Don’t you wish you could be this carefree!?!  Noelle’s awesome!  I love you, Bella Shwella! 

 

 

We always love hanging out in Poppa and Rara’s beautiful back yard!!!

We love Easter!  (well, most of us, lol)  I hope one day Rose will look back on these pictures and laugh and know how cute we all think she is, even if she is throwing a fit about absolutely nothing at all!  God love her!

 

Let the pictures begin…

I love this sweet picture of Harper discovering her basket and learning all about Easter fun!  Next year, she will be out there hunting eggs!

                 

Poppa and Rara with their stateside granddaughters.

 

Anna Kate had the most fun hunting eggs this year.  She found a purple one (her favorite color) and kept running around showing everyone her purple egg!

She finally started looking for more after cousin Brittany got her back on track! 

I love our sweet little girls! 

This is more like it… this is how I feel juggling three every single day! (& I love it!)

The girls know the drill and immediately started opening their eggs!

Going for the gold…

Score!  Cousin Linda puts in gold dollars for the kids each year, and they get so excited!

Noelle sharing treats with baby Rose.

 

Kay Kay and Grandpapa and cousin Melissa hanging out with the girls!

I love this pretty picture of John, Nancy, and Harper.

  

 

Here’s the talking tree… this place is full of surprises!  You never know what you’re going to find out here!

Kay Kay and Grandpapa look lovely in their “sweetheart” picture!  We were so happy they could join us this year for Easer.

 

Regan and Emma with Noelle and Rose.

Noelle wanted a “big girl” picture with her cousins this year… so sweet.  We have Brittany, Regan, and Ashley who are all sisters and Olen and Linda’s granddaughters.

At some point every year, you can always find one of the girls riding Brittany’s pink car in the Easter scene inside the family center.

Noelle captivates me.  I can’t help it.  They all do.  Each one.  Every time I look at them, I can’t take my eyes off of them.  Kids are such miracles!

I love Anna Kate’s spunky personality… life is just always so grand and exciting for her!  She’s always so surprised and thankful about the little things in life.

And baby Rose has just about got Easter egg hunting figured out.  Give her one more year, and she’s game on.  However, this year she did find the “golden egg” with a $25.00 gold dollar reward in it!  We got to write her name on the official golden egg for 2012!!!  Go Rose!

 

 

I love my fancy baby girl!  She is such a doll baby!  This is the first time since headbands that she’s worn a bow… I’m so excited she can wear a little pony, which means the bows are back in business!  

 

This picture of Rose carrying her candy in her mouth and a rock in each hand beats all! 

 

The girls got to pick one piece of candy a piece to eat, and they savored every bite!

Noelle takes such good care of Rose, and Rose adores her back!

 

Melt my heart, Anna Kate Pond.  Or steal it one!  You’re such a cutie pie.

Surely Granny and Pawpaw get to see this picture from heaven! 

Tell us about it Rose!  Talk to us.

Brittany telling the girls goodbye.

My Granny would be tickled to have this baby right here on Easter Sunday!

Of course my Anna Katey found the red dirt!

 

My sweet Bella Shwella.  This one is my cuddle buddy right here!  Noelle is so affectionate and loves special attention.  And I love all of the above.

And that’s all folks.  Hope you guys had a Happy Easter this year remembering the death and resurrection of our life giver, Jesus Christ!

The Easter bunny did good this year!  I was so excited about all these good deals that I knew my girlies would love!!! 

Poppa arrived on the scene and the girls ran to him showing him their favorite things!

 

Rose walked right over to her basket and picked up her new kanky!  Anna Kate has been wishing for a Dora umbrella and actually got to use it when it rained that afternoon!

Trying to figure out Rose’s wand.  I love the reflection of Noelle and Rose in the window and sweet Jax in Poppa’s lap.

 

Rose and Harper discovering their Easter presents!

 

Oh those Robin Eggs!  I put them in Anna Kate’s basket to weigh it down to counter balance the umbrella, and well, she thought they were hers.  They were a huge hit, so I let her take them home with us, and Monday morning she secretly got into them and got so much chocolate and crunchy shells every where!  It was a messy memory we’ll laugh about… later!  I love how Noelle always immediately tries on all of her new accessories each holiday.  She treasures her girly stuff so much and actually keeps up with it all really well!

 

Mike enjoying his excited little girls, and Rose digging the hit of the day (robin eggs).

Sweet Jax posing for a photo while the girls enjoy more swinging!

Noelle wrote the sweetest cards for all of us… they were so thoughtful!

 

Our big girl enjoying the morning with us!

This picture makes me want to cry, because it is the most special Easter memory I have ever had, and I will never ever forget it.  Noelle was peacefully swinging on the swing, and I said, “Close your eyes, feel the cool breeze on your face, listen to the birds, feel how good is feels that Jesus pulled through for us and gave us new life today, and never forget how it feels to be 5 years old and care-free right now in this moment.”  She was listening to everything and taking it all in.  Her breaths were intentional, and she was savoring every second of life.  Toward the end of our time together, I took this picture.  What a special special moment with my first little girl.

Noelle and Gradpapa reading Jonathan Mark before our day of celebrating continued…

Around here, the show must go on… I need a good two hours to knock out these Easter pictures, but it’s just not happening.  We’re going from one thing to the next to the next!  We’re having tons of fun though and aside from Rose’s teething, we’re all finally healthy!  Yay!

