Beaming with Pride

My older sister, Melanie, just graduated from the University of Idaho with her Bachelors of Science degree. Since this was such a huge moment for her I wanted to be there to support her and cheer her on when she accepted her diploma. So, with my kids, I drove up to Idaho Falls to watch her on Thursday night. My parents made the trip too.
Her degree is in Psychology. I'm assuming this is because she wanted to take after me. :0) Sure, she got her bachelor's and I'm only getting my associate's degree in a couple of months...but it was my idea first! :0) I told her that she would have to move by me in a couple of years so that we could open up a family counseling practice together. Stumpf and Burnham....or better yet....Burnham and Stumpf. :0) Good stuff.

Even though she is my BIG sister, I felt like a proud mommy watching her walk the stage to get her diploma. She has worked so hard on this and is such a great example for me as I try to get through my classes.

{Have you ever tried to take a picture that has seven children in it at 9:30 at night? Yeah....good luck with getting all eyes on the camera!}

Easter

We had such a fun Easter weekend! My sister, Melanie, was able to come and visit with her family and so it made it so much fun for the kids to see their cousins. Landon was so excited he begged to spend the night at Nana's house so that he would be there when the Stumpf's showed up late Friday night. Mackenzee was pretty bummed that I didn't let her do it too. :0)
Lucky for her, we went to Nana's house the next morning to greet everyone. My mom's ward was having an Easter Egg Hunt/Luncheon on Saturday afternoon and so we all went to party down over there. Mackenzee was one of the oldest in her age group I think and so she got quite a haul from the hunt in her area. I actually told her to stop picking them up towards the end so that way the littlest kids could have a chance. :0)

Landon got quite a few eggs himself. It helped that there were oodles of eggs and only a few kids in his age category to find all of them. :0) I think it was way more fun that way. The kids were so excited that they had their baskets full of sugary goodness.

Here are the kids showing off their full baskets. Of course, sharing IS caring and so I stole a few for myself. :0)

We were sad to learn that the older kids would not be able to hunt for eggs at the ward party, and since I just so happened to have lots of extra eggs already stuffed with yummy treats, I told Shelby and Jon that I would let them hunt for eggs at my mom's house. Stephen and I hid the eggs the best we could and let them go at it in a race to see who would find the most.

Jon got a little help from a certain 3 year old.....but even so, Shelby ended up with one more egg than him. :0)

After the hunting festivities were over, we broke out the hard boiled eggs and dye to color Easter eggs of our own. I think between the kits that I had bought, my sister bought, and my mom bought we had 5 or 6 different ones going on.

When you have this many people dying eggs, though....it sure makes it easier when there are so many cups of color to share.

We had oodles of beautiful eggs when we were done, but I must say that I was super proud of my sparkly camoflauge egg that I created. Isn't it wicked awesome?

My mom kept the fun going by having the girls help her bake and then frost a bunny cake.

I think the girls ended up eating more frosting than they actually put on the cake. It was rather yummy though.....

Shelby helped to put the finishing touches on the cake.

I thought it turned out pretty good...don't you think? It wasn't until after we took this picture that we realized the bunny was missing it's cute little pink nose......Oh well. The cake sure tasted good!

The Easter Bunny did make it to our house this year. The kids were thrilled to find all the little trinkets that were left for them.

The kids got all foofied up for church on Sunday. Landon looked so handsome in his white shirt and tie and Mackenzee was a doll in her cute little pink sailor dress. She was so in love with that hat and was sure she was just spectacularly amazing when she had it on. :0)

We went to church with my mom on Easter morning. As you can tell by the crooked ties, it was slightly windy outside that day. :0)

After church we went out to Jerome to have dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Burnham. Grandma had the kids do an Easter egg hunt at her house too.

Jeremy was more content to just sit outside in the sun. {BTW....he turned one last weekend! crazy isn't it?}

Breanna and Whitney.....

Kaden....

Gage.....

Of course, because I am a slacker mother and was trying to run around getting pictures of EVERYONE, I failed to nab an actual picture of Landon hunting for eggs.

Michael didn't quite take the time to grab a bag to hold his eggs. Lucky for him his dad didn't quite take the time to actually HIDE his eggs so he was able to find them all rather easily on the grass in the backyard. :0)

Poor Jordan had her Easter eggs hidden the hardest.....Seriously....just because you are older doesn't mean you have better hunting skills. :0) It took her a while to find all of them.

Apparently Grandma had filled two eggs with a $20 bill in each. One was labeled "Money egg older kids" and the other was "money egg younger kids". The older kids spent most of their time searching for their egg as Grandpa hid it in the middle of a bunch of tall weeds. After a little hinting Meghan ended up finding the older kids egg. The little kids egg was hidden quite a bit easier and it turned out the Mackenzee actually found it on her own. She was so excited!

Anyway, it was a fun-filled weekend full of family and good times. Thanks Nana and Grandma for helping us to whoop it up! :0)

It's Birthday Time Again...

As I've said before, October is a busy month in my family. Not only is it Mackenzee's birthday, but it is my mom's, sister's, neice's, and three nephew's birthdays. All but one of those are part of the Robinson clan. It's crazy! So, every October conference weekend, we get together at my mom's house and have one big birthday party for everyone celebrating this month.

Unfortunately, only my sister Melanie was able to make it this time, so we were short a "few" people. But, we still had a good time and were able to have a great celebration.

Yesterday was actually my neice, Savanna's birthday. She is now 7. I can't believe it! I used to babysit her when she was just a little bit older than Mackenzee is now. :0( And now she is so big! Mackenzee just adores her and whenever Savanna is around, I am no longer her bestest friend. Her "Nana nana" takes that spot from me. I've always called Savanna "Savanna banana" and so apparently Mackenzee has now taken it upon herself to use that nickname as well. Though, the way she pronounces it ends up taking on the form of "Nana nana" instead. :0)

My mom's birthday then comes on the 8th, though she swears she doesn't have anymore birthdays. :0) Mackenzee was actually supposed to be born on the 8th and we were hoping for a double birthday. Mackenzee even has her Nana's middle name as her middle name. But, she obviously wasn't ready to come and play for a few days, because she was born 4 days late.

My sister's birthday isn't for another week and a half, but we share the love with her too. And my two nephews don't celebrate theirs until the end of the month. All in all, there are 6 Robinson birthdays in October. It's a popular month around here. :0)

Landon really enjoyed the cupcakes I made for the brirthday party....can't you tell? :0)

Anyway, happy birthday family! Austin...I still have your present here waiting for you {along with Alina's}. I can't wait to see you at Thanksgiving so you can open it! :0)