Happy Birthday!

David and his older brother Robert have there birthday's only 6 days apart. David and Robert shared many birthday celebrations while growing up. Well, this year Robert and his great family came down to Bolivar, MO the day after Robert's birthday for General Conference on Sunday and to just hang out. It was wonderful having Robert, Paige and their adorable kiddos Max and Reagan hang out for the day. Peter and Evelyn loved playing with Max and Reagan. We had a nice little birthday cake celebration for Robert in the evening. We sure like birthdays cause we always get treats :)

David's birthday was April 12th (the following Friday). Peter enjoyed giving daddy a little gift and helping mommy decorate. He also enjoyed helping me make the easiest cake I've ever made. We made an ice-cream cake out of ice cream sandwiches, magic shell, and cool whip. Absolutely delicious! (Idea from HERE)

I think Peter's favorite part of the day was eating the cake. He kept asking if we could eat the birthday cake. When I finally told him it was time, he ran and grabbed his bib, put it on and sat so nicely in his chair.

Happy Birthday boys!

Easter 2013

Easter is always wonderful but his year was quite different than any other. It was great but different. We are always around family at Easter time and we were alone this Easter. My mother's side of the family always does a large family gathering. We have a BBQ picnic in my Aunt Joyce's backyard along with a huge Easter egg hunt. We dye eggs and we go over the Easter story with symbols hidden inside numbered plastic eggs to reveal the story. We sing hymns and have a good time. Needless to say, we missed that this year. However, we were invited to attend another families gathering out here in Bolivar, MO.

We went out onto this family's ranch and had a wonderful time. Even though they weren't our family by blood we felt at home and they are in our ward (church) family. It was even more wonderful to be surrounded by so many of God's beautiful creations and to see the signs of new life. It had just rained, a lot, and the grass was vibrant green. There were little calves running around in the herds of cattle. There were little lambs scurrying around their mothers. Peter had the opportunity to help feed one of the baby lambs. And news of baby chicks was shared. I am so grateful for the beauty of this earth.

I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ who blessed us with these wonderful things that we might have joy. I am grateful that our Heavenly Father gave His only begotten Son to overcome death and sin. I am grateful for the Plan of Salvation that was made possible only through our Savior, Jesus Christ. I am grateful that we have been shown the way by our Savior. He has taught and led the way. If we strive to live as He did and follow His teachings we can find true happiness in this life and in the next. I know this to be true. I have partaken of the great goodness that our Heavenly Father and Savior have offered.

Oh! I also wanted to share what I did to tell the Easter story here at home to our little kids. I got this idea HERE. The first picture in this post is of the eggs I made. This is the Easter story adapted to the short attention spans and simple minds of preschool aged kiddos. Here is the poem:

“Easter”

E is for Each of us.  God loves everyone.

A is for A broken world, so He sent His Son.

S is for our Sins that Jesus took away.

T is for the Tomb where He lay for three whole days.

E is for the Empty tomb.  The stone was rolled away.

R is for the Risen Lord.  Jesus is alive today!

©2010 – Stacie Nelson