Easter 2012

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him." John 3:16-17

My 3 blessings looking more grown up than ever.  Sometimes I wonder what makes me worthy of these three beautiful and healthy children.  I just love them so much and they are our life.  Ryan and I sometimes chuckle over our social lives right now but at the same time we are perfectly content with just our little family of 5.  There is something to be said about that.  We headed back to the Strasburg farm for a short Easter weekend.  Landon and Kadence went with Sue and Jack on Thursday afternoon and Ryan, Kenzie, and I followed on Friday afternoon when Ryan was done working.  Everyone (except Jerry) was home for the weekend so the kids had an absolute blast playing with their cousins and Aunties' and Grandma and Papa of course.  

 GG spent Saturday and Sunday with us and the kids loved spending some good time with her.

This picture cracks me up.  It is definitely her attitude towards everyone!  So many people love her and I hope some day she starts to share her love.

 Arin snapped the rest of these pictures during the Easter egg hunt after church.

 Kenzie is obsessed with the Ranger.  She would not stop crawling in and out and sitting in it waiting for someone to give her a ride.

Such a fabulous holiday weekend with everyone.  The Easter Bunny was good to us!

Birthdays Galore!

In celebration of Kadence, Annabelle, and AJ's birthdays we headed to Brainerd for a weekend of fun.  We met at a water park hotel so the kids were excited and had a blast.  We actually didn't even leave the hotel once we checked in until it was time to head home on Sunday.  

 AJ making a trip down the body slide.

 I think Kadence went down the body slide the most of everyone.  She was obsessed.

Annabelle coming out of the large tube slide.  She was having a blast!

I made many trips up the slides with the kids and was having just as much fun as them!  Kadence and AJ weren't big enough to go on the tube slide alone so I had tons of fun taking them.  Landon and Annabelle made a bunch of trips down the tube slide in the double tube and it was adorable.  It was entertaining to watch the two of them (with Annabelle doing the majority of the work) drag the huge tube up the stairs.  There was almost always an older kid who was willing to help them along if none of us were going up.  

My sweet little lady.  

 The hot tub might have been Landon's favorite spot.  He always wanted to go "warm up."  I think he needs to get some fat on his body so he can stay in the pool longer!

 Cupcakes and presents galore!

Where it all began...

What a wonderful weekend we all had.  Kenzie was busy and difficult as usual but fun nonetheless.  She enjoyed swimming and playing in the water as long as Ryan or I was right with her.  Happy 5th Birthday Annabelle and Happy 4th Birthday Kadence and AJ!  Love you all!

Spring at the Farm.

We spent a long weekend at the Strasburg farm.  Ryan had the week off, so we headed south on Wednesday.  It is always a great time when we go to the farm.  The weather was fabulous for the most part and we spent a great deal of time outside.  The above photo is Landon and Vinny.  We were out for a long walk one morning and Landon was trying to "win."  He couldn't understand why Vinny always was winning.  Ryan helped his dad a lot and the kids were able to spend a great deal of time with Grandma and Grandpa.  Sue and I even got away for a few hours on Saturday for a Gardening expo in Miller.  It was interesting and made me excited to do some work in our own yard.  Although I could never take enough pictures to capture the "farm experience" the following are a bunch I snapped on a couple of occasions.

 The kids and I went for a long walk and spent a ton of time throwing rocks and playing fetch with Vinny.  I still find it funny how we buy our kids all these fancy toys and they are much happier outside with sticks, rocks, and dirt.  Ironic really.  Did I mention we found some mud?

 This little girl absolutely loves to be outside.  Well, as long as she has cement to walk on.  She just really does not love to walk in the grass or on the dirt or rocks.  I hope she gets over this soon as I plan to spend an abundance of time in our backyard this summer.

 She would have stayed outside forever.  There is a lot to explore!

 The girls spent lots of time swinging.

 The four wheeler was a big hit like usual.  But, the Ranger was the kids' favorite thing of the weekend.  I don't even know how many hours Landon spent in there "driving crazy" with Papa.  All 3 of the kids really liked cruising around in the Ranger actually.  As long as I wasn't driving.  I tried taking Landon and Kadence for a ride, Kadence cried to go back with Grandma and Landon was bored.  Apparently I am not as fun of a driver as Papa.  I guess that's okay.  Once a mom always a mom.  We were all exhausted after the 5 day stay at the farm.  I don't think the kids could ever get enough of that place.  In fact, they both cried for Grandma Sue when we put them to bed Sunday night!

4.

Happy 4th Birthday to Kadence Jean!  I just can't believe this girl is 4 years old already.

March 22, 2012

March 22, 2011

The years are going by faster and faster and I feel like if I blink too long she will be a teenager.  Kadence had been talking about her birthday for a very long time and was excited to celebrate.  

We started out the celebration a day early with a birthday donut and a balloon.  We did it a little early as we were headed to the farm after school on Wednesday.

After school Wednesday we headed to the farm.  We let Kadence open her present from Landon and she was ecstatic to get a merliah Barbie and book.  She was able to contain her excitement for one more day.

Kadence woke up early and was ready to open her birthday presents right away.  She was so happy to see all the Barbies, clothes, and books!

They played outside all day and then we celebrated some more after supper with some birthday cake and ice cream.  She was very excited that Grandma Sue had made her a frog cake.

 This little one has never liked to be the center of attention.  She was really shy when we were singing "Happy Birthday" and hid.  She did the same thing last year hiding behind big brother.

She didn't even want to blow out her candles!  After some help from Papa and Landon, she managed to blow out all 4 of her candles.

We all enjoyed the birthday treats as well! I think it is safe to say Kadence had a fabulous birthday celebration.  The best part: she gets one more celebration next weekend when we meet Grandpa Ken and Grandma Debbie, Uncle Curt, Auntie Jill, Annabelle, and AJ at the water park hotel in Brainerd for some more celebrating!