This is as good as it gets with a baby in full teething mode, but you get the idea… ThePondFam5 knows how to party country style! (and we love each other very much!)

 

Mike’s mom and dad joined us this year, so it was extra special!

Missing Michele in England but happy to see my little bro!

Aren’t our babies cute!?! 

The girls love roaming around the fields in the wide open spaces… there’s just something about this place that is magical for them.  It’s really special to me too!

My little treasures!

 

Rara with her stateside granddaughters and the girls with their cousin Melissa.

 

Kay Kay and Grandpapa with 3 of their honeys and Mom with the babies!

I *love* this pic I took of Brother Man with his girls!

 

My big girls were busy busy with their cousins, but I did snap some quick pics!

Mike with his dad, Paul.

We got the peach and white memo for dinner!  Lol…

Melissa and Noelle made a beautiful “centerpiece” for the hot dog supper!

I love their creative little centerpiece!

                     

I love this picture of Harper and Rose with Aunt Polly… babies are so silly!

Rose couldn’t wait to get started on her hot dog!

Peek a boo during dinner!

“Do the happy dance, do the happy dance!” which pretty much happens every time baby Rose eats!

Cousin Dannette (wife of Bobby, my mom’s first cousin) and Cousin Linda (my mom’s first cousin) enjoying all of the fun, family, and fellowship!

Cousin Troy digging his dog!  Love this little buddy!

Cake pop face!

Mustard face!

My baby and me happy after dinner.  I love this little stick tight!  (which won’t be the case next year because she will be 2 and very social just like her sisters, I’m sure!) 

  

Rose did not like the grass, but she decided this after she gave it a good try!

 

Anna Kate and Emma.  These sweet cousins met last year and really bonded.  They couldn’t wait to play together again this year, and it’s precious how Emma just gets Anna Kate.  It’s one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen.  Monday morning, Anna Kate asked if Emma could come over.  When I told her she lived too far away, she started crying and said, “But I love her really bad!”  Sooo sweet and sad!

I hate that my baby girl has to teethe.  It hurts so badly!  I don’t remember it being this rough with the others, but time is so kind.  Hoping we’ll forget all about this too!

 

As soon as the sun went down, Rose came alive and enjoyed being her happy little self…for a little bit. 

Cousin Brittany and me

 

Let me games begin!  Mike and I totally won the 3 legged race, and it’s the first time we’ve ever done it in our 12 years of being together!  (I bet Brian and Amber would give us a run for our money, maybe next year?) <— subliminal message there, ha!

Bunny toss for the little ones.

Love Noelle putting on her lip gloss in the background… these are my girls!

               

Anna Kate and Brittany!  Where are you Regan and Ashley?  Oh yeah, chillin with your boyfriends!  🙂

Enjoying watching the games!

Aunt Polly and Olen carrying on… love this pic!

Baby Rose playing with the spoons from the egg carrying game.

 

Piñata time!  Go girl!

 

Noelle’s getting after it, alright Miss Thang!

Rara was so sweet to give Rosie a turn!

 

The girls laughing at the boys hitting the piñata.  Cousin Duke kept raising the egg right when they were about to bust it, and the girls got so tickled!

These two were found on the step of the stage at the end of the night last year too… from now on when Emma and Anna Kate sit on the step, it’s time to call it a night!

*If you’re new to the blog and wondering what all of this is about, every year we have a get together the night before Easter out at our party barn to celebrate Easter with my mom’s Staton family.  It’s a wonderful chance for the cousins to get to know each other, make memories and stay connected since we live in different places.  Then, the next day, we have a wonderful lunch and Easter egg hunt, all the time celebrating the Resurrection of Christ together on top of the most beautiful hill in the world (found in Jacksonville, TX).  And there you have it!

We had a blast last weekend, and I can’t wait to post all the fun pics… this week has been SO busy for the Pond family, mostly with mundane things, but literally out of the house with all the kids every day running from one thing to the next to the next like crazy.  This couple is whooped!  As soon as I have a moment to sit down and edit the pics (and choose my favorites, which is the hardest part), I’ll be posting away.  They’ll get on here sooner or later!  Have a great rest of your week!  Hump day’s over – yay!

I cannot believe that all these kids belong to me and Destiny!!!  God is sooo good!  We had a blast going out to play with the Westbrook kids and watch Breckin’s game on Saturday… thanks for inviting us guys!  We had fun!

                       

Breckin scored an awesome goal right in front of where we were sitting.  It was an exciting game and Noelle was intrigued to watch other kids play; she was impressed!

And this is how the picture of our middles went, lol!  I told Anna Kate not too worry… in a few short years, he will be chasing after you instead!  Love. this. pic! 

And the littles, well, they were too fast.  We’ll get one next time for sure.

One of the reasons the girls love going to Jacksonville is that they get to explore nature and be outside in the forest, which backs up to Poppa and Rara’s back yard!

 

While Poppa and Anna Kate were playing on my old gym bars, I taught Noelle how to taste the sweetness of a honeysuckle.  She loves discovering and following steps, so this was right up her alley!

Clip the base of the flower enough to find the string.

 

Pull… Suck the little drop of sweet nectar that comes out…

Savor the flavor!

Love, The Pond Girls