love. The sandwiches would be made out of pound cake and orange frosting. I couldn't quite envision it when she told me about it. Check out this picture. She did an amazing job. It looks like a restaurant quality sandwich! So we were all ready with our cameras waiting for a reaction from the kids. They didn't react at all. Parker did say his favorite part was the cheese! They gobbled up their dinner!

Russ was cracking up and said something to the effect of "this April Fools joke is on us. Now the kids are filled with sugar and will probably be up all night!" It was sooooo funny!

The kids ate every little crumb of their grilled cheese!

Emily made Chinese Chicken Salad for dinner. It hit the spot! But I have to say, the grilled cheese sandwiches were sure good!

Dorky picture of me but Emily and I sure had fun taking the kids to How to Train a Dragon in 3D! We also had fun shopping, going out to lunch, etc.

Mom and Dad were able to spend Easter with us! They got in late Friday night. Emily arranged an afternoon for the three of us to spend the afternoon in Tahoe (Thanks Dad and Russ)!

Lake Tahoe is seriously one of my very favorite places. I love how pretty it is and it is so soothing to me!

The lake is so beautiful. The first stop was a little windy!
We stopped at the Burger Shack for lunch. Yum the Jiffy burger (peanut butter and bacon) was delish! I would for sure get it again! We really had a relaxing drive and fun chat. We stopped in Genoa (I'm sure I'm way off on how to spell this) on our way home and got chocolate. Perfect ending to a fun day!

Hoppy Easter..hee hee!

It was so much fun spending Easter with family. On Saturday we had fun dying eggs. Seriously, it was a "crack up" Every egg Parker dyed he broke! Cute little guy! Also on Saturday we went to an Easter egg hunt, well we tried anyway. They started a few minutes early so as we were driving up the scramble for the eggs began. The kids did get to see the Easter bunny and play in the park!
Here are our fancy eggs! Sunday morning the kids got up and went crazy finding the eggs. They found all of them!
Hannah and Parker then went on the search for their Easter Baskets.

Hannah and her Easter basket...she went right for the chocolate!

Parker and his Easter basket. I loved his lamb he got. Parker went right for the peeps!

Emily and I made Easter Baskets for us adults!

This is my favorite Easter picture! Hannah is so cute. It reminds me of when I was one and had a chocolate bunny clenched in my hands in all the Easter pictures.
Easter dinner

(chicken cordon blue, potatoes, asparagus, rolls, and strawberry cake)
It was a nice relaxing Easter!

Parker and Hannah

I loved spending time with Parker and Hannah. I wanted to spend time with them before the new baby comes. Emily is so cute preg! I can't wait to have a new niece. It was fun talking about names and helping Emily decide how to arrange the room etc.

Hannah and Parker are sooooo cute together. I love this picture of them laughing and having a good time together!

Parker is quite the artist. I loved his drawing of his lion. One night Parker and I had a good ole time playing legos....he is growing up!

Hannah is such a little Diva...I love it. Check out her glasses. She loves her hair done, wears jewelry, and loves her nails painted. She was sick the last day but was still sweet as ever! Thanks Russ and Emily for a great Easter weekend! I was really sad to leave.

Happy Birthday Mom

Mom I am glad you were in Utah so we could celebrate your birthday with you Mom! You are so much fun to be around and I wish we lived closer.

Cute Mom and Elsa!

Yummy birthday dinner!

What is a birthday party without games! We had a big grizzy chicken fight! The funniest part was Jaime and Mom trying to team up!
Cake and presents! I love you Mom!

Baby Shower

I went to my friend Emily's baby shower. She is due at the end of April. I am excited because she lives right across the hall from me and I will get to go snuggle her baby. She is a great friend, I am glad she is in my life!

Go Grizzlies!

ISAT had a fund raiser to raise money for abuse victims and their families. A portion of the tickets to the Grizzlies Hockey game went to ISAT. Thanks family for supporting ISAT. It was such a fun night. Steve, Michael, and I couldn't believe that we were playing the Bakersfield Condors. The goalie's jersey looked like it said Piepmeir on the back so we were going to start cheering for Jeff P. :) It was a good game. It went into overtime, unfortunately we lost. The best part was being there with family! Here are the Grizzlies! Look at Anna's smile...picture perfect! We all had fun chatting, cheering, and eating fun snacks!

Gracie and Ethan are true sports fans. They were into the game and cheered like crazy! I can't believe how much they are growing up!

Anna and Elsa have matching shirts on, just different colors! They were SOOOO good during the game!Michael and Ash looking fabulous!

So cute!

How precious is this picture? Anna went crazy with the noise maker things. She had no problem working them over. Below is a video of her working them.