We had so much fun hunting Easter eggs this year, and Mike was behind the lens, so it was impossible to choose my favorite pictures.  This blog is first for my family, and I can’t post too many pictures of the Pond girls, so their wish is my command.  Enjoy!

  

These pictures have personality plus and are absolutely hilarious.  It was so standard for Rose to think to put her basket around her neck; I mean, who wouldn’t!?!  She was comfy and ready to go!  The big girls were smiling but about to get their game faces on… egg hunting is a big deal in this family, primarily because there are prize eggs, and no one knows what they look like or where they will be, so it’s always game on!  These kids don’t mess around… they know what’s at stake.  $25 prize eggs!

 

Game faces on minus one, lol!

Cutie Kate’s always good for a quick smile, especially for Daddy!

Rose’s little group went first.  The babies hunt separate from the big kids and it’s so nice for them to get lots of eggs too!  Linda thinks of everything to make it absolutely perfect!

 

She started getting the hang of it, and although I don’t think she thought there were treats in the eggs, she was still excited to pick them up all by herself.  She’d let me hold her hand and lead her to the eggs, but she picked up every single one all by herself.  My baby’s growing up!

“Look Rose, there’s one!!!”  You can see her eyes are fixed on where I am pointing.

Got it!

 

Yay!  Rose was having so much fun, and I was loving every minute of her grabbing my hand.  My precious baby!

Since it was still muddy from the rain earlier in the afternoon, there were lots of good brush to hide the eggs under.  Rose found this one that I didn’t even see.

 

Okay, now the big girls are off!!!

Noelle is not messing around when it comes to the egg hunt.  She’s very competitive, just like her Mommy, and I love it!  Go Noelle!

She looks so peaceful, but I promise you she wasn’t posing for pictures now… her mind was already 5 eggs ahead of this picture, lol!

 

Anna Kate will hurry hurry if there are kids nearby, but if there are a bunch of eggs and she’s all by her lonesome, she’ll check out bugs, and look around… then when the kids come closer to her area to get the eggs that have been by her the whole time, she’ll frantically put them in her basket.  She makes me laugh so hard!

East Texas, and my biggest bunny, are breath-taking!

This is one of those moments where she is just enjoying her surroundings, relaxing and taking it all in… she was just standing there.  Go get the eggs darlin’!

 

 

There she goes… now that’s how it’s done!

 

Then she stopped to show us a cupcake egg she thought was really cool!  Noelle is still on the prowl.  She’s got so many eggs, they are falling out of her basket, but she is intent on finding every last egg… you just never know where the prize egg could be!

This is my favorite egg hunting picture of the big girls this year.  I love that they are hunting eggs right in front of Pawpaw and Granny’s grave.  Such a beautiful collision.  We are blessed to be near our loved ones’ resting places and do life in the midst of our remembrance of death and the hope we have in Him.  It works naturally for us, and we feel so honored to be here!

 

The Pond girls are ready to check out their Easter prizes!!!  Great job girls!

Rose was wanting to stay in the field, and Mike started videoing her walking further away from the family center.  It was pretty hilarious!  She just had it in her mind that she wasn’t done hunting yet, lol!

 

The second picture is that face of determination.  If I need to stay out here, then I’m going to figure out a way to do so.  Oh Rose, bless your heart.  We’ve got to be so consistent with you.  You are the sweetest kindest most hard headed 2 year old I’ve ever met!  Your spunk is going to come in handy in your life, we just have to keep it in respectful boundaries.  I have no doubts about you.  Whatever you decide to do in life, it’s going to be great!

 

I just love this picture from Easter 2013!  I’ll treasure it always and forever.  Our sweet little girls, all lined up in a row!

Aunt Polly and I were breathing each other in in this picture.  In this moment, she told me she was always interested in what my family and I are doing.  That’s her way of saying call her any time… which of course is part of my Sunday routine.  I love hearing her voice and catching up on old stories with her and hearing all of her crazy expressions and sayings.  I need to write them all down.  She’s the most kind, tender-hearted spit fire you will ever meet.  She’s my guardian angel, my true friend, and I treasure every sweet phone call I am blessed to have with her!  She always tell me when we are getting off of the phone to be good and that she knows it will be hard… and then we start laughing because she thinks I’ve got it all together, ha!  I love my Aunt Polly more than words can say!

This little one was wandering back out into the field for more action.  Bless her heart!  She didn’t know it was time to open her treasures!

 

When I’m with my family at Easter, I feel so alive!  Nothing beats family, fun and good food!  Here are the girls in the first picture with cousin Harper and in the second picture, they are cuddling with my grandmother’s sister, Polly (my great aunt who I claim as my very own Granny too!).  The girls adore her and listen to all our phone conversations very intently.  They think she’s a hoot… and she is!  Love her!

Yay for cousin time!!!

