Easter 2013

 Christ has risen!  He is risen indeed!

We had a wonderful Easter weekend.  I LOVE celebrating Easter with our little family and with our extended family.  

Our weekend started Saturday morning making resurrection rolls with Ryan.  It was our first year making these and even though I don't think he got the whole thing, he enjoyed it. 

 In case you don't know what they are...You take a big marshmallow, which represents Jesus body and dip it in butter.  The butter represents the oil they placed on Jesus's body.  Then roll the marshmellow in cinnamon and sugar mixture.  This represents the spices they put on Jesus' body when they placed him in the tomb.  Now take a triangle piece of crescent roll and roll the mashmellow around, sealing it making sure not to leave a hole.  The roll represents the tomb they placed Jesus' body in.  You place in the oven at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.  When you pull them out and open the 'tomb' and 'Jesus' -the marshmallow, is gone.  

The boys woke up Sunday morning with fun Easter treats in their baskets.  They got summer sandels, the Jesus storybook Bible, hot wheels, toy cars, reese peanut butter eggs, a chocolate bunny and Ryan got new underwear and a number bingo game and Colton got a yellow duck. 

Ryan LOVED his new police car and crane.  He's seriously been obsessed with them since yesterday.

  

Colton was only interested in the candy!  Ha!!!  He kept picking up candy and bringing it to me to open.  Sweet boy knows what's good!

  We ate breakfast, played a little with our baskets and took pictures before heading to church.  

 Our church service was amazing and I enjoyed every minute.  The music was beautiful and the message was just what I needed to hear!

We came home after church and changed quickly to get ready to leave for Uncle Steve and Aunt Teresa's house for lunch.  We loved seeing Isaac and Stacey and Aunt Erin too. 

Uncle Steve was "so thoughtful" to buy the boys these toy whistles!  The boys had a blast playing with them.  They were marching around the house playing with them.  As least we could tell where they were, ha!  (They have since disappeared!)

We had an awesome lunch then I put Colton down for a nap and Ryan played and colored.  

Colton hanging out with Matt's first cousin Isaac. 

I let Ryan have a reese peanut butter egg after lunch. He was in heaven!

After Colton's nap we headed over to Papau and Yaya's house for Easter dinner.  

We had another wonderful Easter meal full of ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, fruit and rolls.  The boys weren't too interested in eating but we had fun and loved seeing everyone.  

Attempting to get a picture with Papau.  It was like herding cats!  Oh well, this is just a reminder of this fun stage in our life.  I'm so thankful for a wonderful family and a very blessed Easter!

Easter Egg Hunt

 This morning we went to my friend Kristen's house for a fun Easter Egg hunt with our friends.  The boys before we left the house!  They are so handsome!

There were about 12 moms and around 25+ kids.  The house was packed but surprisingly it wasn't that wild.  The kids played in the basement initially then the girls did a craft while the boys ate, then we switched.  

Pictured: Evan, Rachel and Gracie

Everyone brought a brunch item to share!  We had quit a spread of food. 

Colton came over and wanted to sit next to big brother.  

After some food and craft time it was time to go outside and hunt some Easter eggs!

The older kiddos - Noah, Ella, Georgia, Rachel and Gracie.  

The three and four year old group.

Ryan was super excited and couldn't wait to go find some eggs!

Parker, Colby, Kyle, Evan and Linely.  Linley was holding her own with all the boys!  This girls cracks me up. 

We all brought five eggs filled with treats.

Ryan was the first to spot these on the swing set. 

Little C Bear was so excited to find some eggs!  He was just adorable.  He came running down the hill with his eggs.  

Love this sweet boy.  It's his first Easter that he can hunt eggs and really get into it.  He has been loving it. 

My sweet friend Laura with her beautiful girls!

It was such a fun day with friends and celebrating the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior.  I love, love my friends and so blessed to have them in my life.  

It's Fiesta Time

 I made these fun fiesta cookies for a new friend Lauren.  I have been shipping a few cookie orders lately.  I am so thankful for lots of cookie business lately.  

These turned out so fun!  I love the colors!

Wednesday Randoms

As part of our spring break trip to Memphis last week we stopped by Nashville on our way home.  My friend Tiffany lives there with her husband Matt, little girl Presley and sweet baby boy Levi.  We met them for lunch then headed to the park to let the kids run off some energy.

 

  Tiffany is originally from Memphis and we actually grew up in the same youth group but didn't run in the same circles.  She and her husband moved to Cincy about three years ago.  We reconnected while they were here and loved spending time with them.  Sadly they were only here for less than a year before Matt's job moved them to Nashville.  

The boys had the best time playing.  Ryan and Presley ran around like wild things at the park while colton tried to catch up.  Presley kept asking if we were spending the night with them.  She was dying for a sleepover!  Levi is just the cutest baby, next to my babies of course ;).  He is 8 months old and has the sweetest personality.  He is SO cute and has the prettiest blue eyes!

We came back to their house to let the babies sleep.  Ryan and Presley stayed up and played.  

I am obsessed with Nashville right now.  Love, love, love it.  My dream is to move there.  I love and miss the south!  Nashville is such a fun and happening city.  It was fun to see and spend time with Tiffany and her family and see part of Nashville.  Miss them and can't wait to see them again.  

