Catching up-- updated

First, the mountains on Saturday: (as always, you can click the collages to enlarge)

We had a beautiful day, and the rain even held off for us! We had a wonderful time just as a family... picnicing, seeing the animals, crossing the "Mi*le High Swing*ing Bri*dge, hiking trials, climbing rocks, watching the girls play at the park, and eating ice cream on a bench overlooking the main street of Blow*ing Ro*ck! Yes, it was a wonderful day! UPDATE: A few people asked about my arm in the mountain pictures, so I guess I should explain. I'm not really sure exactly what happened... we thought tendonitis. I had severe pain and could not move my arm, so I had it in a sling, which helped to keep it still and bent- the most comfortable position. It lasted a couple of days last week but it's all good now and there is no pain whatsoever!

Easter Sunday:

I think I've told you everything you could possibly want to know about our Easter... but since they are so stinkin' adorable... here's one more picture :) By the way, someone asked where we got their dresses... they were purchased at a friend of Mom's clothing show for Cast*les and Cro*wns!

Monday:

We spent the morning down*town w ith Dad and Will, attempting to get Will a new phone before he went back to school and to have a nice lunch. It didn't happen exactly as planned, but it was still a fun day. Kate burst into tears when we dropped Will off at the airport... she loves her big brother!!!! Will, if you are reading this, the girlies are already ready for you to come back home! Oh and we, of course, bought our van!

Tuesday:

We played at the park with the girlies' sweet friend Mia. I joined along this time, determined to get a good picture of these three sweeties. I posted my favorite in the last post, but here's 2 others (and a few other pictures.) The girls always love to get together with Mia, and Mom, of course, loves having a friend who shares her same "coke in a styrofoam cup" addiction.

Wednesday:

We enjoyed another very warm day and the girls even got to have a little picnic outside! They also helped Mom wrap gifts and headed off to a 4th birthday party for twin boys from our Church! They had such a fun time... went to a park and got to meet a police officer and see inside the car! AnnaClaire now has a new found obsession with handcuffs. How did this prissy little thing become so in love with boy toys?!

And finally, today. Well there are no pictures from today. But, I did find a prom dress, so that was exciting :)

And there you have it... a catch up on what has been going on here for the last week!!

One of "those" families

Because when you have a family of this size (picture drawn by Miss AC) you sort of need a bus.
And now we won't ever have to take two cars on our family trips again! (we went to the mountains on Saturday... pictures to come!)
Plus, we will still be able to go on trips with the girls' best friend, Mia, even after Charlie, Grace, and Mia's big sis, Emily are home! (more pictures coming from our day at the park this morning!)

And of course, we now have an excuse to put one of these on the back of our car ;) Not to mention the fact that we now have a bunch of extra space... you know... because we do have a dossier just sitting at the C2A2!


So yes, we have a new car. Or maybe bus would be a better word, as it is a 15 passenger. However, really, it is an 11 passenger, because in order to have cargo space, the back bench has to be taken out. And while we vowed we'd never get a white van, we are now the proud owners of a... white van! Let's just say that the price was right.
The girlies are very excited about their new ride. AnnaClaire is mostly excited that her WHOLE family can now fit in one car! Of course, there were some tears when she realized that HER "sa-bore-ban" wasn't coming home with us. Afterall, we have only had that car for 3 years (the above picture is her in front of it the day we bought it. She was 16 months old!) We have had some beloved memories in it. Yet... the side mirror was completely off the car, two seatbelts were broken, and the brakes were down to the metal, as the car was reaching 150,000 miles and was many years old. We simply didn't feel the need to put all the money into fixing a car that our family couldn't even fit in. So we said goodbye and drove off with our new bus, which I am sure will hold many, many memories!

So, yeah...

Our family has officially gone crazy... Go ahead and laugh. :)

Happy Easter!

We had SUCH a great Easter today... just a great time as a family, celebrating our Savior's resurrection... Here's a little recap in pictures of our Easter Sunday. Hope you all had a blessed day, as well!


The morning started with the girlies coming down to see their Easter goodies from Mommy and Daddy-- bubbles and candy!
We then sat down at the table and did Easter eggs!
The girlies had so much fun dying and decorating their eggs!
Didn't they do a great job?
It was then into their beautiful Easter dresses and off to Church!
Here's my beautiful Kate Cakes, who had such fun celebrating today!
And sweet Boo, who loved every moment of being together as a "whole fam-a-ly"
After Church, it was off to lunch at PF Cha*ngs!
We all thouroughly enjoyed our Chinese!
The Gre*at Wall of Chocolate was amazing, too, as anyone would tell you :)
It was a beautiful day outside, yet again. Something about a beautiful, warm Easter day...
The girlies walked hand in hand back to the car... melts my heart!
While AnnaClaire and Kate napped, Mom hid eggs for an egg hunt!
The girls searched and searched and found every last egg... and then wanted to hide them all again and start over! They even both tried some of their eggs, which both enjoyed with a bit of salt on top!
Dad helped them blow bubbles and took them for a walk with their babies before dinner, a fun end to a very fun day!

He is Risen!

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fulness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

Some Pictures

First, Will is home! We are all so excited. He even took the girls to the inside pool with Dad yesterday. AnnaClaire is begging him to "miss his flight back to Bay-wor and stay here forever!"
Here's sweet Boo on my birthday... She was so excited to help open presents!
On Thursday, it was about 86 out... so we got out the plastic pool for the girls!
AnnaClaire was so excited to fill it up... it was almost as good as the "real" pool!
And here's my sweet Katie Cakers! She loves playing in the water, too!
Yes, she was so excited to be able to put her bathingsuit on and play outside in the litte pool! And even though the water was pretty cold, she was quite the "polar bear" to get in!
AnnaClaire recently got a new car seat, as Charlie will use her old one (with a new cover, of course, since at the moment.... it's pink with flowers!) She feels like such a big girl using the seat belt and everything!
Kate was SO excited to see Will when she woke up from her nap! She just thinks he is the greatest!
And finally, our two sweet girls in their new sandals! Aren't they the cutest EVER?

A very good birthday :)

First of all, THANK YOU for all of the sweet comments you guys left yesterday! You have no idea how much all 55 of them meant to me!

I had such a great birthday!!! :) I had a very fun day at school, the weather was gorgeous, just as I like it, Mom and the girlies brought me lunch and balloons (can you tell that AC picked out the balloons? :) She wanted to get me the heart because "heart means love and I love my sissy!")

Dad was supposed to be out of town, but he surprised me and came home a day early so that he could be home for my birthday. :) Drew met all of us at Bri*xx, which was delicious... sitting outside (it was a beautiful 75 degree day!!!) by the fountain made it even better! :)

We were sad that Will couldn't join, but he did call me, and he's coming home tomorrow for the Easter weekend!

Mom and the girls made my favorite cake for desert, and then I got to open my present-- the Ni*kon D*5000! I put all of my birthday money toward it from Mom and Dad and all my relatives, plus put a good chunk of money I've been saving for it... but it was so worth it :) I LOVE it so far!!!!

The day ended by seeing The La*st So*ng with some of my best friends (it was so nice having my birthday right before spring break... no homework!) The movie was so good and a great way of ending a perfect birthday :)

Thank you again for all of your sweet comments... it was so fun hearing from some of you who I never even knew read my blog... and of course, those frequent commenters, too!