Happy Easter

Happy Easter...He is Risen, He is Risen indeed!

Welcome 2014!

The Christmas holiday turned out to be a bit of a downer this year because our entire family had the stomach bug. No big holiday dinners, celebrating or opening gifts with our extended family. We were simply in survival and recovery mode. 

Regardless of how we felt, the spirit of Christmas went on and though we were weak, we still rejoiced in the birth of our Savior! 

I can say that I am happy to close the chapter on 2013 and look towards the new year with anticipation. Each year I try to decide on a word that will guide my goals for the year. I thought of quite a few, but I kept coming back to one.

I want to use this year to encourage...encourage others and myself. 

I want to encourage my children to try new things and challenge themselves.

I want to encourage my husband, friends, and family to deepen relationships and to lift them up. 

I want to encourage myself to learn new things, make confident decisions, and take risks.

This will be a year of encouragement! This verse is one to remember...

Easter 2013

Here is our Easter in pictures...

We had an egg hunt for Colson, Lilly-Belle and their cousin EJ

The Easter Bunny (which LB calls "Peter") came for a visit.

Of course, Peter needed a carrot snack!

Sam's first Easter Basket

Lilly-Belle's Basket

Colson's Basket

We went to church and everyone was all fancy looking!

After church, we had the family over for lunch. It was a wonderful day to celebrate Christ and the good news of His resurrection!

As We Prepare for Easter

Here are a few pictures from around our home as we prepare for Easter. And a big shout out to Pinterest for all of the ideas :)

I made string egg garland for the mantle...

 We speckle painted eggs and decorated the dining room chalkboards...

I tea stained eggs and stamped them...

We dyed lots of colorful eggs...

But my favorite moment...as I'm putting Lilly-Belle to bed last night (after a really long day) and she says, "Tell me about Jesus, Mommy." That's how you really prepare for Easter.

Christmas 2012

This holiday season seemed to pass by in a blur! A six year old, three year old, and 3 week old kept us quite busy.

Our elf, Reddy, visited again this year!

We had Lilly-Belle's preschool Christmas program. Her favorite song was This Little Light of Mine. 

Shaking those Jingle Bells!

 This year we decided to pass on the gigantic real tree we've had the past two years and opted to just use one of the artificial ones that we had. I named her "Minnie" and this is the only picture I have...once Santa had dropped off the kids' loot.

Christmas morning, Nick cooked his traditional biscuits and gravy and we had his parents, brother, and my mom over to eat and open presents.

Lilly-Belle playing a song for Sam

Colson throwing darts at his new dart board

Sam chilling on his playmat

Mama snuggling with all of the babes

The cousins with their GiGi, great-grandmother

We celebrated with family and everyone loved on Sam...it was a wonderful Christmas (even if I didn't take but a few pictures). :)