Easter Egg Hunt (early)

Since my parents were in town for Conference, we did the annual Martino Egg hunt a month early. Beautiful weather, family surrounding us, candy, hot dog roast, what's not to love?

St. Patrick's Day

You would have thought it was Christmas around here with how excited my kids got over the St. Patty's Day scavenger hunt I put together - it was hilarious. I love how easily pleased children can be. Anyway, they woke up to this:

and were immediately on the run!

They finally found their "treasure" at the end of the rainbow (or, in the "bow" drawer in my bathroom),

and topped it all off with a yummy green breakfast before heading to Going Bonkers for the morning with cousins and friends!

Spring Break

For Spring Break this year my sister's (Kim and Lauren) and I thought it would be fun to take the kids over to Fort Worth to play and stay overnight. I think we all agreed that this needs to be an annual tradition - we had a great time!
We started out at the Fort Worth Children's Museum,

then had a picnic outside before going back in to finish the museum.

That afternoon we checked into our hotel (11 kids and 3 adults - we must be crazy), let the kids go swimming (although they enjoyed the hot tub the most), then went to dinner at Chili's (again, asking for 11 children's menus and 3 adult menus - I bet they LOVED us).

The next morning they had a yummy buffet breakfast at the hotel (always Brighton's favorite part),

and then went to the Fort Worth Zoo for the remainder of the day before heading home. A fun little getaway for all of us!

Puppy Love

We caved. Or should I say Chris caved. Or should I say I finally told him I'm overruling him on this decision. Anyhow, we got a dog. Our kids have wanted one forever. And can I say, we're totally SMITTEN, even Chris? Lucy's a little yellow lab puppy, just 5 weeks old. Does it get any cuter than this? We seriously love, love her and the kids just can't get enough of her. Fun times. Now, let's see what I'm saying about her in a week (or so I've been told). More to come...

Ice, Snow, and Sleet, Oh My!

We, along with most of the rest of the country, had quite the snow and ice storms. The kids were out of school for 4 days one week and 1 day the next week. The ice was no fun, but the snow is a different story. I had to get rather creative by the end of all of it to keep these 4 rambunctious kids entertained, but it was kind of fun. Although in the end, I believe everyone was ready for school to start again!



Sydney was SO happy at this point for the ice to have turned to snow after 3 days. Can you tell?

Guatemala Trip, Part 1

For Christmas this year we went as a family to Guatemala to visit my parents. The kids and I went for 15 days, and Chris joined us for 9 of them. It was SOOOO much fun! My sister Emily and her family and my brother Ben and his family came as well. We went on lots of trips all around and made many unforgettable memories. All the kids got along great and had so much fun with their cousins they don't get to see as frequently. The people in Guatemala are so loving and kind, it was infectous. And the weather, well you can't beat it. 70's for a hi and 50's for a low year-round. Thanks, Mom and Dad for the trip of a lifetime! We miss you already!
The day after we got there we went to the large local market downtown. It was a bit of an eye-opener for the kids!

Chris was tempted to buy these pants. I talked him out of it. :)

One day we went to a fun park with some great climbing trees and a little carnival next door before heading over to the giant 3D relief map of all of Guatemala.

Then another day we went to the zoo. We also went to a big amusement park with a fun zoo and dinosaur park attached to it. Fun times!

One day before church.

Guatemala, Part 2

We took a day to travel about 45 min. away to Antigua, a very cute little town. We started out the day with zip-lining, which all the kids LOVED, especially Gavin! It was beautiful! Then, we ate lunch at a cute restaurant inside of a hotel that I actually stayed at when I was 5. I just loved the wait staff there - one of the ladies saw us struggling with Gavin during lunch and came and got him, took him out into the courtyard and walked around with him while we ate. If only there was a place like that in America! Loved her!