easter egg hunt 

last (SUNNY!) saturday, my boys and i hosted our first easter egg hunt. 

it was not easy tracking down my favorite handles for the cupcake baskets. but i love them too much.

amy came over the day before the hunt and helped put together the daffodil straws and the jelly belly carrots. thats exactly what friends are for.

before our friends arrived, tagg helped make sure the treat table was just right. translation: he tried to sneak a bite of each dessert.

when everyone got to our house, some men helped hide the eggs....

while some men (craig) shot bb guns. please dont ask.

the kids decorated easter egg sugar cookies while they waited for the hunt.

when all the eggs were hidden, off they went! emery and sully are just about the cutest little couple on the planet.

everyone found their allotted 12 eggs. elliot, emery and alivia.

rylan and asher obviously found thier eggs.... chocolate goatees anyone?

tagg took the entire situation very seriously.

the thompsons are seriously some of my favorite people on this planet.

there was an egg down there somewhere. i promise.

avery and tagg took a break from hunting to look through their candy.

why does every child go through the smiling-way-too-much-to-the-point-where-theyre-not-so-cute phase? but i love that little nugget. its impossible not to.

sully's (and tagg's) favorite babysitter, my cousin, grace. we are so very lucky to have her live close by.

megan and lexi. about two minutes after this shot, lexi may or may not have chewed through the bag and got herself a jelly bean!

the children and their loot.

the girls. 

it was such a wonderful day. i will remember it forever. 

VEGAS girls trip

last week, my girlfriends and i headed to las vegas for our first girls' trip. we were so excited to get the party started that we took the earrrrrrly flight out. 

hanna and i flipped through magazines and talked to our neighbor during the flight. amy and kaitlin took pictures of themselves. lots of pictures of themselves.

once we landed, we piled in our sweet ride and had our driver make a very important stop on our way to the hotel...

in-n-out. duh.

after lunch, we headed over to our hotel. we were in love with the bright sun and clear skies!

remember that early flight? yeah, well when you arrive at your hotel THAT early you cant check in. so we tried our luck at double diamond and walked around the forum shops.

when we finally got into our room hanna and kaitlin wasted no time with getting into their robes.

amy and i stayed in our normal people clothes.

but then we looked down at the pool and ran straight down!

trust me. with four moms, in their swimsuits, there are QUITE a few tries before getting an acceptable pool shot.

once we got our fill of the sun (not really. that is impossible) we got fancy and had dinner at javiers. jocelyn happened to be in town and joined us. amazing.

frieeeeeeeeends forever. allllways will beeeee friends. (to the tune of zack attack's 'friends forever')

after dinner, we walked around the miracle mile shops to try and find more comfortable shoes for the rest of the trip! :)

we finished the night by watching the fascinating fountain shows at the bellagio.

the next day was more sun at the pool. and i finally got a pina colada. my favorite.

a tower at the bellagio pools: good for a cool picture. annoys the heck out of you when it blocks the sun.

we felt sorry for the people who walked by us and got five phones thrown at them to take our picture. but not too sorry to stop doing it.

after the pool, we shopped at fashion show and tried on ridiculous bead necklaces.

then we had dinner at grimaldis. grimladis is my favorite pizza in the world. i had no idea there was one in vegas. to say i was excited about that situation would be an understatement.

for our last night, we got all dressed up and attempted the vegas night scene. i lasted approximately 60 seconds  in 'the bank' and spent the rest of the evening shopping for souvenirs for tagg & sully in the hotel gift shop! :)

its probably a good thing i didnt dance the night away because the next morning, as we were laying out by the pool, i started my miscarriage.  i was 11 weeks along. it was pretty shocking and traumatic (especially because i was on a girls trip away from home!) but after spending the afternoon in the vegas ER, we flew home and everything was ok. not exactly how i would have liked to end my girls trip but honestly, my friends were so sweet and i feel like we bonded more than we ever could have over shopping bags and pina coladas. im sad about the baby but feel blessed to have such wonderful friends.

classy mudpie

two sundays ago i was in charge of dessert for family dinner. megan requested mudpie. i had never made mudpie before but wanted to try and make it using a springform pan. that way, it looked prettier than just pressed in a 9x9 pan. the entire process was extremely easy and with ice cream, oreos, buttercream and homemade hot fudge you cant go wrong.

mudpie
1   carton ice cream
1   package oreos
1/4 cup butter

crush up package of oreos in a food processor. melt half a stick of butter and mix it with the crushed oreos. pat oreo mixture into the bottom (and a little bit up the sides) of a springform pan. place in freezer to chill. soften ice cream. press ice cream into the pan, on top of oreo crust. let freeze a bit longer. release from pan and decorate with your favorite buttercream recipe. right before i serve it, i drizzle hot fudge onto each slice.

hot fudge
1   can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 can water
8   ounces semi-sweet chocolate
2   tablespoons brown sugar
2   tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

mix all ingredients with wire whisk over medium heat until well blended and almost boiling.