Easter festivities

Our neighborhood does an Easter Egg hunt every year. Usually it falls when Dave and I are on spring retreat, and Dave's parents are watching the kids...so they have ended up taking them the last two years. This year, I was actually around for it, but Dave's parents came up for the day, and got to enjoy it too. :-)







Our own little Easter egg hunt at home after church:







The Easter egg hunt that the kids had with their friends. So fun.

Feeling Springy

Dave's brother and sister-in-law came for a visit this week, along with their two adorable kids (who are close in age to our two monkeys). It was a great visit and the weather sure cooperated with us. We spent most of the day outside yesterday. We played, the boys fished, caught frogs and a turtle even, grilled out, and just relaxed. We had such a good time. The kids all did well sharing (for the most part) and got along pretty well with each other too. Now, they're headed back and we're bummed that they had to go. I added some pics below of some of our fun.

Mike and Laura...aren't they cute? :-)



The brothers taking the kids for a paddleboat ride.



I think this is the first turtle we've actually caught. We've seen a few in the pond before though.




Noah and Daddy with their first frog of the season. Dave caught it on his very first hit. They're still moving a little slower this time of year. :-)

Kid pics

Balloon animals!







I still love catching pics of them sleeping. They're so peaceful and adorable.




Dave is doing P90X. He was taking before pictures...Noah also wanted to take before pictures. :-)

Christmas Recap

So MUCH has happened in the last few weeks. I have tried blogging numerous times. There have been so many topics flirting through my mind...usually while I am in bed and too tired to get up and write.

For instance, on Dec. 10, I slipped on some ice while carrying Callie and a muffin pan. We went down FLAT. Callie, thankfully was OK...but I ended up going into the ER with Dave's mom because my hip kept catching and I was in a LOT of pain. The most vivid memory I have of that time is when they asked me to put on a gown to take x-rays, I panicked, thinking, "I wonder what underwear I'm wearing...I hope it doesn't have holes..." After that, it was vicadin-land for me and I was feeling pretty great about most things. Nothing was broken...just bruised. It happened on a Friday night and by Sunday afternoon, I was feeling MUCH better. That weekend we had Christmas at the Irwins. Aside from me being sort of out of it, we had a great visit. It was great to see that side of the family. Dave had to work, so Dad Y. drove us up there (thankfully since I was still on vicadin).

The following weekend was Christmas at my mom's. On our way there, we got a flat tire...had to head back into Lafayette to get it changed...while on our way, someone kindly flagged us down while we were driving to let us know that we had no brake lights. Poor Dave...it was a LONG day. We waited for the new tire for a few hours, then had to fix the brake lights (Thankfully, the tire was covered and the brake light problem was an easy/cheap fix). When all was said and done we had to post-pone Christmas at my mom's until Sunday.


Thankfully, after those two fiascos, Christmas, itself, was a little less eventful. I love that Noah knows that Christmas is special because it is Jesus' birthday. We made cupcakes for Jesus on Friday night and then went to our Christmas eve service. On Christmas morning, we read the Christmas story, prayed and then the kids got to open their presents. Afterwards, we went to Dave's parents house for Christmas again. It was a very nice and relaxing day.


We still have one more Christmas with my dad's family and that will be this Saturday. Meanwhile, things here are settling back into routine. Rooms are put back together...Christmas decorations came down yesterday. The kids are still all about their new toys, so play time has been peaceful. We've been to the Children's Museum and saw the zoo lights. Spiritually, it's been a really good month for me to reflect on the year, and how I'm doing in my relationship with Jesus. God's been bringing up a lot of things, and I'm hopeful that some of it will be dealt with in the new year.

Happy New Year everyone!

Snow much fun!

Dave and the kids braved the cold on Saturday and played out in the snow. They had A LOT of fun. Noah was over the moon about having enough snow to make a snowman.




Daddy took the sled down...and got a little silly. Then Chester ran by and sprayed snow all over him. :-)





Hope you all are staying warm and enjoying the winter weather. I know that we are. :-)

Jesus Loves me

Absolute first video footage using my new camera. :-)

Ring bearer and flower girl

The kids had the honor of being the ring bearer and flower girl at our friend's Kurt and Karissa's wedding. As you can see...they did great. Callie was completely in her element. She loved every aspect. Noah did great wearing a monkey suit the entire day without much complaint. I was so proud of both of them!

Noah's first day

Noah started his first day of preschool last Wednesday. He LOVES it, and I am so happy for him.

Here he is hanging up his bookbag for the first time.


My big 4 year old. I love him so much.

Heather Smith Photo Shoot- Fun at the zoo :-)

Given that Callie was crabby for most of the day, she got some pretty good shots. Good thing she can work well with what she's got. Thanks Heather!!

Noah's Dance

My son defines interesting dance moves. We cleaned the carpets one day and moved out all the furniture. We then had a dance party in the open space while the carpet was drying. The kids had a blast...and I enjoyed it too. :-)

My morning

You can tell by the picture...it was a good morning. Our friends came over to play this morning and somehow the dress up came out. The picture above is the result. They had so much fun. We love Tony and Sarah and their precious kiddos. Often Sarah and I dream about what God's plan is for our kids. I look at this picture and smile. We don't know yet, but it will be exciting when we look back at this picture in 20 years and see all that God has done.

Thank you Jesus for these amazing kids and the plans that you have for their life. Thank you for entrusting them to us. Help us to raise them well. We love you Lord.

Buzz and Woody

Noah and his good friend Andy together. They're pretty stinkin cute.

Noah the fish

So, I decided to take some video proof of Noah's excitement with the rings. Unfortunately, I ran out of memory space (oops...should really take off some pictures) and it shut down right as he was really getting into it. Still, it definitely gives you a feel for his love of swimming.

Our little fish

Noah started swim lessons this week and he LOVES them. Fortunately, he is in a class with one of his closest friends, so that has helped him overcome any shyness he might have had. He has no problem putting his head under water. He is a wiggly fish, so eager to have turns and attempt what's being tried. At the end of each session, they get to dive for rings (the pool is only 2-3ft deep). Noah goes nuts and LOVES to get as many rings as he can. I'm so glad that he loves swimming.