the last weekend in Iowa

beautiful decorations by the local drugstore

Beli showing the Easter bunny her own bunny she received for her birthday

selecting a toy and bag of candy

happy with her selections

decorations at my Mom's 

photo taken before the Easter hunt

My youngest nephew and Beli

My four older nephews

Bittersweet to say the least. 

We were able to celebrate Easter with my family.  Beli was very excited to see the Easter bunny. And did you notice? She is happily wearing that same red dress which two months ago she totally refused to wear.  

I saw my youngest nephew walk for the first time!
Took my nephews to see the movie Rio, you need to go see it, it's funny!

There were lots of hugs and some tears as we said our goodbyes. Another big change for all of us!

After 4 months of living in Iowa we're moving to Colorado. We began our drive very early, at 2am hoping Beli wouldn't be so tired but she was wide awake and happy.

She did quite well, and was very excited to go to her house, especially when we mentioned that there were toys at her new house.

a park somewhere between Iowa and Colorado

Have a wonderful weekend. What are your plans? I will be unpacking, to be honest, I thought we didn't have that much stuff but our car was stuffed all the way to the roof!  

collection of rain drops

 I took these photos while I was waiting in the car for my sister to make a few purchases at a consignment shop. I was too tired to go in so I waited with both of my nephews and Beli. We sang songs and more songs then the kids were getting bored so I grabbed my camera and began taking photos of them and of the rain. Wished we had our umbrellas, we could have danced in the rain!

It's not about tax day or Easter, but a wedding anniversary

When we tell friends that our wedding took place on April 15, we always get one of two comments, "ah, you married on tax day" or "how convenient for your husband, being an accountant he will always remember his wedding day." Then hubby and I laugh and together reply that it has nothing to do with tax day or his profession, rather it has to do with Easter.

Six years ago, while on an Easter hunt with my nephew, hubby proposed. He placed the ring inside a plastic egg. My older sister knew he would propose, so she insisted that I help our nephew to open his goody filled easter eggs. I remember telling my nephew, " look Ethan, there is some candy inside this egg." Then I opened another egg, and there I found the ring. I thought, "hmm this is strange, why is there a ring inside a plastic egg?" Then hubby, who was looking from a distance, came forth and got on one knee and said, "will you marry me?"

 I said yes, and a year later we got married in Colorado.

 We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary in Iowa. My older sister and brother-in-law presented us with a very special gift, a dinner reservation to Zins, a very nice restaurant known for their small plate concept. 

We didn't have an appetite for dinner since earlier that day, we celebrated Beli's birthday. Instead we ordered drinks, toasted to our marriage and shared this yummy dessert, it was called Gooey Looey, fun name right?

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend with friends and family. What plans do you have? and if you would like to share how your loved one propose to you I would love to hear your story!

Fields of Lavender

Inspired by both her grand-daughter and the island of Hvar, my Mother-in-law created these three canvases. Aren't they amazing? She is a natural when it comes to painting. 

And when you put all 3 three canvases next to each other, you get a beautiful painting!

Pink and Purple and a Tres Leches Cake

On Saturday, Beli turned 3! She was so excited for her "birthday cake." She told her cousins, "it's my birthday party!" 

She loves Dora and Minnie Mouse, and I didn't know which to pick as the theme for the cake. I left it up to the local bakery when I placed my order for a tres leches cake, and this what they came up with. Beli loved it!

Besos for our princesa.

Already wearing some of her gifts. Dora socks and Minnie Mouse bathing suit.

We had originally planned to celebrate Beli's birthday at the zoo with all her cousins, but weather didn't cooperate and after a few suggestions, we decided to stay at home and eat cake and ice cream.

I should mention that earlier in the day we stopped by our friends house for homemade scones and tea.

 Afterwards, we attended our friend's birthday. 

 Then we went  home and hosted Beli's own party. I was exhausted! Then my sister and brother-in-law surprised us with a dinner reservation that same evening to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary ( I will post about that another day) but we had eaten so much all day that we just didn't know if we could eat more! We

It was a wonderful day of celebrations. We love you Beli.