Easter Sunday

I love Easter for many reasons - mainly reflecting on the cross and what it means for me personally to have had Jesus die for me. I also love the ushering in of Springtime that comes with Easter. Everything just seems happier in the light of spring. Colors are brighter, days are longer, and food feels fresher!

This is Katie's third Easter and as such, our 3rd Easter photo shoot! We make it a point to get to church early to snap a few family pictures together with some friends. Without further ado, here is Easter 2011!

The Jones Family

 

The Kids Pictures!
This one is my favorite - even though it's blurry! Caleb is loving on his little sister and Katie and Maddie are soaking it all in! Maddie may be taking pointers since she's set to become a big sister herself in just a matter of days!

 

This is what happens when 3 different moms are taking pictures at once. The kids are all looking in different directions! I love it despite that! (By the way, welcome to the picture club Allie Boozer!)

 

Mother-Daughter
Me and my sweet girl - all cheese!

 

After church, we headed to Riverbanks Zoo for an Easter Brunch. We also got to stroll around the zoo for a while. My parents and Doug's mom joined us!

The food was delicious, but Katie was much more interested in coloring and the candy on the table!

Later, the Easter bunny came to visit and this was Katie's excited face! She got up enough nerve to go give him a high five - but it was not caught on camera!

After lunch, we visited with more animals and took a ride on the train! Then we headed over to the botanical gardens! They were so beautiful and just did more to reinforce my love of spring!

It was a really hot day (almost 90 degrees) which is why I didn't really think much of Katie's flushed cheeks for most of the afternoon. But when we got home and out of the heat, I realized she was running a fever. She just wasn't herself the rest of the day - so we visited Dr. Cabiness again and she has a double ear infection...We're on antibiotics and are hoping it clears up quickly!

It was a really wonderful Easter - spending time with family and friends, reflecting on the gift of salvation made complete in Christ's death and resurrection!

Early Easter

Easter comes just once a year, but in our house it comes twice. Spending Easter with all your cousins makes it 5 times as nice!

We gathered at Aunt Lindsay's house for lunch and hunting eggs. I dusted off my Easter basket and stretched out my legs.

The eggs - there were plenty! We had lots of fun in store. But first we had to wait and then we waited more!

Cole wasted no time and started doing some damage! He really had the most eggs - but he had a home field advantage!

I was on a mission for eggs and just couldn't stop! But then I tripped over something - a purple lollipop! Instead of limping around and wasting precious time, I plucked it from the ground and yelled, "Gotcha Sucker, you're mine!"

Chase was an expert at hunting, even though it was his first. He didn't use a basket, so he must've worked up quite a thirst!

Dylan's another story. He's the egg hunting pro. He's been around the longest and he's the oldest, don't you know? He knows how to find the good eggs, he's really got the knack! But if you find a better one, you'd better watch your back!

About a million eggs later, eggs are still left unfound. Seriously Mom? Get creative - quit hiding the eggs on the ground!

The eggs are all gathered and we've had our fair share of candy! Cole was feeling extra sweet - he kissed me! Ain't that dandy?!

Another hunt is in the books! Now we rest our weary bones! We wish you all a Happy Easter from Doug, Rachel, and Katie Jones!

Palindromic Birthday

 

We celebrated Doug's 33rd Birthday with a feast fit for 25 people and we only had about 10 people there. I accidentally ordered the 6 foot party pack from Substation II for the party and considering it's also nearly 8 inches wide, we had a lot of sub leftover! The stack of napkins from Substation should be an indication of how large they thought the party was!

I also got Doug's favorite dessert, cookie cake! It was a nice change from a typical Birthday cake and the family (kids included) had no trouble polishing this off!

We all had a lot of fun hanging out together and celebrating Doug!

Doug, you're a great father, a wonderful husband, and my best friend! I love you and hope you had a wonderful birthday! And Katie sends her love too!

Disney on Ice!

