Grace's 6 Month Pictures

and of course the other two thought they needed to join in too. :)

Easter 2014

Our Easter weekend started off with the Good Friday services at Naz.  It is always neat to hear the different testimonies of the high school students and see some friends we don't always get to see.

Saturday afternoon when the kids got up from their naps, we had our family Easter egg hunt and Easter basket time.  Since Erik is at church all morning Sunday, we don't really get a chance to do it on Sunday, so Saturday works for us! :)  The kids enjoyed checking out their baskets and then going on an egg hunt around the house.  Kyler was really into it this year, running all over collecting as many eggs as fast as he could.  Norah was into it, but she was just a bit slower moving and we had to remind her to keep going and looking around the house. :)

The kids' Easter baskets

All ready to hunt!

Here they go...

Looking hard!

Still looking :)

Kyler and his basket

Norah with her goodies :)

Norah and her "Family bathroom"

Kyler checking out his things

After our egg hunt, we had dinner and then headed over to Ashley's parent's house to do Easter baskets and an egg hunt over there.  The kids had a few more surprises in their baskets, and then did an egg hunt inside the house for candy eggs and then headed outside.  Outside, there were 12 plastic eggs for each kid hidden around the house, so they enjoyed looking for those for a while. :)  I don't have any pictures right now from this egg hunt. :)

Sunday morning the kids got up and everyone got ready to head to church at 10:45.  I managed to get everyone there by myself early! :)  My parents and brother joined us for church.  After church the two big kids went with my parents to their house, and then we would meet up with them later.  I took Grace home to feed her, and then as soon as Erik got home from church we headed up to my Aunt's house for Easter lunch.  We enjoyed a yummy lunch of ham, potatoes, fruit salad, relishes, bread, and corn with my parents, aunt and uncle, cousin and her family.  After lunch the kids were ready to check out their baskets and hunt for the 100-some plastic eggs my aunt had hidden around her yard.  When the kids were done hunting for eggs outside, they came in and went on a "candy" egg hunt inside around the house. :)  After the egg hunts were over, the kids laid down to take a nap.  When everyone woke up, we had a bit more to eat and then headed home.  It was a fun day of family, egg hunts, and celebrating the most important thing of all, that Jesus is alive!  Here are some pictures form Easter Day!

Ready to go!

Our family :)

Ashley's family

Kiddos!

Erik and I

Norah hunting

Kyler looking

Norah still looking :)

Kyler looking inside

More looking inside :)

The Tuesday after Easter we headed over to Erik's parent's house for one final egg hunt.  The kids enjoyed looking for eggs one more time around their house.  They also enjoyed a surprise there too.  It is fun to see the traditions that come with each different season and time of the year.  Both kids were really into egg hunting this year and had a great time doing it, I'm sure Miss Grace will be right in the mix next year too! Happy Easter!  He Is Risen!!!

We Got Egged!

The Thursday before Easter, our doorbell rang.  The kids went to the door, and looked out to see a bunch of plastic eggs hidden all over our yard!!  We also found some very good friends too! :)  Thanks so much Williams family for "egging us", the kids had a blast!!

What is this!?

Racing to get shoes on!

Finding eggs and friends!

On the hunt!

Norah and her collection :)

Looking around the yard

One more!

Norah and Ahnie

A game of soccer after :)

Time spent swinging too :)

Grace is 6 Months Old!!

Grace turned 6 months old on April 17th.  I cannot believe it has been half a year since she was born!  At her 6 month check-up, she weighed 16 pounds and was 25.5 inches long.  We haven't tried any cereal or solid foods yet, but hope to this next month!  Grace hasn't been sitting up yet, she still just folds over if you try to sit her up.  Her favorite thing to do right now is roll over from her back to her belly and then do the "airplane" pose for a while. :)  She still doesn't roll much from belly to back as she is much more content just being on her belly and then just waits for someone to come pick her up. :)  She is pushing her self up a bit more now though on her belly using her hands and arms.  Her new thing this month is scooting around on her back.  While laying on her back, she will dig her heals into the floor and lift her bottom up and propel herself forward, head first.  She has gotten herself into quite a few interesting places doing this. :)  Grace also joined us at the table this past month, as we "rotated" seats. :)  Kyler got a new booster seat, Norah moved to Kyler's old seat, and Grace got Norah's old chair.  It's just nice now and she feels "included" at the table even though she isn't eating anything yet. :)  Grace still takes 2-3 naps a day depending on the day, and will eat every 2-3 hours, going longer at night.  She drools quite a bit, but still doesn't have any teeth.  Here are some pictures from the last month!

