Happy Birthday Pops!

Thanks for being a great dad and granddad!

Easter Weekend

We had the most wonderful Easter weekend. Saturday morning Nate and I went to our church Easter egg hunt. It was held at a farm and even though Nate couldn't hunt eggs, he enjoyed seeing the animals and smiling at everyone. He is so inquisitive so anytime there is a lot going on he is happy. He also went on his first hayride Saturday morning.
Sunday was also a great day. We had a great stress-free morning, which is not the norm for us on Sundays. Our worship time Sunday morning was awesome (as usual). We are so blessed to be part of a wonderful church family. Sunday evening we had dinner at my parent's. We had a lot of fun. Nate loves going to Nan & Pops and getting to play in his walker. He discovered that he could open the cabinets. I had to get a picture. This is what I have to look forward to when he starts crawling/walking. Speaking of crawling, I was beginning to think that he was going to be a child that skipped crawling (and he may be), but the last few days he as been spending a lot of time on his tummy and making efforts to get up in the crawl position. We'll see what happens.

Hallelujah! Christ Arose!

One of my favorite childhood memories is singing "Low in the Grave He Lay" on Easter Sunday. It's been years since I sang it as a part of corporate worship, but it is still one of my favorites.

Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior, Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord! Up from the grave He arose, With a mighty triumph over His foes, He arose a Victor from the dark domain, And He lives forever, with His saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Savior; Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord! Up from the grave He arose, With a mighty triumph over His foes, He arose a Victor from the dark domain, And He lives forever, with His saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Death cannot keep its Prey, Jesus my Savior; He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord! Up from the grave He arose, With a mighty triumph over His foes, He arose a Victor from the dark domain, And He lives forever, with His saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Now one of my favorite songs to sing during Easter worship (and any other day of the week) is "In Christ Alone."

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, Fullness 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 ev'ry 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 pow'r of Christ in me; From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,Can ever pluck me from His hand; Till He returns or calls me home—Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

I want to be mindful each and every day of the GREAT sacrifice that Jesus made and that He rose and conquered the grave so that we might have eternal life!

Happy Birthday Darren!

Today was Darren's 34th birthday. We celebrated tonight with Darren's family and had a great time. I made Darren a birthday cake for the first time (shame on me for not doing that sooner). We enjoyed visiting with everyone, but especially Lynn, Gavin, and Dale since we don't see them that often.

I should be cleaning...

but it is so much more fun to play with Nate! Monday night we made reservations for a beach trip in May. I am so excited. Our trip to the beach last year was not the best. We went earlier than usual (since Nate would be arriving in early July) and it was freezing. Tuesday morning I was supposed to be cleaning house and of course I was thinking of all kinds of other things that I "needed" to do that did not involve cleaning. Since I had the beach on my mind, I decided that Nate should try on his swimsuit. I bought this last fall on clearance not realizing how big of a boy he was going to be. It fits perfect now, so I don't think he will be wearing it in two and a half months. His sweet little pudgy body was so cute that I had to take a couple of pictures to send to Darren at work and say that Nate was ready to go. I finally ran out of things to do to avoid cleaning and did get most of my list accomplished. (The shorts aren't actually down to his ankles as they appear in the picture.)

Ear Infection

Nate has his first ear infection (I hope the only one, but let's be realistic). We went to the doctor today for a cough that he's had for several days and found out he has an ear infection. Thankfully we caught the ear infection early. As for the cough, the doctor said his lungs sounded great. I have two friends with babies that have had bronchiolitis, so I am very thankful he didn't have that or any other respiratory problem.

Spring Fever

We've had such a great time the last few days spending time outside enjoying the warm weather. I try not to say I can't wait for this or that, but I honestly can't wait for warm weather - consistent warm weather. Nate loves being outside and I know we are going to have a lot of fun playing outside. Yesterday we took advantage of the warm weather and had a photo shoot. The overalls he has on were Darren's. They were a little bigger than I thought, so I'll probably take some more pictures in a few months when they actually fit. It's obvious to everyone that Nate looks exactly like his daddy, but I think he looks a tiny bit like some of my baby pictures in the last picture.