Easter Morning

Before going to church at 9 am, I took a quick picture of Lexi in her Easter dress:

She picked out this entire outfit herself. I think she looked quite darling, but I am biased. 

Then, she got to see what the Easter Bunny had brought her while Daddy got Christine ready for church:

She got a movie, two books, a chocolate rabbit, and eggs filled with candy.

This is Christine's basket. She got a Baby's 1st Easter bib, and some candy to share with Daddy

I also took a picture this morning of all the goodies that our lovely Granparents sent for the family. The Glidewells got the girls the pink and blue bears that are pictured on the left. On the outfits were their names. The girls love them and they are so soft and cute! The other things are from the Farrellys. Among the loot is too much candy, cute clothes for the girls, a towel and gift card for me and a movie for Chris. Thanks everyone, we loved it all and it was nice to be thought of during this holiday time. 

Then, we raced off to church, and were actually on time today, yes! Our church was amazing. Of course the talks were about the resurrection and our choir sang some beautful songs that may or may not have put me into tears. I love Easter! I also got to teach the Relief Society Sisters, all the woman pretty much, about gratitude and the atonement and the resurrection, of course. It went over pretty well, I think, and I was grateful for the opportunity to study the words of our prophet and study the resurrection in more detail. 

THEN, we came home and I had to start making the rolls and banana bread that I was asked to bring to a friend gathering later in the afternoon. While I was baking, I asked Chris to take pictures of the girls in their dresses, since I had no time before and since after dinner it would be too late, AND, bless his little heart, this is what he got:

No bow, squinting, ugh!

There is kind of a smile

Not so bad...

Lovely.

If you look closely Lexi has a fist full of grass in her left hand then take a look at the next pic

The grass got transferred and is now about to go on Christine's head. Chris told me eventually it did go onto Christine's head. Cool, right? Okay, maybe not cool, but realisitic. 

After I saw them, we were on our way to dinner and our kids were NOT going to take any more pictures at that point, so that is what we got. I was going to say something to Chris, but he came in from this photoshoot looking frustruated, so I left it alone. Oh well, at least you can see their cute dresses! 

Maybe I will try to take some pretty ones tomorrow, but it depends on Lexi's mood so we will see...

In the meantime, I hope these will at least make you laugh. I know it made me laugh, sort of. :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. Here in MI the weather was cooperative and it was a beautiful day. The dinner with our friends was so much fun. I love all the Easter traditions but most of all, I love having this day to reflect on my Savior, Jesus Christ. 

I know he lives and I know because he lives, that we, too, will all live again with our families and the bands of death will be broken. I love having this holiday to help me remember this truth and I am grateful for the gift of the Resurrection. 

Easter Egg Hunt and a visit to see the Easter Bunny

Yesterday, the Adam's family, a wonderful family in our ward, invited us to their annual Easter Egg Hunt. There were a ton of families from church and we all had such a fun time! The kids were allowed to collect 10 eggs each, and there were even some golden eggs for the adults and some fun eggs that held gift cards and things. We went to this event last year and loved it and this year was just as fun. They also served the most delicious waffles, with all the toppings you can imagine to put on a waffle, hashbrowns, ham, and orange juice. It was great! In Lexi's eggs were lots of candy, a toy snake, hair ties, a whistle, etc. She got lots of little trinkets and things that she just loves as well. Thank you Brother and Sister Adams, it was truly a great time!

These are some of the kids who came to the hunt and they are in Lexi's nursery class in church. Nursery is for the kids who are 18 months-3 years old. 

Getting ready to play a "stall" game of Duck, Duck, Goose. We were waiting for one more family to arrive.

The host, Sister Adams is the one in black. She is the coolest!

It was windy, which is why Christine looks like that. Apparently she is not used to wind and sun because she had a hard time outside, poor thing. You can also see the Adam's home in the background. I won't lie, everytime I go over there, I may covet the house a little. It is 3 stories and has a patio off of their kitchen, it is the prettiest home inside and out. One day....

Lexi found her eggs pretty quick.

She was showing me her treasures.

All done! This was right before she cracked them all open to view her treasures.

Lexi loves her carbs! These waffles were amazing!

Even Christine had a friend. This little girl is named Charlotte and they are only a couple months apart.

And here is another friend. That little boy is Ace and he is two weeks older than Christine. They were looking at Lexi being silly.

Lexi, David, and you can't really see her but Bella, playing in the neighbors sand box. Super fun!

The weather was awesome, 60 degrees, and I hope it lasts because Lexi sure loves park things, like swings, slides, playgrounds, etc. 

