Spring Break/Easter 2013

We had a bittersweet spring break this year. Dallin's younger brother, Bradley, left on his mission to Bogota, Colombia for our church and we won't get to see him for 2 years. There is absolutely no other place we would rather he be, but it's still a hard thing. We know he is going to be an amazing missionary and we love him!

Sunday, March 24, he gave his farewell talk in church and then immediately after, we had a luncheon at Dallin's parents home. Tons of family was there and it was so wonderful to see everyone! We love family get-togethers, they're the best!

Cousins, but really, they look like twins.

Bradley then left for the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Bogota on Tuesday and we hung out with Dallin's family until Wednesday, then we headed to Pasco to visit my family. I got to see my awesome nieces and nephews rock their track meets and enjoy crazy hot weather and then, I got to enjoy all 4 of us getting sick! Head colds all around. So amazing. The Saturday before Easter Sunday, all four of us were in the Urgent Care getting prescriptions for our nastiness. We had to miss the annual Calaway Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma Calaway's which we were so bummed about, but we didn't think anyone would really appreciate us contaminating them. Thankfully we are all alive and well now!

Dallin also got to celebrate his 29th birthday while we were visiting my parents! It was very low key, but it was great. Claire got to help him blow out his candles and taste his cupcake. She enjoys all things sweet.

Dallin decided that he was going to let me stay in the Tri-Cities with my parents while he came back to school, so he left Easter Sunday. We didn't get any family pictures to show off our cuteness, but I did get a couple pictures of me and the kids in our Sunday best! We'll hopefully do better at the family pictures next year! We spent Easter with my sister-in-law's family (who are also our really good friends) and enjoyed way too many homemade orange rolls, coconut cream and banana cream pies and lots of Easter Egg hunting goodness.

This was Claire's first Easter doing an egg hunt and she thought it was about the best thing ever. Every time she saw an egg, her face would light up and then she would get a huge grin when she realized all those eggs were filled with candy. Needless to say, her diet on Easter was pretty much candy. It was a proud mommy moment for me.

I spent the rest of the week just hanging out with my mom and dad, brothers and sisters and had a blast. My nieces and nephews all decided they wanted to do a bake sale, so my mom, sister-in-law, her mom and her sister-in-law all made goodies to sell and they ended up making over $200! The kids were thrilled and thought it was the coolest thing. The weather {kind of} cooperated, meaning it was sunny and pretty warm, but that famous Tri-City wind decided to join in on the fun. Regardless, it was an awesome day!

Claire and her favorite person, cousin Sarah! She missed her a lot. They got to go to Vegas for spring break, so we only got to see them on Friday at the bake sale.

I finally met up with Dallin on Friday and we spent the weekend with his parents and got to watch General Conference. I love General Conference weekend. The talks are always so uplifting, inspiring and there is always something said that I really need to hear. I am grateful for living prophets and for their beautiful words and testimonies.

So now we're back to real life where I have to cook my own meals (I swear, I revert back to being a kid when I am home and my mom just takes care of me, it's really pathetic. Oh, but she also helps me lose weight while I stay at her house, which is NOT pathetic. Thanks, Mom!) I have mountains of laundry, and all the responsibilities that come with being a mom and wife. Life is wonderful, we are getting ever closer to graduation (T-Minus 3.5 weeks!!) and the job search is going strong! We're so grateful for family, friends and the hope and peace the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings to our lives.