An Easter Celebration...personally.

A 6:40 am Easter Bunny wake up call

Zach started right in on his new legos,

Roman on his new train,

and Lily ignored her gifts for a while and started right in on the candy.

After church we had an Easter Dinner and egg hunt where Zachary ditched his church clothes for some of Auntie Anna's clothes.

(he will kill me in about 8 years for posting this picture)

We gave Anna a hard time because her shorts were even short on a 6 year old...haha.

Roman was a patient egg gatherer,

And Lily (per usual) wins the prize for most enthusiastic egg finder!

It was a great weekend.

I love preparing for all the festivities.

Shopping for Easter basket goodies and new Easter clothes,

making casseroles and pies for Easter Dinner, it's fun.

And always worth the effort it takes.

Despite all the time spent in preparations,

two separate experiences the week prior really helped me feel ready for an Easter celebration.

The first one happened while waiting in a long line for the restroom.

Two ladies behind me struck up a conversation about looking forward to their respective Easter services.

One woman explained that her favorite part from last year was when her preacher,

at a pivotal moment during his speech,

began to pour blood over all of the white lilies.

That was all I heard, because it was my turn for the bathroom.

Second, David came home one day and told me he had seen quite a sight on the highway.

While driving down Hwy 152 on Friday, there was a man walking down the shoulder of the road

carrying a huge wooden cross (with a wheel on the back end...haha).

Wow. Can you imagine? (does this stuff only happen in Missouri?:)

Without getting too personal, I will say this...

I couldn't stop thinking about how drastically different those sorts of

visual stunts are from my own experiences with Easter.

I really do respect their desire to worship how they see fit,

and in fact, seeing how obviously moved some people are with that part of the story

(the blood, the cross, the death)

it helped me formulate more clearly what part of Easter is really personal to me.

Namely, the reality of an empty tomb and the resurrection.

Birthday Boy

Last weekend was Roman's birthday!

We invited the cousins over to celebrate...and other than Lily, that means all boys.

Roman's favorite things are trains and balloons.

He loves to sit with David's phone and watch youtube videos of train cars.

Not cartoon trains, but real trains that people (who?) film and post to the internet. haha.

So when he woke from his nap, and saw all those train cupcakes,

and the gigantic #2 balloon, a huuuuge smile spread across his face.

Two is such a great birthday age, he has attended enough parties to really get it.

Roman sat in his chair so proudly when we prepared to sing happy birthday.

I couldn't help but snap a thousand pictures because to me, his faces were priceless.

Roman started out all business watching Dave light the candles,

but as soon as everyone began singing to him, he couldn't stop smiling.

Then he got real serious again and no one had to tell him to blow out his candles.

He knew the drill.

The last two pictures are great.

Lily made that face each time she peeked in at one of Roman's gifts.

Both Zachary and Lily did a great job of hyping up the birthday traditions.

The last photo shows Roman's fist pump reaction to a new scooter. :)

He's always trying to ride Zachary's razor, and finally, Roman got his own 3-wheeled version.

Roman is one coordinated little dude zooming all over the sidewalks.

It's hard to believe my sweet little Ro-baby is two.

Happy Happy Birthday.

A Shiny Suit

At Christmas, Lily wanted a "shiny suit" for gymnastics.

Santa opted for a more economical cotton version from Target,

I said, "Look! It has shiny rhinestones!"

And although she was polite about it, she said that Santa must have misunderstood her request.

haha.

Actually, Santa knew Lily had been invited to join the team and he'd be paying for a shiny team leotard soon enough.

All this to say, that when that suit finally arrived, Lily was happy.

S.U.P.E.R happy.

These photos were her request, and of course she struck all her own poses.

(and then Roman got in on the action)

My little girl in the shiny suit is something else!

Love her.

Conference Weekend

(doing daddy's hair)

(dear lily, it's not a coincidence that Elder Quentin L. Cook was the speaker when this picture was taken,

he delivered a beautiful message about women)

(practice a little casting)

(Roman enjoying his crumb cake Sunday morning)


(this was a Family Home Evening activity from last Monday...

we read stories about the leaders of our church, and took turns drawing pictures to remind us of the stories.

They used these papers during conference to help identify the speakers :)

Conference Weekend is always a favorite.

We listen to inspired messages on both Saturday and Sunday.

We spend the days together. Eat yummy food.

I feel the Holy Spirit so strongly in our home during this time.

There is no where else I'd rather be.

It's really such a good good feeling.

There were so many wonderful talks, but one really stands out to me.

Earlier in the week, I listened to an interview with Elder Scott and his daughter.

It was an amazing interview and they covered his fascinating life from boyhood on.

But there was one part that was so very interesting to me.

He addressed a question about why he has chosen not to remarry after his wife's passing.

His answer was touching, and very personal.

(skip to minute 20 in the interview if you want to hear that part)

It made such an impact on me.

So Sunday morning, I was excited to listen to Elder Scott's address.

Wow, wow, wow.

It did not disappoint.

He talked about pure love, and the joy of eternal families.

Again, he shared very personal experiences.

He spoke of his sweet wife, and a son who died as a young child.

Really, there were so many messages embedded in his talk.

But personally, I left with an overwhelming gratitude for the knowledge

that because of a loving Father in Heaven and His divine plan,

my marriage and my family are eternal.

Although I am far from achieving the kind of love and joy

Elder Scott spoke about, it certainly increased my desire to nurture

those relationships...

and helped me realize that if I spend every last minute of my life trying...

it will be worth it.

These are a few of my favorite things...

ummmm. ummm.

Limonata, fish and ondansetron.

Each quite vital to the first 15 weeks of my pregnancy.

Yes. Baby #4.

For the record, this pregnancy is SO DIFFERENT from any of my others.

Prior to this pregnancy I hadn't puked since 2nd grade.

And that is no joke.

Also no joke, is that I honestly hadn't visited a Long John Silvers or a Captain D's...

ever?

But shoot. I have found myself in the drive through more than once lately.

Too tired to make myself something fishy...their grilled tilapia with a side of broccoli is heavenly.

The important thing is that the nausea/pukes are slowly going away.

Slowly...but surely.

I'm due at the end of September.

Considering the baby that stayed put the longest was still 2 weeks early,

I'm mentally preparing for the middle of September.

But heck, everything is so different...maybe I'll be 2 weeks late?

We are super excited to welcome this little bundle to our family, whenever he/she gets here.

I understand that by posting this on April 1st, one might believe it's a prank.

But those who live here can vouch for the fact that I've spent the last 3 months on my couch...

I don't have the energy to photoshop or procure fake medicine bottles for an April Fool's joke,

I've been on my couch afterall.

xoxo