Dedicating Our Blessing

The first Sunday that my parents were out, we had the opportunity to dedicate Larren. Children are such an incredible blessing, and we believe that we should give them back to the Lord as a "thank you gift"! We commit to raising them according to His purposes, and to creating a home life for them that will point directly towards our Father. We are so thankful to have a church family that commits to doing their best in assisting us raise our children as well!

Our beautiful little girl!


Excited big sister...



The picture quality is not the greatest... but you get the idea!

Spring Break Miscellaneous

Since my folks have been here so many times, it's hard to find stuff to do for a whole week! Plus it's usually less than desired weather... but thankfully, being the kind of grandparents they are, they prefer to just hang out at home and play with their grand kids!

This year our time together consisted of bowling, a date night for Jon and I, a date night for the girls with their grandparents (you can only imagine how spoiled Alia got!), lots of walks when the weather was nice,and a few competitive game nights after the girls were down... to name a few things!





The guys surprised us by making supper one night... fajitas and sweet potato fries!






Once again... we're SO BLESSED that they came!

Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Baskets

Golly... the girls were flooded with Easter gifts this year! In all honesty... we didn't get them anything...and they are none the wiser! Let's just say the girls are super loved, and they have lots of goodies to "prove" it!
Alia is still too young to realize that she's getting these treats because it's a holiday... but next year we will need to try harder to teach her the true meaning of Easter. Easter eggs, baskets, candy, and bunnies are fun to receive... but our Savior dying and being raised again is why we celebrate, and because of Him we can receive life - which is way better than a chocolate stash!








What a joy to watch Alia do her Easter egg hunt this year! It didn't take her long to realize what the name of the game was! And boy oh boy, the hunt was worth it...


... just look at all that candy!



Shhh, don't tell Alia but Mom and Dad have also benefited from the "hunt"... let's just say her candy stash is not as substantial as it once was!

Easter Morning

Easter morning is always bittersweet. We’re SO THANKFUL for our Risen King, but we’re sad because it’s when the goodbyes come!

Alia was absolutely NOT cooperating for pictures so the first few were a little incomplete!

Alia's tears are barely dry... but she's trying!

And this is the best we could muster this year... maybe next years Easter pics will be a little happier!

Not wanting to pose at all... so once again, this is the best we got!

A few last cuddles...


I know it's not the point nor the focus of Easter... but dressing the girls up on Easter morning sure is fun! Sadly enough Larren's Easter dress was a little on the small side. So - she ended up wearing her dedication outfit again!

Larren really was happy to have Gramma and Grampa visit... she just tends to be more on the serious side of things!

Birthday Party #1 of 2

Since my parents aren't able to be here for Alia's birthday we decided to have a mini early birthday party! Jer and Joe dropped by and we all enjoyed some gluten free birthday cake (it was actually very yummy!) and playing with Ali's new toy... I mean, helping her learn it's capabilities to the fullest!

Easter Eggs Galore

It's become a new family tradition... spring break = a visit from my folks! And this year it was extra special - the first time my dad got to meet Larren and hang out with TWO granddaughters!
We had a lot of fun, and of course they brought some great stuff for the girls! My mom and Alia dyed Easter eggs one morning, and Alia LOVED LOVED LOVED it! I was planning to wait until Ali was a bit older (the neat freak part of me!) but I'm so glad my mom knew that Alia would do just fine! And needless to say, the eggs didn't last long... we're all big fans of colorful egg salad I guess!


And yes... Alia was potty training, hence the lack of attire!




The newspaper just wasn't cutting it... we had to switch to some old heavy duty towels!

Love this pic... two of my favorite people enjoying life together!


Taking the eggs one step further... adding sticker faces!



Alia posing with her beloved egg family



**Note** These were the last pics taken with my Pentax DSLR! Although at the time I had no idea I was actually going to sell it! :)

We're back... for now!

Calgary was so so wonderful! We were blessed by amazing hospitality, great food and conversation, daily adventures, and lovely family connections!
My oh my - after seeing so much of our family over the last 2 1/2 weeks it will be hard to adjust! Thankfully we have dates when we will see both sides again... so we have those times to look forward to!

Now it's unpacking, laundry, and repacking for our trip to Fargo!

I Sold It?

Quick intermission break - I sold my camera. I know... I'm a little shocked too! One morning I decided that if I got this much $$$ for it than it would be worth upgrading, and within an hour of listing it... I got exactly what I was asking! Crazy!
So now I'm on the hunt again! I'm leaning towards a Nikon D90. I played with one at the camera store and was so impressed with the speed, crisp image, features, and that it's still a reasonably priced camera! But... needless to say I'm feeling lost with just a Point and Shoot right now. And ya know, I'm taking that as a good sign! I may be a little baby in the photography world, but apparently I can't go "back"... and that makes me smile!

Intermission

We were super blessed to spend last week with my parents... and on Wednesday we fly out to Calgary to spend the week with Jon's folks! I know - we are getting some major spoiling in!
Needless to say, I have TONS to write about and no time to do it! Plus, when we get back from Calgary we are heading to Fargo for four days. So... we will be taking a blog intermission and will resume in about 2 weeks! There will be tons of pics... guaranteed!