Easter

The kids and I enjoyed our Easter Sunday with my family while Mike celebrated in Panama with a team of 25 from our church. We missed him but had a wonderful, warm, sweet Easter. We worshipped at Emmaus with my family and then had lunch together on my parents patio, our favorite place to relax. We held to tradition (that will never die) and had an egg hunt for the 'little kids' (grandkids) and then the 'big kids' (my siblings, spouses and myself). My dad hid 206 eggs and the hunt was on. Carmen found the coveted 'Big Egg' that is filled with all the best candy and a Peet's Coffee Card. She deserved to find it after being in the family for 12 years and never having discovered it. Dad never seems to run out of new hiding places for it. Here are a few pics of the kids, the sisters and the cousins.

Happy Birthday Josiah

Josiah's party with the family was super fun, however, I needed to celebrate him in some way on his actual birthday. After school we had his friends Eden and Micah Nicholson and Bella, Nash and Olivia Wylie over for cupcakes and ice cream. It was a simple celebration but Josiah was excited to be given another cupcake. He LOVED it and ate every last crumb. Thanks for helping us celebrate his first year of life. You are very dear friends!

He's walking!

Josiah, now that he's one, has decided to 'try' many new things. Just this week he has decided to 'let go' and take as many steps as possible between Mike and I, or the girls and the couch or me and no one. He's falling alot but he's also making great progress. He also decided to turn around and come down the stairs backwards on his tummy, something I've shown him several times but he didn't seem to grasp. Now, just this morning, he's doing it like a pro. The only bummer is he wants to play on the stairs all day...up, down, up, down. Josiah's favorite word is 'ah-oh' and he says it over and over. He has also started blowing kisses. He's just so cute! :)

A Dog-gone good time

We celebrated Josiah's first birthday with 36 of our favorite people on Saturday. I picked a doggy theme as our dog, Savannah, is Josiah's favorite. We had 'dog food' for the adults to snack on and 'puppy chow' for the kids to take home with them. My dog bone cake turned out enormous, however, we had no problem almost polishing the entire thing off during the party.

My favorite moment was when Happy Birthday was being sung and I looked from my sweet boy to ALL the faces of our most favorite people; people who have prayed for Josiah since before he was born, and there they all were. The reality of it all swept over me and the last year of our lives played out in my mind and I was overwhelmed. There are no words to describe a mother's love for her son, or a parent's love for their children. This year has changed me. Our family's circimstances have not been ideal but here we are, able to celebrate Josiah's first year of life, and we praise God for it all.

(check back for more great pictures from Gen's camera..)

Roseola

After 3 days of a fever, Josiah broke out in a rash. We were thankful that, what we thought might be another UTI, turned out to be Roseola. No harm done. He just sported a diaper and his Jamaica tank top from the Conkles' to keep cool.

Brianne celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday at school by making a 'Cat in the Hat' hat.