 

Having cousin Amber at the reunion was icing on the cake.  She and I text and email often, and we just get each other.  She’s the best!  Noelle said, “Cousin Linda is the coolest lady in all the world!”  Linda coordinates our Easter weekends and out-does herself each year.  We are so grateful for all her hard work and cheerful attitude.  She’s like a kid in a candy store watching the kids with their surprises… she’s so giving and loving and everyone knows she’s the joy behind it all!

 

The girls wanted a picture in front of the Easter egg tree, but you can only see its pretty bow, lol.  Anna Kate and Kay Kay posed in front of the dessert table for you guys to see.  Next year, I need to take a picture of the 10 yard spread of delicious food.  It’s pretty impressive!

 

When Aunt Polly arrived, Noelle had been waiting for her with a mosaic Easter egg drawing that she made just for Aunt Polly.  She was so proud!  Aunt Polly was so sweet to admire it so, and she will definitely put it in a special place because I know it meant a lot to her too!

 

Cuddles from Poppa and pics with Amber (Amber is Polly’s granddaughter; her dad and my mom are first cousins) and Polly (my mom’s mom’s sister).

 

Flashback pic!  Regan is holding Anna Kate this year in the first picture, and I am holding Regan, pregnant with Noelle in 2006.  So crazy how fast they grow!!!

 

Aunt Nancy (and Brother Man) are due in June with their second baby girl.  They are keeping the name a secret, and we are so excited and happy for their growing little family!!!  Where ever there is Rara, Anna Kate’s usually pretty close by.  She’s our stick tight… always likes an adventure, as long as we are not too far away. 

 

These pictures make me so happy!  I love our family SO much and miss my sister’s family who live in England right now.  Can’t wait to have them in the Easter mix when they move back to the states.  All 6 girls and Drew (and one more blessed baby on the way) are going to play so hard… it’s going to be great!

Mike told me it would probably be raining on Easter this year, so I threw the girls’ rain boots in the back of the Pilot just in case.  The girls were SO excited to wear their rain boots, and honestly, their little sparkly silver shoes I had picked out would have gotten all wet and frozen their toes, so it worked out perfectly!  We were definitely singing in the rain… (minus Anna Kate’s tummy starting to rumble, which was the beginning of the worst stomach bug we’ve ever had last week!  I just say that because you can tell she’s not 100% in these pictures, but isn’t she precious to try her best to smile and be a part of it all anyway?  Such a tender-hearted sweetie!)

  

Here’s sweet Harper and Noelle dancing for Jesus!  After a church service led by Poppa in a way that we will never forget (thanks Dad), we all headed outside to see if the Easter bunny came.

The big girls knew what was going on and ran to their baskets… but Rose ran straight for the tractor and was as happy as could be, lol!

  

Rose was confused why we kept trying to get her to come check out her basket.  She’s so funny!

 

After she got a couple of things, she was back on the tractor!

 

Anna Kate’s basket ended up being full of random clothes I’ve been waiting to give her… she just kept pulling stuff out.  It was fun!

 

Now she gets it!  Next year, I’m pretty sure she’ll be after her basket!  Love.this.kid.

 

You can tell from the pictures above it was getting darker and darker and rain drops were beginning to fall, and right as we finished opening our baskets, it began pouring!!!  This is a picture of a sweet little cross Noelle painted for Rara one Easter a few years ago.  Rara is so creative and thoughtful how she keeps and displays the kids’ art… and at the perfect times.  This was such a special Easter reflection for me, seeing my kid’s art work as the rain was falling behind it, remembering the cross… and that today He arose!

I took this picture on Poppa and Rara’s front porch as the rain was falling down… breathing in being washed clean… reflecting my deep seeded hope in Him who is greater than all; with a thankful heart, treasuring the resurrection.

                

While our Easter bunnies were getting ready for bed…

“The” Easter bunny got to work!  Easter baskets are always so fun for me… I save up fun little things I find or they say are cute while we are shopping throughout the year, and just kind of see what happens when it all comes together in the baskets the night before Easter.  The girls love it, and I do too!!!

  

Noelle’s basket is pink, Anna Kate’s is purple, and Rose’s is green!

This is Noelle’s basket, full of purses and jewlery, of course!

This is Anna Kate’s basket, full of purses, little gidgets and gadgets, doll clothes, and jewelry.

This is Rose’s basket, complete with all the things I use each year until they know they’ve already gotten them, lol!  We’ve had that Pooh bunny since Noelle was born, but they love seeing it reappear each year, along with the Hello Kitty and a little chick eggs.  She had fun with her basket and it was super easy!

 

The girls get SO excited about coming to Easter each year!  You can’t imagine all the fun we have playing with our family in East Texas!

The Pond girls + Mommy!

  

 

Anna Kate was having a fun photo shoot with Daddy (see how far the hill goes down behind her… so cool), and Anna Kate and Noelle were so excited to see their cousin Melissa!

Cousin Brittany and I had fun catching up!  She moved closer to us now that she finished college, so we will see her a lot more often, yay!

These were some excited girls right here!!!

 

I love the back of Anna Kate’s dress!  Here go the big girls to check out the big “surprise!”

