Easter/Birthday Blessings

It was wonderful to get away from our remodeling woes this weekend to be with family for Easter and my birthday. Here is the kids' Easter picture. Josiah was hard to get a picture of this weekend since he was running 90 miles an hour with his older cousins. This was the best I could do. On Saturday, my Mom and step-dad watched the children so Stacie and I could go for our annual birthday tea at the ANZAC Tea Parlor. We even had enough time to do some clothes shopping. Here is a picture of my beautiful twin sis, Stacie. You can check out her encouraging blog at www.afirefighterswife.blogspot.com. It is always a special treat to be able to spend our birthday together. Technically, our birthday was on Easter this year, but due to us celebrating Jesus rising from the dead and my niece, Lily's, first birthday, it seemed like Saturday was when we celebrated our birthday. We don't do the Easter Bunny, but I do give the kids gifts in their Easter baskets. We try not to do candy, but instead a few fun toys. This year, Hailey got a pig that pooped candy in a trough and Josiah got a milk cow that pooped candy in the milk bucket. I know, so reverent. I gave them bubble necklaces, a jump rope and a wind-up baby chick. We also gave them a bunch of plastic Easter eggs filled with extra change. Nana gave us all lots of cool stuff from her recent trip to Hawaii. She also made Hailey this adorable bathrobe that has embroidered frogs on it and on the pockets says, "Nana Loves Me" so she can learn about modesty from a young age.Here is my sister and my niece, Lily, looking Lilylicious in her Easter dress that makes her look like a little cupcake. Couldn't you just eat her up? Her cheeks were not safe that day! Our family took up two rows at church. Listened to a wonderful message by my family's pastor who is struggling with stage 4 cancer. He is amazing and an inspiration to all who know him. God is shining through him despite the most difficult circumstances. After church, we all went back to Stacie's for a big Easter dinner with family. We had an egg hunt and Lily's 1st birthday party. Me, Stacie and my SIL, Sonya, all had our birthday on Easter this year, so we opened a few gifts from family at that time as well.  I managed to snap some cute pictures of Hailey and Lily in their Easter dresses after the egg hunt at Stacie's house. It was chilly out, so we had to make it a quick photo shoot.One last picture of the lil' confection. 

When we got home that night, the house was 45 degrees. The three remaining ants in Josiah's ant farm had croaked, as did some more of our seedlings. The peas I planted in the garden died. So far I'm not doing very well with this gardening business. I would fail miserably as a meteorologist. I can't predict Eastern Oregon weather to save my life! I think the main thing I need to learn is more patience! Last night Michael was able to insulate the inside walls and the windows. It is insulated enough that we could turn the furnace on! Yeah, love central heating! I'm in a much better mood now :) We are still waiting on our doors, hoping they will come in tomorrow. 

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter. I'll be checking all your blogs soon. Thanks for hanging in there with me :)

God Bless,

Jackie