Easter Egg Hunt

We hosted our church's preschool Easter egg hunt. We had lots of families come down to our neck of the woods and we had a great time...until it started raining. I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted, but here are a few cute ones.

The Case of the Missing Kittens

We've had a lot of stray animals cross our path the last 10 years. Most of them hang around a few days and move on, especially the cats. A cat showed up several months ago and didn't leave. We are a sucker for animals, so we started feeding her. About three months ago we noticed that she was probably pregnant. Then one day we noticed that she looked "normal" again. That's when the hunt for the kittens began. We looked for those kittens for 4 weeks and could not find them anywhere. Then last Tuesday the kittens appeared. First she brought out the black one and then the two orange ones. I'm really not a cat person, but I was so excited to see the kittens. We had the best time watching the kittens. The momma cat didn't even mind us petting them or holding them. Then the next day she carried them off again - so maybe she did mind us petting and holding them. So now we are on the hunt again for the kittens. She can't keep them hidden forever.

Dyeing Eggs

My mom LOVES to dye Easter eggs. Even when I was a teenager we dyed eggs. Then Ashlyn came along and we continued the tradition. Now Ashlyn is a teenager and she still enjoys dyeing eggs. A couple of weeks ago we dyed eggs with my mom and dad. I forgot my camera, but I used their camera to take a couple of pictures of Nate hunting the eggs we dyed. Check out all of the dye on Nate's clothes. I think he had a good time. :)

Last week Ashlyn called to see if Nate wanted to dye eggs. Of course he wanted to dye eggs! Now he's an egg dyeing pro.

My 33rd Birthday!

I celebrated my 33rd birthday on March 19th. We had pizza and cake at my parents' house. Darren's birthday was the week before, so Nate had birthday cake two Fridays in a row. I have a feeling March is going to be one of his favorite months. He spent the night with my parents that night and as we were leaving he said "Thanks for the birthday cake." I guess he thought it was his cake even though we talked about it being my birthday.

Getting ready for "Happy Birthday to You" with Nate and Ashlyn


Nate's favorite thing - licking icing off of the candles


This is the first picture the four of us have taken together in a really long time. Check out the pictures of Jill and me in the background.


Darren Junior

Our First Double Yolk

Happy Birthday Darren!

Today is Darren's birthday. We had a wonderful weekend celebrating his birthday.

My family came over to celebrate Friday night. My parents got Nate this cute cowboy outfit a couple of years ago. He's finally old enough to enjoy wearing it. I thought this was a cute picture of my dad. :)



Happy Birthday Darren! Nate and I love you very much!!!

Granny and Papaw Wright

My grandmother (my mother's mother) passed away on February 21st. She was my last living grandparent. Her health had been declining the past couple of years and she was pretty much home bound, but it was still very surprising. Nate loved going to her house and drinking white grape/peach juice and eating lemon cookies. My grandmother always made sure that she had these for Nate.

Her passing brought up all kinds of great memories of my childhood. My grandparents lived in Arkansas most of my childhood. My family would go visit them several times a year. I loved going to their house. Granny and Papaw always spoiled Jill and me. Every summer I would go stay two weeks with them by myself and I don't ever remember getting homesick. We would do all kinds of fun things. Granny and I would sew. Papaw would take me to the swimming pool. Papaw would take me driving on a dirt road near their house. There was an old home place on that road and in the spring there would be what seemed like thousands of daffodils blooming around that old house. It was beautiful and I will never forget it. I am so thankful that Nate has grandparents that love him and are creating fun memories that he will always cherish.

We went to Arkansas for the funeral. I had not been to Batesville since my grandfather passed over 10 years ago. It was interesting to see what had changed and what had stayed the same. It was also sad because more than likely, I probably won't ever be back in Batesville and I have so many fond memories there.

The house my grandparents lived in.

Batesville is the second oldest city in Arkansas.

The dirt road where Papaw and I use to drive.

My mother has one brother. He has two sons and they all live in Missouri. We only see them every few years and not all at one time. This is the first time we had all been together since my grandfather's funeral.