This is what we woke up to on Jaden's birthday, 22 inches of snow in April!
This is the barbecue grill that we are supposedly making lunch on. Hmmm!
Jaden helped Gabe and I prepare the food for the party. Here he is proudly displaying his hard work.
Gabe, being the awesome man he is, cleared all 22 inches of snow from the grill and deck just so that Jaden could have grilled hot dogs for his birthday. He is such a great daddy.
Within minutes of arriving, the boys fled to Simon's room to begin wrestling.
Uncle Issac is here! He brought one of Jaden's favorites... candy.
Hannah and Megan join in on the fun at the table.
Uncle Dude and Aunt Megan sent Jaden this awesome vest. Thank you. Jaden has been wearing it almost everyday. He enjoyed opening your package and was able to read your entire card (his reading assignment for the day.) We love you and we can't wait to see you next month.
Getting ready
Our friends Skyler, Max and Luke
Jaden is explaining his new game "Rush Hour" to his friend Ben.
Jaden loved his bike birthday cake. We made it out of cow tales, m&ms, licorice and other yummy candies.
Simon gets a little help from grandma Bonny
My mom and sister Angie having fun watching all the sugar crazed kiddos.
Jaden sat down at the counter to talk to me. Within minutes of him doing so his little shadow (Simon) followed suite and climbed up the stool to sit by him.
Silence is quite alarming in our home these days.
So sweet!
As Jaden tries to open the box, the girls offer there many opinions on ways in which to make the opening process go more quickly.
Jaden even takes time to read the card first. Notice, Hannah is not so patient.
Why do the toy manufacturers make the packaging so difficult to open? Seriously, it took us almost 10 min. to remove this from the box. Grrr! :)
Yea! Finally free... it's a transformer! Thank you aunt sis!
As I was busy and distracted getting the kids ready one morning, Simon thought he would help me out. I walked up the stairs to find this scene... I asked Simon what he was doing and he just smiled and said "boosh" which is how he says brush (toothbrush).
I love how he pulled himself up to rinse his mouth. Simon, you are getting so big. In this picture he looks just like the other kids, and no longer like a baby. Well, here's to more fun adventures and surprises.
Eager to start
The finished product... so many beautiful eggs (and children).
Jaden is trying hard to get just the right shade of blue.
When Megan pulled this egg out of the dye Gabe said, " Wow Megan, that egg has stripes on it." Megan looked at him sternly and said ," No daddy, this is my rainbow egg."
Jaden is a joker (just like his daddy) and used the special crayon to write "Eater" on his egg.
We decided that since Simon is only months away from the old age of 2, he should be allowed to dunk his own Easter eggs...
He likes it!
Somehow, we failed to mention that the dye is for eggs and not little hands.
Hannah and Megan giggled when they saw Simon's hand and Jaden said," Look dad, God gave Simon got a Hulk hand for Easter."
My friend Kaleigh and I took the kids to the train depot to see the model train expo. 
Jaden pays close attention to detail and had all sorts of "how did they do that?" questions for me.
Megan went off by herself to watch the trains. I think she needed some quiet and alone time, she is so much like her mother sometimes.
Hannah was drawn to the "how to do it yourself" table and excitedly told me how we could make model trains at home. Maybe someday sweetie!
Megan is really into dressing up lately and making everyone around her share in her enthusiasm. She caught Gabe sitting down watching Star Trek and proceeded to work on his hair do.
Megan worked her charm, she got Hannah involved and had Gabe help her open the hair clips.
"Daddy, you look bootiful!" -Megan
We took the kids downtown to see the ice sculptures, however before we could even look at them, we were stopped by the alluring call of the town square ice rink. The kids love the ice and were perfectly content to "ice skate" despite our lack of actual skates.
Gabe rescues Simon from the confines of his stroller.
Everything is more fun with a little help from dad.
Sweet Hannah... wearing a smile even when she falls on her bum.
Jaden is always on the run these days.
This is where Simon stayed and watched the action. Poor guy! He actually had a cold that day, so I'm guessing he probably had more fun in his cozy carriage than if he had been subjected to his fearless sister and brother.
Megan took compassion on Simon and took him for a ride around the rink. Or wait, maybe it was the other way around... Did Simon see his sister struggling and offer his stroller as support?