happy easter.

Easter has always been a favorite holiday of mine and every time it rolls around every year, I'm reminded of the fun memories I had when I was younger...

The excitement of shopping for a new Easter basket every year because there was no way you could use the old one from the year before.
The joy of getting together with my family and spending quality time with my cousins.
The smell and taste of the delicious food.
The pastel-colored outfits that our parents made us wear.
The impatient waiting we had to endure while the adults went and hid the eggs...
The even more impatient waiting we had to endure while the adults made us sit together and take pictures...in our pastel-colored outfits.
The rush of excitment when we finally were released to begin our search for eggs.
The chocolates, the treats, the money. The pure fun and joy of it all.

I truly do miss being a kid, especially around Easter time. What makes it even more joyous for me now is creating the same memories for my son. Seeing how much he has come to love the holiday as much as I did as a kid warms my heart more than he'll ever know. Happy Easter, son!

 

 

 

 

family trip traditions

One of my favorite traditions growing up was going on Tahoe trips with my mom's side of the family. 

One of my uncles had a friend who owned this beautiful cabin and every so often, we'd take a trip up to Tahoe and spend the weekend there. Now it wasn't just my mom, my dad, my siblings, and me on this trip. It was my grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins - about 20 of us. My family has gotten a lot bigger since then, but at the time, that was a lot to me. 


For Labor Day weekend, we went on a Tahoe trip with my cousins from my dad's side of the family - all 30 of us. I was really excited to go on the trip just because of how much fun I used to have when I was younger. It was always a tradition to take family pictures in front of the cabin before we left to go back home. I always enjoyed looking back at those pictures, especially as the years went by. Now with my dad's side of the family, we've started the very same tradition...

All of our kids in front of the cabin

the girls

the guys

It's a wonderful feeling to be able to let my son experience trips with his cousins just like I did when I was little. Can't wait for the next one...

me & my honey 

{w/ our son in the background refusing to take a pic}

My non-swimming beach outfit: H&M tank, Forever 21 shorts, H&M belt :)