Easter 2013

We had such a wonderful Easter! We are so blessed to have our family around us that absolutely love our girls.  Our Easter celebrations began last weekend when we spent Palm Sunday with my in-laws.  The girls had an Easter egg hunt at church on Saturday, then we went to church and had lunch with Mimi and Papa.  The rain forced us to hold our festivities inside, but that didn't slow the girls down one bit.

Today, the girls woke up bright and early to find special surprises from the Easter Bunny.  After they played with their new treasures, we headed off to church. We decided to keep Sophia with us instead of having her go to the nursery and I was so proud of how well she did in church.  She was a little wiggly, but nothing too bad.

After church, we headed out to my parents' house for dinner and celebrations with my family. We continued our tradition of an Easter pinata, and the girls LOVED it! They really attacked it this year! It was so much fun to see how much they've grown from last year.  The rain hit us again, but we had fun anyway.

 I hope your Easter was filled with love and family! Thank you Lord, for today, and every day!

Dying Eggs, Stegner Style

Dying eggs is getting much more fun now that both girls are able to participate. Of course, they don't have the patience to wait for the eggs to color, but they love the process. Tonight we all had a good time dying our eggs and found a way to make the time pass more quickly.

Spring Pictures

It's no secret that I love taking pictures of my girls. They've had a camera in their faces since their very first breath. Therein lies my problem.  The girls are so sick of having their picture taken that they run, literally run, from the camera. Emma hasn't actually looked at the camera for a picture in about two years. I wish you could see what goes on behind the scenes to get her to look in my direction. On second thought, no, I don't, because I act all kinds of foolish to trick her into taking a decent picture.

Needless to say, posed pictures just don't happen. My girls do not sit and take pictures, but as their mother, it is my natural born right to subject them to a "photo shoot" now and then.  When Andy hears me say "I'm going to take pictures of the girls," he tries to find something, anything, else to do. He usually gets sucked into being my helper and it's just not pretty.

I haven't taken pictures of the girls since last May and I really needed some new ones. So I took the girls out, one at a time (it just works better), and took some pictures.

And why pictures with both girls don't work well...

Sunshine!

This weekend has been so beautiful! Earlier in the week, we had snow and ice, then this weekend brought blue skies and 60 degree weather. It gave us a little taste of spring, and I have to say, I liked it! The girls were so happy to get outside and play. On Saturday, we went to breakfast with my family and then we took them to the park. They had so much fun and didn't want to leave.

Today, the girls went to my in-laws house and spent the afternoon "helping" outside. They filled bird feeders, planted seeds (a.k.a. rocks), and cleaned and filled the bird bath.  They were in seventh heaven!

I'm really looking forward to nicer weather so the girls can get outside every day. We've all been a little stir crazy and it was so nice to get out and enjoy the sunshine!