Easter Sunday

Typically we have tried really hard to make Easter Sunday more about the Savior than the Easter bunny. Kelsey doesn't even know there is an Easter bunny. She definitely gets a basket full of candy but she knows its from us. Personally, I just wanted my attention to be on the Savior instead of getting excited about egg hunts and Cadbury mini eggs because lets be honest. Is there a better candy? (I bought two bags just for myself. I did not let anyone have a single egg. That's not even a JK) I get too wrapped up in the fun that I forget sometimes why we are doing this.

Well, so much for being high and mighty because this year that didn't happen. I feel like we still were appropriate for Sunday but with the Nelsons here, the days got all mushed together and the only time we had for Easter things was Sunday morning. Luckily we have 1 o'clock church so it turned out to be perfect.

Thank you selfie stick for supplying the only whole group shot of the weekend. We all dressed up real nice for it too.

While we hid the eggs we put on Mormon message videos. I actually loved watching the kids watch these. For as loud as they were all weekend, they really paid attention to the messages that were being taught. There was a tender spirit in our home. I'm really grateful for these little ways that kids can learn the truthfulness of the gospel.

We have a small yard but it was so much fun. The funnest part was probably watching Skyler try to find Scotts eggs with the ridiculous clues that Scott gave. I've been on the other end of Scott's clues and they are impossible! IMPOSSIBLE! I feel ya Skyler.

The egg hunt was just so much fun. Everyone searched for one color certain color and then the green eggs were the free bee eggs. you could get three of those. I put small toys in the eggs as well as candy and then if you got a red heart (everybody did) you could trade it in for a bigger toy. I had so much fun doing this!

Madison got two eggs but then she found out what was inside and literally started "searching" for eggs. She would find one, open it and then try to eat as much as she could. Unfortunately for Kelsey and Kayla, Madison only ever found pink and purple eggs.

 

After the hunt, candy sorting, and over all running around, it was time for all of us to get ready for church and Easter pictures.

Cousins!

No joke, we came out for church dressed EXACTLY THE SAME!!!!

Killing time before church started. AKA making Kayla and Carson love me. I will do anything for their love.

After church we ate, talked, played, and then the Nelson's had to pack. We played a few games and the kids stayed up way too late and it was all just so perfect. I am so grateful that they came. Everything turned out better than I could have hoped for. Kelsey was inseparable from her cousins and I loved it. I loved watching her, Trey, and Kayla play house. I loved having Skyler ask to play a game with me. I lovde how Carson and Skyler would talk to Madison and how they wanted to hold her and be with her. How Trey smiled for every pictures. How Kayla was the boss to her brothers and let them know it. I just loved everything about this weekend. Great family, even better kids.

Our fridge and freezer were still broken (they didn't get fixed until FRIDAY!!!). I think Scott took it the hardest. But truthfully, no one wants to see ice cream go bad am I right?

Easter Weekend

March 24th- March 28th the Nelsons came to be with us. It took  all week to rearrange the rooms and multiple shopping trips to fully stock the pantry enough for the three boys, but the day finally came and we were beyond excited. It was seriously non stop fun. I honestly don't remember a single fight happening. It was just so much fun.

Logistically it wasn't even that crazy. The boys slept in a tent outside, Madison slept in our closet, Kayla slept in Kelsey's room, we took down the crib and used the mattress for Kelsey on our floor, and then Scott and Karolyn used the space in Madison's room to sleep on an air mattress. I mean it wasn't ideal, but totally worth it. When family comes, you just make it work!I'm grateful the Snelson's were so willing to be creative.

On Friday we went to a spring training game, played in the sprinklers, had a barbecue, played at the park, and Scott and Karolyn went to the temple while I played with the kids.

The spring game got really hot in the sun, so at one point I took the kids over to sit in the shade of a light post. It got tricky as the sun moved, but keeping the kids cool was worth the effort.

 Trey and Kelsey were inseparable.  It was pretty adorable.

 Karolyn and I decided to leave the game early to get the kids home and out of the sun. I gave Scott my car keys and went with Karolyn. Well obviously there were three accidents on the way home because Phoenix is the worst so a 30 minute drive took us an hour and a half.  The kids were so good becasue we kept talking about "when we get home and have Popsicles..." so it kept them at bay. Well, after all the traffic, we FINALLY pulled into our driveway and SURPRISE! I didn't grab the garage opener so we couldn't get in the house. NOOOOO!!! Luckily Ethan works close. We called him, called Scott, and let the kids run in the sprinklers in their clothes. Eventually we were able to get into the house and the party was able to continue.

And no I didn't buy the smallest pool in the world on purpose. I'm just really bad at guesstimating I guess

The evening was spent at the park, eating ice cream, and playing Canasta.

 Saturday we left early early and went to Camel back Mountain. Everyone told us we would be crazy to hike it with kids, and we were, but we did it anyways. There were some parts that you had to literally climb. Luckily the Nelsons are so adventurous other wise the Wings may have turned around. The climb it self was only 3 miles round trip up it was straight up most of the way. We were so proud of the kids and our selves if we are going to be honest.

 So there are two summits on Camelback Mountain. The actually summit, and the summit that we called the summit because we didn't want to take Kelsey up the final 200 meters of STRAIGHT UP! The Nelson's had no problem with this and conquered it like champs, but the Wings got a little more tired. That being said, what we did was not for the faint of heart. Kelsey rocked those boulders. Her tiny legs just couldn't go any more. I don't blame her. The last part was scary even for me.

