The Guse Family: April 2012

This was a big week for us. Not because of the everyday things we had going on, but because we got to welcome home my Grandma and Grandpa Andersen from Florida! They leave every fall and return about the end of April, just in time for the best season of the year around here! So, we all gathered at a favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner and a proper welcome home!

I think one of Alex's favorite things to do is go out to eat. I mean go out to eat 'inside'. Meaning in a restaurant, not at the drive thru. He was very excited for dinner and to get pop. He didn't waste any time assigning Andy and I to our own color crayons. I had green, Andy purple and Alex red. He enjoys telling us what to color when. That menu didn't have any white on it by the time we were done!

It couldn't have been planned any better. My younger brother, Pete, was home for a week also. He is getting transferred to Florida starting tomorrow. I guess Pete needs Florida!

It's so loud and fun to get everyone together. I just love to listen to all the conversations and take it all in. I remember going to Chi-Chi's all the time as a kid with the Andersen side of the family. It was such a special outing that we all looked forward to. Not only did we go to Chi-Chi's, but our family also enjoyed special nights at Glenno's Pizza. Which, at the time, I thought was so far away. Now, I live even farther away, but whatever. These are the moments to remember.

Aiden goofing around with his hot Godmom. So proud of you, Cass!

They were watching the Twins game and they must have done something Alex wasn't too happy about! But, it sure made us happy to watch his face!

Grandpa Andy tickling Aiden. I am so lucky to have my grandparents (the boys' Great Grandparents) in our lives. I am so looking forward to more fun to come this summer. Who needs Florida?

What a wonderful husband carrying his wife's purse!

Another long post...But, I have to post the pictures somewhere, right? We had a lot of plans for Easter and that always has some "cons" and a lot of "pros". But, the biggest "pro" is getting to be with family. You learn to take for granted the time you get to spend together. The holidays, birthday parties, and in-betweens.

I thank God everyday for giving us the opportunity for Eternal life.

Alex made a project for Lent. My boy loves his projects just as much as he loves his play time. He really got into this one. We made our own modge podge and used tissue paper on wax paper to make our cross for Lent. It looks beautiful in our kitchen window.

I made these special treats thanks to Pinterest for my work and Andy's. I really enjoy baking and making special treats. Even more, I love being able to bring them to work and to Andy's work. That means they are no longer in the house for me to eat!

Of course we decorated Easter Eggs! Although, ours were no clearly as creative as some of yours. We just did plain bright colors. Alex loves his eggs. Hopefully someday, Aiden will be able to enjoy them as much also.

Another Pinterest idea I found that looked fun were these homemade Easter Eggs. They turned out pretty well. The only thing was that I didn't have water balloons, so I used regular balloons and they turned out more like "Easter Balls" than "Easter Eggs". Oh well, we will try again next year. You win some, you lose some.

We went shopping at a mall around us and found some cute bunny ears for the ~~boys~~ (Aiden) to try on. Alex wanted absolutely nothing to do with them and as you can tell from this picture, neither did Aiden.

We were all very excited to make the trip (about 45 minutes) down to Andy's parents farm for the Easter weekend. Alex was also excited about finally being tall enough to drive the Go-Kart, and he did. We ended up getting there first and Alex drove in circles and loved every minute of it!

He was just tall enough!

Grandma Guse and Andy took Aiden on a Gator ride. The chased Alex around the yard first and then went down the road a bit. Aiden is still a bit squirmy though, so they turned around and came back. Although I don't have a picture, on Saturday, Andy, the boys and I took the gator back out and went for a nice little ride. Aiden seemed to enjoy that ride, but he had a blanky and a passy, so who knows? Alex even wanted to pick some flowers for Grandma.

Aiden even wanted to try out the little gator. He didn't, but he got to stand on it!

Oh and the kids loved it when Andy and Alex found a hole/nest in the ground with baby bunnies in it. They took one out briefly to look at and then they went back in the ground to stay warm for Easter.

Grandma made a special desert for after dinner on Friday night. Pudding Parfaits. Can you guess what Alex's favorite part was? Yep, the cherries. Aiden loves his as well, eating almost all of it!

One of our favorite activities when we go to visit Grandma and Grandpa, playing games. I thought (along with Grandma) that Alex would like Don't Break the Ice, but he preferred the "Eggo Diego" game as he calls it.

Here are the Grandkids getting ready for the annual Easter Egg hunt, baskets in hand.

"If only these moms didn't have to take a million pictures!"

Love you guys!

Ready. Set. GO!

My littlest man loved holding the Easter eggs. He didn't really care too much about finding them. But, boy were they fun to look at and shake!

Little man was so excited to have the eggs, he was laughing and smiling for all the pictures!

The kids all took turns coloring eggs. Alex wasn't too interested today, so he put them in and ran off. There was way too much other fun to be had with cousins!

On Saturday night, Aunt Kristen and Uncle Matt brought down fireworks to light off. The kids were "oohing and ahhing" and applauding for more. About half way through though, Alex got scared that Daddy was getting hurt (since he was helping Uncle Matt), so that was it for us. Aiden slept through the whole show, thank goodness!

We had a great time in Waseca with family. It was a busy weekend and wonderful to see everyone and spend time together! Here is a picture with Grandpa, Grandma and all the Grandkids. If you can't tell, my kids were so tired. We had decided to leave before Church since our kids would never make it through the service. They don't normally have to sit through the service since Sunday school and the nursery are during the service at our Church and we were expecting the Easter service to be even longer. So, we headed home and the boys slept from 10:15 until about 1:30ish. They were tired from playing with their cousins.

When the boys woke up from their naps, they were looking all around for their Easter baskets. But, nope, the Easter Bunny must have made it inside because they were not outside!

Alex ended up finding Aiden's first under the end table and Aiden found Alex's under the kitchen table.

Alex got books, a game and some candy...

Aiden got a Dora DVD for Easter, which is more Alex's, but whatever!

We had an Egg Sandwich picnic and watched Dora's Easter Parade.

After the boys were ready, we headed out for Easter at Grandpa and Grandma Johnson's.

Aiden didn't like watching the Masters.

Cassie's Easter Bunny left them a basket with Minnie and Mickey Mouse (maybe a preparation for next spring break? wishful thinking...) and carrots of goldfish. How lucky are they?

Aunty Reney and Uncle Jeff's Easter bunny left the boys an octopus bubble machine, lots of bubbles and chalk. We played with them later and they loved it!

Grandpa and Grandma's Easter bunny hid baskets all over. They got shovels and cups, candy and books, painting and bubbles.

My kids are spoiled.

Our second skyping of the weekend. We skyped in Uncle Pete who opened his basket from the Easter bunny while we were talking to him. It's not Easter without him, but we were lucky enough to get to talk to him. We also talked to Uncle Nate and Aunt Abby at Grandpa and Grandma Guse's through Skype.

The Easter table.

It was such a nice and relaxing day. Cassie and Great Uncle Jeff colored superman pictures with Alex.

The boys enjoyed another Easter egg hunt. Both sets of Grandparents had the same idea to put money in the eggs. And, ironically they made $6.75 from one hunt and $6.81 from the other. How weird is that?