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Happy Easter and our growing boy!

Today is Easter. We had a lovely day. My mom and our neighbor and friend Jenn joined us at church. It was a nice day. Berto had to work :( so Oliver, my mom and I had dinner and an easter egg hunt at Jen and Sasa's house. It was a lot of fun. Oliver (and I wish I had gotten pictures) even got to get in the pool for a little while. The water was freezing but he sat with his feet in splashing so finally I stripped him down to his diaper and let him stand on the first step in the pool. He was a happy camper! We had a lovely Easter, I was bummed that Berto wasn't able to spend the day with us but it was nice being with our friends and my mom.

Today was also a big milestone for Oliver. Although he's not 18 months yet today was his frist day in nursery at church. (18 months is the age that the little ones are allowed to go to the nursery to play and learn) We teach primary and when we were called our Bishop told us whenever we thought Oliver was ready for nursery he could start attending there. At 14 months I didn't think he was quite ready... but as the months have gone on I finally decided it was just too much on Sundays. We have a VERY rambunctious class and a VERY rambunctious toddler. Those two things just were not mixing very well. So today Berto went to nursery with Oliver. He didn't leave Oliver on his own, he said Oliver was a little clingy for quite a while there. I think for the next few weeks Berto will stay with him and then will gradually start leaving him on his own. When they came to get me to leave church Oliver was all smiles and had made a little project. It was a big day for us! My little boy is just too grown up already. They weren't lying when they say they grow up so fast, I really can't believe how true that statement is and I"m sure it will become more apparent to me as the years pass by.

I love this little munchkin

It's so hard sometimes to be able to capture in writing what a sweet and funny little boy Oliver is. He definitely got his daddy's silly sense of humor. I love watching him run around and laugh and play. It's so much fun to see how he's growing and learning. He's finally starting to talk more. He just walks around babbling all day long. Only sometimes do I actually understand what he's "talking' about. Usually it's when he says dog, bye, hi, wow, mommy, daddy, up or yeah. The rest of the time only Oliver knows what he's talking about. But it's so cute and I love it. He's such an amazing little person. I can't wait until he has siblings. It will be such a great joy to watch how they interact with one another. I can't wait for those days!

Our mini-cation to Sedona, AZ

This is Snoopy Rock. If you look at the smaller rock formation on the right (next to the largest one) it looks like snoopy laying on his back with his feet up.
This rock is called Madonna with Child. The Chapel of the Holy Cross was built intentionally next to this formation.
Oliver playing near a fountain in Tlaquepaque.
Ditto
Oliver trying to escape Tlaquepaque!
Just being cute!
Oliver with Daddy at Tlaquepaque!
Mommy at Tlaquepaque! Yep I was there too! :)
Family in front of some formations at the top by The Chapel of the Holy Cross.

So Berto had scheduled some vacation time over the past week. (He's still on vacay for two more days!! YAY!!) Coincidentally we got our tax return right in time for his time off. We decided to splurge a little. Since we are working towards getting out of debt we don't spend too much on us. We took a little overnight trip to Sedona, AZ. We loved it! We stayed at the Raddison Poco Diablo Resort. Which was really nice, really clean. (which is always what I look for in a hotel). We drove up Monday afternoon, after I finished taking care of our neighbors dog. We ate dinner when we arrived in Sedona at this really yummy restaurant called Quaxaca. It was delicious. Then we checked into our hotel and rested up for the next day. Oliver hasn't ever stayed in a hotel so he had fun running around exploring his new territory!
On Tuesday morning Oliver decided that 5:30 am was a good time to wake up. (YUCK) But since we were up we went outside and looked around, since it was dark when we got there the night before. It was a beautiful resort. Oliver started getting a little too loud outside so we decided to be good neighbors and take him back indoors. Since we couldn't think of anything else to do we got ready for the day and headed out to breakfast. We ate breakfast and spent the day seeing the sights in Sedona. One of the best things we did was took a trolley tour. It was a lot of fun and an easy way to see the sights that we might not have seen otherwise. It was great. We also visited Tlaquepaque. This is a little shopping, dining, photo op area. Incidentally it was designed after a part of Guadalajara, Mexico also called Tlaquepaque which is where Berto's parents are from and the majority of his relatives still live there. It was really pretty there.
When we ran out of things to do in Sedona we headed back down. We stopped in Anthem, AZ at the outlet mall on the way and got a couple of good deals!
We had a great little mini vacation. Sedona is BEAUTIFUL! The red rocks are amazing sights to see. Much like St. George, UT. We really loved it and will definitely go back when we have the opportunity!

Mesa Temple Easter Pageant

I forgot to post about this. This past Tuesday we went to the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant. We went with my mom and met our friends, Allison and Jason and their two kids Ava and Blake. We had a great time. We took a picnic dinner and then watched the Pageant. What a great presentation of the life of our Savior, and a reminder of the sacrifice he made for the sins of the World when he died on the cross. Also, it was a great opportunity to remember why we celebrate Easter, when Jesus arose from the grave three days after his death so that we could all return to live with God again. It was really wonderful. The pageant was made up of several stories from the bible throughout the life of Christ.
I went with my friend Heather and her husband and an old friend of ours a few years ago. I had actually forgotten how great it really was. Berto loved it, and my little Oliver sat on my lap the entire time (except for maybe 5 mins) and watched the entire (1 1/2 hour long) program. He kept watching the actor that was portraying Jesus and kept saying "wow, wow" throughout the entire show. What a good boy he was! For some reason we didn't take too many pictures. This is the only one from the night.
We hope you all have a Happy Easter!

Queen Creek Family Fun Run

This morning Berto and I (and Oliver via a ride in the stroller) participated in the Queen Creek Family Fun Run! It was just a short 2 mile run but we had a great experience! It's my second little race and I really enjoy it. This was Berto's first! We had a great time! Oliver probably would have rather been causing trouble on the playground or something, but he was a trooper! Before the race started a lady came up to us and asked if she could buy one of our t-shirts. (We pre registered so we got t-shirts). We agreed, so we made $20 out of the day as well~ All in all I'd say the day was a success!
The picture was taken before the race so we weren't too tired or sweaty yet! ;)