happy birthday, lauren!!

last saturday we celebrated lauren's 2nd birthday. she was so thrilled to see all the decorations and balloons when she woke up. her exact words were, "oh, my goodness!" only one party guest was able to make it, but having a small low key birthday isn't necessarily bad when you are only 2. :) and katie was a wonderful guest! all in all it was a great day. joel and i just feel so incredibly blessed with this wonderful little girl that God has given to us. these past 2 years have been better than we ever could have imagined and i know the best is yet to come!

concentrating very hard as she opens up........

big girl underwear!

grandma and grandpa got her a fun tea set.

trying it out.

she also got some polly pockets.

and what could this be?!

vintage little people that her grandparents found on ebay.

next was a very neat floor puzzle from katie.

her uncles have gotten her interested in golf, so we thought she needed her own set of clubs. :)

more big girl underwear (hopefully she'll get the hint).

candy necklaces were a definite hit.

right, katie?

she also got a beautiful homemade dress from her aunt missy.

she loves balls, especially footballs.

aunt missy and uncle jeremiah taking in all the action.

she got some really great books from her aunt megan.

still enjoying her books.

cake time!!!

little meltdown when lauren realized the cake wasn't all for her.

but once she had her piece, the crying stopped.

happy birthday, lauren! we love you!

yay for spring!

this last week was absolutely beautiful. every day was warm and sunny and all we wanted to do was be outdoors. which is good considering all the yard work that needs to be done. the front yard looks pretty good for the most part, but there are a few dirt patches that needed some seeding. so lauren and i decided to tackle this little project. she loves being able to help and get in on the action - especially when there's water involved. :)

easter sunday

we had a really nice easter this year. for one the weather was great, sunny and 60 degrees. so we could actually wear springlike clothes and have an outdoor easter egg hunt - yay! we started the day by going to church. joel and i had nursery duty so we didn't get too dressed up, but it was fun getting lauren ready with her cute summer sandals and a really pretty dress that was given to her by her cousin elle. so we decided to have a little photo shoot before church.

we thought we'd better include a shot of baby sorrell as well.

after church we went to my parent's house for easter lunch. lauren loves going to nonnie and gramp's house because there are so many fun things to do. one of her favorite things is to walk over to the neighbor's fence and feed their horses. so gramps and preston took her over there.

joel did a little golfing (and also aerated my mom's yard at the same time).

lauren got lots of swinging in...

and then for the highlight of the day, the easter egg hunt!

she also did do a little gardening with nonnie, and i think it's safe to say i changed her clothes just in time! :)