Earliest Easter Ever

Brett's off to Blabablama soon so we called the Easter Bunny and asked him to come a week early.  

Here's Mina feelin' for eggs.

To my surprise Mina really got into this. She helped me (and the Easter Bunny) put it together so I think she felt invested in the process.

Props to Grandma Mildred for the cute jammies!

So considering we've had over 200 inches of snowfall this year we couldn't have a egg hunt outside. And since Dad is leaving soon, we had to do it at night... our solution:

Glow in the dark easter egg hunt!

It produced terrible pictures, but trust me, much fun and excitement was had. We should make Christmas a glow-in-the-dark kind of holiday also.... .hmmm...

Before we started the hunt we had a little FHE lesson. Talked about how Grandma Harriett is in Heaven and how we get to see her again someday because of Christ's resurrection. Teaching this to a 3 year old is really sweet. Marie is receptive and full of love. I couldn't ask for a better job in the whole world than being her and Mina's Mom.

It looks as if Brett is bestowing mystical powers on this egg he's giving to mina... or maybe the flash was on way too bright...

The Spoils

Note Marie's hair cut also. Another one of Mom and Dad's "chop jobs." However, she pulls it off quite nicely.

Happy Easter!

Snatch that monkey right out of that tree.

Mr. Teaser Alligator Can't Catch Me!

a Mina-chan Birthday!

Let's start this blog off with some serious T.M.I. (that's "too much information" for you non-slang types).

Mina is done nursing.

She's over a year, so obviously it shouldn't be sad, but wow! I found myself simply not ready to let her go into toddlerhood. Since my dental surgery, however, I've been on a lot of pain meds, so I had no choice. I spent her entire first year complaining about what a hard baby she was, and what does she do? She grows up, and no longer remains my baby!

 Oh Mina, you know your my special girl! I love you so much.

So now that I'm full of nostaligia,

Let's get our Mina-Blog on!

Let's start from her Birthday and go backwards, shall we?

MINA TURNS ONE YEAR OLD:

Above is one tired Momma. Mina has yet to sleep through the night more than a handful of times. But what a beautiful girl it produced. She still looks 100% "Grandma Thora Youngberg"- but today in church I realized her eyes, especially her eye lashes, those must be Daddy's.

I have this weird thing if I don't want to hold an official birthday party I invite friends over for a "potluck" and half way through announce it's actually a birthday also. Ha. I'm so weird. But it's one of the only ways I can keep people from bringing presents and for me to not stress out.

Mina still got spoiled by my friend Hiroko-san though. She loves this puppy, but it dances and sings so it took the puppy a moment to gain Mina's trust. (Robots can be iffy, I don't blame her).

Above is Hiroko, her twins, 3 year-old, Marie and Marie's best "older kid" buddy.

And after everyone left we united Idaho, Alaska, and Japan in a 3-way birthday chat!

(Love that Ipad Facetime!) It was fun that my parents could talk to each other and us!

Marie was going nuts with all this technology. And I couldnt get a great picture, but Mina is excellent at Skype and Facetime. She's even training to talk on the phone. Anytime she can get her hands on a phone (toy or real) she dials, speaks, and hangs-up. She's really quick. I'm impressed constantly with how fast she picks things up. She already likes to doddle on paper. Maybe she wants to be a journalist.

One thing that she has done wonderfully is EAT. She will EAT VEGETABLES, fruits, whole grains, soups, broths, juices, shakes, and anything and everything. The best part is I don't have to stress about not giving her fruit, because she'll still eat vegetables.

I'm glad Marie was my "sleeper"

And Mina is my "eater." I like how they each chose one thing to do extremely well. I wonder if they did a paper rock scissors tournament in heaven. I wonder who lost.

Oh wait, this cake lost. Sorry cake. We peeled off the fondant for mina and let her hit it a few times, but she just wasn't too interested in it. Don't blame her, cakes are just for looks.

Well here is to more blogging about the Mina babe!

It's Genetic

She's my girl! We both rock the black toenails! You're welcome, Marie.

Mina-Chan!

Mina-Chan!

I like pizza!