Easter at Gran's

Easter Sunday has become one of my favorite days of the year. Sometimes, driving to church is less than picture perfect. Frustration over rushing the kids out the door, cries of anger between siblings, breakfast & makeup in the car can add up to a stressful journey. But not on Easter Sunday. As we drive to church on Easter, I am confident in our purpose. And the stresses of the morning seem to pale in comparison to what we are about to experience. Our Lord is risen! What a wonderful reason to celebrate, and what wonderful people surround us and join in the celebration. Truly, this is what our faith is all about. This is why we endure such mornings. To sing alongside my family for our Lord who has conquered the grave - what greater pleasure do we have as a family?
It's become our tradition to spend Easter Sunday at Gran's (Ryan's mom) after church. There's always a wonderful home-cooked meal, some egg hunting (of course), and some nap taking. Funny - that's exactly what we do at my grandparents' house the day before Easter. Maybe next year we'll get really creative and do something different. (Probably not due to our "do it once, do it always" mentality.) Uncle Brad spent some time reading to the kids, and Uncle Ross got teary over how well Anna read a book to him. She really does seem grown up when she's reading aloud. We get that "We're so proud" mixed with "We're bummed she's big enough to be doing this" feeling that we seem to get at least once a day now. PawPaw (Ryan's dad) and Ryan enjoyed some March Madness, and the kids & Gran played Monopoly for the first time. We don't typically color coordinate, but we were all in yellow for the occasion. Caroline wore a super sweet bunny dress courtesy of Emily Helphinstine. Anna and Luke got some yellow to match. What a great day, complete with a great photo of all three kids. To get them to sit out in the 40 degree weather right before bedtime and smile their best fake smiles only took a sugary bribe. Thanks for the treats Gran!

Easter in Jonesborough

We spent this past Saturday (the day before Easter) at my grandparents' in Jonesborough. My sister, Sharon, and I cooked a few dishes, but my grandmother did the rest. My mom came up for the weekend which was nice too. The kids had fun hunting eggs with their cousin, Kassidy. We got some nice shots of them on Mammaw and Pappaw's white fence with their horse, Levi, in the background. It was a beautiful, windy day. My favorite part was the nice long nap everyone took after everything was said and done. I've always loved napping at Mammaw and Pappaw's house.

Lightning Spring Training

It's that time of year again. This is Ryan's eleventh year coaching little league baseball in Johnson City. This year's team is looking pretty strong, so we're looking forward to a good season. We've grown to really enjoy our time at the ball field each spring. It's fun watching the boys play and spending time with their families. Anna and Luke love playing at the field and hanging out with the team. Pretty soon, Caroline will be joining in the fun too.

If we build it, they will play.

This past Christmas, Ryan's mom, aunt, and grandmother all chipped in for a swing set for the kids. The work began when it arrived a few weeks ago. Ryan, his dad, and an unsuspecting youth from church put a lot of hours into its construction. After several days of tilling, mulching, ordering a slide without a crack in it, hammering, and screwing countless pieces together, we have a very nice set for the kids. I (Beth) was admittedly not that thrilled at first. I had visions of the dog chewing it to bits and digging up every inch of the ground cover and mulch (which she's already discovered is loads of fun.) However, the final result has already provided hours of fun and exercise for us all. Their great big grins say it all. Anna, Luke, and Caroline would like to send out a great big thank you to those who helped by providing $$$, time, and energy!!

Early Easter

I know it's not Easter yet, but everyone looked so cute last Sunday before church, so I set up our own little photography studio in our bedroom. Anna and Caroline loved having their pictures taken for spring. Luke, however, was not interested, and I only got two shots of him, both of which are not that great. He was pretty miserable, so I let him go change (we only make him wear collared shirts for pictures and weddings) and I had fun taking more shots of the girls.

Last game of the season

For the last several years, we've enjoyed season tickets to the ETSU men's basketball games, courtesy of Ryan's dad. It makes for a good date night or a fun night for the whole family. Sometimes, they provide inflatable games for the kids which is a big hit. At this last game of the season, Anna found some friends from school and sat with them. She definitely seemed a little older as we watched her sitting with her buds.

Getting a head start

We went down to our neighbor's the other day to have our first Easter egg hunt of the season. Anna is wearing an apron because she was taking a break from pretending to be a waitress. Caroline was our audience from the stroller. We're pretty serious about our egg hunting. At my (Beth's) grandparents in Jonesborough, we hunt eggs all year round. Anna & Luke love it, and so do I. We made a bunch of paper eggs last Saturday, and I told the kids a sad third child story from when I was young. Because my sisters were older than I and grew out of egg hunting before I did, I would hide eggs for myself around our house. Then, I'd wait a while (long enough to forget where I'd hidden them) and then go hunt them. Pretty sad.