Easter

I love when Easter/General Conference  coincide with one another.  Such was the case this Easter.  For the weekend, I decided to try my hand at some cinnamon rolls.  They turned out super yummy!  

 Between Conference sessions on Saturday we did our egg-dyeing, because it is quite essential for the holiday. 

 We had a fun egg hunt with some friends from the ward.  Love meeting new friends!

 Easter morning excitement is almost as intense as the Christmas excitement, even though they only get a few small things.  Check out Tuck's hair!  

 Playing with their Easter toys :)

 We had our friends the Kartchners over for Easter dinner and the boys and Spence had a egg hunt outside.  

How We've Been Doing Spring!

Our Easter this year was super low-key.  We spent Saturday morning at Prosser's egg hunt which literally took 30 seconds to complete...all they did was throw eggs on the grass and had the kids duke it out to see who could get them all first.  The kiddos liked it, so all is well :)

Our eggs this year reminded me of Despicable Me 2 when the Minions were turned evil...they are AWESOME!

 Easter baskets this year consisted of new piggy banks which will conveniently match the decor of their new rooms when we move ;)  New play outfits, bubbles, chalk and chocolate rounded out the balance of the baskets.  

 Coop's first Easter!  He got some puffs and some Go-Squeeze applesauces.  Yum ;)

 For Easter we had some friends come over for a yummy smoked brisket dinner and an egg hunt.  I complain about the upkeep in this yard, but it sure is amazing for hunting eggs!

 The rest of our Spring days have been spent taking walks, throwing rocks, playing with friends, and running in sprinklers.

 And for activity days, I finally got to see a real May Pole in action!  

 Mother's day was relaxing.  Nate smoked me some yummy ribs and beans, Coop slept through most of church, I got a nap, Nate did the dishes, and got to talk to my momma.  Good day!

 Also, our Tuesdays and Wednesdays have been filled with soccer practices and games.  Tuck has done amazingly well for being the youngest in his age group.  One game he scored 5 goals!  He works hard out there and we are proud of him.

{Easter Weekend}

Let me start the week before Easter...

Our first egg hunt of the year was a work one with Community Dental at Dr. Martin's house.  It was the perfect setting for the hunt, such a beautiful yard!  The boys had so much fun with their friends finding lots of good stuff!

 These two boys together make me smile from ear to ear! They get so excited to see each other.  

 We had so much fun an enjoyed seeing a lot of Nate's co-workers kids.  We ate some yummy treats and got to visit the Martin's chicken coupe.  Yay for country egg hunts!

Fast forward to the Saturday before Easter.  This was Nate's 29th birthday!  We had a fairly chill day, started off with some breakfast in bed, an afternoon in the Tri-Cities, some Texas Roadhouse lunch, naps, Ohio State basketball (lost...boo!), brownie sundaes, and relaxing time at home.  Birthdays used to be much more exciting!  

And then the egg-dyeing.  I chose a simple kit this year...the last few I got took way to much time and effort! 

 Easter morning was super chill, we started early..as usual.  The boys enjoyed what the Easter bunny brought and it kept them busy most of the morning.  After our early start, Nate and I both took a nap about 10:00 :)

 And then it was church time.  I LOVE picking out outfits for Easter for the kiddos.  I am not a match-y match-y kind of gal, but coordinating, YES!!

 We had a great time at church, the boys got super spoiled by their teachers, and we left with a great spirit.  

 Then we were off to our friends for dinner (which was excellent!).  After dinner the boys had an Easter egg hunt.  One of the perks about country living is that we have great yards for hiding eggs!  

We love the vineyards!  What a great backdrop for our festivities :)

 Happy Easter to all from the Watkins!

Decking The Halls, Turkey Day...and All That Other Stuff I Need To Blog About!

This month has been a complete blur!  Between preschool, Activity Days, too much time spent in the car getting from here to there, making my first turkey, going out to movies and hanging out with friends, playgroups, crafting, and traveling...we've been super busy!  But busy is good...not what I thought I'd get being out in the country, so no complaints here.  

We decided to put up our Christmas decor the weekend before Thanksgiving, considering we were going to be gone all Thanksgiving weekend and just wanted it done when we got back!  So we threw on the Grinch and spent our family Friday night bringing Christmas into our home...

 One of these days I will get a star on top of my tree!  

 I have continued LOVING my tradition of buying ornaments everywhere we travel.  We didn't go a whole lot of new places this year...in fact we had a lot of repeats, but here are our few new ones...

Park City snowboarder (can't believe I haven't gotten a Park City ornament yet!)

Seattle Space Needle

 On our cruise, we figured we didn't have the budget to buy an ornament on every island we went to, so we just got 2....San Juan, Puerto Rico

 ....and St. Thomas, USVI

Onto the rest of the house....my awesome large mantle...I LOVE IT!  

I splurged this year and bought the boys a Christmas tree for their room.  It is complete with lights, ornaments, a star, and tree skirt.  Tucker can't get enough of it!  

 We are grateful to have a wonderful home to celebrate these seasons in and create memorable moments for our children.  

The only best part about living away from Grandma and Grandpa...I get to go to the Grandparents Feast at preschool with Tucker!  We spent the whole day with them, heard them sing some fun songs, had library time, colored, and even made our own feast (which comprised of crescent rolls rolled up with cheese and turkey, grapes, and popcorn).

 I even got a gift at the end of the day!

I also cooked my first turkey for Nate's work Thanksgiving potluck.  We had success!

The whole month of November, we have been contributing to our Thankful tree everyday. It has been fun for the boys, and hopefully has taught them something as well.

Project time...

And then we took another little trip.....we haven't been to Utah for Thanksgiving in 5 years, so we were thrilled that we had the opportunity to go.  Not that our last few Thanksgivings haven't been great, but there is something about being home that makes it that much more special...

 Onto the big day...we ate 2 dinners, starting off with a fabulous feast at Grandma Barb's and Grandpa Daryl's.  The food was phenomenal and it was good to see family and catch up with those we don't get to see very often.  Thanksgiving #2 was at Nate's parents house with Jaimie, Trey, Grandma B, and Mana.  The smoked turkey was the star, along with 24 hour salad and frozen fruit salad, and the two crust lemon pie to top the night off.

 Here's Tuck with my cousin Kaitin.  

 Uncle D and Gray

 I love my Grandparents!  It's going to be so nice living closer to see them more often :)

 Also this weekend was the big game....OSU vs. Michigan.  Thankfully for us, the Buckeyes pulled out another win and capped off their season with a 12-0 record.  Too bad there will be no bowl games for the Bucks this year...

 We also headed out for a little shopping on Thanksgiving night with so many other crazies!  

 Our first stop, Target.  We got everything we wanted and didn't even get there until 1 hour after they opened.  Between my mom, us, and my sister and brother-in-law we walked out with TVs, an iPad, movies, toys, games, clothes, and lots of fun memories weaving up and down the aisles to check out for an hour.  After, we also headed to Walmart and picked up a few more things.  On the actual Black Friday, we made it to Sportsman's Warehouse, Old Navy, JC Penny (twice), and Target (again).  Nate went with his dad to Costco and scored a sweet TV, a new crockpot, and a new shower head for our ancient shower. 

We also took the boys out for their first time bowling, ever.  They had a lot of fun playing with their friend Charlie!

We have also enjoyed our time exploring the little towns around here more.  This park was overwhelmingly covered in yellow...so pretty!