Easter 2012

Easter was all about TRADITION this year! I'm talkin' tradition from back when me and my sisters were little ones.

Since we are still up in Hillsboro we came down for a busy weekend filled with fun! We colored eggs Saturday night at Ginny and Poppy's house and the munchkins thought it was pretty cool. They may not have been the most beautiful eggs but I thought they were great! It was the first year they actually sat at the table together and finished them. And aside from a few broken eggs (on Emma's part) everything went perfect! I love that they are getting to an age where they can participate in fun little activities and enjoy it. Oh, and we can't forget... they left our carrots for the Easter bunny :)

Sunday was such a perfect day, sunny and warm. The kids spent the morning playing and tromping around the yard while Chris and Poppy did yard work and 4 wheeler rides and my mom and I cooked, cooked and cooked! After nap time Emma couldn't stand the thought of wearing her cute little dress (she liked her dirty sweatpants better and who could blame her?) so we compromised... she wore the dress if she could wear her muddy old rain boots. Once the clan arrived we had a giant Easter egg hunt and stuffed ourselves with every one's yummy food! Then my dad and Chris set up the pinata... it was so cool because I remember my Grandpa Roy setting up a pinata every Easter and it was always so fun to bust that thing open with all my cousins :) This year we started the tradition with our kids and their cousins! It was AWESOME! We ended our fun day by playing the Wii and watched the kids cruise around on the Gator.

Happy Easter! He Lives <3

We Miss....

The other day while stuck in lovely Portland traffic... Owen says to me in a quite voice, "Mommy...I really miss the cow store" (aka: Dairy Mart) I felt sorry for the little baby. Every few days when he would do something good or help out Mommy and Daddy with a chore his favorite reward was to always go down to the cow store to pick out his favorite treat for him and his baby sis. He loves that place :) It lead us all to start talking about what we all really miss about home that we can't wait to get back to. Here are just a few things that Owen and Emma can't wait to do/see when we get back home...

The Cow Store :)
Our backyard sandbox
Our neighborhood turkeys
The Jerry's hot dog stand
Play days with Cars and Buggy
Tuesday Pizza play dates with Auntie Kassie and Buggy
Meeting Poppy at the park for lunch
Evening visits up and Ginny and Poppy's house
Playing at Landy's house
Ginny's trampoline
Dottie
Weekly trips to Herricks to pet the animals and pick out fruit and veggies
The fish hatchery
Survivor Night (Aka: Vivor Night)
Cousin sleep-overs at Ginny and Poppy's
Caillou

When I asked them what Daddy might miss about Home they said...
Playing with Poppy and going fishing LOL. They are so observant :) After our we wrapped up our little chat about all of the exciting things we have to look forward to Owen reminded me that Hunter is going to be very happy to go home too :) That makes all of us.

I TWO!

January 22, 2010 our little family of 3 grew into our family of 4. I will never forget when they laid my beautiful baby girl onto my chest and we stared into each others eyes. At that moment our family felt so complete. I can hardly believe it's been 2 years since that day. She is growing up so fast and I am so grateful that I have got to spend every day with her to witness her every milestone. She is full of so much energy and life and I love watching her yearn to learn new things daily! So beautiful and so smart... We are so lucky :)

At the age of 2 she has MANY nicknames "Goobie", "Grace", "Emma Lou" "Lou Lou" "Sissy" and"Goo" She responds to them all. When asked how old she is she says "I TWOOOO". Her favorite things are "B" (her tattered blanket), Ba-Ba's (her bottle), Kitty cats, story time, playing in their sandbox, shopping trips with Mommy and greeting Daddy at the door with hugs and kisses right when he gets home from work.

Sissy girl spent her Second birthday by waking up at her favorite place... Ginny and Poppy's house! She loves her morning snuggles with her Ginny. When asked what she wanted for her big birthday breakfast she replied with "CHARMS!" (Lucky Charms). So we all sat down and feasted on Lucky Charms and Doughnuts. Later that day we met family and her friends at Splash Wave Pool for presents and cupcakes and SWIMMING. She spent most of the time splashing and jumping (among other things lol) in the baby pool :) It was a fun day that we wont ever forget. Happy Birthday Missy!