A Great Easter Weekend!

The Easter Bunny came to our house on Saturday morning! And boy were the girls EXCITED to see what he had left for them! The rubber duckies were a hit, Emily has barely taken off her pink flip flops since she got them, they are excited to have their own watering cans for our porch garden and our girls LOVE stuffed animals, so the Easter Bunny knows them well!!
I think after the girls found their baskets the goodies inside kept them busy for about an hour!! Good sister play time with hardly any arguments! Micah and I thoroughly enjoyed it too:)
Then we got busy making treats that we needed for our neighborhood party and then for Mema's house on Sunday!
And the time flew, as it usually does, and before we knew it we were packed up and headed out the door to Mimmi and Dooders house for Easter Saturday Lunch and a Fun Easter Egg Hunt! We all had a blast!! Our family didn't find too many eggs, but that's not the point right? The point is to have fun doing it, and fun we had! The girls enjoyed eating ice cream cones and playing with some of their aunts and uncles and cousins...and of course, Mimmi and Dooders! The party went right up to nap time and when we got in the car to come home, the girls were OUT in a matter of seconds, I think:)
Later that evening we went to a neighborhood gathering where all of us met more new friends and played and talked! Then we came home and were able to watch How to Train Your Dragon before all of us fell over in the bed for the night!
On Sunday we got up and got ready for church! We went to earlier meetings so that we could go to Mema's that afternoon for a late Easter lunch! It was Hot, but really beautiful outside! And little did we know that Emily and Haley were able to do another mini Easter Egg Hunt of their very own! It was low key and very slow paced, which was nice!
Overall we had a great Easter weekend and were so glad that although we didn't get to see all of our family members that we were able to see quite a few! And I am so thankful for the Ressurrection of Jesus Christ and that we had an extra opportunity to celebrate Him and some of his selfless sacrifices over this past weekend!

Easter Baskets all filled and ready to be Discovered!

Haley was Excited, and she was REALLY excited to find out that there were marshmallows in those eggs!

And Emily FINALLY has a watering can of her very own!

Modeling their new flip flops!

Gracie Kaye all decked out in her Easter Outfit, complete with her Easter Basket!

This girl LOVES to swing!

And this girl LOVES a good Ice Cream Cone!

Enjoying their Ice Cream Together!

Ahhh, the Simple Pleasures!

Emily was SO excited that she won a chocolate Easter Bunny on a Stick!!

Hugs for Cousin Eliza!

Kisses for Cousin Phoebe!

Haley modeling her Easter Dress, with an egg in each hand!

She really got into the eggs this year!

And Emily got into the treasures inside the eggs!

Off to find another egg!

Both Girls Hunting together!

Emily bonded with her 2nd Cousin, Jack, on Easter Sunday too! She even had him hunting for eggs!

And of Course Haley Loves her Great Mema!!

Decorating Easter Eggs!

Since Easter is in 2 days, and since our Easter Bunny is coming tonight, I thought it might be a good time to dye some eggs!! And since it has been cool and rainy here today I thought it was a perfect plan!! And in spite of a few little mishaps along the way, it was a SUCCESS!! A few eggs were smooshed by some tiny little fingers, but overall the eggs got color, and stickers (along with some faces!) and the girls had a BLAST!! And I had a great time watching them be excited and see all of their creativity coming out too!! Emily had fun decorating (she is quite the SERIOUS decorator....so we didn't have a chance to snap many pictures of her) and Haley had a Great time trying to eat the eggs and learning how to smoosh them in her hands (thank goodness they were hard boiled!!).
I am so grateful for this Easter Season for all the frills and thrills and getting ready for the Easter Bunny to arrive, as well as the extra opportunity that it gives me to focus on the Atonement and Resurrection of Our Savior, Jesus Christ. And I am extremely grateful to have the blessing of teaching my children about these sacred events and principles as well. Today before dyeing our eggs we had a little Easter lesson and it melted my heart when it was over and Emily pulled me over to her and kept repeating to me "Mommy, Jesus Resurrected"! I am grateful for these tender moments amidst my crazy days as a mom, it really reminds me of the great responsibility and work that I am involved in.

Happy Haley with an Egg and Stickers!

Love that Big Grin!
Emily showing off her Best Egg!

Haley has learned how to get past the shell! (Good thing they were Hard Boiled!)

