Easter 2008

Just a few pictures from Easter....

Dyeing (sp??) the eggs....

Lunch with the Wade's and Freeman's at our house...

Garrett with DeeDee and Poppa

Pop and Garrett

Garrett checking out the Easter goodies at Mimi and Poppy's house....

Uncle Kyle, Garrett and myself

Arboretum '08

Easter weekend was SUPER busy for us! One of the many fun things we do each (well, unless the weather is horrible) Easter weekend is to head out to the Dallas Arboretum...and usually with Jess, Brandon and Jordyn! Saturday we all made our way across the metroplex to meet up for a day of fun in the flowers and at a concert on the grounds. I'll let our pictures speak for themselves....

Not even posed...really! My boys, so sweet, so serene...who are they?

Little man smelling the tulips...

The whole group - Kenny, Jill, Garrett, Jordyn, Jess and Brandon

During the concert, Garrett thought it would be more fun to roll down the hill than listen to the music!

Garrett and Jess dancin' to the music...

First face painting experience....

Smelling the tulips...

So typical of Garrett! He collects leaves wherever he goes (and has since he could crawl)...we were among GORGEOUS flowers and he still found the most beauty in an old leaf! Love it!

Garrett in one of the many old houses...

Garrett and Jordyn....so sweet! This is monumental, people!

Egg Hunt: Round Two

Today Garrett and I went to our second Easter egg hunt of the season with a group of new friends. It was at a little park in a small, neighboring city that had playground equipment but also lot's of land with trees and room to roam. The weather was perfect! I loved how the day was structured - playtime while the mom's hid the eggs, all the kids gathered to listen to the Easter story and then the egg hunt followed by picnic lunches. Garrett, as you will see from the pictures, had a blast!

I love, love, love how Garrett (on his own) collects and finds things for me...and today he collected lot's of yellow flowers. He is so proud of himself when he brings me these treasures!

I mean, doesn't he just look like a little man? Garrett was on the picnic blanket, looked up to tell me something and immediately I had visions of him being not three years old but twelve. Heart sliced into a million little pieces!

Little man swingin' with some little gals....

All the kiddos sitting down to listen to the true Easter story...little seeds planted, I love it! I giggled when the mom who was reading got to the part about Jesus riding through town and the people were waving palm branches....Garrett (along with the others) pretended to wave his palm branch! And the other thing that just made me laugh out loud was when Garrett stood up shooting, "A WAT-UH tow-uh! A WAT-UH tow-uh!" (water tower)....he kept shouting it over and over again until someone acknowledged his find. The mom reading the story finally chimed in with joyful words that, yup, indeed, it was a water tower. Love it.

Mister in action....

So proud of his find!

Really inspecting to make sure it was "basket-worthy".... and believe me, he turned down MANY because they didn't look just right!

First Egg Hunt of 2008

On Sunday our neighborhood hosted its annual egg hunt at the new park a few streets over from our house. Garrett woke up from his nap early and shouted, "Is it time now? Can I get up?". Obviously he was very excited about the egg hunt and ended up enjoying it so much! And, so did we!

Loading up the eggs!

Mommy and Garrett searching behind the tree - score!

Daddy and Garrett using some good old fashion team work....

Garrett checking out all of the treats and goodies in his eggs....

My boys.....I am so blessed!

Dear God, Vank You For....

As Garrett and I were driving in the car this afternoon and leaving our neighborhood, he realized that it had not only snowed in our neighborhood but everywhere in our town! He gasped and said:

G: Oh, Mommy!! Ther-uh is snow EV-UH-WEE-WHER-UH!

M: Yup, buddy! God sent down snow for everyone in our town.

G: Oh, Mommy! This is amazing. It is ther-uh, and ther-uh and ther-uh!

M: Isn't God creative, buddy? He knew sending down snow would cause us to be in awe and be excited. God knew that so many people would enjoy the white, sparkly snow. Do you know who God thought would REALLY love the snow?

G: (wide-eyed) WHO?

M: You, buddy! He knew Garrett would LOVE the snow!

G: (looking up) Oh, God! Vank you for this snow. It is SO white. Send me some more. Pwease!

Snow Day: Part Two

Garrett and Winston looking out the window after lunch....when the first round of snowflakes started to come down!

After I demonstrated to Garrett how to make a "snow angel" he proceeded to flop down and make one of his own....but on his tummy. We'll just call this a "backwards snow angel".

Catching snowflakes with his tongue....and without any prompting!

Our first family snow picture! Too bad I've got my eyes shut!

Garrett's a snowball-making dude!

Our little snowman....when Garrett got a snowman kit for Christmas I laughed and packed it away for a future ski trip. Boy was I wrong! We had a difficult time getting the carrot nose to stick!

And literally, about two minutes after building our sweet snow man, Garrett found it most appropriate to knock him down. When asked why, he responded with "to make the hugest snowball ev-uh!"....hmmm! And the hands up in the air are showing just how big that hugest snowball ev-uh would be.

So, today has been a sweet and memorable day! We have missed having our favorite neighbors home to play with....come home soon guys! We'll try our best to keep the snow frozen until then!

Snow Day 2008

This morning when Garrett woke up at 6:45 a.m. after a night of sleeping in 20-30 minute increments, he delivered the news that a) he still has the flu and b) it had snowed. And, because we are Texans and this is the first REAL snow he has ever seen (and probably will only see for the next few years) we decided that despite his icky-flu-ness, we'd bundle him up and let him feel the snow. You can tell from the middle picture that, bless his little heart, he just didn't feel good. He quietly explored the snow for about 10 minutes while Kenny captured it all on film for me.