easter sunday...

was a great day! we started our morning at church. it was a great morning to remember the incredible sacrifice of christ dying on the cross, but how that was not the end of the story-- that jesus rose from the dead and was ALIVE!! the kids looked adorable in their easter outfits...

this picture does not do justice to how stinkin' cute jack looked in his suit. he was not into pictures at all!!
just love this pic of olivia and mark and it is the best pic of o's dress.
our little family

but the very best part was getting to teach and tell the amazing story of easter to my own kids and to a group of precious 4 year old girls at big purple church (that is our kids church). i stand amazed of the incredible god that i rest my faith in and how much he loves me!

then we had lunch with b and headed out to allen for some time with nana and gramps. since sunday mornings are a little crazy at our house getting ready and going to church we decided to do our easter baskets in the afternoon at nana and gramps' house.

olivia loved her hello kitty diary and multi-colored pen. i was most excited about new favorite children's bible, the Jesus Storybook Bible.

jack had a very toy story themed easter. he was sooooo excited to have woody and buzz. no inspirational gifts for jack. :) maybe next year buddy!!

he was also very interested in his elmo easter book...

then we headed to dinner at a very special restaurant for our family. 5 years ago on easter we announced that we were pregnant with our first baby. my mom loves that memory and now likes to go back there every year. it was a FABULOUS meal and we only had a few moments with the kids that made me think twice about bringing them to such a nice restaurant. :)

it was a great day to celebrate the fun traditions of easter like easter baskets, but also to celebrate that JESUS is alive!!!

easter at the lake...

it is becoming a fun tradition with the bowlins and fifers that we head down to the lake for some easter fun before going back for church on easter sunday. this year a little stomach bug got abby and sarah, but we still had lots of fun while relaxing for a few days.

we made some easter crafts...

b and pop gave the kids some super fun gifts. the girls got banks that count the coins and jack got a really neat wooden noah's ark toy...

played the wii...
dyed eggs...
and went all over the place in the golf cart on a scavenger hunt gathering fun stuff...
mark took lots of boat rides with the kids. they tell me they went really fast! :)
we just hung out together...
spent lots of time playing outside...
and we ended the weekend with an easter egg hunt...