Love the Tongue Work!

And the Cheesin!

She was SO EXCITED to get her picture taken today!

After the eggs were done, Emily had to play with ALL of them:)

And Haley was satisfied with one for each hand!

Sister Shots, In Character and all!

Me and My Masterpieces with their Masterpieces!!

An AMAZING Birthday Weekend!

This year for my birthday I told Micah that I just wanted him to surprise me and take me away somewhere for the night for my birthday! He was a little nervous about my request at first, but he stepped up and went OVER THE TOP this year!! I didn't know what we were doing until the morning of my birthday.....we met Mimi and Dooders at IHOP for breakfast and he gave me his gift to me....a sweet little note with 2 season passes to BUSCH GARDENS and 4 meal tickets:) I was SO SURPRISED!! Shortly after we finished breakfast Mimi and Dooders took the girls and we headed to Williamsburg! It was overcast and a bit rainy, but we managed to have a Great Day together doing whatever we wanted to do and not doing the things we didn't:) And for us that included NO ROLLER COASTERS this year! One of the great things about Micah is that he shares the same love of coasters as I do....the take it or leave it kind:) So we rode a few rides, walked and talked a lot, watched a lot of games, Micah day dreamed about how he could win the hoop shooting game, and we ate some yummy food and took pictures!! It was so nice! Then we stayed the night at a hotel in Williamsburg and had a yummy full continental breakfast on Saturday morning! And then we waited for our girls! You see, Mimi and Dooders were heading to VA Beach for the week so they agreed to meet us, on their way, with the girls so that we could have fun with them at Busch Gardens on Saturday!! And boy did they have FUN! They rode rides, ate yummy food, saw so many Sesame Street characters we lost count, we even decided to eat DINNER with Elmo and his Friends!!!! We had a blast, we arrived at the park around 11 on Saturday and didn't leave until 8:45 that evening!!! The girls were EXHAUSTED when we left!! We just put them in their PJs and headed home!! This was DEFINITELY a Birthday to remember, and I have my sweet sweet Micah Cordon to thank for it as he organized and planned THE WHOLE THING!!! I am one lucky wife and mommy that is for sure!!!

DAY ONE......Tip Toeing through the Tulips.....not really:)

We LOVE pictures, so why not one in front of the GRAY wolf sign:) Busch Gardens has SO Much Wild Life!! Micah really enjoyed this owl! We actually took the girls back to see it on Saturday!

Festhaus, one of the funnest places to eat!!

Taking a Ride on the Steam Engine Train!

Being Silly in "Italy"!!

And of course, since it's Italy....there has to be Romance!!

Bumper Cars, man I have always LOVED them!!

He looks good in a yellow car, don't ya think?

Fresh Out of DarKastle....at least I thought it was scary!!

Day TWO......The Girls Arrived!!

ZOE, Emily's FAVORITE Sesame Street character by far today!!

She thought Abby was pretty cool too though:)

And of course their had to be HUGS for Grover!

Zoe's hair was really fun!

Loves for Abby!

And this is as close as Haley was comfortable with!!

Emily wasn't nervous though:)

More LOVE for Zoe!

Elmo (with a crown) was pretty cool, especially after we just saw his performance!

She loved being wrapped up in furry Grover's arms too!

Haley's very FIRST (of many) rides!!

Daddy took the girls back to see the Owl on Saturday!

And here we are at Dinner with Elmo and Friends!!

And this picture pretty much explains how our dinner with the Sesame Street gang went!! Emily in LOVE and Haley scared out of her mind!!!

Cookie Monster stopped by for a little chit chat!

And Elmo wanted to say Hi Too!

One of my FAVORITE pictures of Emily with Big Bird!!

More Hugs for Elmo....thanking him for such a yummy dinner:)

Haley blowing kisses to Bert and Ernie as the walked away!

She saw another one!!!

Beautiful Lilac Tree!

Emily and I ready for some fun!

After we rode, we thought we would invite Daddy and Haley to Join us!

Here we go!! Cute little Haley's feet:)

We are done!!

Haley is processing what just happened!!

Sisters in a Balloon together!!

Now the Swings!!

And the Bumper Cars!!! (Haley wanted out shortly after this shot, she got frustrated that she couldn't reach the pedal!)

Our Day of Fun Together is coming to a Close!!