It's a Little Late...

but here is the one picture I took of the Saturday Easter Egg Hunt before the craziness started. I am not sure why I love crowded egg hunts so much, but I do. So do the kids. I used to wish that they had egg hunts for adults, until I went to the first and last annual ladies' Easter egg hunt at Gardner Village several years ago. We witnessed old women being knocked to the ground by middle age and younger women in pursuit of plastic eggs, and, if you think the eggs go fast at the kid hunts, the eggs at the Gardner Village hunt disappeared in seconds. It was crazy and pretty mean. Gardner Village didn't do it again, and I'm glad about that. So I just have to be content to watch the kids.

Speaking of Gardner Village, right before Easter we met some friends there that we hadn't seen for several months.

Nicholas wondering why he's the only boy over the age of three.

Maddie sharing her wide array of knowledge with Kelsy.

Emily with a darling flower in her hair (yes, I MADE that; I don't get to say that very often).

Above is the rubber duck they pulled out of the super-clean river that meanders through the village. (Ha, ha, it's not clean at all, that thing was covered in sludge.)

Why do they keep leaving me?

Finally, this is a video of the egg hunt (the Easter Bunny hid the eggs) at our house Sunday. It went fast.

Baby Pictures

Cute baby pictures on Jordan's blog here. Such a darling baby, who, if I may say it again, looks exactly like Natasha.

Jordan--I did not realize what a genius you were (are?) until I read your comment on my last post. Perfect! (Except the part about BYU.)

A Post To Cindy Because I'm Quite Certain She Never Checks Her E-Mail

Emily wanted to see the bears on your blog AGAIN, and while we were looking at them Emily said, "Mom, you ought to write a quick letter to Cindy telling her I will be very disappointed if she does not come out in May because I have been looking forward to it for weeks, not to mention she better take this opportunity to meet her little nephew James before he moves to Texas; what if she never has another chance to see him AGAIN, Mom, what if Cindy comes out for Thanksgiving and Jordan comes out for Christmas and then Cindy comes out for President's Day but Jordan comes out for International Sloth Day? What will happen then, Mom, when they never, ever get to meet each other and all because Cindy gave up a free trip to Utah to see me and her new, sweet nephew? Oh, she will never forgive herself when you're his favorite aunt and I have forgotten that she even exists, thinking that her blog is really just a work of fiction and not based on actual people! It makes me terribly sad, I can't even sleep at night because of it, and you really should write to her quickly."

Let's see, I guess Emily already covered everything.
Love,
Tiffany

A Baby Boy!!!

Little James Jordan Cullimore made his debut today, after hours and hours of labor! 8 pounds 11 ounces--congratulations!

Nicholas Is Pleased...

to show the world his new braces.

Off-Track

It was a beautiful day and the kids were off-track, so why not a trip to the zoo?

Pre-Easter Egg Hunt

A practice run at the neighbor's house. I think we're ready for the wild and crowded one at the park this Saturday. (Can you ever really be ready?)

Emily Learns to Ride Her Trike...

and requested that I take a picture of her doing it. Here it is.

The Sequel (To Yesterday's Post)

Cindy's husband David moved to Alaska for completely different reasons. He moved to Alaska to improve the oral hygiene of the moose, buffalo, and penguins. You're right, I'm just kidding, penguins don't have teeth. I meant to say he wanted to improve the oral hygiene of the few and varied people of Alaska. He was wildly successful and had a line of patients every day out the door of his office and around the corner, but he was not happy. This was due to the fact that he could not find a good home. He looked everywhere and all that was available this time of year and for less than $7500 a month was a beaver dam up on the Oshinawanka River. Sadly, the commute was just too far.

So he, too, moved back home to Utah with his wife and found that people there had teeth, just like in Alaska, and was wildly successful and extremely happy because he lived right next door to Cindy's sister and brother-in-law.

The End

Six Months Later:
Cindy and David ended up being extremely happy living three houses down from Cindy's sister and brother-in-law because the sale on the house right next door fell through. It turned out okay because one day while planting petunias next to her front porch Cindy dug up an old brown dress sock filled with gold nuggets (ironically believed to be from the Oshinawanka River) and now all four are sailing somewhere near Italy.

P.S. May 4th, May 4th, May 4th!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!

P.P.S. Mom just told me you bought a house! Congratulations!

A Story to Entertain Cindy While at Work

Once upon a time there was a girl named Cindy who moved far, far away from her family to another land called Alaska in order to seek adventure and freeze her feet climbing glaciers. After climbing her 853rd glacier she decided it was time to acquire some boots, which they didn't sell in Alaska because there are no stores. Only bear. And one Kmart--but that doesn't count. Since she didn't want to skin a bear and make her own boots (not because she was afraid of the work and mess involved but because bear sometimes have a nasty habit of eating you and getting away and you have no boots to show for it or feet to put them on) she decided to fly home to her family where she could go shopping and buy some. She had so much fun that she decided to stay there to live forever. (Her husband came with her of course--his story and reason are different and will be addressed in a different story.) They lived happily ever after.
The End

Natasha's Baby Shower

My mom had a baby shower for Natasha on Saturday. Our family and Natasha's friends came. It was very fun--especially the baby shower games. I wonder which brilliant people came up with those? (Just kidding--they were painful baby shower games. They seemed suspiciously like homework. That's what you get from two teachers.)

Emily was very interested the 'opening presents' part of the shower.

Some of the guests: Dancy, Sue, Anjou, Leona, June

Maddie was a good helper. (She had been very intrigued beforehand at what a "baby shower" was. She was sure water was involved. It wasn't. Though maybe if I had come up with better games...)

Emily inspected every single present. Carefully. Immediately. Before Natasha even had a chance to look at it.

There was a blizzard Saturday afternoon in Syracuse, so we spent the night at my parents. Here we are in our borrowed pajamas. I appreciate Jordan and Natasha for staying quite late in order to watch "Miss Potter" with me. I didn't guilt them into it or anything. Of course not.

Less than three weeks until their baby is here!

My youngest daughter was somewhat of a nuisance during the shower.

Carrot Cake

Emily helped make carrot cake for Natasha's shower. Here is the recipe for my family's favorite dessert:

Carrot Cake
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
3 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups shredded carrots

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour 9x13 pan. Mix sugar, oil and eggs in large bowl until blended; beat 1 minute. Stir in remaining ingredients except carrots; beat 1 minute. Stir in carrots. Pour into pan. Bake about 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack and then frost with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package cream cheese (8 ounces), softened
1 cube butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar

Blend cream cheese and butter, stir in vanilla, stir in powdered sugar; beat until smooth.

Emily Is Potty Trained! Yay!!!

Jordan Plays Well With Other Kids. Usually.

"Get Your Coat On, Emily..."