Easter 2012

We started Easter weekend off with an egg hunt at Harmony Park. Noah and Sophie joined Ellie...

What do you know ~ Russ & Lance were matching!

 

Easter morning the kids woke up to find candy and swim suits in their baskets...

 (Russ in the background is pretty funny)

After that we tried to have a little discussion about the real meaning of Easter but I think everyone was distracted. Maybe next year the Easter Bunny will visit on Friday night instead of Saturday night!

The girls went home Sunday morning so it was just Russ, Noah, and I left to be matchy-matchy at church. 

I'm grateful for the Easter season and the reminder it is of our Savior's life he lived as an example for us, and the life he gave as a sacrifice for us. The knowledge I have of His atonement brings so much happiness to my life!

More pictures from March

 Noah loved this day when both Russ and I jogged him to school. I loved the sight I saw when I was trailing behind.

We LOVE babysitting Lucy...

(Noah needs lessons from Ellie on how to style Lucy's hair - it turned out SO bad this day! But Luce stood so still for him like a good girl!)

Kaitlyn turned 12 ~ we had dinner at Red Robin and did dessert and opened presents at home.

 

I took Noah out for lunch to celebrate the good behavior he's had in school for several weeks straight. We went to Panda Express. Since he was a baby he has always loved Chinese food, because he can't get enough of the "nood-ohs".

 The picture isn't great but we went to Tayler's banquet for basketball, where her coach said a lot of nice things about her!

Baseball season started. Noah is playing coach pitch on a team with 13 other boys in our ward. I think this is my favorite time of year. It's so fun to watch them!

Last but not least ~ Russ is enjoying the long board he got for his 39th birthday. Can you say mid-life-crisis? haha I'm just kidding ~ I LOVE my husband and the fact that he is still a kid at heart. I really wouldn't want him to act his age ALL the time!

San Francisco

Russ and I took a 4-day trip to San Francisco after we were sealed. We had a great time even though it was cold & rainy the whole time we were there! We took so many pictures so I grouped them up...

This was at Lombard Street (the crooked road). We hiked all the way up and all the way down. The view was well worth it!

This was Alcatraz Island. It was so interesting to learn about the prison and see it in real life!

We made sure to visit Pier 39 like everyone told us to and I loved the sourdough bread bowl. We took the transformer pic for Noah!

These pictures were mostly to show the beauty of San Fran... and to show that we visited Dottie's for breakfast one day as someone suggested!

On the rainiest day, we were in search of Ghirardelli Square. After getting off the bus we walked about a mile in the rain before seeing the back of the building and the GHIRARDELLI sign. I was so glad to see it!! We shared a chocolate peanut butter sundae and I wish we could've made it back there another time to try more!

We walked through Golden Gate Park (also on the rainiest day). It was so pretty but so wet. We were trying to find our lunch stop, Park Chow - which had also been a suggested eatery!

We were in San Francisco on Russ's 39th birthday. The day started out with a work out in the hotel's gym and then we toured the city the rest of the day. 

We barely made it to the Golden Gate Bridge before heading to the airport on our last day there. It was the coldest day and for me that means I would rather be sitting inside the bus, but I'm glad to say we saw it. I thought of Full House when we visited this landmark!

We saw a few men dressed as women during our stay. One of them sat in front of us on the bus, and the other was shopping for chocolate with us in a Ghirardelli store. I think the one at Ghirardelli knew that I was taking a picture of him (bottom right pic).

Due to the weather, my hair was hideous the whole time! The first day, I flat ironed it and within hours it was frizzy. So the rest of the time I wore a hat or a pony tail. These pictures are to document the weather!

Overall, we had a great time despite the weather. It's fun to spend time together no matter what!

Our sealing day

March 13, 2012

Russ and I were sealed in the Mesa, AZ temple!

It was such a beautiful day outside, and I LOVE this shot of the temple. 

 

{Alisse took pictures for us and did a great job. The funniest line of the day was when Scott told her she had taken enough pictures of us and she responded with "I'm just tryin to pay the bills" hahaha... she hasn't charged us for her services yet and I owe her big time!!}

After the temple we met our families at Cheesecake Factory then headed to the airport for a 2nd honeymoon to San Francisco!

 

This day was one that we looked forward to for so long. It was a long process to get approval from The First Presidency, and I was the happiest person when we got our letter of approval in the mail. For journaling purposes, I will write a little about the day. It started out a little rough. Through the acts of other people Satan tried to put a damper on the day for us. Russ told me on the way to the temple that he felt it was a testament of what an important thing it was that him and I were about to do. The adversary has a history of trying to disturb important events. I felt the same way and knew that no matter what, that day would feel special and important things WERE happening for our family. As soon as we made it inside the temple, things turned around and everything was peaceful. I love the temple for that reason. Our sealer said some special things that I hope to never forget. He talked about the importance of returning to the temple often and also that we should continue to put one anothers' happiness above anyone or anything else (besides God of course). I loved having our parents and siblings there with us, along with Bishop Durrant and President Bradshaw. Each one of them made a sacrifice that day to be with us and I am so thankful for the family I come from and the family I married into. I am also thankful for our bishop and stake president and all the work they did to help make this happen for us. Most of all, I love that I was sealed for time & all eternity to my sweet Russ. I still love to spend every second possible with him, and the feeling of knowing we can be together forever is indescribable!