Easter blessings

Had a humble little Easter with my boys. It was perfect because we were together! I am working this weekend so church was a struggle. I might have dozed off a few times... and thank goodness for the mothers lounge. It's a nice little break in there. We got home and Dan had 1 and 1/10 leftover ribs from Dreamland and leftover baked beans and I had instant mashed potatoes and green beans (a favorite meal of mine) for our big Easter lunch... Then I slept all day. We didn't have dinner. Dan took Jude for a walk around campus and got ready for his research presentation he had today. 

Thank goodness Grandma had been here and left us some Easter treats! Here is Jude's Easter basket on his first Easter! So sweet. :) It had the book Heaven is for Real (for kids), three wooden toy trains, teething toys, and a precious little outfit. And thank you for the candy for me and Dan!

We are so thankful for our Savior who was resurrected so long ago. What a miracle that he suffered through the atonement and died for us only to rise again three days later. It truly is the most amazing miracle this earth has ever witnessed. Because of it, I am able to live with my family forever. What a beautiful blessing! 

Happy Easter!

I love this little face he makes. :)

halloween hoopla

Had so much fun Friday night at our impromptu Halloween party. I never love my husband more than when he decides we need to turn our night into a Halloween party &get all dressed up. 

Muslim cowboy and asian geisha princess

The night included an all-out dance party to spooky tunes (Monster Mash, Purple People Eater, the Nightmare before Christmas soundtrack, any song ending with evil laughs/cackles/howling, etc)... 

 Making homemade pizzza with the help of our new breadmaker (soo delicious!)... 

just a little scary

Carving our pumpkin (we each took a side)...

tums in the background of course

and watched as scary of a movie as I can handle (The Conspirator)...

I got too tired and we didn't have time to finish all our fun, so the next morning we continued our festivities by making homemade caramel and drinking hot apple cider.

We're all about making the most of the season at hand.

h a p p y  h a l l o w e e n i n g !

"let freedom riiiing..."

our 4th of july was very different than any we have had in the past. usually it is filled with lots of family&friends! this year it was down to the basics, him&her was all we really needed. the 4th of july two years ago was when dan and i got lost together at rigby lake, he wow-ed me with his rock skipping skills, &we held hands for the first time at the idaho falls firework show!

i worked the night of the 3rd &was a seriously tired MESS. we went to church, loved the patriotic songs in sacrament meeting with the gusto organ player, loved our little ward, drove home karin &the missionaries. got home&we fell asleep [dan was keeping me company:], &i woke up to a beautiful home-cooked meal dan made for me! steak, biscuits, corn, parmesan potato wedges, &pink lemonade- pretty good american meal right there!

we then played a game of LIFE [rolltidedan vs rachamajama], had some pink lemonade ice cream shakes [dan's delicious creation] made rice krispie treats in the utmost patriotic way, played uno, &dan played me some songs of the guitar. it was the greatest night with the couches pushed up against the walls and a big blanket on the floor, we love just cuddling and laughing and playing:]. we then headed off to see the firework display at sokol park, we found it just in time. it's extremely difficult trying to find a place to watch fireworks on land with no elevations and dense overgrown trees everywhere... never had that problem out west! we tuned into the radio&enjoyed the show. on the way home my phone rang&i got called off work [if the census at the hospital is low, they call of a nurse or two so they're not "overstaffed" or paying more nurses than they need. i happily obliged& we continued our night! we watched band of brothers, and continued to eat the entire united states in order of states we didn't care as much for to our favorites. we left california, nevada, idaho, &alabama for last.

i am so thankful for those men who fought for the freedom of their families& their countries. they truly are heroes and will always be remembered. i respect and love deeply my own grandfathers and forever grateful to them for their sacrifices and what they gave up so i can enjoy the life i have today. i will always honor&remember them throughout my life and teach my children so they know and are grateful for the events that took place in the history of our country. regardless of our countries lack of God-fearing leadership & massive economical problems, we still live in the greatest land and must always we proud of and thankful for that!