SURPRISE!

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY!

We had a SURPRISE birthday party to celebrate Jonathan's 30th birthday ... AND he never figured it out!! He went on a 20-mile hike with the scouts ALL day and was dead tired! Aside from being exhausted -we had a wonderful evening with friends and family!

I LOVE that all of the kids wanted to help him blow out the candles!

Here's our little family ...

does it look like Micah is EXHAUSTED or what!

Love all of the smiles on the kids faces ... and Jonathan's - those are the "I'm happy through and through smiles!" The cake was AWESOME ... probably the best I've EVER had ... AND we ate every single bit of it that was left-over!

I loved this picture of my dad and Benjamin! My dad was incharge of the snow cones - so of course Benjamin frequented him!

Thanks to everyone who came, helped and kept an AWESOME secret! We LOVE LOVE Jonathan and all that he does for our family ... 30 years and so many more to go!

A Taste of Heaven

A Taste of Heaven

The cookbook that I've been working on the past couple of months is finally HERE! Many of you have pre-ordered 2 books so that I had enough orders to print the book ... but I still have some extras that are "FOR SALE!"

They are $7.00 plus shipping. I really liked how they turned out and they really do have so many yummy and WONDERFUL recipes!

A big THANKS to all of my friends and family who were so supportive. Let me know if you are interested in buying a book or two... great for gifts as well!

AND ... if you haven't noticed ... I FINALLY updated our blog 10 posts all together - but with lots of pictures for those who enjoy "picture reading!"

STONE MOUNTAIN for a NIGHT!

Since we had a free night at Mariott to use BEFORE April 12th ... and couldn't go TOO far with all of the yard work and house work we've been doing (and did this past weekend...) we headed to Stone Mountain! Upon entering the park - Benjamin woke up from his power nap and couldn't stop talking about everything he was seeing outside his window and what all we were going to do!

One of the first things we did was went to a 4-D movie ... Benjamin wasn't even scared and liked the dinosaur slobbering on him ... he really liked the rain too!

We rode the Sky Ride to the top of the mountain ... we're planning to hike up next time when we haev a little more time!

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We rode the train ... Micah was especially excited to see it coming down the tracks!

Here we are on the TRAIN!

AND ... Benjamin, our trusty 3 year old photographer, took this one of Jonathan and I ... didn't he do a GREAT job (it is edited)!

Love this picture of the boys at the top of the mountain - MEMORIES!

We ate breakfast at the hotel the next morning ... for FREE ... and it was probably the 3rd best breakfast we've had since we've been married -- close behind our Boston and Honeymoon trips!

EASTER SUNDAY!

This year we were blessed that Easter Sunday and General Conference fell on the same weekend! This doesn't happen very often - but it is always amazing to hear from the Prophet, President Monson and the other apostles and leaders of the church on the weekend we remember the Savior's Resurrection! This year headed to Ringgold for a family Easter Dinner!

Here's our little family...

Jonathan and I eating dinner!

Micah thrilled to be outside!

Benjamin hiding behind one of the trees.

As good as it gets when trying to get pictures of the boys together!

And just to show you what Benjamin was really feeling about taking pictures... here are the boys - THRILLED as usual to take pictures!

BUNNY MORNING!

So the EASTER BUNNY comes to our house on Saturday morning to drop off all of the eggs and a basket with candy and a fun spring toy!

Here's a close-up of Micah's basket ...

Here are Benjamin and Micah ready to see what the Easter Bunny brought - although Benjamin had already passed through the living room TWICE and knew that the bunny brought him a SCOOTER ... he was SO excited!

Micah got a helicopter that he enjoys pulling around and pushing all of the buttons! Benjamin was a big help and showed him how it worked!

Benjamin was happy to read to Micah ... as you can see Micah is enjoying a big gum ball in his mouth ... the kid LOVES candy!

LASTLY ... we didn't let him EAT the gumball ... but we did give him ONE M&M before breakfast!

Tucking Benjamin into bed that night, I said: "Guess what tomorrow is? ... Easter!" Benjamin said, "But the Easter Bunny already came!" Me: "I know but he comes to our house on Saturday so we can think about Christ on Easter!" Benjamin: "YAY!!! Tomorrow is EASTER!" I was glad that he was so excited for the day JUST to be Easter ... aside from all of the bunny stuff and to really focus on the Savior!

