Happy Easter and Happy Trails

The Easter Bunny Came! were Carter's first words when she woke up this morning with her eyes as big as dinner plates. Well actually it was 'Where my Easter Eggs?', until she noticed the eggs hiding around the house and the presents. (That Easter bunny was smart and left coloring books, chap stick, gum and bubbles--all her favorite things!) Her and Dad ran around finding all the eggs with her as excited as could be. It made it all worth it. This was the first year we've really gotten to celebrate holidays with Christmas being the first big holiday to make an impression. We spent the month of March getting ready, by decorating the house, making Easter muffins (much easier/faster than Easter cut-out cookies...), painting our Easter basket and sending out a few Easter cards that she decorated. It was fun. After I graduated high school, I really quit celebrating most holidays other than a nice dinner with friends and family, but this has really been the first time I've really gotten back in the spirit of things, besides Christmas. I'm sure my 'really getting into it' is pretty mild for some, but hey, I'm coming along, slowly! Holidays really are for little kids or at least the little kid in us.

We had to hurry down for Easter breakfast at Mom's and one last goodbye to my sister Jessi, Eric and Keenan before they drove off to Denver to start their trip to Kiev. As always, Mom cooked up a great feast (if you left hungry, it's your own fault sort of deal...). It's getting more complicated trying to fit us all around the table as the family keeps growing--not to mention the musical chairs as Cade now wants on dad's lap, Avery's crying so Mom holds her while Christy tries to get three bites in, Keenan was happy where ever he was, so long as some one remembered to feed him, Carter starts out with Gramma, then ends up with dad.

We got one more picture of all the cousins after breakfast...you can see the Easter candy glaze is starting and everyone was starting to think NAP, well, OK, they weren't but you can be sure their mom was!

Didn't take the kids long to get tired of pictures. Cade could only handle so much sitting pretty, before he figured he better liven things up some! Avery after 2 pictures (with all the mommy's, aunty's, gramma'a snapping pictures fast and furious) had enough. Apparently so had Cade!

One more picture of all the sisters before Jess had to leave. It's going to be quite awhile before we get another chance to all get together. By the next time, there will be at least two more members since both Corrine and I are pregnant. Yah, lots of little babies--all the sisters will have one, with Christy leading the pack with two already. Corrine's due in July with a little boy and I'm due in September. Now, it's Jess's turn to have one more! After listening to how much fun Christy's having with two, I rather imagine, she's planning to wait awhile! We're not real sure when they will get to come back, it's a 2 year tour in Kiev, but they do get some vacation time, but not all is family leave time to come back to the States. I do envy her the opportunity to tour Europe. I've always wanted to go, but the timing has never worked, yet. (I'm saving my miles, but thanks to Number Two, it's going to be a bit longer...) It's going to be such an interesting experience and I can't wait to read her blogs about it...HINT HINT Jess! : ) Anyway, I hope they have a safe uneventful trip over, and that all their stuff shows up on time and at the right place!

On Saturday afternoon, we had a going away party/potluck for Jess and Eric. Quite a few members of our large extended family made it to the party and it was really nice to see everyone. Since it was right before Easter, my Aunts also put together a great Easter egg hunt. Carter loved running around with all her big cousins finding and gathering up all the eggs (eggs that mom helped the Easter bunny re-hide this morning!). The older cousins were really pretty good about making sure the little kids got their fair share and helping them find eggs--not that Aunty Linda wasn't reminding them occasionally in a loud authoritative manner. The picture below shows the egg hunting crew and yep, that's just a few of Carter's close cousins. There are actually some missing. Notice Sterling, the little boy right behind Carter, watching out for her with his hand on her shoulder. He is the sweetest little boy and just loves Carter. He's in the first grade and has a great time coming over and playing with her. He calls her little sister and takes great care of her.

No matter how much Easter loot you manage to pick up, there is always room for more! The girls found the table hosting the left over candy that didn't fit in all the eggs and were sure they better pack it in as well.

I'm accused of being rather 'draconian' by my dad about candy around my house, but if there is a single sweet thing in the house, that is all Carter wants to eat and whines about it all day. (Not to mention, that's all I want to eat!) Also, one of her close cousins who is a few years older went to the dentist last summer and they found 11 Cavities!!! No thank you. I'm not against some treats on occasion, and doing what I can to promote healthy eating which yes, as a kid, really does need to include candy, but not every day! It's just hard when every time you turn around someone is giving her candy, and every holiday now seems to promote it's own special "must have" candy. Sigh. I suppose I survived it, but as someone who struggled with her weight, I always thought it was a bit cruel for all the family to stuff you full of candy and sweets then comment that it looked like you were gaining a few pounds. The grammas were great this year and got more clothes and toys this year for Easter presents, which I really appreciated and for Carter is a great treat. She LOVES new clothes (I sometimes wonder if she is my kid--although I guess I like new clothes, I just don't want to shop for them...) She got a great big box of new clothes from her Gramma Howell and spent the whole afternoon trying them all on, preferably one on top of the next. She also got a great new blanket with a pillow and some toys. She really liked the giant stuffed bunny because she can ride it around the house holding on to the ears! I offically have a pink bucking bronco bunny in my house. Gramma Debbie got her a bug gun which basically vacuums up bugs so you can look at them then turn them loose. She wore the batteries out in less than a day.

I don't think anyone enjoyed their Easter candy quite as much as Cade. The picture doesn't truely do the sticky factor justice. He was head to toe in yellow sugary goo and couldn't have been happier about it--until he discovered the red licorice, which sounds like a safer choice but the end result looked almost the same. He wanted Aunty Jami to pick him up but, ah well, that's what his dad is for!

All in all, a great weekend with lots of family. Now, back to the grind!