A Very Happy Day!!!!!!!!!

Alexander has been asking a lot of questions about heaven lately and this morning he prayed to Jesus asking Him to be his Savior.  We could not be happier!  Praise the Lord!  :)

Happy Easter

Here are pictures from Holy Week and Easter Sunday.  The kids LOVED decorating eggs this year and couldn't believe how "magic" it was that the crayon marks showed up after dying the eggs.  We had a great time!  :)

 GiGi bought the kids chocolate fish with Jesus' name on them for their Easter baskets.  They couldn't believe they got so much candy!  (And as you can tell, these pictures were taken just as they were waking up.  They were pretty tired, but definitely had enough energy to go through their baskets!)  :)

 All dressed up and ready for Easter morning! 

 We read the Easter story before hunting for eggs.  Alex was so cute as he cheered "The tomb was EMPTY"!  :)

 Nothing like the egg hunt!  We were fortunate enough to be able to do it outside this year!  It was a little chilly, but at least it wasn't raining or snowing!  :)

Beach Videos from Oregon

 

We went to the Pacific Ocean while we were in Oregon.  It was in the 40's and windy but not too bad for March.  The kids didn't seem to mind the weather and had a great time running from the waves with Gramsy.  We even got to feed some seagulls!  Well, Emily fed them while Nelson and Alex tried to catch them.  And then Alex got his finger bit by one of the birds -- woops! 

Spring Break in Oregon

We went to Oregon to visit family and friends for Spring Break last week.  We had a great time, despite the typical cold and rainy weather.  We went to Multnomah Falls, Lincoln City (Pacific coastline), down to Redding California to see more family, Sunriver Oregon to relax and then back to Salem Oregon to see even more friends and family.  We had a wonderful vacation and can't wait to go back again!  :)

 Sharilyn, JT & Parker met us at the Falls for a picnic lunch.  It was great to see them after so long!  :)

 It was super-windy at the beach but not rainy, so it was a perfect day!  The kids loved seeing the difference from the Atlantic and the Pacific and we even got to eat at Mo's for lunch (yummy clam chowder)!  :)

We went down to Redding, CA to see some family for a few days.  Great Grammy Fay turned 100 years old in January and the kids LOVED meeting her!  And as you can see, they had fun with their second cousins too!  :)

Four generations -- God has blessed our family!  :)

Emily and Alexander with Great Grammy Fay.  How sweet is that picture?!  :)

And the kids with Gramsy and Papa -- we already miss you both so much!

It wouldn't be a trip to Salem without a few ping-pong matches.  :)

Emily and Alex were so excited to play with Parker again!  They were running around so much, I don't think they ever got cold!  :)

Multnomah Falls -- aren't they beautiful!  :)

Fun at the beach! 

Feeding the seagulls -- check out the video in the other post.  It was so fun!  :)

Papa's hat was a source of entertainment.  Isn't he cute?!  :)

We had planned on cooking chilli on the beach, but forgot the grill and some pots/pans.  So, we had to eat clam chowder at Mo's.  It was a great hardship, but we suffered through it!  ;)

Alex LOVED Dad's tractor.  He wanted to ride it every day!  He even asked Nelson after preschool today when we were going to see Papa again.  And when he could ride the tractor again!  :)

Grammy Fay has always liked Emily Grace's name.  So, Emily thought Grammy would want to meet her doll Gracie.  She brought it specifically to introduce to Grammy Fay and Aunt Grace.  It was a highlight of the trip!  :)

Even Grammy Fay had fun with Dad's hat!  :)

We had so much fun with family we haven't seen in years!  It was great to catch up and hopefully we can see them all again soon!  :)

Aren't they all so cute?! 

We LOVE Great Grammy Fay!  :)

Emily and Alex bonded with their cousins right away!  It was so nice to see! 

We even got to play Rummy Tiles with Grammy.  She beat us both times -- she is amazing!!  :)

On our way home from Redding, CA we stayed at a friend's house in Sunriver, OR.  It was lovely to relax and rest.  And the kids had so much fun with the hot tub and the little kids' loft!  :)

Sunriver has a little shopping area with a train ride that goes through the plaza.  The kids had a great time, but I nearly froze!  Definitely worth it to see their happy faces though!  :)

Emily Grace finally meets Aunt Grace (namesake) and Aunt Grace gets to meet Gracie.  Such a sweet moment!  :)

Alex didn't want to finish his taco soup, but finally changed his mind when he found out he wouldn't be getting dessert.  Poor kid -- same rules on vacation as at home!  :)

We snuck a few naps in when we could.  And this is how Alex finally fell asleep one day -- curled up, sitting up, laying against me.  :)

Pastor and Carol Hills are dear friends of ours, and Pastor Hills is the man who married us.  It's always a joy to see them.  And as you can tell, we had a great time with them and some other wonderful friends!  :)

On the last day of our trip, Emily fell out of bed after having a bad dream.  She complained about her sore shoulder, but when she would go play and act normally, we figured she just bruised it.  Well, she kept complaining on the plane home, so we took her to the ER.  Turns out that she broke her collar bone.  She will be in this sling for 2 weeks and then should be back to normal.  Unfortunately, it's her dominant hand and she's now having problems eating, writing and doing crafts.  She's more miserable about not being able to draw than any little amount of pain she's in.  Poor girl -- not the souvenir we were hoping for!  :(