our hope

There are many traditions we partake in during Easter time. Some are just for fun, some are for memories,  and some are for reminders.

The egg hunt at church was successful. Each child was able to collect 69 eggs each! Way too much candy than we cared to have in our home :)

But they had lots of fun running around with their cousins,

holding hands with grandma,

giving hugs to the cow,

sorting all their treasures,

and being held by nanny.

But finding eggs isn't what Easter is about. We talk all week long about the sacrifice made for each of us so we could have eternal life. Resurrection rolls are a great way to talk about Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.

See? Nothing inside because Jesus was raised from the dead. He was not in the tomb.

Our celebration of Christ's resurrection continued all weekend. We went to the Good Friday service, then enjoyed the outdoors the next two days.

We even got to spend time with cousin O!

Resurrection Sunday was spent with family. Ari loves to play with Devin.

We relaxed out in the yard while the little ones were napping.

Selah was motivated to be out in the yard with everyone else.

She wanted to find a few eggs herself.

Evangeline had fun for a while then ended up dragging her bag behind her and saying she was done.

Ari was motivated to find the egg with some money in it. They were not interested in getting a picture :)

Then we colored some eggs.

We enjoy the traditions of this holiday but we celebrate because of the hope we have in Christ. 

"He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.'" Luke 24:46-47

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." 1 Peter 1:3-5

any day now

This girl has been on the move for months. Crawling. Climbing. Cruising. More climbing. (More gray hairs for me). And more climbing.

She wants to be everywhere and to see everything. (Notice the hole-y pants! Those were brand spanking new 3 months ago. *sigh*) But mostly she wants to keep up with her brother and sister.

She's shown us plenty of fun tricks like playing the guitar.

And yoga style peek-a-boo.

I see you!

But now she is ready to walk on her own. If she goes slow she can make it pretty far and even turn. But she wants to take off running and that usually lasts just a few steps. Ari and Evangeline take every opportunity to hold her hands while she walks around. The last few days they have been cheering her on as she takes more and more steps on her own.

She is going to be cruisin' all by herself any day now.

My baby is getting so big!

25 pictures because I'm behind!

We've had a fun March so far, despite the week of sickness that plagued our children. Evangeline has been saying some pretty funny stuff. Sometimes it's just her thought process that surprises us. One night she prayed that "mommy and daddy would obey her". :) 

Evangeline was hit the hardest with a stomach bug and pretty much slept 8-10 hours during the day. She was attached to this bucket even when she started feeling better. :)

Selah continues to explore everywhere, attempts to stand on her own, and sleeps through the night. She has also decided to throw fits in protest. Ari and I have had a hard time not laughing at her because she kicks her legs like a jumping frog. I believe we have entered a new phase with this one.

Ari can't help but pick her up, snuggle with her, carry her around, feed her, get her cup, and play with her.

Evangeline continues to wear dresses every day. She loves to be dressed up and is ready to pick out her clothes for the day as soon as she is done with breakfast. For some reason she wanted a picture of the back and the front of her dress. :)

Our children love to watch music videos of their favorite songs. Right now we have been viewing any and all of Rend Collective Experiment.

We had a few days of crazy-nice weather. Look! No jackets!

Selah was especially happy to be out. She does not shy away from crawling in the grass or rocks.

On this particular nice day, we still had a mound of snow that hadn't melted away yet.

It was a fun adventure to see if they could walk on it without sinking in.

Evangeline wanted some assistance so she wouldn't have to touch it with her hands so I ventured up with my sandals. Don't think I've ever done that before!

What fun!

The nice weather didn't stick around for too long. Selah lingers by the door to check out what she's missing.

We had some windy days which was perfect for kite flying.

Selah was crawling all over and handing me everything she found. At least she wasn't eating everything in sight.

Evangeline looks so big! She was proud of pumping her legs.

We also visited some friends who happen to have ducks.

Evangeline made a new best friend. She wanted to pet, hold, and feed them.

The kids got a kick out of the ducks swimming in the bath tub!

We decided to adventure to the zoo...the warm weather was gone again so we bundled up. Evangeline was not happy about being cold. :)

The rhinos didn't seem to mind. They were so active. This one looks like he's kissing a rock.

Ari is always looking for ways to make her laugh.

It doesn't take much!