Easter Party at Snell's....

When I first got to Snell's they had already started the party. They made these Easter baskets and they were filling them with the goodies that the kids brought in. Above is Isabella and Kayla. I just love this picture of the two of them with their adorable bunny hats on.

Then all the kids went into yellow room to play a racing game. Here is a picture of all 45 of them!


Then they went back into blue room to have their cupcakes, ice cream, and candy. Right before they eat they all hold hands and say a prayer. It is really cute. Not sure who the boy next to Isabella is but they look like they are flirting to me! =)


Chase got to sit down with all the big kids. Boy did her love it. He felt so special. He had to show the little girl next to him the M&M he got.

Then the kids got to go outside and play. Isabella's favorite part. They first had an egg hunt and then they were searching for the Easter Bunny that Miss Mary and Miss Colleen almost caught! The first picture is Isabella and Natalie. Isabella loves playing with Natalie. The last picture of a few of Isabella's good friends.

The Easter party was a definite success!!

Catching up..

On the Friday before Easter, March21st, we had our play group at Sister Lee's house. She lives in a house out in the country. Isabella and Chase had a ton of fun. We started off by feeding the animals in the back. Her goats had just had babies before we came and they feed and petted them. Chase was a little freaked out at first and clung on to Tanya, his nursery leader. (I LOVE that picture!)

Then we went to the front yard and had an Easter egg hunt. After that we had cupcakes on the grass. It was a lot of fun and Isabella had a ton of fun with all her girlfriends from church!

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Hard day...

Today would definitely be classified as one for many reasons. The main reason is today marks two years since the death of my sister. Wow, I can't even believe that I wrote that. Has it already been two years. I miss her more than I ever imagined I would. You'd think that it would get easier as time goes on but that is SO not true. It makes it worse for me because I look back and reflect on all the things that she is missing that I know she'd want to be a part of. She was so a part of Isabella's milestones and loved being a part of it. Now that Isabella will be starting Kindergarten this year it makes me sad that my sister can't be a part of it. She would have loved to have been a part of it.

One good thing that I have discovered through the death of my sister is that my brother-in-law loved her unconditionally. It is amazing how much he misses her. I would have never had thought. He put a memorial in the Bakersfield California today for her. You can read it by clicking on the link below:

Gina's Memorium

Easter Sunday...

Now that my kids are getting older I really want to try and make sure that the "true" meaning of Easter isn't overlooked with all the baskets full of goodies, Easter egg hunts, and egg decorating. At the same time I want then to learn about it in a fun way. This year I decided to have an egg hunt with 12 eggs. Inside the eggs were scriptures and an object starting with Judas giving up Christ to his Resurrection. Even though I know that my kids don't understand the scriptures yet, I know that it is an important aspect to bring into their lives. Then when we did their actual Easter egg hunt I left one egg with nothing in it. This was the "special" egg because it represented Christ having been Resurrected. They had fun trying to find the egg that was empty. I also made edible tombs with my kids to help them understand the Easter story. This was one of my favorite Easter's with my kids! =)

I hope that this Easter we all remembered the suffering and sacrifice that Christ did for us. What an amazing man! I am so thankful to have a testimony of him and the things that he has done for us!

(Thanks Angela for the awesome pictures of Christ.)

Isabella...

Here are a few of Isabella's Easter pictures. I love her bright dress on the blossom background. It is perfect!

Isabella is growing up so fast. I can't believe that she is going to be in Kindergarten at the end of July. She can't wait to start "big girl school". She asks everyday if it is time to go to big girl school. She loves everything girlie. She even told me today that she couldn't wear pants to school because it looks like a boy and that she needed a skirt on. I convinced her to wear the pants and that we would put a cute girlie bow in her hair. She loves to play with friends and loves loves loves to color and draw. She is our little artiste.

Chase

Here are a few of Chase's Easter pictures out at the ranch. It was a perfect time with all the beautiful blossoms!

My little man is getting so big. He loves to play outside and especially with balls. He also loves toy cars. He is boy through and through. He is our little jokester. We say all the time that he is going to be the class clown. He makes us laugh all the time. He loves to make people laugh. His new thing is that he dances with his eyes closed. He is our little Stevie Wonder. He love to read books and play Mario. He is at a fun age and we love almost every minute! =)

Easter Blossom Friends...

I took Isabella, Chase, Makayla, and Gavin out to the orchard while the blossoms were out. Here are some cute pictures of them! =)

How amazing...

Ever since I have heard about University Public School I have wanted Isabella to go there. I was very disappointed to find out that her odds were slim to none. They choose by lottery because they have so many students who enroll. Out of about 150 applications they had 28 Kindergarten slots available. Needless to say, when I got a phone call from them on Friday saying that Isabella's name had been picked I was shocked and extremely excited at the same time. This also means that Chase will automatically make it into the school because siblings get into the school automatically! =) I'm so glad I don't have to go through the lotto again.