Uncle Leo's Funeral...

Jonathan's Uncle Leo passed away on Palm Sunday after a 2 year fight against cancer! He was definitely a FIGHTER and kept going even when doctors said he wouldn't make it! It was really nice to be at his funeral and hear of all of the amazing service he gave and the wonderful husband and father he was... he will surely be missed! His funeral was on Good Friday ... two special days for one who served Christ!

They had a luncheon at church afterwards -- and Kinsley and Benjamin had a WONDERFUL time picking up the "popcorn" under the popcorn tree! Kinsley and Benjamin are exactly 6 months apart and great pals!

School Egg Hunt and Party!

Benjamin's class had a little Easter party ... which was lost of fun!

First of course the egg hunt:

Christian, Benjamin, Danielle, Elizabeth Kate, Porter, Mrs. Nancy, Cash, Mariana, Karly, Mrs. Vickie and Bianca!

The kids could only get the eggs with their names on them...

Benjamin and his friends eating their bunny food, cupcakes, and Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets -- everything you'd have at an EASTER party!

(NOTE: Elizabeth Kate to Benjamin's RIGHT ... is his best friend!)

And here's Benjamin searching for HIS eggs!

BEACH... pre-SPRING BREAK 2010!

We headed to the beach for our pre-Spring BREAK! It was my sister's spring break ... so we went along to enjoy the beach as well!

Does anyone else think Micah looks like my mom in this picture??

Here are the boys enjoying a light lunch out on the balcony watching on the teenagers swim!

A Sunday picture on the beach...

We visited the historic St. George Lighthouse and climbed ALL the steps!

Micah playing with his bucket and shovel...

Benjamin chasing the blue herron.

Benjamin hiding behind the reeds... still can see him somehow!

The boys on the beach - it was a little chilly/windy the first day!

A favorite...

The weather was SO nice and we feel so blessed that we can enjoy this lovely place on EARTH!

Atlanta THRASHERS Hockey Game!

Benjamin and Jonathan went to an Atlanta THRASHERS Hockey game with "Grandaddy" and some of the other uncles! I THINK they lost -- but they had fun anyways!

These two rode the M-A-R-T-A downtown ...

and ate lots of hockey game food!

Deciding they didn't want to wait the 15 minutes on the next "train" ... they decided to walk through downtown Atlanta at 10:30 pm ... thankfully they did stick to the lit ROADS and no alleys or side streets! ADVENTURES with dad!

Cousins, Nana and Uncle Albert visit AND the ATLANTA ZOO!

A few weekends ago ... we had LOTS of family come! Jonathan's Mom and brother, Albert flew in from Florida - and his sister, Kathryn, brother-in-law Sean and their 7 children came for the night! I was actually in the musical Receive These Things that night - so it was really special that we had so much family to come and watch!

Here are 3 of Benjamin's 19 cousins (with 4 on the way)...

Patrick, Paige, Benjamin and Madison.

We did make it to the Atlanta Zoo ... Albert and Benjamin brushing the goats.

Benjamin commenting: "That is a Bii-iig" Ostritch!

Benjamin and Cheri watching the "elephant show."

Micah, Uncle Albert and Benjamin in the birds nest!

One of the awesome panda bears!

Our FAVORITE probably was the oragatangs ... the mommies were giving piggy back rides and they were doing somersaults all over the place!

Uncle Albert did get to go and see Benjamin's classroom ... and he was just doing a little dress up as the BEE!

We had a great time with them all here -- aside from Micah having a fever for 4 days - poor guy - turns out he had Roseola - who would've THOUGHT!

Daddy's NIGHT!

Benjamin and Jonathan went to a special DADDY'S NIGHT at Benjamin's preschool!

My favorite was the story that came home:

My daddy is 6 years old and weighs 48 pounds. He drives a gray car with no windows in the back. He works by the house and helps people work on their teeth. He likes to watch the news on television and read (his) Scriptures. He likes to eat everything and drink apple juice. I like to play games with Daddy. I love him because he plays with me.

Love, Benjamin