Easter

The Easter story was Ethan's memory work for last two weeks. This was a wonder reflection each evening as I helped him learn this passage.

Matthew 28:1-10

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from Heaven and, going to the tomb rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lighting, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as he has said. Come and see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. Now I have told you. So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and an to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them "Greetings," He said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Everyone got a new shirt or dress for Easter!

An attempt at getting a cousins picture. Of course my kid is the big baby bawling and running away! :)

We had a couple egg hunts this year, but I only had my camera for this one. The kids have a blast hunting for all the eggs and the adults have fun putting it together!

Anton will have to be a little more aggressive in his egg hunting next year. He was a far cry from his siblings who ran around like crazy kids to get the most candy!

Three little mess makers dumping out all the empty eggs.

12 Year Anniversary

Today is Mark and my 12 year anniversary! Wow how time flies! I was thinking about what to post in honor of our anniversary and decided to be brave and post a few high school pictures from when we started dating 15 years ago! Our first big event as a couple was the Jr/Sr Banquet our junior year. That summer our group of friends went to California for Convention. What a great time we had! Last but not least, a senior picture together.

What wonderful memories we have together, I'm so blessed to have such a great husband!

New Ride

We decided to bump Ethan up to a bigger bike. He was being hard on the smaller one and we want it to last for the three younger kids. So two weeks ago we took a little road trip to Waterloo to pick up this one. I'm really impressed with how much more he can do and he's having a blast!

Ethan riding around the yard after we got home.

The dealers advice, "Big, old people and little bikes don't mix." :)

Amelia prefers her three-wheeler, but after we got training wheels for the little bike she decided she liked it better. :)

Ethan's having fun practicing in the coalmine with Mark and Uncle Kurt! I wish I had his endurance!

Like father, like son

Woo-who he even gets a little air! :)

Anytime Mark stops for a rest, Anton and Elijah fight over who gets to sit with him. This time Anton won.

Gymnastics

Amelia started gymnastics this month. She's very shy and I wasn't sure if she would like it or not. After I reassured her that nobody would be watching her, she agreed to give it a try. Her class started with 11 kids but, after a scheduling mix up it turned out that she only had one other girl in her class. Yay, one on one coaching! Amelia is really enjoying gymnastics and does very well. She's strong and not afraid to try what her coach asks of her. It should be a great spring!

Spring Break in Bunceton, MO

For the first time we decided to go on a spring break trip! We headed south to Bunceton, MO and found a little warmer weather than Iowa! :) We hadn't visited my sister and brother-in-law since their wedding in November and thought it would be a good time to visit. We had a great time and look forward to going back soon!

Three boys looking at a farming book. There was LOTS of farming going on the the basement that weekend!

We had to stop several "demo derby's" at the shop. :)

I have been looking for a new lawn mower for oh, about 3-4 years now so Mark took one of Dan's mowers for a spin. :) He loves this mower, so maybe this year will be the year for a new one!

We went to Fingerlakes State Park for a motocross practice one day. The kids enjoyed playing on the playground while Mark finished his last practice. (This is Elijah peeking through a piece of playground equipment.)

The kids also went fishing for a short time. In fact from what Ang tells me it probably took longer to get the fishing licence than they spent fishing. Oh well we'll use it this summer!

Mark during his practice time.

Ethan also got in a couple rounds of practice.

Ethan's bike wasn't running the greatest and sputtered up the hills. So he had to call it quits early, he wasn't pleased with this. :(

Anton and Elijah taking a much needed nap!

Early March Happenings

Things have been pretty busy around here and I'm getting way behind in posting pictures! So here are a few from the the first half of the month.

We celebrated Ethan's 8th birthday! It was a special day because he didn't have school that day and Aunt Ang and Uncle Dan came up for the weekend! We went out to eat too! Since the weather wasn't very nice I asked him to wait to have friends over. We had great weather over spring break and enjoyed having friends over a little late!

Ameila and Rachel did a drill team clinic and Pella Christian. Ameila was pretty shy and didn't care to go out and perform in front of the crowd. :)

They had a great turn out! These are just the 4-6 year olds!

Anton finally took off walking! Our slowest child to walk. :)

He is loving his new accomplishment and walks everywhere!

Anton's 1 Year Pictures

Anton actually turned 13 months old over the weekend but I'm just now posting some of his one year pictures. Even though he wasn't happy about taking pictures we still managed to get a few cute ones.