Our Easter In Pictures

We started by getting ready for Mr Whiskers...and told Jade to put her basket right where she left milk and cookies for Santa this year...she loved that!



Much later :) we looked outside and apparently Mr Whiskers visited Mr. Joe and Mrs. Greta!!!

Early riser the next morning---we could hardly catch up with her as she ran for where she had left her basket the night before...

...but all that was left was a pile of jelly beans??? (Actually MUCH better than a basket, she thought!!!)

The trail of jelly beans, however, did lead her right to where that tricky rabbit had hidden her basket...

Bubbles, a book, a new Elmo toothbrush (Which I happened to see on sale the day before at TARGET for $1.88, Mr. Whiskers!!!!), trail mix, and fruit snacks...oh what a delight for this little lady!!!

And if one hidden basket were not enough, our doorbell rang and Mr. Joe had another one waiting for this girl!

This was the only picture I got of Jade in her Sunday best...at Walmart, before lunch, and RIGHT BEFORE she somehow dropped the world's juiciest red strawberry all the way down the front of her Sunday Best!!!! Oh dear...what kind of Mom would hand her child a juicy red strawberry while wearing a white dress, anyways? ...That's what her daddy said!!! :)

We enjoyed such a wonderful lunch at the Watson's home...we've spent the last few Easters with them and it's so nice for us to all be able to get together and have fun! Mrs. Connie put on a super fun egg hunt, and after 3 practice runs this girl actually got the hang of picking up eggs and putting them in her basket!!!

And this Easter, of course, wasn't the same without the rest of our usual egg hunters...but we were so happy when their mama remembered to send us a picture that arrived right during our lunch...so at least we could see their sweet faces!


This was such a wonderful Easter Sunday for our little family. Hard to believe next year there will be two baskets...two kiddos...


...and one smaller belly during the egg hunt! :)

He LIVES!!!!

Matthew 28
Jesus Has Risen
1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has RISEN, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.



I remember a sweet little story that we used to listen to (on cassette tape, of course!) every Easter when we were kids called "The Empty Egg". It was about a group of kids who were all lined up for a local egg hunt. They were consumed with the eggs, the bunnies, the candy... But as they wandered farther and farther from their parents looking for MORE eggs, they found themselves at the mouth of a cave. They heard tiny little voices that lured them further in until they found themselves in the midst of a chocolate factory run by hundreds of little...bunnies! The "boss bunny" was named Mr. Whiskers and as these skeptical children begin to converse with Mr. Whiskers, he begins to show them a carton of eggs- each filled with another element of the TRUE Easter Story...where Jesus gave His life for them...for US! My favorite part was at the end when the children, who have begun to see Easter for what it really is, opened the last egg that was....E-M-P-T-Y!!!! They were astonished that the "grand finale" egg didn't have anything in it, and sweet ole Mr. Whiskers explained that this was the GRANDEST EGG OF ALL! It was the "emptiness" of that egg, symbolizing the emptiness of the tomb, that gives us our hope! As the children raced out of the cave and back toward the laughter of the other children hunting eggs still, they carried with them an all new understanding of the Cross and the wonderful gift of salvation that God gaves us through it.

As we tucked in our Jadeybug tonight, even though she's so young and can't understand a whole lot yet, we told her that Easter is all about Jesus and that Easter Sunday is even more special to us than CHRISTMAS...because it was this day, Resurrection Sunday, that He Rose! And hopefully by next Easter, she will know this sweet song that Mr. Whiskers sang to those kids in the cave...herself!



It's EMPTY, it's empty inside
A tomb full of empty
A Savior ALIVE
They found empty
With the stone rolled away, I know
Christ crucified
But now He's ALIVE
In ME

Happy Birthday Friend!

Tonight, this group...



...turned up at Cozymel's to celebrate this friend's...


...birthday!

We were way outnumbered by kiddos and realized that next year when we celebrate her again...we'll have 1, 2, 3, 4... F-I-V-E more kiddos!!!! That's right, all 5 of us (Ash left before the top pic was snapped, Daddy J-Walk representing here...) are expecting new bundles of JOY in the next year!

Love raising kids and celebrating life with such wonderful friends...

Happy Birthday, Teri! So thankful for your friendship, and so happy these girlies will be sweet friends, too!

All for you, Court!

Went to Chili's again tonight for a friend's wedding shower...Jenny was also there....and we shared your favorite dessert...all for you, Court! We wouldn't have done it to ourselves otherwise, but WE LOVE YOU THIS MUCH!!!!


Can't wait until YOU have that other spoon in your hand!!!!

Buddies

Say, Say Little Playmate
Come out and play with me
And bring your dollies 3
Climb up my apple tree
Slide down my rainbow
Into my cellar door
And we'll be jolly friends
Forever-more, more, more!


(Jadeybug and Brad having a playdate last Saturday...I snuck a pic b/c she LOVES Brad!)

...and our new baby's first little playmate (and Brad's son!) Mr. Brantley James Davis! Jadeybug LOVES this guy, too!

Reflecting

9 months we will wait for you.
8 months gone already.
7 days between Dr. appointments now.
6 (million) baby names to choose from...only 1 PERFECT for you! :)
5 times I wake up each night now, on average...
4 weeks until your due date, as of tomorrow! :)
3 very excited people waiting for you at home.
2 years between you and your big sister.


(ahem!...drum roll please...)


1 VERY BIG BELLY reflecting back at me!


Hurry sweet baby!

First boyfriend....

So we're at the park the other day and I look up and see Shaelyn Jade getting friendly with a little boy we don't know...truthfully, he didn't really give her the time of day...But I snapped a quick pic and sent it to her daddy labeled "first boyfriend"...


This is what came back QUICKLY across my phone with a message, "Please show this to that boy!!!"...




Classic. What a good Daddy.
Poor Shaelyn Jade someday...