I woke up to such nice surprises on Mother’s Day! The kiddos, the girls especially, have been looking forward to today for about two weeks, which really warmed my heart more than anything else. We planned to head to the hills for a little photo shoot at our favorite spot and a pizza lunch at Beau Jo’s.
Bella Boo
Levi
Sweet Sophie
We were totally shaking and shivering so we cut the photo shoot WAY short and took what we could get! It even started snowing as we were leaving!
Rick really makes days like this special for me.
Today was extra special because it was also five years ago today that we met Levi in Yunnan China! We always celebrate adoption anniversaries with a special kid chosen cake from Bask*n Robb*ns. 
My favorite pic of the day.Â
I am a lucky MaMa!
We decided to head for the hills for a few days over Easter weekend and then pretty much at the last minute, good friends decided to drive in from Nebraska and join us, really making the weekend special!
Us and my Dad, who joined us for the weekend.
Kids riding in front of me with a trail guide leading the way. They talked her ear off the ENTIRE time and she was so patient and good with them. Sophie told her that she can tell that they really love the horses and take very good care of them. Sophie worries herself silly about the happiness of animals so this was very important to her. The guide told her that the horses even get vacations in the off season (which is just ending so some are still on vacation) and they go out of state and roam in pastures for their break. Bella told her that she has many horse books and stuffed horses and that she plans to be a “wrangler” just like her!Â
My Dad sat out the horse trail ride that the rest of us took. I took this photo from the saddle of my horse as we were heading out for our ride and knew immediately that he had the best seat in the house. That was confirmed by the end of the ride and again three days later when I could still feel that little horse ride!
Levi LOVING this ride!
All the kiddos. I don’t get to see my sweet friend (college roomie) very often which is such a shame! I would love for our kids to be growing up together. They all enjoyed the time they had to get to know each other and we hope we can do it again sometime!
It was actually nice enough (in the mountains!) on Easter that the kids could eat outside at the picnic table!
One of our favorite features at the Y is the crafty room. This time we all did some tye-dye.
Sweet Sophie
My Dad and I became obsessed with finishing the bunny puzzle, mostly after other peeps went to bed each night.
The bunny brought different baskets than usual but still filled with lots of goodies.
Evenings in the cabin. Kids working on some paintings, manly peeps hanging out around the fire…
They even have a little roller rink there at the Y. It is such a fun, family friendly place to stay.
And of course we had a marshmallow roasting, smore making grand finale on our last evening together.
It was a lovely way to spend Easter weekend.
(xo Renee! Let’s not wait another three years to get together…but maybe next time lets plan it to be more about US than all of our sweet peeps!! 
)
Sophie leaves a note for me each night on my nightstand. Some of them are lengthy and have requests or information and some are just sweet little goodnight notes. Cute girl.
This is a super easy potpie recipe that I have been relying on for years for those evenings when I am not up to doing much more than this.
Potpie
I use 1 pkg/2 premade Pillsbury crusts (the rolled up kind in the fridge section at the grocery)
2 chicken breasts, cubed and browned (cooked through)
1/2 onion, diced
1 can cream of anything soup (chicken being the obvious choice)
1/2 c. milk
10 oz bag of frozen peas and carrots (steamed)
Brown the chicken and onion and season if you prefer (I add a little poultry seasoning but probably not needed). Steam the frozen veggies while you cook the chicken.  Also put one crust in a pie plate and bake it empty for a few minutes in the oven.  Stir chicken, veggies, soup and milk together and pour into partially baked crust. Top with second crust, poke some holes to vent and bake at 350 for about half an hour.
I have also done this with no bottom crust and just a sheet of puff pastry on top and it is very good this way too and just less…crusty.Â
To be honest, I am bummed.
And technically it doesn’t happen until Wednesday, so things might get worse before they get better.Â
To ease my pain, my family gave me a lovely birthday bash this weekend with a 70′s theme to celebrate that I was born in 1972.  We dressed like hippies (sorta!) and the kids asked me what hippies are. I told them hippies are fun people.  heehee. I think we might just be hippies all year long!
The pinata peeps.
The pinata holders.
In the end it was the birthday girl who beat the thing to a pulp. I just kept thinking 40?? Really? 40?? And smashed it to bits! If you are on the verge of a biggie, I highly recommend a pinata!
Gathering up the loot.
Thank you to everyone, and especially to my Mom and Aunt for putting it all together, for making me feel so celebrated! XO
