This morning started with an Easter egg hunt around the house, ripping apart of baskets, and Noah losing a tooth. That was the first two hours! After the morning madness we went to church for another egg hunt, service, and a butterfly release and then to Grammy and Papa’s for lunch and a swim. It was a great day and though the sugar gave us some bumpy fits along the way, we had a very happy Easter!

Here are the kids at church before the festivities!

The girls had so much fun!!

Ayla managed to pin Noah down for a few hugs.  This was one of the few times he couldn’t escape; she was so proud!!

May you have a great celebration of family, festivites, and tradition this year!!!  Merry Christmas from us!

Noah was a shark again this year, his favorite costume yet!  Hopefully he’ll move on next year, especially since his arms “hulk out” of it every time!

Kate was a “scary, pink monster” despite most people calling her a chicken.  It wasn’t a character, just a cute costume, but she really animated it!!  She also loved how soft and fuzzy she was and constantly petted her belly.

Noah and Kate were very excited to carve a pumpkin this year!  I assumed they realized a pumpkin patch meant photo op.  Unfortunately it took them a bit to get used to the idea but they finally came around!  We went to the pumpkin patch and Lindy, Shane, and Natalie met us.  It was a great day!

These squeaky black mice were life savers!  The kids loved them!!

As usual, I took my opportunity to torture Shane.  Some day he will thank me for all these photos… right?!

This swamp was disgusting!  I took of my shoes and walked into it, carefully balancing a baby in a cauldron.  The gush between my toes was definitely Halloween inspired!  I’m hoping these photos are worth it!!

And though we loved the idea of a baby in a pumpkin, it wasn’t easy and Shane wasn’t a fan!!

And this is what got carved….

And how we went out…

Unfortunately Noah got sick in the car on the way home from school (I think it was too much candy during the day + the whole box of Nerds in his mouth + the balloon he was trying to blow up….oy), so he had to trick or treat in shorts.  He didn’t seem to care.

Hope you had as great of a Halloween as we did!!

Walter always holds us up and holds us together!  He is most definitely the patriarch of this family!

He is patient, loving, caring and makes each kid feel very special for who they are and how they relate!  I feel that any other person is going to have to compete awfully hard to fill the BFF role in their lives when they’ve “outgrown” their daddy!

He is an amazing teacher!  He engages them and enjoys it as much as they do.

And more than anything, he has an incredible sense of humor!

Honey, thanks for being such a great father and doing it with a smile and so naturally!  Our kids are so lucky to have you – and so am I!

Love you!

On Easter Sunday we went to church (our biannual visit) for the service and Easter egg hunt.  The kids had a blast!

And Walter got to spend more time than usual in front of the camera!

Our church also has a butterfly release after service each year and both kids were finally able to enjoy it!

Kate was so curious!

Noah’s butterfly didn’t want to go very far!

And we thought the gathering was a perfect excuse for some impromptu family photos!

After church we went to my parents’ and swam and ate like kings.  Unfortunately we have no photos of that because Walter got sick on the way over.  It’s very unlike him to sit out so I knew it was best to give him a break.  You’ll have to see our new tans in the next post!

I wanted to share these fun photos with you!  We bought a hat as a prop for a baby but never found the right time or kid to put it on.  Noah decided it was a toy and we had fun watching him try to squeeze it on his massive head.

Aunt Raven even got in on the action!

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light, May good luck pursue you each morning and night! ~Irish Blessing