EASTER

Happy Easter! The Grunander's had a great Easter today. We went to sacrament meeting at our ward and then went to Kasey's baby blessing in Tyler's family. The girls were able to wear their new Easter dresses and looked absolutely darling in them, if I say so myself.

After the blessing we went to Tricia and Josh's house for a light refreshment and visiting with the fam. Then we went to Grandma Gae's and had an Easter egg hunt with all the grandkids and then ate more good food. We also celebrated the completion of Grandma Gae's kitchen. So beautiful and well done. Thanks to all for the fun we had today celebrating Easter Sunday.

Easter Fun

Today was so fun for the girls. The Easter Bunny came last night and left their Easter baskets and eggs. Chloee had a great time finding the eggs and helped find some for Brooke (what a good big sister). After we got ready for the day we went to my aunt K'Ann's house for a family BBQ. The food was so yummy. After lunch the kids decorated chocolate marshmallow eggs that my aunt makes. They are so good!! Then we went to the Jr. High and had an Easter egg hunt for the kids under 12. It was fun to watch the kids run and go crazy looking for eggs high and low, in door handles and on top of lockers. After the egg hunt we went to Grandma Jane's and Papa Tom's and the kids were able to hunt for a present from Grandma and Grandpa. My parents gave them Easter outfits and a new book. So fun! Today was a great day. Tomorrow we get to go to a baby blessing and then to more Easter egg hunts at Grandma Gae's. Here are a few shots from today's events.

Conference Weekend

Well to start off, Brooke got over her diarrhea then she caught a cold and was up every hour at night the first part of the week. She is now finally getting over her cough, but in the mean time she gave it to Chloee. Today I think we are starting to get over the cough and cold with a little rest and cough medicine (love the night time cold and cough).

So tonight while the men were at the priesthood session, the girls got together at Glenda's house and had a party with the kids. This is a tradition in my family and we have been getting together as long as I can remember. The girls would always go to diner and then shopping, but now that we are older and have kids of going out to dinner is a challenge and more stressful than enjoyable. Last year we decided to get together at one of our house's and order out and let the kids play. This was the best idea we ever had. So now my aunt from Salt Lake and her daughter-in-laws come down here and we: my family-mom, sister, sister-in-laws and my grandma and all our kids meet at my cousins house and order out. Well tonight my mom and I wanted to do something besides staring at each other so we decided to have a party. Just ask Natalie...she's always up for a party and has the best ideas.

When we got there Glenda has hard boiled eggs for the kids to decorate and then they ate pizza. The adults and Kenzie ordered from Kneader's. After dinner we pulled out my mom's chocolate fountain. What a blast it was for the kids...all now on a sugar high. We had everything from strawberries and bananas to angel food cake and nilla wafers. After our sugar rush the women played bunco. We only had time for one round, but I think we all had fun, even Grandma played. Then Green boys showed up after priesthood and that was our invitation to clean up and head home. I have to say that we had a great time and weren't to stress out with keeping the kids entertained and trying to find a seat for Grandma to sit in while we went shopping spending money we didn't have to begin with. Hope we have as much fun in October as we did this time. I think I have a problem with rambling, oh well.

St. Patricks Day and sickness

This week has been full of fun. Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day and I had to work. In the morning I got a phone call from Chloee telling me that she found "bear prints" in the house. I questioned her and I heard her ask Tyler "what was it? Oh, Mom a Leprechaun came to our house and left green footprints. He also left a pot with rings, a necklace and gold coins." She was so excited that the leprechaun came to our house, she had to take the pot of gold to Grandma Gae's house. What fun!

The rest of the week has been filled with sickness. Brooke has had some stomach bug for a week now that left her with the worst diaper rash. Every time we would change her diaper she would cry before we even started. I felt horrible. Nothing I did seemed to work. We went to the doctor on Wednesday and got nystatin cream for her bum and he told me to try lactose free or soy milk for a while to see if that would help. We tried soy milk and she still had diarrhea. I don't know what to do with her. Nothing we tried helped so I've given up and put her back on whole milk, and I try to feed her whatever she'll eat. Since she's been sick and we've been around her Tyler and I both got some bug as well. We are both feeling better, now if we can just get Brooke to feel better. Her diaper rash is much better after the nystatin thank goodness.