In Memory...

Well, today marks the year anniversary of my Dad's passing. I had an "In Memory" put in the Bakersfield Californian. You can read it by clicking below:

In Memory of Bob Clemmons

I miss my Dad just as much now if not more a year later. I also feel like he passed away forever ago not just a year ago.

Right this minute...

I'm waiting: for 4 o'clock so that we can meet Les and Vola for dinner at Olive Garden.

I'm listening: Isabella and Chase playing Mario and Danny playing Call of Duty 4. (I wonder where they get it.) =)

I'm loving: all the new ideas I have running in my head for my photography business.

I'm thinking about: having to substitute nursery tomorrow.

I'm hoping: that my neurologist appointment goes well. (March 10th)

I'm procrastinating: cleaning my house!

Our Big Boy

Our big boy now has a big boy bed and he is VERY proud of it. We decided to make it easier for him to get in and out of bed. He has had a few crashes in the night but seems to be getting better. Look how sweet and innocent he looks. Looks can be deceiving. =)

Birthday Tea Party..

Isabella got invited to her FIRST birthday party. Last Saturday we went to Shea's Tea birthday party. It was cute to see Isabella with all her school friends having tons of fun. Shea is the cute girl in the 2nd picture with Isabella. They are making a necklace. Isabella didn't have tea she had apple juice instead. =)

Disney on Ice

Last Thursday Brenda and I took Makayla and Isabella to Disney on Ice here at the Stockton arena. It was AMAZING! Disney always does such a great job. It was better than I thought. They even had indoor fireworks. Isabella and Makayla loved it! =)

A weekend at Auntie Dee Dee's

Since Isabella had a three day weekend in February we decided to go to Pismo. Danny took an extra 2 days off so we were there from Friday night until Tuesday afternoon. We had a lot of fun and did a lot of different things.

First, we went to the tide pools. I have been wanted to do this since the first time we went there. We always go on high tide and we aren't able to see them. We found an octopus in the tide pools it was awesome. This was my favorite thing that we did. My cousin, Tina and her boyfriend were visiting Pismo for the day and met us out at the tide pools. It was great to see her and meet her very nice boyfriend!

Then we had a bonfire on the beach for Jordan's birthday. It was a lot of fun. I did cut my finger tip about 3/4 of the way off on the beach but thank goodness for Danny, (Dee Dee's husband) who helped stop the bleeding and bandaged it up great! Happy Birthday Jordan!

We went to see the Monarch Butterfly's. There were only about 2,000 left out of about 20,000 butterfly's so we didn't see many but it was still very cool.

Then Dee Dee watched the kids for us so that we could go to dinner at Jocko's. It was SO good. One of the best fillet steaks that I've ever had. It was also the biggest I have ever seen. It could feed at least 3 people. Danny and I shared it and we still have left overs. Thanks Dee Dee!!!

I can't wait to go back and visit soon.

Happy 3rd Birthday Trae

On Valentine's Day we drove to Rocklin for Trae's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. The kids had a great time. It was very exhausting for me to chase the kids around while I was so sick but I managed. It was definitely worth it for the kids.

When Chuck E Cheese came out Isabella was so excited! She ran right up to him. I was looking everywhere for Chase and found him laying on the chairs under the table. He stayed there until her left. He is so silly! =) Needless to say, I don't think he liked Chuck E. very well. LOL

Valentine's Day...

well, the day before Valentine's Day, Isabella had a little party at school. I had to dress her up in her cute outfit I bought last year. I have been waiting a whole year for her to wear it. Finally, she got to wear it. It looked so cute on her. Then we made little gifts for her teacher's (on her left side) and little goody bags for the kids (on her right side). I can't believe that I accomplished this with how sick I was but you do what you gotta do, right? I made 6 teacher gifts and 50 kid goody's. It was a lot of fun!

She's back....

When we were in Don Ave. ward Isabella had an AMAZING nursery leader. Her name is Tanya Richards. We are SO happy that she accepted the call to nursery again since our little man is in there. Now both of our kids are going to have the opportunity to have Sister Richards as their teacher. Here is my big boy after his first day with Sister Richards as his teacher. He made a cute necklace that he beaded himself.

We are so happy to have you teaching our son! We love ya!!! =)

Greg and Steve....

Isabella had a field trip in January to see Greg and Steve so Chase and I decided to go along. They were way fun! Isabella had a chance to go on stage so and I got a picture and a little video of it. She is behind a lot of kids so it is hard to see her but, if you look closely you can see her. She is so shy and didn't really want to go up there but was a trooper! =)