Easter 2010

On Saturday Greg helped the girls dye these Star Wars eggs while I cleaned the house. They loved it. It is so fun having the girls grow older. They get so excited to do things!
On Sunday morning the girls woke us up, so we went downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny had left us.



The girls loved hunting for the eggs that the Easter Bunny hid. We took the hard boiled eggs and made the Powell Family Easter breakfast, eggs-golden-rod. Mmmmmm.
After breakfast it was time for General Conference. The older I get, the more I enjoy listening to conference!!
Greg helped the girls play conference bingo with their Easter candy.
After conference we had a turkey dinner. I made all the fixings to go with it. What a great way to end Easter day. Life can't get much better then family time, good meals, the spirit that comes from listening to the General Authorities and, my favorite, Candy!

A date with my husband

I don't usually blog about my husband and I going on a date, but it was a big deal for me. It was our first date in over a year. Growing up my parents went on a date every Friday night. Greg and I have never been even close to going every Friday, but with him gone this past year, we were in desperate need of a date. Saturday evening was great fun. We did very manly things. First, we went and saw "Clash of the Titans" at the movie theater. Then, we went to Grind Burger for dinner and last, we went to the Jones vs. Hopkins boxing match. Here are a couple pictures from that night.



Okay now there is something really wrong with 40 year old guys hugging in a ring surrounded by screaming fans and ring girls dressed in very skimpy clothes. Oh well, I guess that is why boxing appeals more to men.

Spring Break 2010

Spring Break started with the girls and I driving to Utah. I drove through my first snow storm safely. We spent Saturday with my Aunt Becky and her family. We had a fun time. Sunday I spent with Emily and Scott. It was such a fun mini trip. We had to rush home on Sunday night because Greg was going to get home at 8 AM on Monday. The military does not believe in knowing anything more then a couple hours before they do something. But, we didn't mind rushing home to see daddy and we spent the week laying low.
We played games, took naps and shopped.

On Wednesday we went to the Shark Reef. We have been many times, but the girls love to go.
Madi loved sharing everything that she learned about the animals.
Payton heard Madi repeat sentences, so she would repeat single words about what she would hear. "Mom teeth, I heard about teeth."
Then we were able to see Greg's closing ceremony. Now Greg is actually easy to spot. Do you see the two guys against the black wall in the way back? Greg is the one on the right. Really, he is. He was a medic on duty. Two guys fainted and he helped carry the guys away and behind the black screen. Go Greg! Oh and the speaker in the bottom right corner is none other then our wonderful Jim Gibbons. :')
The girls loved waving at daddy.
What a great time to be back as a family.

On Thursday we ventured out to the Adventure Dome. I had received four free all day passes. It was fun for the girls. I went on one ride and was sick for the rest of the time. I sat with my head between my knees while Greg brought the girls on all of the rides.

Friday we went and got our family picture taken. It was fun. Then we had some friends over for dinner and dancing. I love Just dance for the Wii.


Today we are relaxing by watching conference. Tonight I get to go on a date with my husband. I can't wait!!

Look Who's Home!

We are so excited to have daddy home again. The girls want Greg to hold them constantly. In fact I will walk into a room and Greg will have picked up one of the girls and they are just hugging. I am so grateful for his safety and willingness to serve our country.

Ben Ten Birthday party!

My beautiful daughter Madison had a birthday this week. On her birthday we woke up and I made her eggs and Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. At school I surprised her with a balloon, Burger King, and cupcakes for her class. She did not tell me what she wanted for her birthday, so we went to Toys'R'us and she picked out a Ben Ten car and a Hello Kitty game for her DS. Then we went to Chuck-E-Cheese. It was a day filled with fun for Madi. Then on Saturday we had her birthday party with friends. She wanted a Ben Ten theme. (If you do not know who Ben Ten is, don't feel bad. It is a show on Cartoon Network about a boy who can turn into ten different aliens. These aliens help him to rid bad aliens from our planet. Oh and he turns into these aliens because of a watch called the omnitrix). The party was a lot of fun. Instead of buying a themed cake, I decided to make one. This is my attempt to make the omnitrix.
Does it look like a watch?
Each of the kids got an alien mask to wear. Here is Madi explaining the rules to the first game.
Here are the kids in the line to play shoot the aliens.
We had a launcher that the kids shot the paper aliens with.
Of course the cute little kids were content to sit and watch
Then we all headed into the kitchen to eat pizza.
Thanks to Megan M. for picking up the pizza for me. You are a life saver.
Little Cesears pizza and bread sticks, Yum!
The second game we played was pin the tail on the donkey. I really wanted to play pin the omnitrix on Ben Ten, but I could not find a Ben Ten poster anywhere. I am not kidding I went to 5 different stores looking for one. Oh well, the good old fashion donkey works great too!
The kids could not wait to open the presents...
They all had a good time helping Madison...
I think all of the presents were opened in less then 3 minutes.
She loved everything she got!
After the whirl wind of presents, we put icing on sugar cookies to look like omnitrixes (do you see a recurring theme here?!)
They used green and black icing.
My beautiful Madi!
My beautiful Payton!
Madi concentrating very hard.
Landon content to just eat the cookie and play with the balloons.
I helped with the black frosting. I guess the clean freak in me did not want black icing all over my table! :0)
Megan with her cookie!
Then we hit a pinata. We picked a shark because, well, I'm not sure what goes through Madi's head. I guess because there were no Ben Ten pinatas and sharks are the next best thing?!
Madi hit first.

Then we went from littlest to biggest.
Everyone got one turn, then Madi broke it. It was perfect.All the kids ran to grab the candy.
Then we sang and ate birthday cake.
Happy Birthday Madison!
We were going to play nusical chairs with the theme song to Ben Ten, but I completely forgot. The party was so much fun and exhausting. I am so grateful for all my friends who helped me out since Greg was not here to help. Megan D. who showed up early to help me finish last minute things. Tara who brought her camera (mine is broken) and took all the pictures for me. Kim who helped me clean up, and Megan M. for getting the pizza. I could not have done it without everyone. I am blessed to have such great, wonderful, awesome friends.

To end this super long post, I wanted to tell each of you how much I love my daughter Madison. She is a great person. She is very intelligent. She remembers everything that she hears. It is scary how much she remembers. She is progressing like a great 6 year old. She is very helpful. Her new favorite thing to do for me is clean the dishes. She is such a loving sister. She is very talkative and will ask you a hundred questions, because she has to know about everything. I am the luckiest mom in the world. I have the most wonderful kids. I can't wait to see how they grow up. Well, I better stop the post. It's bed time for my girls. Good night!

Payton

Payton had to get her first cavity filled today. She did a great job! We did not hear a peep from her during the whole procedure. I was amazed. Madi usually screams and cries the whole time. I am so proud of Payton. Now I get to enjoy her company until Madi gets out of school. I have some great kids!

It has been a while

It has been a while since I blogged. I have been really busy, plus my camera broke. I am so sad. But, my birthday is right around the corner and I am hoping for a new camera!! Hint, hint Greg. Anyway, things are crazy busy. I just wish I had a day to sit and relax. I have had a migraine for the last two days and just want to rest. But, I know I can make it 39 more days! That is when Greg will be home!! This last year I have grown a lot. With that growth comes a wiped out lady. I am SO glad its almost over. If anybody knows anybody hiring, Greg will need a new job when he gets home. I have to get the girls ready for bed, okay they get themselves ready, but I better go supervise. Love you all!