Oh sweet baby Rose, what I’d give for you to smile at the camera, lol!

 

There.  Got it!  You’re sooo cute and funny!  By this time, Noelle and Anna Kate were having a ball on the big slide!

Aww, love this pic of me and my Cutie Kate!

 

Harper and Rose really hit it off this visit!  I think they will remember each other next time!  Cousin time is so special!

  

Harper and Rose were amused by Noelle and Anna Kate’s silly faces.  My sweet little diva still looks so cute and little in my lap… I want to keep her little forever!

The PondFam5 is all smiles tonight!

Our first game tonight was a scavenger hunt around our family center.  The big girls and I ended up at Pawpaw and Granny’s grave reminiscing about how special they are to us!  Some might find it odd, but it’s a big part of our lives and why we come home to celebrate Easter.  To thank God for our loved ones, remember them and our hope in Him during this time.

 

We waited a little too late to take grandparents pics, as the sun was already going down… they’re still super cute!

After Mike taught Rose how to climb up the slide, I bet she went round and round 100 times!  She was in heaven!

 

So was our middle child!

Next was the bunny hop sack races! 

Anna Kate won her little division… yay Anna Kate!

 

Such cute little sack hoppers!  Rose was so intrigued!

She actually did a pretty good job!

 

Until she thought it would be more fun to put the sack over her head!  The Pond girls were in the middle of the best night ever right here!

 

Noelle was determined to win the egg and spoon balancing race!  I’ve never seen her so focused, and it paid off!  It was so neat… everyone won something special thanks to cousin Linda and all her amazing efforts to always make our reunion weekend so special and down right FUN!

If you get queasy like Mike from these pics, scroll on down.  Sorry!  These pictures were taken before we left Poppa and Rara’s house for the party barn last Saturday night, and Noelle’s tooth didn’t fall out until bedtime that night.  We decided to tie dental floss around it and pull, but Noelle was too scared to pull, so we tried to untie the dental floss but by that point, it had traveled up into the gums because there wasn’t much root left hanging out, so we couldn’t get up in there to get the dental floss untied without pulling the tooth.  We got in this predicament in the first place because we were trying to get her to pull her tooth out before bed because it was so loose we were scared that she was going to choke on it during the night.  At whit’s end, I finally grabbed the string (truly without thinking) and barely pulled.  It just popped out and she didn’t feel a thing or even realize it had happened.  In the minutes right before that, we felt so stuck.  That was no fun!  She got extra money from the tooth fairy and goodies from the Easter bunny the next morning, so she was a happy camper.  She was just fine the moment she realized the tooth (and tied up dental floss) were out, and that’s when I lost it, and she had to hug me!  Haha… my baby’s growing up and every step of the way, I’m so sentimental!

Easter in Jacksonville pictures are headed your way this weekend!

The girls had such a wonderful time at Anna Kate’s preschool Easter party!  All the families were invited to come have snacks and hunt Easter eggs, which was such a blast.  I took tons of pictures but accidentally erased my memory card in Jacksonville because I thought I had already uploaded the pics onto the computer.  I have never done that, but thankfully, Mrs. Paula was taking pictures too, so we still have pictures to remember our fun Easter egg hunt at Anna Kate’s awesome school!  As always, a huge thanks to Mrs. Paula and Mrs. Julie for everything; they’re the best!!!

Anna Kate’s classmates and their siblings… such a fun group of personality plus!

 

The little siblings got a head start!

Rose went straight for the play ground, climbed to the top and got every egg up there.  All of the big kids were interested in running around.  As it turns out, I really think Rose got the most eggs out of anyone; she did out of the Pond girls this time.  Smart thinking!

 

 

The weather was perfect!  We had so much fun hanging out together.  It was a special afternoon!

 

I love this picture of Anna Kate headed straight for the purple egg, her favorite color!  She was so funny today.  There was a bug on one of the eggs and she was calling everyone over to see it… she wasn’t in any hurry to get eggs.  She’s my “stop and smell the roses” kind of girl; she’s precious!

 

This is Rose’s “I want to get down right now” face, lol!  So funny Mrs. Paula got a picture of this expression… I’ve seen it a million times and am so glad I can remember it always.  I love my little 2 year old!  Here’s a picture of Anna Kate with her sweet friend Ella.  I got an adorable picture of Anna Kate with her friends Ella and Livy on the bridge but that one got erased.  I’m hoping one of the other moms will share it with me and I can add it to this post.  It was adorable, and Anna Kate has made some really sweet school friends this year!

 

Mrs. Paula put this table under the play ground, and the kids love it!  Anna Kate calls it their “hide-out.”  Anna Kate and Rose were “hiding out,” eating as much candy as they could before they were discovered!  Ha!

                             

So happy Mrs. Paula got a picture of our family… yay!

 

Here’s a picture of Anna Kate with her friend Emily, and Rose having fun with Mrs. Julie!

What a fun afternoon with our Easter cuties!  Thanks Mrs. Paula for hosting such a magical Easter egg hunt!!!