life lately: march

time just keeps flying by. march came and went and i barely remember it. trying to be better at taking photos of the big stuff and the random stuff to remind me what we're doing every day! 

here's a quick run-down.

just a daddy and a little girl with an over-sized 'pack pack', walking to church. 

love that the weather is finally feeling like spring.

visits with our baby friends! come again, kayla and gavin!

and visits with our baby cousin friends! we are so glad you're here, gemma!

grocery shopping with this little squirt now pretty much always involves her own mini cart. and i'm actually ok with it. 

easter egg hunt! except gracie got so overwhelmed by the hoards of people running to get the eggs all at the same time, she ended up just crying and being upset and having jae carry her around, watching everyone else get all the eggs. literally, zero eggs for us. it was totally worthwhile ;)

terrible picture, but these little ones are great chocolate chip cookie making helpers!

just got the bumbo out a couple weeks ago, she's liking it for the most part, when she's not totally starting to slump over.

4 month dr visit! obviously these smiles were pre-shots. poor bebe.

the kids (cousins) had a sleepover at our house the other night (which i'm just realizing i didn't get any other pictures of) and i made them go grocery shopping with me. super fun aunt right here!

i often find these two like this :)

Easter sunday! first matching dresses!!!!!! it's a stretch - i had to buy gracie's in an 18-24 month size, which was the biggest they had. so it was a little short. but i didn't care, i just wanted them to match! 

(too bright for lola and gracie seems to not be sure how to smile on cue yet. best pics we could get)

entertaining during church. she's the sweetest.

i've been doing a 21 day fix workout, including these lovely shakeology smoothies every day. more on that later, but these smoothies have so grown on me! i totally look forward to them.

easter 2015.

this year was a little more exciting than last year, mostly because gracie is older and starting to enjoy the holidays and fun things that go with them more. obviously she still doesn't really "get" it, but it's fun to start doing more things with her anyway.

we had a couple egg hunts this year - a smaller neighborhood one with some of her little friends, and the big farmington city one (jae has to work it, so we tag along) with hundreds of people. she's not the biggest fan of tons of people and gets super sidetracked and a little anxious and unsure sometimes, but it was fun to get out and help her find some eggs!

i only took pictures at the neighborhood hunt, none at the city one.

and then for the actual Easter day, we spent the afternoon having a picnic at the park. the weather was beautiful and we had to take advantage. even zo pup got to come!

i had to work in the evening, so i missed out on dinner, but jae and gracie got to spend the evening with my family. it was a lovely day spent together, listening to the leaders of our church give wonderful messages & remind us of the important things in life. i kind of loved having easter and conference end up on the same weekend. less eggs, more Christ :)

and of course, the little lady in her new Easter outfit!
(i totally forgot to get a picture of her in her dress before i went to work, so my dad was nice enough to snap a few)

(hello, teething!)

sunshine & Easter egg hunts.

it's friday!

have i blogged about anything of importance this week?

nope.

but tomorrow is saturday, and sunday is Easter!

(and this week at work has been non-stop. hello and welcome friday!)

we're celebrating tomorrow with my family.

i'll be busy tonight filling Easter eggs with candy for our big hunt on saturday.

(i put myself/got put in charge of the eggs since i made a big to-do about doing a hunt with all the nieces/nephews. it's Easter...of course we need to do an egg hunt! duh.)

plus it's supposed to be upper 60's and sunshiney for our saturday, and who doesn't want to be outside in that?!

here are a few reminders to help get us (myself) into the spirit this weekend :)

happy Easter!

one for the books

i think this year's Easter will be one of the most memorable Easter weekends in my life.

it started out the Sunday before, when Jae and i had the chance to attend the afternoon session of General Conference. I've never been to a session, and Jae has only once, a long time ago, so it was a new and lovely experience for us both (even if we were way up in the balcony!)

i felt a little weird taking my big camera in, so last minute, i took it out of my purse. when we arrived, i was kind of surprised how many people had their cameras or phones out, taking pictures of themselves in the conference center. i guess it wouldn't have been so strange to have my camera there, but i didn't really feel it was the place for picture taking anyway. so i have no pictures of us or the conference center, but it was all so huge and gorgeous as ever. wow that building is amazing. what a great opportunity. we're so fortunate to live where we do.

