Easter

We always start our Easter festivities on Saturday Morning at Grandma Smith's Easter party.  It's mostly for the little kids but the older kids and Adults have a great time too.

 Mikayla and Ashlee

 "COUSINS"

Ashlee, Kylee, Lora, Tyler, Ben, Mikayla, Samantha and Sadie. 

LOVE these GIRLS!!!

After the hunt!!

 We dyed our eggs a little different this year, we used "Kool-Aid" instead of regular dye.  It turned out great and when your through you can just take a drink if your thirsty. LOL

Ashlee helped me by making these bird nests for place settings.  She is such a creative girl.

The real Meaning of Easter. The Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ~

The kids got their Easter baskets and of course they got got candy and a few things but I wanted them to always be reminded of why it is we celebrate, so we bought them each a picture of Christ.  That seemed to be what they loved the most!

My handsome boys........James

& Jake

my beautiful Ashlee

Ben and Casey....I don't know but I think maybe even Max was there. 

Sunday Best :)

 Ashlee helped with the table, I thought it turned out cute

 Dinner was , Ham, Loaded twice baked potatoes  and Asparagus

 

`......and of course the Bunny cake. haha

just for fun.

We had a wonderful Easter filled with Family, food and feeling grateful for the Sacrifice of our Savior and for the Atonement.

Go "GREEN" (St. Patrick's day)

"Wearing their Green"

Ashlee, Jake and well Casey is "Irish" so he needs no green.

 We ate green food.

The funny thing is that we actually had "Chinese" chicken salad on an "Irish" Holiday. 

Rainbow jello (again it's Ashlee's favorite) and little boxes of  gold chocolate.(Rolos)

 AND  of course, a CAKE!!!

"LOVE is all you need" Valentine's day 2012

You know what the Beatles say "Love is all you need" Well we have plenty of love in our house.  And one thing we all love is CAFE RIO!  Soooooo, for our dinner I made Sweet pork and we had Cafe Rio.  It was seriously soooo good.  We have made them so many times since and they are delish!!

And of course we had our layered Jello because, after all, it's Ashlee's favorite!!

***You can't have a party at the Hulet's without Decorations.......................

.....or Jewelry and chocolate 

And last but certainly not least........Special people to give them to....

My Valentine's 

 James

 Jake

Ashlee.

And my sweet mom made me a Valentine cookie that was absolutely delicious.  Hmmmm, I must be her favorite. ;)

We had a very happy Valentine's day!

Casey's Surgery (February 11, 2012)

In February Casey had his "scent glands" removed because of the constant infections caused by them, and well, since this is a family blog and he is our 3rd son it needs to be documented.  It was  really hard on the poor boy, and he had to wear the "Cone of Shame" but he has recovered completely and is as good as new. 

No More Infections!!  YAY!!

"Once there was a snowman" (January)

There was such little snow this year that we decided to make a "different" kind of snowman.  In our house We LOVE cupcakes.  If we can make them we do. :)  Plus it was a great way to use up the leftover Christmas candy.   Which is better than Casey's way.
Pictured below....no explanation needed!

Just for giggles and kicks

Benjamin Von Brillo sporting his shades

Better late than never...right?

Christmas was wonderful for our family. Having it on a Sunday made for a lovely day. We spent the day as a family, playing games, watching movies and just enjoying being together. Don was home for 2 weeks which was an added bonus. The kids really had the true meaning of Christmas in their hearts, which warms mine. I just love this time of year and I'm a little sad that it's over. Boy, time flies.

Lights on Temple Square...December 12, 2011

Temple Square with the family....

Me and my favorite girl

There is seriously NOTHING more gorgeous than the temple.  It's beauty never ceases to amaze me.... 

and the feeling you get, even on the grounds.
  I love it.

This is my favorite nativity scene of all, it is just beautiful.

The Assembly hall.

LOVE these guys!

James and Ashlee, such sweet siblings.  It was a wonderful night for our family.  I am grateful for the opportunities I have with the people I love more than anything.

Gingerbread fun..

Saturday night while the boys were out, Ashlee and I decided to decorate our Gingerbread house. 

I have a love /hate relationship with this activity.

  I love the tradition,  the time spent together and the decorating, but I really hate the assembly part....the roof slides off,  the walls won't stay up.  Well. The other day, while shopping I found a house that was pre-assembled.  I loved that it was all put together for me, but it really wasn't as cute.  I think that next year, we'll go back to the other kind, and just use hot glue.

I guess they really are worth all of the trouble.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!!

I admit it....I have had way too much fun getting my Christmas decorations up.!!!

It's really no secret that I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!! 
It is just a magical time of year.  It is has been pretty stress free so far, mainly because we have a game plan and we're sticking to it. 
***
We're ready.......
Bring it on!!!!

AMAZING!!!

Now this is what I call a gingerbread house!! 

"A Day of Thanks"

We had a lovely thanksgiving as usual. Don makes the BEST turkey I have ever tasted, and the pumpkin pies (thanks to Laura) were just as yummy!  It was a nice relaxing day and we enjoyed it.  I even won a game of five crowns.  

***

As you can see the dogs even got in on the "turkey" action.......for that I am sure they were thankful!!!

I am thankful for.....

With Thanksgiving upon us, I have been thinking about ALL that I have to be thankful for. I know that things aren't perfect, but I do feel blessed every single day and something good always comes from trials and struggles. 

So here are the things that I am so thankful for.....
***

1. My Saviors sacrifice, and the atonement.. the gospel of Jesus Christ  brings so much happiness into my life.  I love it.  It completes me.

2. An amazing family heritage.  I was born of goodly parents, who taught me the things that I needed to learn by teaching and example.......I never once was told to do something that my mother herself wouldn't do.  She is truly a woman who I look up to and strive to be like. (I have a lot of work to do).

3. Don.....He is such an amazing father and supports our family financially and emotionally, by keeping a a beautiful home over our heads, and food on our table.... and most importantly,  loving us no matter what!!! .

4.Wonderful Children, who I love sooo much and who make me so happy.  They really are great, and they teach me things daily.

5. My precious 4 legged, furry kids...Max, Casey, and Benji, they are the best, and have helped our family through hard times.  They are also cheaper than a therapist!  haha.

***

Although life isn't perfect it fits me perfectly!!!

The "100 Dresses"

 **

Wanda wore the same faded blue dress to school every day. It was always clean but sometimes it looked as though it had been washed and never ironed. Peggy started the game of the dresses when suddenly one day Wanda said, ' I have a hundred dresses at home--all lined up in my closet.' After that it was fun to stop Wanda on the way to school and ask, 'How many dresses did you say you have?' ' A hundred, ' she would answer.  It turns out that she had designed 100 dresses on paper and had them hanging in her closet.

***

In the spirit of Thanksgiving and Serving those who are less fortunate, our Relief Society's November Enrichment night was titled "100 Dresses" based on this book.Our goal was to donate dresses for a few different organizations in need, the activity for the evening.was to make pillow case infant dresses to donate also. We also had the Y.W. model dresses in a fashion show. I am pretty sure that we made our goal.

 **

   I am grateful for the service in the Church Organizations, and for the opportunities that I have to serve those around me, and in turn serve our Savior!

Halloween...Twenty~Eleven