 This is what the trail looked like to get to our summit. I should have taken a picture to show just how steep the final summit was. Needless to say, we are so proud of Kelsey for doing this. It may have taken some bribing, princess stories the whole way up, and repeating over and over that "we can do hard things" but she did it.
Side note: I found 40 bucks on the trail! We tried to find the owner but couldn't. Cha ching!

After a stop at Sonic, we spent the rest of the afternoon napping, watching basketball, and sitting. We had to regain our strength because we were going to hit the town that evening. For dinner we went to a place called Chino Banditos. Its a Jamaican, Chinese, Mexican place. Scott heard about it on the show Diners and Dives. Its was a crazy place but super good food. Just imagine orange chicken in a quesadilla with a side of sugar cookies and rice. Random yet satisfying. After dinner, we drove downtown and just walked around. By this point the sun had set so we got to enjoy downtown in the most perfect summer evening in the whole world. It was wonderful.

The evening was spent watching movies and sitting. Lots of sitting.

And with that we are to Sunday. Can you believe its only been two full days! It is a non stop party with the Nelsons and we loved every second of it. Actually I didn't love the fridge breaking in the middle of it all but everything else was cool.

Hurt Neck

***This post is being posted a few days late. ***

On Thursday, March 17th, I worked out really hard. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary, but I pushed myself hard. I was drained of all energy, but  felt awesome. The next day, I noticed my neck was feeling a bit stiff. I thought it was weird but you know how you can sleep on your neck wrong or work out hard and then everything is sore? Thats how it felt.

Friday night we went rock climbing with some friends and on the fourth wall, I got about half way but and all of a sudden my neck started freaking out. Like the muscles literally were quivering.  I couldn't look up, I couldn't look down, I couldn't look side to side. I was stuck looking straight at the wall and every time I tried to move it, shooting pains would go up and down my arms and back. I got off the wall and sat down thinking that it would get better. Long story short, it didn't. By Friday late night I was a wreck. It hurt to do anything: sit, breathe, lay, sneeze, eat. We had to drive home from the rock climbing place and every bump was like a knife being jabbed into my neck joint. It was terrible. I've never had this happen before especially with no cause. Friday night/Saturday morning I lost all sense of self respect. I couldn't sleep at all. Any way I tried to lay, made me cry, and there was really nothing anyone could do to help me. I don't remember much about that night, but I do remember Ethan talking to Aaron to get a middle of the night perception (Aaron, I am so sorry but thank you a million times) and waking up on Ethan's side of the bed face down with Ethan on the couch. I guess I was squirming and whimpering in pain so much that I kicked Ethan out of bed and eventually just fell on my face in defeat. 

Saturday and Sunday were rough but luckily I had Ethan to pull me through. He did everything. I would have been sunk without him. He did so much that I was worried about Monday when he had to go back to work. And here is the reason I am writing this post. Today is Monday and I am sitting on my couch, with a clean house, food in the fridge, a meal being cooked, and my girls playing at the Brown's house. At 8 am I got a call from Callie telling me she was taking my girls for the day. I haven't seen them since. At 9 I got a text from KaMili saying she was bringing lunch/dinner. At 4 I got a text from Lindsay saying she was bringing dinner/leftovers for tomorrow, and about 3 minutes ago I got a call from Samaria saying she was bringing dinner tomorrow. On top of that the neighbors made me a card and Callie set up babysitting for tomorrow. 

I am beyond humbled at my friends' generosity. I do not deserve this sort of kindness. Its been hard to accept it because I am recovering and there are so many people that need this sort of help that don't get it. 

What have I done to deserve such angels in my life. This is not the first time too that this sort of help has been extended to me either. When Madison was born I had so many angels helping me run my home and get my life in order. Its almost embarrassing to say yes. I know that Satan wants us to feel embarrassed by excepting service, but I can't help but feel embarrassed. I am recovering quickly, and yet people are bending over backward to make sure that I don't have to do anything. 

Many things to consider this whole process. Its humbling to realize how wonderful our bodies are. Everything about them is truly a miracle. The fact that we can breathe without pain is just remarkable. Its the simple things too: brushing my teeth, doing my hair, putting on pants, sitting down, blowing my nose. I am also humbled that people care so much about me. It is such a testimony to me why we are put on this earth in families. And by families I mean ward, actual, extended, and friends. We need each other. We CAN NOT and SHOULD not do this alone. We have to have each other. 

My last take away from this experience. and the reason I think I got hurt, is to realize how much I love my stinkin kids. I miss my girls. For the last two weeks I have been looking for every reason to not be around them. I was annoyed at their noises, their touching, their smells, their messes EVERYTHING! I just wanted to be left alone. Well, I've had three days now where I can't touch them without pain and they can't touch me without pain and I miss them. I want to hold them and kiss them and love them and cuddle them and be with them. I want to bend down and pick them up. I want to make them dinner, I want to look down and brush their hair. I need them. They are everything to me. I believed Satan for so long that being a mother was stinky and, well sort of a downer. Yes, its still really hard and yes I still need to do things that are Cami brained, but I love being a mom. It is my favorite job I have ever had. I can't wait until I can actually move and hold them. Hopefully this feeling doesn't go away too quickly. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a mother. It helps that I got the best kids in the whole world.


This was on Saturday when I was feeling "good" This picture doesn't do it for anyone else and thats fine. I remember.