Happy Easter!!

what the Easter Bunny left for Jakey! Bubbles, candy, two books, and a hot wheels set...

the first time we've ever eaten on paper at my mom's :) It was still super cute!




Jakey's Easter from Papaw and Gammie

"Uncle Matt's Basketball goal!" Jakey's shirt says, "daddy's little hoopster" :)

Having a sucker w/Gammie :)

Me with my sisters and brother

My mom w/her sister and brother

our beautiful boy!

My little family

Daddy and Jakey EARLY Easter morning!!

Mommy and Jakey early Easter morning

We had a great Easter! We missed several people this year, though. My Gran cut her foot and had to get 9 stitches last week so she stayed home in San Antonio. Also, Jon's boys (my cousins) were with their mom this Easter. Jake had been asking for "Wucas" aka Luke or Lucas all week, so he was sad. We did add one new member to our family this year, because Kris proposed to Haley this morning!! Her ring is gorgeous and they'll be getting married in December.

There were still 12 of us to celebrate and we had a huge meal of ham, potatoes (a delish williams-sonoma recipe!), homemade mac n cheese, deviled eggs, fresh green beans, homemade bread, and homemade strawberry shortcake and cupcakes! I am still sooo full, about 5 hours later. :) After Chuy's last night for Jeremy's dad's surprise 60th Birthday Party and then Easter today we're just stuffed!! And exhausted, too! =) We had a great Easter weekend spending lots of time with eachother and both of our familes.

We hope everyone had a great Easter celebrating our risen Lord!

Easter 2010

Our lil Easter Bunny!

kisses from mama

my handsome boys

Papaw was talking to Jake...off to the side

Haley, me and Jakey

Jakey's first corn on the cob

Aunt Lissa and Haley

Jakey holdin' on to Uncle Matt

sooo silly and Happy!!

15 Months! (On Mama's 28th bday)

Our sweet baby Jake is now 15 months old! He's soo much fun and just a little ham. He cracks us up constantly and I don't know what we'd do without his little feet running around our house! Jakey- here's what you've been up to this past month and just some general things I want to remember about this time.

-You've been to your aunt Courtney and uncle Shad's wedding.

-You've had your 2nd Easter.

-You've been to your first Easter Egg Hunt.

-You've been to the park lots of times!

-You play with your toy phones and hold them to your ear and say, "hettooo?"

-You love to climb in your rocking chair and stand up or just "rock" yourself. You do a really good job and get really proud of yourself for making the chair go.

-You say "dogghh" more than any other word. I think it's because we have two of them. Any time you hear a dog barking in the background or see a picture of one you let us know...even if we don't see or hear it. :)

-You still love running up and down hills.

-You LOVE to slide. I just sit you up on top and you give yourself a push off, laugh, and meet me at the bottom.

-Your most challenging place has always been church. It is at a time when you would normally be sleeping and you have to be still and quiet. I guess it'd be too easy for you to sleep on our lap so you fight it, and almost always have. Now, for the past month or two you've been scared of your class room. That was hard while it lasted but seems to pretty much be all better! Thank goodness!

-Your favorite things are yogurt, steps, hills, Papaw, outside (Siiiddhh, as you say it), sleeping, chase, your blanky, chicken nuggets, and books. You bring us books several times a day and plop down on our lap for us to read to you.

-You are such a curious boy. Lots of people have commented that you might be a mechanical engineer one day. This morning before church you showered yourself with the water from the fridge door and you also locked Daddy out of our room. You've also managed to light the stove and send texts, among other things!

-You love to give kisses. Sometimes you give your wide open mouth, sometimes you pucker, and sometimes you bow your head and give your forehead. :) Love it!

-You're saying lots of words! You say them usually only when it's your own idea, but Daddy and I are sometimes shocked by how much you know because you'll say something we don't expect or that we didn't know you knew!

-One of my favorite words you say is "babal" or "Bible". It's also sweet when you occasionally decide to talk instead of whine for your drink and you say, "dink?".

-You love to dance and are always changing your dance moves. You showed them off to the family today. You had the arms swinging and the head shaking and everything. Oh-so-cute!

-You are still an amazing sleeper, a great eater, and an easy-going baby. You still wear a size 4/5 diaper, size 6=6.5 shoe and mostly 24 month clothing. You go to the dr soon for your well check so I'll update the other stuff then.

I know I've forgotten some stuff so I might add some later. I'm beat!

Jake, we are soo proud of the sweet toddler you are. You are everything we could ever hope for in a baby and I wouldn't trade the days we share for ANYTHING in the world. I am so thankful to your Daddy for working hard so we can have the best days together. And I'm so thankful to God for you and the joy you've given us! I love you always!

