Happy Easter!

This year, I decided to spend Easter with my family in Las Vegas. Chris couldn't come because of work and church requirements. We missed him! I managed to get one Easter traditional picture of the kids in their church outfits. It's not the best picture. We were all having a hard time cooperating, but the kids and the outfits are still cute!

The kids had fun with Grandma Chesnik's Easter egg hunt! It was nice to get out of town for a couple of days and enjoy some relaxing time with my parents.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was spent in Las Vegas with my family and we had a great time! My brother lives in town and my sister was able to bring her family down from Utah so we were all there. And my Grandma Basta got to come too! I love Thanksgiving time. It always means family time to me and I love having everyone together.

One of the kids' favorite things to do at my Mom and Dad's is to play in the backyard.

Sadly, Adam got pink eye on the day of Thanksgiving. That was a nightmare trying to keep him clean and away from everyone else! Eek!

These group of cousins have a great time together. They enjoy putting on mini plays or shows for us almost every time they get together. Here's the Thanksgiving version.

Because everyone was together, my mom requested an updated grandkid picture. We decided with this many kids that it would be easier to go to a park with a nice camera and do the pictures ourselves. I think they turned out great and the kids did a really good job. Big thanks to Kristin the photographer and her brother's camera. They are all such cute little blondies, you almost can't tell who belongs to which parents! We sure love these kids!

My Mom's 60th Birthday Celebration

From my Grandma Basta's birthday celebration in Salt Lake City, we traveled on Sunday the 24th to get back to Vegas. My mom wanted a quiet, easy family celebration back at home. Also, my dad was not able to travel to UT for the 80th birthday party, so we needed to get back home for my mom's birthday.

Josh and Kristin opened their home for my mom's party. We enjoyed a great BBQ of steaks for the adults and hot dogs for the kids. We did get a chance to surprise my mom even though it wasn't a surprise party. Her sister Diana and Diana's husband Doug came into town for the party! It was so fun to continue seeing them from our weekend in UT. We got Aunt Diana and Uncle Doug to Josh's house before my mom got there. They were out in the back helping Josh grill. When my mom came she helped in the kitchen a little then looked outside to see how Josh was doing and see the kids playing. She, I think, did a double take when she realized that her sister was there. Then the tears came and she was so happy to have family for her birthday.

After dinner, we played a little game where the kids heard facts about my mom and had to say if they were true or false. It was fun to have them learn some things about her that they did not know before. Even Kristin learned that my mom was quite the thespian in high school!

Then after the game, the kids sang a song for my mom. When these cousins get together, they often like to put together a play to show us. It's always so fun to see their creativeness!

Cousins! They are all here singing to my mom.

We then opened presents. My Aunt gave my mom a cute plaque that says, "Grandkids welcome, parents by appointment."

I think this one is a hit.

For the present from Josh, Missy, and me, I made a photo book of my mom. It had my mom from small growing up, her wedding, us kids small and growing up, our weddings, then all the grandkids. I had each grandkid write a letter to grandma about something they love about grandma. I scanned it into the book so it was in their handwriting with their pictures.

My mom reading and looking at her book. She loved it. Those are happy tears!

Happy 60th birthday Mom! I love you more than I can express. You are my best friend, my example, my go-to person whenever I have a question about anything, and the best mom in the whole world!