Easter 2013

Dear Ella,

I LOVE Easter time with you!  Not only is it fun decorating eggs and filling up your Easter basket, but this year we also told the story of the resurrection of the Savior.  I told it to you with some picture cutouts, and then you told the story back to me.  It warms my heart when you talk about your love for Jesus.

On Saturday, we decorated eggs.

 

On Sunday, we looked inside our Easter baskets.  Thanks Nana and Papa for the cool stuff!

  

Then we went outside to hunt for eggs.

 

Then we played with the bubble maker that the Easter Bunny left for you.

We had to take pictures of everyone in their new sunglasses too. 

And one with me in it.

Later that evening, the Adams family came to visit!!!  Lindsay’s niece who lives in Phoenix was supposed to have her farewell that Sunday.  At the last minute, she decided not to go on a mission, so we got to have the Adams family come to our house for Easter!! 

On Monday evening, we invited some friends to go out to the desert and blow stuff up in honor of the Adams coming.  It was Clint Stuart’s birthday, so Brandt and Lindsay bought him a cake and put a bomb inside of it so that we could blow up the cake.

 

 

We had some BBQ.

Shot some guns

And then we blew up our old dryer.  We learned that if we ever do this again, we need to either take the door to the dryer off or face it away from the crowd.  The door to the dryer flew through the air and nearly took out a car and a few people.  Thank goodness a prayer was said before the festivities so no one was hurt.

The next day, the Adams went back to Phoenix to spend time with their family.  We had some fun outside before saying, “Good-bye.”  It’s always a party when the Adams come into town.  We sure do love them and their beautiful family.

 

Love,

Mom

Yuma County Fair 2013

Dear Ella,

When I was a little girl, I used to go up and down our neighborhood knocking on doors asking people if I could pet their animals.  (This is something that would shock people today, but when I was a kid it was considered as annoying rather than unsafe.)  Your Grammy is allergic to almost everything, and so I was always desperate for some time with little fuzzy creatures.  It makes me happy to see that you share my affection for furry friends. 

When you saw this goat with a bucket on his head, you were very concerned for him.  When he got the bucket off, you shouted, “He did it Mom! He got the bucket off!”

Some of the handlers were nice enough to let you go inside the stables and pet the goats.

We searched all around for rides that you were big enough to go on.  The only ones we found were the ferris wheel and the “Dragon” where it swings you up and down.

Your favorite part of the fair was the pony ride.  You had such a big cute grin on your face the whole time.

The last thing we did was go to the petting zoo.  Since you are an expert chicken catcher, you had no problem swooping up a chicken to hold.

 

After washing and sanitizing our hands, we went off to have some delicious lemonade and Indian fry bread before we headed home.  After living in San Diego and going to a big city fair, I remember feeling underwhelmed by the Yuma County Fair.  Now that you’re here to enjoy the fair with me, I absolutely love our little county fair.  Thanks for making so many things in my life better.

Love,

Mom

Mardi Gras

Dear Ella,

The weekend of Lily’s blessing was also the annual Yuma County Mardi Gras.  They have a little street fair during the day with a lot of different food vendors and a few little rides.  Your Nana and Papa were in town for the blessing, so we all went to Mardi Gras together.

You gave your Papa a cute smile, and he couldn’t resist taking you to ride the rides.

The first one you did was, of course, the pony ride.

Then you wanted to go in this inflatable fun house.  This was a popular attraction among the 10 to 15 year-old boys.  I wasn’t allowed to go inside with you, and I was a bit apprehensive.  I thought that you would just go in and come back out immediately, but to my surprise, you loved it, and went down the slide at the end again, and again, and again.  Your bravery never ceases to amaze me.

  

Last, you went on the ferris wheel.  You had to go on it all by yourself, and I thought for sure that I would see you screaming at the top.  Once again, you went round and round and looked so happy to be on a big-girl ride all by yourself.

I love that you have so much courage, and I think it will be fun when Charlie and Lily are big enough to go on the rides with you.  You can teach them  how to be brave like you.

 

Love,

Mom