A Fun-Filled Easter!

Our Easter Baskets at my parent's house! :)

Papa (Jeremy's dad, Granny (Jeremy's), Matt and Mom

Mommy and Jake Easter morning. And I'm just noticing that my dress looks a tad short. Haha! It wasn't -it was to my knees just to make that clear! ;-)

Daddy and Jake EARLY Easter Morning :) You can tell this by looking closely at Jeremy's eyes :)

volleyball! anytime it' s pretty and there are plenty of people to play...we play!

(Pictured: Matt, Courtney, Shad, Jon, Haley, Jeremy, Me)

Gammie and Jakey hanging out on the back porch

Papaw (my dad) playing with Jake. Granny (Jeremy's mom) was observing. :)

Uncle Shad and Aunt Courtney with Jake

We had a wonderful Easter this year with our Jakey and having both families in one place! We ate a delicious lunch, played pictionary and volleyball. We are so thankful for this holiday to celebrate Jesus. I love this time of year!

Our Easter Weekend '08

Me, Matt, Court

Jeremy, Me, Matt, Court


Macy stayed at this tree all day and didn't budge...poor squirrel!

Me and Court (and for those of you wondering where Haley is, she was at a beach house with her friends for Spring Break) We missed her and aren't used to her being gone on Easter!

This weekend was a great time with family and friends. On Friday I went shopping with my mom, sister Courtney, and brother Matt. On Saturday Rachel came over to help me install my Uppercase Living items I'd bought at her party a couple of weeks ago. Then Saturday night we celebrated Easter with Jeremy's side of the family and then Shad and Kaleb came over to play Rock Band. Sunday we went to church and then went over to my parents for a delicious Easter lunch. Then we watched the Spurs beat the Mavs. It was an interesting game with Dirk getting hurt and Ginobli and Stackhouse getting physical. Stackhouse is a bit psycho if you ask me!

We hope everyone else had a wonderful Easter weekend, too!

Jeremy and Kaleb on his Nintendo DS (at Jeremy's parents house)

Kaleb with our girls

Kaleb and Shad on the drums

Enter with a happy heart (Uppercase Living expression now in our entry way) The colors I got it in are Chocolate brown and sage green.

Forever & Ever now in our bedroom :) Love it! The pictures don't do it justice but I know several of you have asked me about this stuff and/or weren't able to make the party. I have several projects I'm working on instead of putting all the expressions directly on the wall so I'll try to update once I get some of those completed.

"He is risen; he is not here." - Mark 16:6

That time of year is here again! It is Easter and it is Spring. I love this time of year. The flowers are blooming, the air is fresh, there are baby animals entering the world, and the color all around is bright and refreshing. His magical and wondrous handprints are all over. One of my very favorite flowers, the tulip, is in season. And many people in this world are focusing on Jesus. For me, that part is bittersweet. I love that people are thinking of Him and take time out to attend church and worship, and anytime they choose to do it, I will take it. I just know that in the Bible we are instrtucted to do it all year, every week, every day. Not just on Easter and Christmas. And I know that it is much more of a fulfilling and personal relationship on both sides when it is a daily part of your life, rather than an occasional holiday ritual. My relationship with Him gives me hope and peace in many situations, in and beyond this lifetime and this earth. And I am so thankful to live in this country where we have the option and even time off to celebrate that He is alive and active in our lives today.

For me, Easter is just a special reminder of everything dear to me. Not only is it a Holiday centered around Christ and what He did for us, but also of family and togetherness. Kind of like Christmas minus the stress and plus the warm sunshine. I remember when I was young and we would go see my great grandparents in Sherman. We attended church with family (as every Sunday) played outside, ate a nice homemade meal with all of our aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, etc, hid easter eggs, and much more. It was always just a pleasant and fun day. Easter is the Holiday that most reminds me of my great grandparents, and they are so very missed.

On a much lighter note, and because I love seasonal decorating SO MUCH, here are my favorite things, Easter edition:

tulips!

spring dishes/platters! (from my Aunt Lissa)

Spring Gardens/Garden Flags

All things Bunny! (found this at the Portland Airport!)

Deviled Eggs (and cute things to put them in!)

And one of my fav stores, Illuminations, comes out with the CUTEST candles!

And this brings me to my final point. I get many Easter/Spring decorations because my birthday usually falls around Easter, and my family and friends know how much I love a little seasonal cheer. Let the birthday shopping begin! Haha!!! ;-)