Happy Easter. He is Risen!!!

Jesus paid the ultimate price for us. He died for me and you on the cross so that we "should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). But the best part of the story is this.... He is Risen! And get this, not only is he risen from the dead, but he is coming back again soon!

John 14 (Jesus Speaking)

1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.



I'm ready for Jesus to return! Who is with me????



9 But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.


10 Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:

11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;


26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken

27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.


28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.



Enjoy this day. Jesus loves you SO SO MUCH!!!


And now for Little Miss Lexi's 2nd Easter with us! It was Perfect in every way!!!

Having a blast at our church Easter Egg Hunt!

Hunting for Eggs this morning. Or as she said it, Easter Bunny made a mess!

                                                 Easter Eve, coloring eggs!

Easter Bunny brought Lexi a new bike with pedals!! And a butterfly habitat!

                                                               Happy EASTER!!!!!!!!!!

Cassidy's 15th Birthday

Cassidy turned 15 on Sunday!

She wanted a girly party centered around CHOCOLATE!

I have done so many chocolate fountain parties.....but apparently not enough because I assembled the fountain UPSIDE DOWN this time!!!!

So after adding several pounds of melted chocolate and seeing that the chocolate was getting stuck in the ~bowls~ that should not have actually been ~bowls~ we realized it was upside down!!! I was actually going to have to take the thing apart! With hot melted chocolate in it!! And the guests were to start arriving in 5 minutes!!! Yes of course one showed up early, the second my hands went in. So the pieces that I had to take apart were stuck and I flicked Chocolate all over the blinds and the wall and my husband! Oh it was the biggest mess but we got it all fixed and all cleaned up and it ended up being a really awesome party! And my husband, I tell you, this man of mine is a saint! He truly is such a darling man. After all the mess I created with my really really dumb mistake, not one negative word out of his mouth, not one! He was so sweet, he cleaned 99% of the mess and still washed the fountain when the party was over. He is such a beautiful example of how a man should love his wife and I thank God for him, I am so blessed!

And here is what it looked like when we got it reversed and flowing properly!

A few of the girls checking out the books that I have made of our year with Lexi.

This child is obsessed with holes and tape!!! Thank you Dora! She is concerned by the decorative ~holes~ in her shoes and is getting ready to apply the tape!

There were 12 little big girls standing around the chocolate fountain. One of them said, OH JUST GIVE ME A STRAW!!

We could not get Lexi to eat a single thing dipped in chocolate. She thought the chocolate fountain was ridiculous! She did shove a great deal of bananas in her mouth in a very short time though. As you can see by this picture she has a mouth full!

We a certain that Little Miss thought We were all singing Happy Birthday to her! She was so funny with a little embarrassed look under her smile.

After some of this yummy cake the girls worked off their mounds of sugar playing Just Dance 2 followed by swimming.

I really can't believe my sweet girl is 15!! She is such a fantastic kid and such a funny, fun, joy to love!! She has the sweetest group of friends and loves to be a social butterfly! We love you Cassidy!

Ladybugs

This is an alfalfa field. And it is just covered in ladybugs. We didn't know it at first, we just wanted to get a picture of the 3 Hunan Hunnies after a play date and the ladybugs were just a pleasant surprise. Well for Lexi anyway. The 2 S's did not like bugs at all! Sienna said, "I hate bugs." Shaelee said, "I hate them too!" Lexi said, "Nice bugs!" And she was off to catch as many as she could!

When the big girls saw Lexi acting as if these bugs were pretty cool, they started to ease up a bit and began to look for them too! Things were getting serious now!

The next thing we knew, all three girls were holding the ladybugs. Lexi would help them put one on their arm or their dress and they would get a little creeped out and shake it off and she would pick it back up and in no time they were all doing it themselves.

She was so proud of Shaelee!!

Putting it back on Shaelee's hand for her.

Siennas first attempt at letting it crawl on her hand!

Squishing it! Just kidding!!! It's on her wrist, you just cant see it in the picture. Those eyes take my breath away!

I love this picture as it really tells the story!

The best of friends! These 2 love each other so much!

3 Little girls from Hunan, China. The older 2 grew up together for their first 4 years in China. They were neighbors, both orphans, both in foster care. God placed them in their forever families, the families he had perfectly planned for them, just over a year ago. And while they live many many miles from each other, they remain the best of friends. The third little China girl, my precious one, lived in an orphanage not far from these girls. And while I live just a 5 minute drive as well as attend the very same church as the family who adopted Shaelee, it took a trip all the way to The Peoples Republic Of China for me to meet this wonderful family! Our girls met in China but they are neighbors in the United States! God's plan is always so much greater than anything we could ever imagine. We are so blessed!