Disney on Ice was the first event we've taken Katie to that we wouldn't have gone to if it weren't for her. We've done plenty of kid-centered things like the Fair or other festivals - but we would've done all those things anyway - just with a different agenda.

I was a little nervous about taking her - not sure if she'd be scared. She can be quite the scaredy cat sometimes and when she's the least bit afraid, she will say "ready to go Mommy" until you actually let her leave. But we talked about for a few days prior to the event. She doesn't know too many Disney characters but she knows Mickey and his friends pretty well. We told her we going to watch Mickey and his friends skate - not even sure if she knew what "skate" meant. But she seemed excited! On the way there, she kept thinking she would get to skate with Mickey so that was disappointment #1 for her.

We had great seats and the show was really fun. The whole Disney gang was there - lots of princesses and Toy Story characters. (Some of those movies are now on our list to watch.) Her second disappointment was that Nemo wasn't there and neither was Elmo. I tried to tell her that Nemo couldn't leave the water to ice skate and that Elmo was the wrong production company, but she didn't care. She wanted to see them skate!

 

We bought three tickets so she could have her own seat. She climbed into her seat at the start of the show and thought it was fun to sit by herself like a big girl. Then some taller people came and sat in front of us and she moved to Doug's lap for a while to get a better view.

 

She also spent a great deal of time just standing in the row watching the show. Half of the time, she had her fingers in her ears. She said it was loud, but not too loud so the fingers must've just been a precaution. She stood next to Maddie while Maddie danced through every song.

 

It was a lot of fun just being together as a family. We had fun talking about it on the ride home and all weekend. We have a box of wipes with Woody and Buzz from Toy Story on it and every time she sees it, she says "They skate with Mickey."

Up Way High (by Katie)

My church had a big carnival on Sunday. I've been before but I don't really remember it. So it must not have been as fun last year because I can't imagine not being able to remember this! Mommy was working the helicopter ride so me and Daddy got to walk around together for a while, but not before Mommy slathered me with sunscreen giving me a nice pasty look for the afternoon. Daddy took me to the bean bag toss, train ride, and petting zoo. They were all lots of fun.

After Mommy finished her shift at the helicopters, I thought it was time to go. But the best was yet to come! We walked over to this great big pirate ship ride. It had parrots on it and the boat rocked back and forth and went up way high! Mommy asked if I wanted to ride and I said, "YESH!" Mommy told me she was too big to ride it with me and it was just for little kids. I still wanted to ride it. I found my friend, Mary Wallace, and we got in line together.

We watched a group of kids climb up on the ship and get buckled in (to be safe). They all looked really brave and sort of scared too.

We watched as the big pirate ship began to rock back and forth and swing up way high. The kids on the boat screamed! Were they having fun or freaking out? I wasn't sure so I squeezed Mary Wallace's hand tighter.

The boat finally stopped and the kids got off. It was my turn now! I climbed up the big silver stairs still gripping tightly to my friend's hand! When we reached the top step, we let go of each other and went to find a seat on the boat. We didn't even end up sitting next to each other. I found my own seat and buckled myself in all by myself (to be safe). I was feeling like such a big girl until I looked up and saw my mom shoving people aside to catch a picture of me. She can be so lame sometimes. What's the big deal mom? It's just a pirate ship!

It was almost time for the boat to start so I held on tight to the bar and prepared myself for the ride! I knew there was no turning back now.

Um, did I mention this thing went up way high? It. Was. Awesome. I couldn't believe I had lived two whole years without experiencing the wind in my hair and the view from up high. The boat rocked back and forth and got higher and higher and then finally came to a stop. The ride was over, but the memory will last forever.

I unbuckled myself and climbed out of the boat and made my way back toward the silver stairs. I needed to find my Mommy and Daddy so I could tell them about the boat and the wind and the view and the screams and the parrots. They weren't hard to spot. My daddy was grinning ear to ear and my mommy was still plastered behind her camera snapping pictures in rapid fire. When she stopped long enough to give he a hug, I saw a few tear drops coming down her face.

Sheesh. I hate to see her when I go on my first date next year.