Roadtrip to Mimi & Papa's

We recently took a trip to my Mimi & Papa's house in Arizona. We decided to drive rather than fly so we could take our time and stop when we needed to stop. I thought it would be less stressful than flying with the kids, and boy was I.......RIGHT! :) The kids did amazing both on the way there and the way back! This trip confirmed that I love road trips!


Here's Ethan trying out the neck pillow in our rented Minivan.



This was right after bath time in the hotel in Albuquerque. Ethan was a little excited to be there! It's the first hotel stay that he remembers.....


(Notice how Annaliese just watches while Ethan is going crazy!)


At Papa & Mimi's house. Ethan was so excited to have a special little bed to sleep in!



Johnnie is my cousin, Ethan's 2nd cousin. They were instantly best friends and had a blast with each other all week.

This is at my Aunt Sherrie's and Uncle Dave's house for Mimi's 70th birthday party.

(Front L-R: Ethan, Megan, Papaw, Heidi, Annaliese, Mimi. Back L-R: Cara, Aunt Sherrie, Aunt Lora, Papa, Johnnie and Uncle David)



I love this picture of Ethan watching Mimi open her presents!

Mimi with her grandkids and great-grandkids.

(L-R: Johnnie, Ethan, Mimi, Annaliese, Megan, Cara & Heidi)



Mimi telling the story of Jack & The Beanstalk to Ethan.



Papa & Annaliese

Bobby, Johnnie and Ethan at a pretty park.



Papa swinging the boys. Notice how both boys have their mouths wide open.....I'm not sure what they were doing! :)

We had such a fun time catching up with Mimi & Papa and all the aunts, uncles and cousins. I wish we lived closer!

Easter Egg Fun

So, Brother, that's what you do with your basket?

Let me try......

On the hunt

I found some!!!!

Thanks for the lift, Grandpa!

Good Friday

We decided to go to one of our church's Good Friday services to avoid the "Easter Rush" the rest of the weekend. Church was great! After, we stopped for Mexican food on the the way home. I think we will make it our Good Friday tradition - Yum! :-)

I know most of us remember daily the ultimate sacrifice that Christ made for us and we are so thankful. But I don't think we always walk in the gravity of what Jesus did for us and the overwhelming joy that comes from accepting Him as our Risen Lord. I'm thankful for Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday as times to really reflect and be grateful for the work of the cross. Because Christ bore my shame, sorrow and sin on the cross, I live and have life more abundantly. Thank you, Jesus!

Here are the kids in their Easter outfits. I could NOT get Annaliese to stand still, so these are the kids in action!

Annaliese's 1st Birthday!

Our little sweetie-pie turned one year old! Say it ain't so! This year has really flown by!

Annaliese is 17 lbs. 11 oz. and 31 inches long.....still tall and skinny!

She is walking all over the place,

waves bye-bye,

shakes head no,

bounces up and down to music,

says "mamma", "dadda", "bubba",

favorite foods are cheese, broccoli and strawberries,

has 9 teeth and counting,

and melts all our hearts every day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNALIESE!

We had the special pleasure of having Grandpa & Grandma Sondeno and Uncle Dudley & Aunt Cynthia in town for Eric's wedding. They were able to help us celebrate Annaliese's first birthday. This was the first time Annaliese met her great-grandparents and great aunt!

(L to R) Annaliese, Ethan, Bobby, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Dudley, Aunt Cynthia, Dale, Mom, Kimmy

Yum! She liked her cake!

Fun opening presents!

Blowing kisses with Auntie Cynthie

Daddy capturing the fun on the video cam.

Eric's Wedding

My step-brother, Eric got married last weekend to a sweetie named Stephanie. My grandparents and uncle & aunt came down for the wedding. It was such a sweet ceremony and we say a big CONGRATULATIONS to the happy couple!

Ethan got to be the ring-bearer and he looked so handsome in his tux! He's getting this ring-bearer thing down and did a great job walking down the aisle and standing on his spot at the front of the chapel. After the prayer, Ethan and the other ring-bearer and flower girl sat down. Shortly thereafter, Ethan had to go potty, so we tried to make a discreet exit. The sole of Ethan's rented tux shoe decided to come slowly off while we were walking to the back of the tile-floored chapel.....it sounded something like this: clap....CLAP....clap......CLAP.....clap.....CLAP CLAP.....clap.....CLAP CLAP! Oh well, what can you do? By the time we made it to the back, the entire sole fell off!

Ethan was oh-so serious when we first put his tux on. He probably took half an hour before he would smile! (Bobby's kind of the same way when he has to get dressed up...haha!)

Special picture with Grandma & Grandpa Sondeno

Ethan's 4th Birthday

I am a little behind in my postings....okay, a LOT behind.....things are busy around here, what can I say? :-)

Ethan turned 4 a couple weeks ago and we celebrated his birthday at a fun bounce house warehouse. There was lots of crawling, climbing, sliding and jumping.

Ethan going up with friend Landon


Sliding down!

Cute Chloe, Ethan's friend from church

Even Pop got in on the action!

Annaliese crawled all over

Lighting McQueen car cake

Ethan blowing at cake with party favor

Annaliese trying a piece of pizza crust

Opening presents!

I can't believe my baby is such a big boy now! (Cue the sappy violin music....) It seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital, and now he is independent in many ways. He can strap himself into his booster car seat, he can open a banana by himself, he turns on and plays his computer games without my assistance and he can brush his teeth and wash himself alone (with my supervision, of course), to name a few. Our primary concern as parents has shifted from physical well-being and safety being our number one concern to Godly character and education being top priority. We are so proud of Ethan and are excited about what this year has in store!

She's Walking!

This is another sideways video. I'm sorry about this.....I keep forgetting to not turn my camera long-ways when I'm doing a video. Just tilt your head and enjoy! :-)