Olivia's Piano Recital

Olivia had her first piano recital! She did fantastic job playing a pumped up version of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" (A.K.A. Mary Had a Little Lamb on Steriods!) Olivia has had fun in the last few months taking piano, and it was exciting to hear how awesome the other kids were. With practice Olivia, that can be you in a few years!

There were three other families in our ward at the recital with their kids. They all did awesome!!! Seriously, I can't wait until Olivia can play as well as they did! Great job everyone!

The History Tag

My friend Brea "tagged" me. I will do my best on this one Brea, but I have a horrible memory!

20 years ago:
1. I was just starting Young Women's. (Oh dear, that divulges my age!)
2. I was in the 6th grade at Highland elementary school, and I had my Meehok as a teacher.
3. I had a dog named Muffin.

10 years ago:
1. I was a newlywed. Zane and I had just been married.
2. I lived in Central Phoenix in a Historic district.
3. I was in nursing school.

5 years ago:
1. I finished nursing school
2. I was in the Relief Society Presidency in the Palm Valley Ward. I worked with some amazing people! Jeannette was such an awesome president, and I enjoyed working with her so much. I learned more from her about teamwork and delegation than any other person I have worked with! That was probably my favorite calling ever. Cristin...do you remember Jeanette saying "I don't micro-manage"?
3. Zane and I got sealed in the temple

3 years ago:
1. I was pregnant with our little Zachary
2. We had just moved into this house
3. I started working in the ICU

1 year ago:
1. I was expecting little Jacob, and breathing a sigh of relief that everything looked fine. If you don't know what I am talking about I will just say Jacob is a miracle baby, and really beat the odds making it to this earth!
2. I was nervous to be the Mom of three.
3. I had morning sickness every day, all day

So far this year:
1. I had the sweetest little baby Jakey
2. Went on the Disney Cruise for my 10th anniversary. SO FUN!
3. I switched around all of the kids rooms and got rid of the guest room to make room for Jacob.

Yesterday I:
1. Went to lunch with Tiffany, Jenny, Lindsay and Amy for VT.
2. Had Achievment day at the Gallacher's.
3. I swept, mopped and cleaned 4 toilets while Zane took the kids to the YMCA.

Today I:
1. Took Jacob to get pictures taken
2. Picked up my Sensy candle stuff. Thanks, Jill for splitting the package with me. I love it! Right now I have Bamboo Sugar Cane burning! It smells great!
3. Watched Enchanted with Olivia and Zach while Zane was at Y.M.

Tomorrow I:
1. Will do laundry
2. Will try really hard to take a nap, but probably won't get one.
3. Work all night long

In the next year I shall:
1. Get a new family portrait. Last time we had family pictures, Olivia was little.
2. Go to San Diego with my family (I hope!) We need to start planning!
3. Potty train Zachary. I hope it doesn't take the whole year!

So I am supposed to tag someone else. I tag anyone who wants to do it. Hopefully you have a better memory than I do.

Spring Break

For Spring Break Olivia and I had a "Girls Weekend" with our best friends Sherrie and Maddison. We went to Sedona and had a marvelous time!

Some of the highlights of our trip:

1. Pedicures

2. Eating out (a special treat for me, as we don't eat out much because of our little guys)

3. Hiking down Oak Creek Canyon at Slide Rock. I use the term "hike" very loosly. It was a challenge in our sandals!

4. It snowed while we were there! It was beautiful to see snow on the red rocks!

5. Going to the movies and seeing Horton Gives A Who!

6. Sleeping In! Another treat for me as I have a 6:00 a.m. wake up call every day from Jakey!

7. Olivia finally got her ear's pierced. I think she gave in to peer pressure as Sherrie, Maddie, and I were laying it on pretty thick! Sherrie let her pick anything she wanted at Claire's when she was done. She picked out some REALLY SPECIAL plastic braclets with rhinstones! Thanks Sherrie and Maddie for helping me talk Olivia into the earrings!

Happy Easter!!!