After the hunt, we went and saw the Easter Bunny. Lexi loved the bunny this year. In fact, she did not want to leave. He gave her some bubbles and she was one happy kid. Christine, on the other hand, could care less, big surprise there right? But, at least she didn't cry. Good times. 

Decorating Easter Eggs

For family night, which was Monday, we decorated Easter eggs after doing a lesson about the resurrection. Lexi picked out this kit and it was different than a regular kit. Instead of dipping eggs in a vinegar/color solution, all we had to do, was pour this runny paint into containers and paint it on. Then, when they dried they were suppose to look shiny like apples. It was a lot easier to do and Lexi had a blast, so she picked out a good one. :) Later in the week, we used those beautiful eggs to make egg salad sandwiches, yum! This is a fun tradition that our family enjoys doing and this year Lexi really got into it, so it was all the more special.

Can you see how Lexi likes to mix colors? Eventually all the eggs were a pretty, I mean, ugly brown color, but it was all for the experience because she had so much fun!

Why she never wants to look AT me when I take her picture is beyond me. She is such a ham!

Chris's 28th Birthday

Also while my mom and Shane were in town, it was Chris's 28th birthday! My husband likes what he likes and is a creature of habit, so his birthday was pretty much the same as it is every year, well, since I have been married to him at least. So, we went out to Buddy's pizza for his dinner, came home, opened presents from the kids and I, my mom, and his family, then we sang to him and ate cheesecake with raspberry sauce. That is the perfect birthday for Chris, he requests those things every year!

Buddy's Pizza: We are sure going to miss this place, it is so dang good!

Presents from the girls and me

Glidewell's presents

A very generous cash gift card from his parents

Since Chris's birthday is on St. Patty's Day his mom always gets him some St. patty's/green items. These glasses lit up and were so funny! Lexi loved them as well. 

She had to try them on too

Presents from my parents

blowing out the candles. I actually put 28 single candles this year, so he had his work cut out for him

Yeah, Happy Birthday, Babe!

This was my best cheesecake to date. Chris was a huge fan and I think it will be the only recipe I make for now on. 

Mom and Shane's Spring Break Visit

Sorry it has taken me so long to get these pictures up. I have just not been in a blogging mood lately, I don't know why, but now I am back and ready to add more updated pictures of our family! In March, my Mom and brother, Shane, came to visit us! I love it when family makes the effort to come to us, it is so much fun! Shane had never been here before, so it was fun to show him a little of Detroit, a home we have grown to love so much. As always, their week long trip went by way too fast and we did so many fun things, basically, we played hard! Here are some pictures of our adventures.

The Park: 

So for one day, the weather was pretty nice, so we went to the park!

The Zoo

Our membership was about to expire so we decided to take one last trip to the Detroit Zoo. We always have a good time at the zoo!

If I kiss this frog, maybe he will turn into a prince! :)

Lexi's favorite part of the day, for sure.

Detroit Science Center:

This was a first for all of us, and it was extremely fun! Lexi had a wonderful time. I loved how it was all hands on and kept Lexi busy so there was never any dull moments. While we were there, they had a dinosaur exhibit that was awesome. These dinosaurs moved, roared, and were very cool. However, Lexi was a bit scared, not expecting that, but when we showed her she could press some buttons to control the movements of the dinosaurs, her fear somewhat subsided. I think the biggest problem was how loud they were, everytime a dinosaur would roar, Lexi would get a bit scared. But, the adults all loved it. 

This was cool. The ball was floating by the air coming out of those holes. Hard to get a good moving shot, but Lexi was trying to catch the floating ball. 

This was part of a kid village that was really neat. We found it fitting for Chris to stand in front of the library, since for the last 3 years that has become a second home to the man :)

While Lexi and Shane were digging with the tractors, Christine took a little lunch break.

Lexi had so much fun playing with Shane. Thanks Shane for being such a fun Uncle.

This was a highlight for Lex as well. She was playing the drums while Shane was playing a guitar. So great for a music lovin gal!

Downtown Detroit:

We had to show Shane downtown Detroit and the river front. 

At the GM building. 

Detroit River

Bowling

This was Lexi's first time bowling and it went over well. After a while, she got bored and just wanted to run around, but she had more fun doing this than I expected. 

Don't mind the blurry me, look at the huge smile across Lexi's face while watching her ball knock over pins.

This is what Christine did while we bowled. Aren't babies the best, they can sleep anywhere!

Not too bad for a 3 year old, first time bowler!

This was at the Zoo!

This was at the zoo, too. I sure love my girls!