{happy} easter 09 :)

okay, so these are a lot of Easter photos of the dude. And technically I should probably only post 1. Maybe 2. But I didn't have the heart to cut any out...I mean look at the way those cute little chubby hands reach for the basket, then hold the egg, then pick up the grass, and then he's staring at the mess he's made...it's a process really, and I couldn't rightfully go excluding any key steps. (there is more to the post than photos of Van, if you care to keep reading) :)









and to make his dad proud, one must include the football in a photoshoot. Plus it's the only photo he would look at me for. Isn't he the cutest thing ever all dressed up?


I love holidays. Every time a new holiday is coming up I ask Jon what our family tradition should be, and then think really hard about it and usually don't come up with anything until after the holiday has passed. For some reason I'm totally into making our own traditions that will last while all our children are growing up and will encompass everything we hope to get out of the holiday.

Easter's kind of a toughie, because while we all know Easter is actually the celebration of new life for everyone thanks to the sacrifice and resurrection of the Savior, it can easily be drowned out among other things, especially since it doesn't really have a "season" like Christmas does—you know, a time when everyone tries to be a little better because of it. We of course succumb to the candy tradition and fill plastic eggs with many more sweet things than we need, but both Jon and I were hoping for a way to intertwine a spiritual tradition along with the light-hearted easter bunny tradition instead of separating them. One big pillow talk later on Easter night, and I think we came up with a good one (a small one), and I'm so glad.

Since of course we didn't decide on our new tradition until that night, Easter for us this year was simple. Simple=beautiful. We decorated some sweet eggs the night before {see post below for their full beauty}...


On Sunday morning, Jon had Easter basket duty and hid some little candies around the house for Van & I to find together, we had yummy waffles and strawberries for breakfast, and then headed to church for wonderful songs, talks, and lessons based on the Savior and His eternal sacrifice for us. I taught the Sunbeams (3-4 year olds) and I think I'm finally getting the hang of captivating their attention. We only had one emergency run to the bathroom, and no one pretended to be like a lion when we walked down the hall to class. This is an accomplishment. I even got to throw in a spiritual message to them, and I'm just hoping something stuck. I love coming home to tell Jon all my Primary stories, the kids are hilarious.

After church Jon and I took Van on a walk down a trail through a beautiful neighborhood in McLean. A place where the backyards and/or front yards look like this:

Yeah, don't worry, we weren't house-shopping, or even dream-house shopping (seeing as we don't have an extra 4 mil on hand), but the houses were AMAZING. We mostly just appreciated the 2 hours alone outside enjoying a quiet Sunday evening together. Except for that one part when I got bombed by a bird doing its business 30 feet above me. On my head. In my hair. I know, that's disgusting, it was pretty hard for me to keep from gagging too. Yuck. Jon thought it was hilarious, and I was just glad that burp cloths are now something we don't leave home without.

We came home, read the First Presidency Easter message (and LOVED it, it's really short, you can read it by clicking here), and recapped some talks from General Conference last weekend, which led to another long talk and inspiring new goals. I love General Conference, the inspiration of the leaders of the church, and the ideas I get when I'm listening to them of things I need to change and do better. It helps me to put things back into perspective, to remember what matters most, and to try harder to let go of what doesn't matter most.

I'm so grateful for Easter and for all it means for each of us. Elder Jeffery R. Holland (one of the 12 apostles of the church) says it so much better than I can, though. Watch and listen to his inspiring words here:




Here, of course, are new photos for your viewing pleasure. These are from our walk in McLean, pre bird-poop bombing.

hippest easter eggs. ever.

We decided to wax creative this year with our easter egg decorating and busted out a Martha Stewart-inspired project. It was simple, fast, and it gave us a good excuse to go to the goodwill. {we love the goodwill.} All ties used were second-hand steals. Jon and I were super impressed that it actually worked. The secret is starting with uncooked eggs, and the magic is in the 1/4 cup vinegar added to the water when you boil the eggs. That's it!

You can use Martha's tutorial here, or just follow ours below.

{cut silk ties—they have to be silk—and plain white sheets into squares, wrap in silk first, then white sheet, then twist and bind with twist-tie. and thank you, jon, for being such a great hand model :) }





all ready to go...


boil for 20 mins


let cool, then the big reveal

march's problem with indecision

I think I'm finally coming to terms with the fact that I am not an every day blogger. Nor an every-other-day blogger. Rarely am I even a weekly blogger. I've been feeling guilty for my scant posts, yet couldn't decide if all the time put into more posts would be worth it. I admire those that are rockin' bloggers, but upon weighing my reasons for blogging and why I personally find joy in it, I came to the conclusion that it's okay if I don't commit to a killer blogging routine. Truth be told, I'm not cut out for it. Without delving into boring details, I'm just going to be okay with that and move on. So here's to every-now-and-then-posting. :)

Yes March is over. In like a lion and out like a lamb, supposedly. But it seems more to me like March is 31 days of a little lion here, a little lamb there, playing with our hearts and leading us to believe in early summer dreams, only to tear said dreams apart the following day with freezing temperatures and a chance of snow—apparently the month is unable to make up its mind (either that or dead set on teaching us all a lesson in quick adaptation skills). I know, March is over. But photos were taken, and photos must be posted.

My favorite March week illustrative of its weather indecision was the week it snowed furiously on Monday—8 inches I think, which is practically a record for Arlington—followed by the warmest day we'd had all year on that Saturday, topping our expectations at a rocking 73 degrees. Since they were both exciting for their own reasons, we of course documented both.

Snowy Monday photos were all taken by Jon...his work granted him a snow day, which allowed me to take a sick day (thanks honey for taking the dude while I passed out in bed with a fever).

Sunny Saturday photos were soooo fun because it was the best weather this year, and since we have very few photos taken outside with our new camera, we were stoked to run outside for some fun backyard pics.

AZ and cherry blossom photos still to come...

snowy monday—










sunny saturday—