More Easter

Easter Day was packed, too. We went to church in the morning then had lunch. After that, Rachel opened her Easter basket from us.

She loved the little recorder that we got her!

We also got her a little bowling set, a duck, sidewalk chalk and of course a chocolate bunny. The big bouncy ball didn't make it in the picture, but she really likes that, too!

Well, she didn't quite have the hang of what the bowling pins were at first!

She's getting better at throwing the ball now.

Poor Zoe, stuck inside.

We took a walk in the afternoon at a local college.

Wee!

Oopsie!

She dumped the eggs out in the road, too! Thanks, Grandma and Papa for picking them up!

Happy Easter!

I love all holidays- getting together with family and friends and dressing up the cutest little girl there ever was is just exciting for me- I'm not going to lie. After saying that, I am realizing more now than ever what every holiday is really about. Of course I know the true meaning of all of these holidays, which has nothing to do with dressing up and being excited about baskets, eggs, candy. Easter has everything to do with Jesus dying on the cross for us and saving us from our sins. Why I am realizing this is because of that cutest little girl there ever was. Dustin and I have grown up in homes where our parents taught us the real meanings of all holidays and we are blessed to have had this. Now God has trusted us with Rachel and with that comes teaching her the same things. I guess I'm just realizing now more than ever that what we put an emphasis on is what she will think holidays are about... a lot to think about is all.

Now, after saying all that, I will still dress up Rachel and get excited about the little things, but will always put God first and make sure she knows the true meaning of why holidays are celebrated.

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a wonderful day with friends and family on July 4th this year! We went to church in the morning. There was a guest singer, Alvin Slaughter, who did all the music, which was wonderful! We went to a friend's house for an early dinner, then headed over to our church to watch fireworks. A lot of people from the community go to our church because we have the best view of the valley from up there! The church decided to make a big deal out of it this year and make it a ministry opportunity and it worked! There were inflatables set up for kids, concessions, and our bookstore/cafe were open too. The proceeds from the bookstore/cafe go to missions, so we were really excited to see a constant line all afternoon.
Dustin's parents met us up at the church and will be spending the next few days with us.

Hi! Rachel was excited to see the big flag waving. (I love the boy looking at Rachel behind her!)

Here are the inflatables that were set up... in another year or two Rachel will really enjoy them if they keep this going.

She was so happy to be made over by all of our friends!

Mom and Dad McCollum waiting for fireworks to start.

Mommy and Rachel!

Our family with matching Old Navy shirts!

The sunset was gorgeous!

Some of our friends that we met up with!

Our parking lot has 3 tiers and it was starting to get packed when I took this picture. By the time fireworks started, there were no parking spots left. There is a long driveway leading up to the top of the mountain to get to the church. People were parked and lined up on both sides of the driveway. There was a charter bus that came up too!