About time.

I know. Over a month and no posts. I know I need to post about the move, the house, Ohio, etc. I just need to summon the energy. For now, here are some pictures we took at the St. Louis Temple a week or so before we moved.

Finally…

The Crockett clan has already seen most of these but for the rest of you, we finally got our picture taken as a family.  It helps that we have an amazing photographer in the family but it’s hard when she lives 2000 miles away. Thanks Mandi, (yes we are both named Mandi Crockett) these are perfect!

Good Night Ezra

This is one of Norah's favorite games to play with Ezra. She reads or tells him a story, lays him down on a pillow, puts a blanket on him, tells him "Good Night" and walks out of the room. Then she comes back in, lifts him up and starts all over.
In this scene, she begins by reading him a story. She puts on a "comfy blanket" and leaves the room. On the second round she wakes him up with "good morning", tells him a "princess Noh-nohs story" (part of our nightly bedtime routine) complete with a castle and a walk through the forest. Ezra (sometimes) loves the attention!
p.s.- please ignore the mess

I heart spring.

Here are a few recent shots of the kids. Some are from the Missouri Botanical Gardens- one of my favorites places in St. Louis- it’s all azalea-ed right now. And some are from right in our own backyard. Spring this year has been amazing- very mild, lovely, love it.

 

They are both at the cutest ages right now, (I think I’ve said that at every age) but seriously, they are. I just want to eat them up!

hop, hop…

I know, I am behind. Here are shots of some of our Easter festivities:

We took the kids to the Oakland House in Affton. It was pretty classic. There were old ladies in dresses straight out of “Gone With the Wind” who led the kids around the house to various stops. First it was an Easter puppet show, followed by a live bunny petting. After that they got to make an Easter craft and finally, they got to see the Easter bunny himself….

The entire house was decorated with bunnies, chicks and eggs- no shortage of Easter paraphernalia.

The Oakland House was followed by an Easter Egg Hunt with about 30 kids from the ward- it was madness- but fun!

And finally, Easter morning, after the Easter Bunny had hopped by.

We  listened to General Conference and had some good friends over for dinner that evening. It was a great day!

Norah

Oh the joys of having a two-year-old. Norah is at the cutest age right now.  I constantly find myself having to discipline her while trying not to laugh.  Here are a few of the latest examples:

The other morning I walked into the dining area and Norah had just finished eating her cereal. She was dunking Cinderella in her milk.

Me: “Norah, let’s don’t put Cinderella in the milk because it makes her all sticky.”

Norah: “Mom, she’s getting baptized.”

What do you say to that?!

Last Sunday we were driving home from church and I was talking to her about not pushing kids in nursery and being kind to them like Jesus is. I asked:

“Do you want to be like Jesus, Norah?”

She replies, “No, I’m Noh-Nohs” (what she calls herself)

Well okay then…

Today, as I was trying to get ready to take us all to a doctors appt, I walked out of  my room and found this:

Dog tattoo? Couldn’t keep a straight face as I was telling her “no!” on this one! Poor Higgs.

Note to self: don’t buy non-washable markers ever again.

Life with a two-year-old is crazy but she sure is making it fun!

California Dreamin

Joel had a rare week off at the beginning of this month and we took a trip to sunny (sometimes) CA to visit his family and go to the beach.  Our good friends, the MacDonalds, joined us for a couple of days. With the exception of a few days of overcast weather, we could not have had a better time!  Here are some of the highlights:

The kid’s favorite day was probably this one- spent at Dennis the Menace park…

The following day was at the Aquarium and Cannery Row:

This is a seadragon- not a plant!

Future engagement pictures…haha. These two were so cute together:

Finally, Point Lobos and the beach…

After the beach we went to stay at La Colina where we delighted in spending time with Grandma Vicki and Dr. Papa for a couple of days, had a serious Bandi photo shoot and stayed up way too late hanging with two of our favorite people. Thanks to everyone for making us feel loved.

We’re already dreaming up our next trip…