my sister and her oldest boy arrived monday afternoon from China. Mr. Hyde was scheduled to have surgery on Thursday at none other than Primary Children's (aka my place of employment). he had what was found to be a dermoid - or in other words, a build-up of tissue in his neck right by his thyroid that needed to be removed. it looked like a giant adam's apple. but since he's only 7 and it seemed to grow considerably in about a years time, my sister decided it wasn't a normal adam's apple, and it needed some checking into. they were instructed China wasn't the place for this surgery, so they came all the way back to Utah for it. we weren't complaining! we love having them here, even if it was only the two of them and not the whole family. here's Hyde post-surgery. he didn't so much feel like smiling.

Hyde's surgery went really well - they got it all out in one piece, and he was back home (to my other sister's house) friday morning. the next few days, the only way you would know he had surgery was by the little bandage on his neck. he was as good as new! take it easy?? no way.

and then it was Saturday. Saturday the 7th.
Saturday marks one of the best days of my life! and i dare say, Jae's too :) we spent most of our afternoon here...

{thank you, mary, for the picture}

for those that don't know, this is the Bountiful, Utah temple. it was a beautifully sunny afternoon. i'm not sure how to describe all that happened that day, except to say that it was a very very special time for us.

exactly 2 years and 3 months after the day we were married,
Jae and i were sealed
for time & all eternity.

everything was perfect. we had family and close friends there, and it was just perfect. a few things happened that didn't feel so coincidental that made the day even better. and i felt a love for my husband that i've never known before.

the whole experience was kind of a lot to take in, but i know it was one of the best decisions i've ever made. i couldn't be happier. Jae has made me one happy wife!

after the sealing was all done, everyone got together for a late lunch put on by my wonderful parents. it was so nice to just hang out and see everyone, eat lots of food and let it all soak in.

we spent the rest of saturday evening with family (Jae's dad and brother also were able to fly in for the weekend, which was so great!).

Sunday morning, we got up early for church. by the afternoon, all the out-of-towners were on their way back home. we took advantage of our quiet, warm Easter afternoon and spent it napping at home with our pup. we had a low-key dinner at my parents, went on a little late-afternoon walk with the pup, and then went home to bed. it was a great day to reflect on all the events of the last couple of days and to remember Christ and his sacrifice he made for us to enjoy the blessings that we do.

so like i said - one of the best Easter's ever. one we will never forget.
i love you forever, Jae.

an appetizer

our Easter weekend started with this...

can we say 16 oz???

{apologies to the vegetarians out there - namely my sister Kellie}

and i'm proud to report that my (rather slender) husband finished this entire plate (plus a few more rolls) and wasn't even sweatin it.

go Jae.

it was a crazy, fun, family-filled, tear jerker, sweet, peaceful weekend. all in one. i didn't take too many pictures because i just wanted to enjoy every minute. but, i do love Easter and it was a most memorable weekend indeed, so i will post more about it soon. xo.

lately {the last couple of weeks}

we got our shower tile all finished. and by we, i mean Jae. i admit, i hardly helped one bit. he did awesome for this only being his second tiling job ever (the first being the floor tile!) and his first wall tiling. turned out well, i think.

how i spent my friday night while Jae was working - pride & prejudice, painted nails in a fun summery color, cuddled up in the blanket. (the pup was next to me but didn't feel like being photographed ;))

a warm, sunny drive with baby girl cuddled in my lap

the wind last week tried to take some of our siding with it. lovely, yes?

don't worry, we won and got it back.

our first fire of the season. this really was lovely!

my car hit a big mile marker - 100,000 miles! good times.

(and it was 77 degrees! that's even better times)

at work, we decided to make Easter baskets for the homeless kids. they turned out awesome!

i apologize for the lack of posts lately. just been busy busy and tired tired. also, turns out not having the internet at your house makes blogging that much more difficult....weird. my sister is here from China for the week (with just one of her kiddos) so we're even more busy trying to pack in as much craziness as we can before she leaves! work has been busy and stressful. Jae's started getting busier with the lawn care/landscaping business. which reminds me....

if you need any yard work/lawn care/aerating/spring clean up of any sort, let us know! Jae will be more than happy to help you out :)

*check out his website here*

happy first week of april!