Spring Shenanigans

We call this an "Ellie Burrito" after our bath

Drawing on the driveway with chalk



Helping Mommy check the mail



Ellie's 1st Bikeride



Playing a ball game with Mimi

Talking to Pa on the phone

Ellie's 1st corn-on-the-cob

Pizza Playdate with Kinsley

Bubbles with Grandmommy

Small Group Garage Sale for Missions

This year, our church (Providence Church) is encouraging everyone to read chronologically through the Bible and also encouraging giving to Missions however you can, whether it's going on a trip somewhere (locally or internationally), financially, or within your community.  Our group is full of a lot of young families that are unable to actually go on trips, so we decided that since we can't go, we send!  We have already sent our small group's babysitter to Nicaragua over spring break, but we were challeged to send one of our own on a trip to Guatemala this summer.  We knew that we needed to do some sort of fundraiser to help either pay towards one of those trips or towards our Missions budget as a whole.  So, we decided to do a Small Group Garage Sale!  Boy, did we have a lot of "Junk for Jesus"!  AND, we did great!  It also was a great time of fellowship and it definitely helped to be a part of a huge subdivision wide sale.  Our group's babysitter donated 4 hours of her time to watch the kids (which was the best donation in my book) and we got rid of a lot of STUFF.  We had a lot of fun being able to visit for a long period of time.  Here are some pics from our little event:

Our Accountants for the Day

Mandy (Person going to Guatemala in July) & Pam (Our translator for the day)

 

The famous tracker board for each family

Once our babysitter left, we all took turns with watching the girls in the backyard

Ellie & Me with our phones and "hot juice"

 

Easter Sunday 2012

This was the first year that I could teach Ellie more about what Easter truly meant.  She is still a little too young to get it, but I was able to start the foundation of why we celebrate Jesus on that day.  We started the morning with Ellie getting her treats from the Easter Bunny. 

Then, we got dressed so that she could show off her pretty dress to Daddy on skype before we left for church.  Shortly after that, we had a friend take pictures for us of our pretty dresses together.  Then, off to church!

After church, we had a potluck with our Small Group at Pam Peter Geddes' house and it was awesome.  The food was great, the kids were totally entertained with Pam's well thought out party, and the fellowship was delightful.  First, the kids played with bubbles and cars while we waited for the food to be ready.  Afterwards, we ate.  And ate.  And ate.

Adventurous Ellie climbing up and going down the slide

The Egg Hunt

 Ellie, Kinsley & Selah comparing their eggs

Geddes Tradition from Mexico at Easter Time

Mandy telling the Resurrection Story to the girls with Easter Eggs



Our Small Group

Good Friday Cragwall Celebration

Since we couldn't get together on Easter Sunday, the Cragwall family decided to get together on Good Friday to have a picnic and egg hunt. Jesse's parents picked up yummy barbque from a local place called "Dead End" and everyone else brought the extras - drinks, dessert, utensils, etc. We met at a park I had never been to called McPhee Park in Farragut. It was a really nice one - they use shredded tires instead of dirt and they even had a mixture of toddler playground equipment and older kid equipment. Ellie was excited to be able to play with her bigger cousin's - Taylor and Parker!

    We played for a bit before eating and then sat down for our meal together. Afterwards, the cousins did an egg hunt and had a blast finding them!

Grandmommy & Aunt Jamie singing a song Ellie really liked.

We played a little more and then opened special Easter presents from Grandmommy and Grandaddy. Each of the grandkids got some great treats - very thoughtful! It was a fun outing with the family. Definitely a great way to start the Easter

Opening Easter treats from Grandmommy & Grandaddy

Ellie enjoyed the egg hunt so much that she had to have a few more when we got home in our backyard.  She still goes straight for the treats inside the eggs!