Mia's Day

Mia has had a couple of big days recently.  She finished up her gymnastics/dance class at Little Gym.  Her class did a gymnastics showcase one afternoon.  She had a blast on the bars.

 So proud of herself and her new medal!

 At the ACCA Gala, David and Jan won Mia a day with her teacher at her horse farm.  Mia was so excited to spend a day with Ms. Messer and her friends from class, Kara and Sammy.  Ms. Messer put them to work too; here's Mia shoveling.

 The girls with Ms. Messer and her horse.

 Having fun!

 After her day on the horse farm, Mia had her dance recital.  How precious is she?!

 This is my favorite part.  The tap routine started out with a part from Despicable Me 2 with "Bad, Bad Day."  They are supposed to cross their arms and make a mad face.  Nailed it!

 They then move into the "Happy" song.  Nailed it too!

 Honestly, the joy in this girl just spills out everywhere.

 Our little ballerina.

Carefully doing her routine and paying attention to Ms. Morgan. 

 Mia was glad my parents were there to watch.  Liz was there too but we didn't get a picture of them.

 With more of her cheering section.  I was actually on my way home from China, so I didn't get to be there; these pictures helped me feel like a part of it. 

Could she possibly be any cuter?

 I love this little girl!

Easter Weekend

Can I tell you how much I love it when Easter falls after April 15th?  Makes that whole weekend so much better!  We had a wonderful Easter celebration on Saturday and Sunday this year.

 

On Saturday, we headed to Chattahoochee for their annual egg hunt and festival.  It had poured down rain the night before so thankfully, they moved a lot of it inside the church instead of keeping it at the park.  We arrived later than usual this year, but we still had time to get fun balloons, make sand art necklaces, see the petting zoo and enjoy some fresh lemonade.

 The girls were in the same hunt division this year which was helpful.  As it was getting ready to start, Liz noticed they had put eggs in the side yard and NO ONE else was going that way, so we headed over there.  They had the whole place to themselves!

 I'd say it was a successful hunt!

 Then comes the fun of opening the eggs to see their loot.

 Take a wild guess on which girl threw her opened eggs on the ground and which girl carefully closed each egg back up before placing it down beside her?

Fun family picture.

 After we got home, it was time for one of my favorite traditions: coloring eggs!  This always make me think of the many fun times I did this with my Meme.  Love it!

 Having fun!

 Concentrating to get the colors exactly how they liked them.  Mia experimented with double and triple dipping eggs this year to see what that would make.  Lily enjoyed dipping each egg halfway in one color and halfway in another.

 Loving it!

 The results of their hard work.

 We also made this cute little craft.  The girls' hands and fingers made the bunnies, and then I outlined them in black paint.  Their thumbs made the noses and their fingers made the eyes and the pink of the ears.  I thought this turned out so cute!

 On Easter morning before leaving for church.  We enjoyed having Lily in church service with us this morning; she likes coming with us too.

 Fun basket full of surprises: new snorkel gear, water bottles, pajamas, bunny socks, headphones, books, Lego sets and a purse were included.  They were pretty excited!

 A sweet picture before heading over to Judy and Robert's house.

 Both girls enjoyed playing on the big inflatable, but I think Mia was on it for several hours.  She couldn't get enough!

 And the hunt is on!

 Tons of eggs in their huge yard.

 Family picture time!

 We are so glad Liz celebrated with us!

 Soon it was time for the egg toss.  Mia and I got out after only a few tosses, but Lily and Olivia ended up winning; great job girls!

 What a wonderful and beautiful weekend.  We do a lot of things during this time, but most importantly, we remember that we are celebrating the fact that Jesus conquered death and because of that, we can be made right with the one true holy God.  What a reason to celebrate!



Lily's Baptism

February 23, 2014 is one of my favorite days ever.  It was amazingly wonderful to see Lily baptized!  A few weeks prior, Ryan and I talked with her one evening, and she decided she wants to follow Jesus.  We were thrilled!  Lily was so excited to share her good news the next day with all her friends and teachers.  

At church a few days later, we inquired about baptism in the children's office, and they explained their process.  First, we went to a class after church one Sunday where one of the children's minister talked about the awesome gift of salvation that Christ offers.  The next week, Ryan, Lily and I met with Christina, one of the children's ministers, so she could talk with Lily and make sure she understands what becoming a Christian means and what baptism is.  The week after that (actually two weeks later thanks to the snow/ice storm we had), Ryan and Lily went up to the church to film Lily's testimony.  It was precious.  In it, she explains why she wants to be a Christian, why she is being baptized and her favorite Bible verse of 1 Timothy 4:12.  Finally, on the afternoon of February 23rd, the church held their special children's baptism service in the chapel.  There were about 16 children being baptized that day, and most of them were baptized by one of the ministers at the church.  However, as an ordained deacon of the church, Ryan was allowed to baptize Lily (as was one other dad).  This made this wonderful day even better!

As Lily and Ryan entered into the baptismal pool, they played Lily's testimony video.  Truly, it was wonderful.  The church liked it a lot too.  They used it the following week in The Loop video (a video that plays before church starts each week to tell what's going on), and then Bryant used it in his sermon the following week.  Lily was a little embarrassed by this until we explained that God wants us to tell our story to others, and by playing that video, her story had already been told to thousands of people; pretty incredible for a 7 year old!

 I love this picture of Lily listening to Ryan talk.

 Looking out as family and friends stood to support Lily.

 Ready!

 Coming back up and about to get a hug from Ryan.

 After all the kids were baptized and back out in the chapel, families and special friends got together with their child to pray for them and with them.  We were so touched that Brian agreed to come and say a special prayer for Lily; the Henderson family are such great friends.  Also, one of Lily's Sunday School teachers wanted to say a prayer for her which was very kind.

Our family snapped a quick picture afterwards.

 Lily was so excited to have several of her friends come and celebrate with her!  From left to right: Mia, Patrick, Claudia, Avery, Lily, Emory and Rachael.  Liam was also there but he was hiding during this picture.  The Henderson family wasn't able to stay for the reception but they were there during the service.

 We really appreciated Lily's teacher, Mrs. Barbulescu coming to support Lily (as did our friend and ACCA middle school teacher, Mrs. Hobson).  Wayne, Molly and Zac came too which was great.

Family picture!

Such a wonderful afternoon that I will always treasure!