I tried real hard to take a cute picture of the kids in their new Easter clothes. As you can see, I was unsucessful. There was way too much excitment to stand still for pictures! I guess I will have to stage re-takes. Until then this will have to do!

Olivia and her chocolate bunny. The bunny was not going to leave chocolate bunnys this year, until Olivia mentioned Saturday evening how excited she was to be getting one the next day. Good thing the bunny has lots of tricks up his sleeve and a Walgreen's on the corner!

The Easter bunny left Zach a carrot bat and ball. He LOVED it! I think we have already lost it. Zach took it the Cheryl and Brent's, and it walked away. Maybe we will venture to Walmart tomorrow to see if the bunny bought it there!

Olivia hunting for eggs Easter morning!

Zachary hunting for eggs at Cheryl and Brent's.


Olivia and her BFC! (Best Friend Cousin!) Olivia and Lexi had matching Easter skirts. They also got matching rashes from the tulle trim at the bottom itching thier legs! We will buy tights for next time!


We ate dinner in Mesa with my family at Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Brent's. What a fun day! Cheryl and Brent live in an orange grove. We ate outside, and it was beautiful. The orange blossoms smelled like heaven! The food was delish. The company was great. What a perfect holiday! We love coming to your house, thanks for inviting us!

Coloring Eggs!

Our cousins Jordan, Lexi, Cole and Emmy came over to color Easter eggs. They invited along a few adults too (actually my whole family)! This was one of the highlights of Spring Break!

Zachary and his "cousin" Huxley. Huxley is the "son" of Carolyn and Jeff. Two little cutie pies!

Carolyn entertaining the kids on our trampoline. They had a blast!

Olivia and her favorite Easter egg that she dyed. You can't tell too well from the picture but it was glittered. I bet that glitter is going to be delicious in an egg salad sandwich!

Happy Birthday Lexi!

Happy 12th birthday Lexi! You are a great "tween"! I can't believe you are going to be in YW now! We hope you have a great year! We Love You! You are a great cousin and niece! (Who is that hiding behind Olivia? Shelly is that you?)

For Lexi's birthday we went to see Jesus the Christ, the Easter Pageant at the Mesa Temple. What a beautiful show! I highly recommend it to all, whether you are of our faith or not. It is a fantastic depiction of Jesus Christ's life, with a beautiful Easter message.

Lexi and all her Loot! You got some great presents, girlfriend!

We will always remember the "Angels Singing" to Lexi on her birthday. We had a quick little birthday celebration in the park across the street from the temple after the pageant. The Spanish version of the pageant was starting, so during her celebration there were angels singing ALLELUIA in the background! This is not the best picture, but it is Lexi with the angels behind her!

For more information on the easter pageant visit: http://www.easterpageant.org/

Jake Is Sitting!

Jacob started sitting up this week! He has such a huge smile on his face, he knows he is doing something fantastic!


Olivia and her boys! What a great big sis!

Student of the Month

Olivia was the student of the month in her school class for January. Her certificate says "Olivia Drescher is being recognized for exemplary scholarship, citizenship, and/or social service." (Now just let me get out the dictionary to see what that means!) Congratulations Olivia, we are proud of you for being a fantastic student, daughter, sister and friend. We love you Princess!

Happy Birthday Uncle Jeff!!!

Jeff and his "mini me" pinata. The kids loved it! Happy 27th Birthday Jeff! We hope you have a terrific year!

The Teddy Bear cake that Jeff used to love when he was little. He has told Carolyn about it so many times that we decided to just make one and show her! Good job on the cake Shelly! It was a trip down memory lane for all of the Esperson's!

Jeff blowing out the candles. As with all birthday celebrations he had a LITTLE help! I like how Shelly held Zach back, so the spit wouldn't hit the cake! What a Mom to think of that during cold, flu and strep throat season!

All of the grandkids (with the exception of Huxley, Jeff's dog). This picture turned out better than I thought it would. It was almost painful to get 7 kids to hold still for 10 seconds. Looking at this picture it just occured to me that when the Jamies' have their baby we will have doubled the grandchildren in our family in just two years!!! WOW! Cole, next year you will have to hold a baby instead of a pinata!