we've come a long way, baby...happy easter!

A BLAST FROM THE PAST

{a walk down memory lane} 

2008

2009

 2010

 2011

 2012

My oh my, how my little babies have grown...

Hope everyone had a blessed Easter with your family and friends!

fun times on Easter!

We had a great Easter...very low key, but fun with family! It was the first Easter in a very long time that my parents have been around to help celebrate, so it was super special for us!

I must admit it was quite the battle to pull out this one picture below. They just weren't in the picture taking mood and momma was getting a little frustrated, so we just took this one and called it good. I got smiles, so what more could I ask for I guess? 

We had a little mishap on Easter. Austin found the Easter bunny stash under a blanket in the office and Mikayla was devastated that he had spoiled the surprise! Typically the Easter bunny leaves the baskets on the front porch for the kids to find. I guess that's one way to find out there's no Easter bunny. Despite the initial tears, the kids still loved all of the goodies they found inside their baskets.

After church, we headed out to my parents' house for Easter dinner and time with the whole family.

{Easter 2012 Family Picture}

{Daddy & Son}

{Mommy & Daughter}

{My Beautiful Girl}

{My Handsome Boy}

We came a little early to my parents' house before the rest of the family arrived so that we could dye Easter eggs. I found these cute Easter aprons during last year's Easter clearance. Not sure how long they will willingly wear them, but at least for this year...

Then ALL the cousins arrived...

And it was Easter egg hunting time...

Great Grandpa J came for the fun, too...

pre-Easter 2012

You might be asking yourself (at least the 2 people who still read my blog)...is she really going to go back as far as Easter? Yep. Yep, I am!

Great Grandma Grace (who lives in California) was in town over Easter weekend so we had a pre-Easter get together at the in-laws on the Saturday before Easter.

My mother-in-law likes to plan extra special things for the kids to do, so when we got there the kids made Easter bunny PB & J sandwiches for lunch.

Gotta pull out the traditional Easter bunny ears...just like last year.

{one day he's going to love me for this}

And, of course the Easter egg hunt...

He's trying to mimic the egg face.

Money!

Great Grandma Grace with the kids

Mikayla, our budding photographer, took the next couple of pictures...

Grandpa Charlie & Daddy

Great Grandma Grace & Grandma Ruth ~ mother and daughter

Easter 2011

{My Easter cuties before church}

We kind of had a rushed morning on Easter (a little too much sleeping in...oops!), so before heading to the in-laws for an Easter lunch and after church, we stopped back by the house to "get something" and that's when the Easter bunny had dropped off the baskets for the kids. I rushed back out to the car and told the kids there was something on the front door for them. Those kids got out of the car in a flash to check it out! I love the look on their faces.

Can you just see Mikayla saying, "How did that get there?"Mikayla had a lot of questions this year on who the Easter bunny is and I was this close to just spilling the beans, but the more we talked about it, the more I could tell she was hoping it was, in fact, the Easter bunny...and no one else. Maybe next year I can spoil the fun! *wink*

We had a bit of a drive to the in-laws, so on the way we let the kids watch the new movie they got in their Easter basket...Veggie Tales: Easter Carol. So, now I understand why the Easter bunny didn't want to wait until later to give the kids their Easter baskets. Nice thinking, Easter bunny!

{Easter at Grandma Ruth & Grandpa Charlie's}

How awesome are these first two pictures?
That's my boy!
Oh, the things a momma makes you do!
We prepared the kids for the possibility that there may not be an Easter egg hunt because they had already done one with grandma and grandpa a few weeks prior. So, they were really surprised to hear that yes, there would be an egg hunt...inside, of course! Hello, we desperately need a little Spring sunshine!!
Getting ready to see what's inside all of their eggs!
These next few pictures I will CHERISH! I love Austin's sweet and fun-loving personality! He was so funny opening each egg, getting all excited about what was inside, and then dumping them all in his lap.
Then there's the other side of Austin's personality (which I still love) that does things like gives you "angry eyebrows" in what could have been a great family photo! We took four pictures and he had some sort of "face" in each one of them. But, you know what...I will look at this picture and laugh every time. That's my boy!
We had a really fun Easter and I'm sure that just like this last year has flown by, Easter 2012 will be here in a blink of an eye!