Easter!

This Easter was really quite special. As our faith deepens Easter has a renewed meaning to us. As a family it is so important that Maddy understands why we celebrate these holidays and for her to understand that it's not all about bunnies and candy. In an attempt to share the Easter story with her, I purchased a set of Resurrection Eggs. It is a set of 12 plastic colored eggs, in a plastic egg carton. Each egg contains a symbol in sequential order of the story leading up to the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. I couldn't believe how much of it she took in and enjoyed. By Easter Sunday she was a pro and could tell you something about each symbol and it's meaning in our faith.

To kick off the weekend, I decided to host a get together for the Mom's group and their children. Friday morning we had brunch ..... we enjoyed tons of great food, fruit and cupcakes. The kids played outside on Maddy's new bouncy, bounce. We told the story of Easter with the resurrection eggs and just enjoyed some time together. By 1pm or so everyone had gone home and Maddy was passed out asleep by 1:30. Friday night my Mom came up for the Good Friday services at Loudonville. We love this service so much and think it truly captures the mood of the evening. We sang songs like Jesus Messiah, Once Again and so many others that brings you to tears. Each person is given a 3x5 card to write down their sins, guilts and fears that they want to hand over to God. Each pew is led to the front to hammer their sins to the cross. Its an amazingly beautiful sight at the end when the cross is covered just from sins of Loudonville. On Easter Sunday the cross is wiped clean and draped in white silk cloth.
On Saturday we were invited out to dinner and to a hockey game with the Williams family. (Nate, Jen & Juliana- friends from Church). We shared a pizza and then went over to the Times Union Center for a family faith night and hockey game. The River Rats beat the Senators, the girls got to meet Dora and jump on a bouncy slide. Amazingly, Juliana and Maddy made it almost all the way through the hockey game. They seemed to love it and really got into all of the chanting and the wave. We had such a nice time and it was such a blessing to spend some time with friends.

We were up early on Easter Sunday..... services were amazing and well attended. After service we went to Oneonta to celebrate. Tony (Bill's Dad) and Liz hosted it at Tony's house. Bill's family from Saugerties came, my Mom and Merritt, Kelly, Tyler and Carter. It was a great crowd and everyone pitched in for food. We ate Turkey, Ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, Lasagna and veggies. We were all too stuffed for dessert but we had everything from apple pie to chocolate cake and cookies. It was a fun filled weekend and very busy but great to spend it with friends and family.

Gram from Tennessee comes to visit!

Ginger (Bill's mom) came to visit us for a week to celebrate Maddy's 3rd Birthday and to spend some quality time with all of us. It was a busy week with Maddy's party, Church, soccer practice,a visit from out of town friend and work but it was so nice to have Ginger there and have her see what we do in a fairly normal week. It's always sad to see her go and wish she was closer, but look forward to our next time together!

Maddy turns 3!

On Saturday March 28th, we celebrated Maddy's 3rd Birthday with friends and family. Bill and I thought this year we would do something fun with her friends and have a party at Bounce N Party. The kids had so much fun playing games, eating pizza, popcorn and juice and BOUNCING on all of the attractions. Bounce N Party is located in Malta up near Saratoga Springs and is geared towards preschoolers. It's not too overwhelming but fun and safe for children 2 -6 years old. The best part about it... is we didn't have to do any work. We only had to bring the cake, so it was a breeze and the kids seemed to have so much fun.

We also enjoyed the weekend with Ginger, Mom & Merritt, Kelly, Tyler and Baby Carter. Ginger came to visit for a week from Nashville for Maddy's birthday. We had a great time with her and Maddy thoroughly enjoyed her visit with Gramma "C" (Gram from Tennessee). Maddy had a wonderful birthday. She was given her first motorized car from Hamma & Grandpa Mernon, a pop up Dora house from Aunt Kell & Uncle Ty, and a portable bouncy house from Gramma C and Grandpa Mark and Grandpa T renewed her soccer lessons. So, needless to say it was a lavish birthday, but she has really enjoyed everything.

As I reflect back on the last 3 years, I can't believe how fast time goes by. Maddy has enriched our lives in every way and she is growing into an amazingly talented and loving little girl. She is such a blessing and everyday is a new adventure!

Madelyn - we love you so much, and wish you a very Happy 3rd birthday. You are such a bright light in our lives and our entire family. We look forward to all the years to come.

Love you, Mommy and Daddy

Sugaring Off!

Spring can bring some very unpredictable weather in Upstate NY, but the good news is all the snow has melted!!!! Yeah!!!!!! Bill and I spent the last few weekends cleaning up the yard from the ice storm in December. We had piles and piles of downed pine branches and basically just a big mess. So, this weekend we were looking forward to having a little fun. Saturday night was "Date Night" - Dinner at Bangkok Thai and then to the movies. We saw Duplicity. (We don't recommend it, the ending was so not worth sitting through the movie) Sunday we made it to early service and then started our new Sunday School Session. Our Voyagers group is led by Pastor Mike and Cindy and we are doing the Love and Respect Series. We are really excited about it, but see already it will be a ton of work. We're just looking at it as an investment! Our Voyagers group is amazing, many young married couples and so many of our friends. It should be a great session. After Church we jumped the car to head down to Cooperstown for a Sugaring Off Pancake Breakfast at the Fenimore Farmer's Museum. For those of you who don't know, Spring is also the beginning of Maple Sugar Production and there are many early Spring festivals and breakfasts which feature homemade Maple Syrup. (Bill's Favorite!) We had breakfast and then took a tour of the school from 1845, the blacksmith shop and a ride on the vintage Empire Carousel. It was a great day, but you will notice in the pictures it was SNOWING.... Yes, It was SNOWING and very cold. We made the best of it but can't wait for Summer to arrive!

Maddy's Big Girl Room!

Since Maddy will be turning 3 a week from today, we thought a Big Girl Room was in order! Thank you to Gram & Mark from Tennessee for supporting the cause. She is so excited and very proud to show anyone who might come to visit. She's even sleeping in her bed with out any trouble, so that makes it's all worth it.

Enjoy!

The Girls Get Together!

We went to the Connie's and Jen's house for some play time for the Girls. Maddy really enjoys her friends and they always have lots of fun. Connie planned a nice morning, with a craft project for the girls and a beautful lunch for the Mom's. We had a nice time, but we usually feel like we've run a Marathon after getting the girls (and the boys :) together. They are so loud and love to scream, which is so cute but really hard on the ears. We always have a few strong personalities that go at, but it just makes things more interesting. Thank you to Connie for having us all over!!

On Monday we went over to Jen's for a nice relaxing morning. Maddy and Juliana played dress up, made sticker pictures, and had fun with Play Dough. Jen and I had a chance to chat and work on some Mom's stuff. It was a great morning and so great to get out without fighting all the snow. Spring has Sprung!

Maddy on her Big Girl Bike!

It was so nice to be able to get outside on Sunday. I think it just made it into the 60's, but it was glorious. After Church and then lunch, we came home to a few chores. Bill and I spent a couple of hours cleaning out the garage, organizing closets and watching Maddy ride her bike. She loves to get all of her "stuff'" on (helmet, knee pads, etc) and ride her "Big Girl Bike". It was such a treat for her just to be outside. We spent a good bit of time working on "watching out for cars" and teaching her how to cross the road. She seems to be getting the hang of it.

This morning we woke up and it was SNOWING, I think we have a couple of inches of the ground right now, so hopefully it will melt soon. Spring cannot come soon enough!