Easter

 Holidays seem to be getting better and better around here...

 We struggled a bit with pictures, but with 9 o'clock church, I'd say we nailed it.

 Thanks to Auntie Shannon for their beautiful dresses.

The best part about our Easter experience was sharing "Resurrection Eggs" with McCrae. I had forgotten that we had a set of these special eggs-they tell the story of the events leading up to Jesus's resurrection. I pulled them out before bed Easter Sunday and thought we might read through a scripture or two. McCrae loved it, and we ended up reading every scripture and talked about each item in the egg. McCrae seemed so concerned with the way that Jesus was treated and at one point I asked Conner if we should be sharing all of the details. We both agreed that it was okay-the story couldn't have a happier ending. When we finished, McCrae wanted to start over, and I just wanted to cry-it was such a special, spiritual moment spent with our 3 year-old. We repeated the story with the eggs many times over the following days. What a special story it is, and we know that it is true! The blessings of the Atonement are immeasurable. When I have small moments like I did the night of Easter Sunday, it opens my eyes to the importance of teaching my children the gospel. I need to take advantage of the opportunity more often. It is truly the only thing in our lives that matters-living righteously in this life, so we can return to live with Him and our families in the life hereafter.

Happy Birthday Girlies!

Happiest birthday to the two cutest girls we know. We CANNOT believe that they are a year old. We are so blessed and incredibly fortunate that they are healthy and strong. Our pediatrician called them "robust." What a compliment!

Hannah has become quite the opinionated little girl. She gives the biggest cheesy smiles when she's happy, and yells SO loud when she doesn't get her way. She is skeptical of strangers and has developed a pretty good stink-eye. Hannah loves her Mama and prefers to be held by Mommy over Daddy. She is so close to walking and we're sure she'll have it down in the next couple of weeks. She likes to be outside, puts everything in her mouth (especially any hair she finds on the ground), has become a great eater, and loves to snuggle before bed...and then screams wildly when you place her in the crib. We are so happy she has joined our family, and are so excited to continue to watch her grow and develop.

Heidi is pretty easy-going, always happy and extremely active. She has no desire to walk but gets anywhere she needs go. She loves climbing in, on top of, or through anything she can find. She says "hi" over and over all day long. She, too, is a great eater and always eats her vegetables. She would play outside all day every day if she could. She doesn't mind getting dirty and jumps right in. Heidi is a Daddy's girl. She loves it when Daddy is around and takes to him a bit better than her Mama. She, like her sister, is such a joy to have in our family. Life has changed dramatically with these two, but we wouldn't change it for anything.

The Birthday Party

It was so fun to see Heidi take right to her doll. She gave her a huge hug and then loved practicing popping the binky in and out of her mouth.

The party guests.

When Heidi burned her finger putting out the candle before McCrae could blow it out, she thought this party business was all a mean trick...

 Until she tried the cake!

Hannah sat back for a while and watched, but eventually got the hang of it and dove in face-first! What a happy day it was for all of us to celebrate. The first year of a child's life is really a celebration for the entire family.  How lucky we are to celebrate it twice!

A New Year

We finally got some snow, so we FINALLY put on snow clothes and built a REAL snowman!

Conner had a conference in Salt Lake mid-January so we decided to join him. It was a BIG TRIP for the 5 of us but we did it! It was fun to see Grandma Carol, Grandma Egbert, and Grammy. Grandma Egbert has already called at least 4 times to thank us for coming to visit. I wish we could see them all more often. Unfortunately, McCrae and I came down with a stomach bug for a couple days of the trip. We were SO sick. It was awful. But I still made the shopping trip with Julianne and Marissa. That was all I wanted for Christmas-a day with my sisters. And it was wonderful. Now that we're back in PA, I think we'll stay put for a while...but we were sure glad we had the chance to see our family.