Saturday was probably the best day this week. We went over to Tyler's parents house to help with the remodel of their kitchen. Tyler's sisters and I took the grandkids to the park so the boys could work. We had such a fun time being out in the warm sun and fresh air. The adults even got into the fun trying to swing around the bar like we did when we were kids. To our surprise all of us could still swing up onto the bar. Tracie was the only one brave enough to attempt and complete a cherry drop. Oh to be kids again. After playing for a while we decided to walk to the gas station close by and get water and treats for everyone. What a job that was tyring to keep 7 kids from going into the road and then once at the gas station letting them pick their own treat for under a dollar. It reminded Tyler's sisters of the good old days when they would ride their bikes to Texaco and even downtown to the pool. My mom would never let us ride our bikes downtown, let alone to the pool by ourselves. After our adventure we came home and crashed. Poor Chloee was sunburned and exhausted from playing in the sun all day. What a great way to end the week.

Disney on Ice

Today Chloee, myself, my parent, sister and my brother's family all went to Disney on Ice. We had a blast. Chloee loved every minute of it. Chloee loves Playhouse Disney and anything Mickey and Minnie Mouse. During the week before we went I would ask Chloee "Guess what tomorrow is?" She would reply "Disney on Ice!" I would than have to say, "no you get to go to school, or you get to go to Grandma Gae's, or dance." She was so excited about going. I told Tyler I was going to buy her a souvenir and he was ok with that. She chose a Little Mermaid light stick that sings "Under the Sea". She kept playing it over and over again during the show. I have to say that Disney really knows how to put on a show. Chloee was entertained the entire time. We had great seats, row 12, and could see everything. At intermission my brother said he was going to move down to the first row next to the ice so we all followed and sat 4 feet away from the ice and could almost touch the cast members, it was great. During the show I would look over at Chloee and she had the biggest grin on her face. I loved how happy she was. After the show my family went to dinner and what a time we had finding a restaurant to eat at, but that's a whole different story. All in all I wish Tyler would have been there to see Chloee, so next time the show is in town, we might just have to take Tyler and Brooke.

10 1/2 Months

I can't believe that my baby is 10 1/2 months. April is only a month away and she'll be 1 years old. She is growing up so big. It's been fun to watch her go through the stages of development. She is now crawling on her hands and feet and walking along furniture and with assist from anyone. She would rather be down on the ground walking and getting into everything. Her favorite thing to get into is the garbage can. If I can't see her I know she's playing in the trash, gross. When Chloee was her age, my parents bought her a toy to walk behind and that turns into a toy to ride. Well one day Tyler was backing out of the garage and smashed the one of the wheels. We decided that we wanted to get one for Brooke too. She loves it and I'm afraid she'll be walking on her own soon. Here are some pics of her and Chloee.

Last weekend my family headed to sunny St. George. We went Friday to Sunday and had a great time. I was worried about the drive down there since we haven't traveled much with Brooke, but she did great. Chloee borrowed Heather's DVD player and watched movie after movie. After we passed Nephi she asked "How far is St. George?" and then never asked after that. When we arrive we unpacked the truck and the boys: Tyler, Jonathan, Chad, Scott, my dad, Elliott, Derek and the girls: McKenzie, Courtney and Danny went on a short bike ride. My mom, Andrea and myself were the shuttle drivers. The bike ride was so much fun they decided to ride it again. After that we went to dinner and then Tyler took Chloee swimming. They didn't swim much because the water was so cold, even for the indoor pool. The next day my mom and I went for a walk/run around the neighborhood and ended up going a lot farther than we thought. Andrea got worried and came to look for us. The boys then went on a more advanced bike ride and much longer called Gooseberry Mesa. They all had a fun time. While they were gone the girls stayed home and took the kids to the park. The park was one of the best parks that I've ever been too. There was a rock wall for the kids to climb on, about five different slides, swings, teeter tooters, and a huge open grass area. The kids had a blast playing and running. After the park my mom and I went shopping with Kenzie and Courtney at the outlets. Then we went to Inn-n-Out Burger to eat dinner and enjoyed every bite. Their fries are amazing. We had such a fun and relaxing time I can't wait until we can go again.