Thursday, after we got back, was Ryan's preschool Easter party.  He was so excited to see all his friends.  

Ryan was super excited that daddy came to his party.  Just one of the perks of Matt in school full time is he can come to stuff at Ryan's school.  I love that he has taken Ryan to school some and even helped me take boxes of cookies to the post office.  

How cute are all these little bunnies in their hats?  For some reason Ryan was not keen on wearing his bunny hat but did it for a picture.  It was a fun day and I'm so glad we got to spend time with our favorite three year old.  

Yesterday Colton had Little Gym.  The little man was excited to play with all his friends.  He always has the best time playing.  Look at him relaxing like he owns the place.  

Ryan played on the train table the whole time Colton was in class.  He was so good.  When Colton and I came out of class I couldn't find Ryan.  I looked up and saw him sitting with the next class in the gym.  He was sitting there like he belonged.  Hilarious!  My first thought was embarrassment then I knew I was going to have to break his heart and tell him he wasn't in that class.  Thankfully he was good about it and only took a little coaxing.  

He is not enrolled in a little gym class right now but I did sign him up for a few camp days this summer.  He will love it. 

Weekend Wrap-up

So I have been a blog slacker the last week.  Part of that was because we were in Memphis half the week and my parents internet wasn't working well and the other part I was just playing catch up and enjoying spending time with my family!

 

Matt is back at school today and Ryan starts spring break. We enjoyed a nice and relaxing weekend!  Finally caught up on laundry and grocery shopping.  I took the boys to the mall Saturday morning so Matt could study.  They were good for the most part and we enjoyed getting out in the sunshine.  

Sunday was cloudy and cold, perfect day to nap and read a book...two things I did neither of, ha!

It started to snow yesterday afternoon and we woke up to more snow this morning.  Thankfully it's only sticking to trees and grass and not the roads.  I am SO over winter and ready for warm days of spring!!!  It can't come soon enough!

My heart has been heavy about a dear friend from college!  I went to Union with Will Gray and his wife Angie.  I remember meeting Will my freshman year at Union (we graduated the same year).  He is one of the nicest and funniest guys.  

Back in October Will was diagnosed with cancer.  He had a tumor growing in his right maxillary sinus (the one under his cheek).  He had a successful surgery to remove the tumor in November and they thought the worst was behind them.  Over the last few weeks Will started having severe back pain.  After many tests they determined that Will has an additional tumor on the sternum and other locations in his lungs.   They are continuing to do tests to determine the best plan of action.  

Will needs a miracle!!  Will you please pray for healing for Will!  Pray for strength and wisdom for his wife Angie!  You can visit their website at www.goteamgray.com

Memphis Spring Break Trip

Friday of last week we loaded up our car and headed to Memphis.  Matt is on spring break this week so we thought it was a great time to go visit family.  We've decided the best way to travel a long road trip with young kids is to drive through the night.  I worry all the time about driving at night and all the dangers but I have to surrender those fears to the Lord and trust Him.  

We headed out around 7:30pm.  The boys did well and slept most of the way. We finally got to my parents house around 2am.  

We were tired but we got up early Saturday morning to head to the Memphis Zoo with my best friend Rachel and her family.  She lives in Connecticut but was in Memphis visiting family.  It was perfect it worked out for us both to be there at the same time.   Here's Rachel with her hubs Eric and kids Alex and Ana. 

It didn't take long for these two boys to hit it off and start running around.  

We haven't seen each other's family in two years so naturally the kids don't really remember each other.  Now that they are a little older I hope they will remember each other the next time we see them.  

Alex and Ryan had the best time seeing all the animals.  Alex loved holding the map and telling up where to go.  He would say "Ryan- come over here, follow me".  

Since I grew up in Memphis I have been to the zoo many times but honestly I can't tell you the last time I was there.  Probably high school.  The zoo is completely different than I remember.  The only thing habitats that looked the same were the elephants and hippos.  

The Memphis Zoo is only one of four zoos that have giant panda bears.  We were so excited to see the pandas.  Sadly my pics of the pandas didn't turn out!

The weather was perfect.  It was warm and around 70 degrees.  Naturally the rest of Memphis thought it was a good day to visit the zoo.  Nonetheless it was a great time.  

Ryan walked the whole time.  He did really well but towards the end he started to fade.  We got there at 11 and only stayed til about 3.  Colton fell asleep but of course woke up when we got to the car.  

Saturday night we got to go on a double date with Eric and Rachel.  Such a treat!  We enjoyed hanging out with them and just having a great time catching up.  

We spent lots of time with Nana and Grandad.  The boys ate up the attention from their grandparents.  

We went to church on Sunday morning then Corky's BBQ for lunch.  

We went to the park, ate at CFA, ate lots of BBQ, hung out with Uncle Matt and just enjoyed playing cars at Nana and Grandad's house.  

The boys played with this hot wheels car set (seen on the far right) for HOURS.  Ryan was obsessed.  He has a similar city car track he got for Christmas.  This was by far his favorite toy. 

We made it home last night around 2am.  We are super tired today.  The boys were exhausted too!  They both took five hour naps today!  

It was a wonderful trip and we are so glad to see and spend time with family.  We miss them already and can't wait to see them again!