Easter

Easter this year was pretty low key. After spending most of the week out of town, we decided to stay home for Easter (I guess I should say staying in town and not going up to Sacramento to be with our extended family.). We had an Easter egg hunt at our house when the kids first woke up, went to church and then over to my parents house to spend the rest of the day with my family.

Sterling and Katie just moved to the Bay Area for the summer while Sterling is doing an internship at Apple. We are excited to be able to see them more, now that they are back in California.I realized as I look back at these pictures that I am terrible about taking pictures of people, besides my kids, that I see on a regular basis. My parents and Jen and Jeff are a huge part of my life. I see them if not daily, at least a few times a week. I need to be better about that.

I also realized when I was looking back at these pictures, how incredibly lucky I am to have the family that I do. I was recently filling out some paperwork for one of the kids and I came across the question, "What makes your family special or unique?". I wasn't sure how to answer that at first. I don't feel like we are different than any other family, but the thing that came to my mind that I think is really special, is that we genuinely like each other.

I wanted to get a picture of Austin before he ditched his shirt and tie. (I was secretly hoping to show it to him in hopes of convincing him that even though that cute girl said she likes his hair long, it really is time for a hair cut!) Ashlyn came running over to get in the picture with him.I love their relationship. Before Austin's play, he would sometimes practice his dance moves, using Ashlyn as his partner. She loved learning Austin's dances and loved the attention from her big brother.Lauren, who loves to have her picture taken, wanted to have her picture taken with Ashlyn.Ashlyn doesn't always smile on cue, but you can see the mischief she has been causing lately when you look at that face! I decided I should try to get pictures of all the kids. I had to coax Jessica into sitting still for a minute in her church clothes. Jessica still hates wearing dresses and skirts and is the first one to change as soon as we get home!Austin came over to join her. What I love about these pictures are the real smiles. Above is the fake, I'm smiling for the camera smile, but below is genuine happiness. Jessica said to me the other day, that Austin is one of her best friends. She has a darling group of besties, so I thought it was sweet that she would compare Austin to them.(So glad I already had the camera out and captured this!)

She said sometimes at night, he comes in her room and just hangs out to talk. She said sometimes, if she has had a bad day, he will come sit on her bed and talk to her about it.I think Jason took this picture of me and Paige.And then joined me to get a picture of the three of us. I didn't love the way any of them turned out, but this moment was captured too and I thought it was too sweet not to post.Ashlyn adores her Grandpa! All the kids do. He is the best grandpa a kid could ask for. Really. Ashlyn wearing Grandpa's glasses

After dinner, we had another Easter egg hunt for the kids in the back yard. It was more of a candy hunt, but that's the only thing that really motivates our kids these days. We let the little girls (Brynne and Ashlyn) out a minute or two before the big kids. waiting for the go ahead from the parents
Yes, they are RUNNING!!

We tried to make it a little challenging for the big kids.
Ashlyn was so excited about all her candy!

The funniest part is what goes on after all the candy and eggs have been found! The kids open a trade center in my parents upstairs loft! They spread out all their goods and sort of open stores. They go around and offer trades. Apparently, certain candy or eggs are more valuable than others.