Kate's baptism

We are so blessed to have Kate as a part of our family. Today she was baptized and became a member of the covenant community--and what a joyful day it has been. We pray that God will guide us as we raise her and that she will trust Him as her salvation. We thank God for giving her to be a part of our family.






After the baptism, most of our family and a few friends came back to the house to celebrate. It was a wonderful day.

So cute it hurts

I am usually very frugal in my spending on professional pictures of the kids. I have a system that I stick to. They get a 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, 12 month and 18 month picture taken, and then after that they get one annually around their birthdays. We have a great place near us that offers a $10 package for one shot that gives us more than enough prints for all our family and friends. That's all I allow myself to get...except today.

Today, I took all the kids in to get a picture of them together and one for Kate's 3 month scheduled picture. The kids were grumpy this morning, Grace skinned her knee on the way out to the car, Joost didn't want to tuck in his shirt--I was sure it was going to be a disastrous event.

But it wasn't. The kids were smiling cooperative champions and the photographer was able to get a ton of beautiful shots of them all. So, I caved and bought more than I planned on doing--a shot of each one of them and a picture of the three of them together. (I think I've become a bit more sentimental since Kate's birth. "Pictures like this great might not happen again..." "They're growing up so fast...") And the best part of it all--the extravagance included a disc with every picture taken on it. So you get to enjoy them, too. Here are some of my favorites....

hAppY EaSteR.

This Easter was full of painting eggs, Easter baskets, time with family and Easter egg hunts.



We were able to spend Saturday and Sunday with Jeff's family in Doylestown. It was a fun weekend--especially for Joost and Grace, as they were able to spend time with their 9 cousins. Sunday afternoon was very chilly and windy, but there were Easter eggs to be found, none the less.
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Here are 9 happy, and slightly wind blown, egg hunters. The other 3 decided to take naps instead.



This Easter season was especially meaningful to the kids and I as we daily (for about a week and a half prior) looked at the different parts of the crucifixion. Gracie has come to an age now where she is beginning to understand the story and reason why Christ made such a sacrifice. She feels sadness over the ways Christ suffered and understands that it was done because she is a sinner and is on her way to punishment herself unless she trusts and loves Jesus with all her heart. There is nothing more wonderful for me than to see my children turn toward God...and not just a God who died for us, but who is powerful enough to defeat death by rising from it and living for all eternity.



Happy Easter.

Thirteen weeks of Kate

How time flies...it seems like Kate was born just a few weeks ago, and here we are celebrating that she's three months old, has been healthy every day of her life and is doing all the things that a 3-month old should be doing. I suspect the next 13 weeks will fly by just as quickly and so I'm trying to cherish each moment. (Hence the picture of my smiley baby.)

Palm Sunday pictures

I have nothing clever or entertaining to say in this post. I just want to put up a family picture, since the only other picture we have of the 5 of us was taken several hours after Kate was born.



I also want to show off my mom's hard and beautiful work. She made Grace and Kate matching dresses for Easter. Her grandmother used to make her and Aunt Dee matching Easter dresses and so mom is carrying on the tradition with her granddaughters. Aren't they lovely? In case you're wondering...the kids are wearing their Easter finery for Palm Sunday in Harrisburg (with my family) and Easter Sunday in Doylestown (with Jeff's family.)



This picture is Jeff's favorite from today...

Hard workers

There's been some hard work happening in our backyard this past week. The yard has been a thorn in our flesh since we moved in. There's all kinds of English gardening and dying plants that are happening back there and we decided that this spring things need to change. Thankfully, I have a brother who just happens to be a landscape architect and can design all kinds of wonderful things for the out of doors. We put Andrew (who's not in any of these pictures) to work in designing (Bosworth Landscape Design--717.565.9113) and then he, my father, Jeff and Joost did a full days work crafting a stone wall to start off the transformation. We're excited to see how it will all turn out in the end. (I don't have a good picture of the finished wall--I'll wait until the yard is finished to post a before and after. I like to keep people on the edge of their seat.)

Another hard worker in our house is Kate--she is 12 weeks old and growing like a weed. She's out grown her 3 month clothing and is learning to use her hands. She's also doing a good bit of "talking" and laughing these days. She's about as sweet and content as they come.