Easter 2013

So many thoughts going through my head on this beautiful Easter.  Every holiday that passes reminds me that it would have been Zachary's first.  I miss being able to celebrate all of these special holidays with him.

As I was thinking today about Christ and His Atonement for us, it made me remember back to the day that our sweet Zachary passed away.  It was truly a miracle that day that Scott was able to get his heart started after it had been stopped.  I know that was our Savior's way of allowing our family the time we needed to say goodbye.  It allowed us time to process what was going to happen, it allowed us time to grieve and spend a few more hours with him.  If he had just been gone right then, it would have been so much harder to really come to terms with what happened. 

I feel like our Heavenly Father was planning on taking him home regardless at that time, but he allowed us the opportunity to spend just a little more time with him.  He knew we would need that.

There is not a day that goes by that his name is not mentioned in our home.  And sometimes it's just a prayer in my heart that I send up to Heaven, but he is loved and thought about always.

I had the opportunity to teach the 4 year old class today at church.  Their teacher was gone and they needed a substitute.  Because it was a spur of the moment request, I didn't have the lesson manual but I figured talking about Christ and the whole Easter message was the best idea!

I decided to use my very quiet, whisper voice because it really helped the children quiet down and listen....intently!  :) When I got to the part in the story where I was telling about Mary, going and looking in the tomb, I was explaining to them that she was very surprised when she got there and I asked the children, "What do you think she saw when she looked inside?"  Without skipping a beat, a little boy that had been listening very intently and was on the edge of his seat, yelled out, "The Easter Bunny!!!" 

That totally surprised me!!!!  I had to hold a giggle inside as I burst his little bubble and told them the rest of the story.

That reminds me of our Family night discussion last week. We were talking about the real meaning of Easter and at one point Scott asked the kids, "Where did Christ go to pray the night before he was crucified?"  Vanessa was just sure she knew the answer and her hand shot up!!  "He went to the Olive Garden!!"  Haha.....close, but it was actually the Garden of Gethsemane.  She was kind of embarrassed that she got that little bit of trivia mixed up but we thought it was super cute!

How thankful I am for Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for me.  I am grateful for Easter and the reminders of rebirth and starting over.  Happy Spring!

Boys!!!

As I was going through my pics on my phone the other day, I realized there were a couple of 'boy' pics!  None of Thomas, he is pretty stealth when it comes to avoiding the camera!  Haha, but here are a couple of shots of the other 3!

He is quite the pool player!!  And he has no problem making up new rules to help him win!!  Haha, love him!

 "Tanner, quick! Let me take a picture of you!!!"  Haha....

 



Levi was doing his homework the other night and I came in and asked him if I could take a pic of his new haircut!  I was completely shocked that he gave me this huge smile!!!!!  So cute!!

 

This pic cracks me up!  Levi squeezed himself into a youth size jersey!  I honestly don't know how he got out of that one!!

 

 

Today is the first day of Spring Break for 7 kids (Levi's break doesn't start until next week)!  We're not sure what exactly we're doing but I'm sure it will be a fun week!!!

 

A Little Bit Of Sunshine!

I just love Spring!  I love the birds, the weather, the flowers, the ducks that come back to our field (apparently they have been coming back for years to this spot!!), the promise that Summer is right around the corner and of course the chance to wear pretty dresses!!!

 3 pretty princes, all in a row!

 

 They love posing for the camera!

 

Best friends!!

 

 I know she's not in a pretty spring dress, but I just love this pic of Vanessa! Gorgeous smile and that pink looks beautiful on her!!

 

 This one of Savannah just makes me smile! She is such a combination of Samantha and Sabrina!

 

And of course, these two little cuties!!!  Dressed and ready for church!!

 

 

 

I need to take more pics of the boys!  Haha, I never seem to have pics of them to post!!  Well, that will be my next project!!



Spring Updates!!

Today was such a beautiful day!!!  We took advantage of the warmer temperatures to do some landscaping!!  We have so many ideas of what we want to do around here but have just been waiting on the weather to cooperate!

Scott has been wanting to sink the trampoline in the ground since we moved here.  We have done that at a couple of our other homes and love it!!!  Today he rented a small excavator and got a good start on it!!

Plus, it was handy because we needed the dirt from the hole to help us on another project!!  We made a couple of new retaining walls and needed tons of dirt to fill in the space! 

We had the whole family out there, the kids ran and played all day, the dogs laid in the sun, grandparents were laying bricks and raking.....it was a great family day!!!!

Undescribable......

The other day as I was driving past the cemetery, where Zachary is buried, something I saw shook me up a bit.  I drive past a couple of times a week, checking to see if they have his headstone in yet.  We were told due to the time of year, it might take them awhile because of the ground temperatures, moisture in the ground, etc. 

But as I slowly drove past, checking to see if it was in, I noticed that they had prepared the spot, right next to his for a new grave.  It made me catch my breath for a second. Seeing that tiny little spot, dug up, with chairs next to it, waiting for the family to arrive, brought back so many emotions.

I immediately felt a sorrow for this unknown family that had just lost a child.  I remembered what it felt like to drive into the cemetery that day to bury my child. 

There's a club we were initiated into the day our sweet Zachary passed away.  It's not a club I ever thought I would join, nor is it a club that you get to choose your membership into.  It's the club for parents who have buried a child.  My heart went out to the newest members of the club. May your sweet child rest in peace and may you find comfort from our loving Father in Heaven, who will keep your child in His care until we meet again.

Hello March!!

I'm not really sure where February went but, welcome March!!  I'm so glad you're here!!

February was full of basketball games!  Levi plays on the varsity team at his school.  They went undefeated and ended up as Conference and District champions! Very exciting!  They went to State and won the first game but ended up losing the next two games.  They are a great team and won the Sportsmanship award for their division!  They are a great group of guys and we enjoyed having the privilege of feeding them team dinners in our home before their games!  Here are a couple of great shots of Levi!

He is a lot of fun to watch and he plays with his whole heart!  It will be fun to watch him play for the next two years of high school. 

We got to see Sam, Colt and Calvin in February!!  It was so great to see how much Calvin has grown since Thanksgiving, when we last saw them!!  A couple of days after they left our place, Calvin broke out in Chicken Pox!!!  Poor lil' bug!  The crazy thing is that through it all, he was so happy and was quite the trooper!

He's doing fine now and we're waiting to see if any of our four youngest will start popping out spots!!  The last time we had kiddos with chicken pox, Scott had just sent my and a friend to Hawaii for a much needed break.  Just after we left, 5 kids popped out with chicken pox!!  Scott was the trooper and he took care of them all week while I was having fun!

We are so glad to finally be feeling some Spring weather!!  After a freezing cold winter, that never seemed to end, the 57 degrees we felt today felt like Heaven!!! 

Well, I am going to be better about posting......my laptop crashed last month and I was completely out of the technology loop for too long!  Which is unfortunate because I had so much to say!  Haha.......