Easter 2009 - He Is Risen

We had a lot of fun with Easter festivities this year. We had our annual Easter decorating party, and the kids each had fun decorating their own eggs.

On Easter morning, the kids could hardly wait to get up and hunt their eggs and see what the Easter bunny brought them. Here are some pictures of their baskets and of them hunting eggs. It was a little bit of a disappointment that the Easter Bunny felt like it was too cold and rainy to hide eggs outside, but inside was fun, too.

Easter Sunday just happened to be my 41st birthday, and after hunting eggs, the kids and Dad made biscuits for breakfast for me, and I got to get back into bed and be served. It was a wonderful treat. Then we got ready for church. Thursday we all went to the Maundy Thursday service at church, and it was an incredible experience. It was moving and beautiful, and it really set the stage for the whole weekend and especially the anticipation of the Easter service. We met Gram and Grandpa there (actually they saved us seats), and we had a wonderful time together.

After church we headed to Dallas to Royal Oaks Country Club. Uncle Bill, Aunt Kristen, Katherine, and Libby belong there, and they had a great brunch and fun Easter Egg Hunt and Petting Zoo. Will has a love for all characters, and the Easter Bunny was no exception. After he talked to him, he kept going back over there trying to get his attention again. It was so cute. Here are some pictures of our time there.

Good Friday

On Good Friday the kids were off from school, and I decided to take Allison to Tyler for Jillian Dunbar's 9th birthday party. Allison and Jillian have been friends since they were babies, and since they have moved to Tyler, we don't get to see them as much anymore. We took another friend from the area, Macy, and headed out right after lunch. It was fun for me to get to see the whole Dunbar family and their new house. The party started at their house with cake, ice cream, and presents. Then we all headed to the movie theater to see The Movie - Hannah Montana. It was a great movie and even got a few tears from the girls and mom's! After the show, we went back to their house and let Jillian, Macy and Allison play and put on a performance for us in the backyard. Then we had a delicious and very healthy dinner before heading back to the DFW area. It was a super fun day, and we were so happy that the party ended up on a day that we were able to come.

Will's Easter Party

Will was super excited about his Easter party at school, and luckily the weather improved during the day, and the sun actually came out in time for the hunt. I had sent in 14 pre-filled plastic eggs with his name on them for him to find. Once he had found all 14, he had to take his basket over to his teacher, dump them all out, and put them back in counting them correctly. After the hunt, we went back inside for cupcakes. I love watching him enjoy these special activities!

Girl's Weekend

I am so fortunate to have the most awesome group of High School friends. We have stayed close for so many years, and I always look forward to and need my time with them. We try to have one weekend a year that we get together and just spend talking. We can talk for hours on end, and even after a weekend of talking non stop, it never feels like enough. This spring we had the perfect place for our weekend - Marci's new lake house at Cedar Creek Lake. Marci and Ray bought a house right on the lake last summer, and they have done so much decorating, and the house looks wonderful. The six girls met in Canton on Friday and spent several hours shopping for all the good bargains. We left Canton and stopped to have Mexican food on the way to the lake. Once we got to the house, we were there to stay. We spent all of our time talking, eating, and just enjoying relaxing and being together. It is such a pretty area, and we had wonderful weather. We spent several hours on Saturday sitting outside and playing the domino game Mexican Train. Sunday came too quickly, and we all had to head back home. I left there having eaten too much and having stayed up too late, but I felt so refreshed and ready to get back home to my family. I am so grateful to these friends that I can truly be myself with, and I know we will always remain close.

1st row from left to right - Kristin, Becky, Kelley, and Beth

2nd row - Susan, and Marci

Kindergarten Fun Night

Caroline was invited to the Kindergarten Fun Night at CES a couple of weeks ago. Her good friend, Lauren, won the chance to go at the school fundraiser silent action, and she was able to bring a friend. There were 20 kids there in all, plus the 5 Kindergarten teachers. They ate pizza in the teacher's lounge, had ice cream, went on a scavenger hunt, ran down the halls yelling, danced on the tables in the classrooms, colored, and played games in the gym. Needless to say, it was a big hit, and Caroline was so in awe from the evening that she said there were just too many good things to talk about. She ended up telling about it all over several days, and it was definitely a night she will remember for a long time. There is just no place Caroline would rather be than Carroll Elementary.