6 Months Old!

Happy to be 6 months!

"Airplane!"

Hanging with big sis Norah

Tummy time!

With Mom at Kyler's party

More tummy time :)

Hi Mom!

Where'd Grace go!?

Miss Serious

At the table!

Kyler's Birthday Parties

With Easter falling when it did this year, we had one of Kyler's parties before his actual birthday.  The Friday the week before his birthday, we had a few of his friends' families over to celebrate.  I was really hoping that the weather would be nice so the kids could be outside, but it wasn't, so we had fun inside instead!  Everyone came over around 5:30 and we enjoyed a fun dinner of tacos, cheesy potatoes, fruit, chips and veggies.  After everyone was done eating, all the kids wanted to play for a while so we let them enjoy some time together. :)  We then opened presents and had cake and ice cream.  After cake and ice cream, the kids played some more, and then headed home!  We had a fun time with Kyler's friends!  Kyler requested a Dusty birthday party this year, so you will see several Planes/Dusty things in the pictures. :)  Here are some pictures from his "friends" party. :)

Kyler with his cake before his party

Kyler and his buddy Mason

Kiddos eating dinner

More kids eating

Having fun :)

Opening presents

Opening his soccer goal

Checking out his Legos

Listening to Matt tell about his airplane :)

Singing "Happy Birthday" (I didn't realize we didn't have 5 single candles) :)

Buddy Ayden :)

Kyler's real birthday, April 12th, fell on a Saturday this year, so we celebrated with our families on his actual birthday!  Kyler started the morning by going to coffee with Grandpa Gary, Uncle Ben, and Norah.  He then enjoyed some time at Grandpa Gary and Grandma Nadene's house so we could get the house and food ready for his party later.  Kyler came home, and took a rest in the afternoon, but I'm pretty sure he didn't fall asleep because he was so excited for his party. :)  When he woke up, it was almost party time!  Everyone started to arrive around 5:30.  When all the guests had arrived, we started the evening with dinner.  We grilled burgers and hot dogs, had cheesy potatoes, chips, relishes, and fruit.  After dinner, it was pretty nice out, so the kids went outside for a bit and played in the back yard. Soon it was time to open presents, which didn't take much convincing. :)  After presents, we had cake and ice cream and enjoyed more time playing outside and spending time together.  However, some thunderstorms rolled in, and everyone then decided they better head home as there was a possibility for hail.  It did end up hailing, but just both sets of grandparents were left, and then they decided they better get home too. :)  Here are some pictures from Kyler's family birthday.

Kyler's second Dusty cake

Henry and Geneva (Geneva's my old babysitter)

Birthday boy enjoying dinner

Cousins Jack, Andre, and Ryan

Legos!

Big box from Grandpa Craig and Grandma Deb

Opening a present

Planes suitcase

The wooden truck Henry made for him

Kyler's superhero cape that Geneva made :)

A sprinkler form Leah and David

Birthday boy and his cake! (with 5 candles) :)

We celebrated Kyler's birthday with just our family on Sunday, the day after his birthday.  Usually we do it on their actual birthday, but since Kyler had his family party then, we wanted to give him his presents from us on a separate day.  So, after the kids got up from their naps Sunday afternoon, Kyler opened his presents from us.

Waiting patiently :)

Checking out the first one

New Twins shirt!

How did he get so big!?

Another present

A new watch!

And another Lego set :)  Kyler has been asking for "small Legos" (aka not Duplos) :) and I have been so hesitant because I know how SMALL the pieces are!  But we gave in as we knew he would love and be ready for them. :)

We are so grateful for all of our family and friends who came to help celebrate Kyler's 5th birthday.  Their generosity greatly blessed him and made him feel so special for his day.  Happy 5th Birthday Kyler!!