Visit with the Orshaw's

Following our visit with the Jelliff side of the family, we went to visit the Orshaw side. We were able to see my grandparents' new house that they were in the process of moving into. We had a nice visit with them and then drove over to walk through the woods in Goose Hollow. We took some family pictures in front of my uncle's new cabin. It was a really nice trip. Liv and Great-Grandad

Daniel and Great-Grandma
The Greats and the Grans
Grandma and Grandad and kids
Justin and Liv

Ken, Kate, and Justin

Justin and Liv
Dad and Mom
Emelyn
Abby

Grandma's 85th Birthday

My grandmother celebrated her 85th birthday on Easter this year. We drove up to PA to surprise her with a party. It was so great to see aunts, uncles, and cousins that I haven't seen in years. We had a great time.

Second cousins, Daniel (3 mo) and Matthias (8 mo)

(Almost) The whole family!

Grandma and Grandpa, holding Matthias

Easter Morning

Eme and Abby were up looking for eggs at 5:30 am! I made them "wait" (they couldn't actually pick up the eggs they found), until Liv got up at 7. They loved their baskets, and were excited that the Easter bunny gave them each their own pocket sized Bible. "What's wrong with this thing? Why are some of the words in red?" =] They couldn't figure out why there was a card from Mom and Daddy in their baskets from the Easter bunny either! (Oops- didn't think that one through) They sang with the kids at church. Eme recited a poem. My dad acted out the part of Barabbas "in lieu" of a sermon. He dressed the part - long gray wig and everything. Wish I'd gotten a picture. Jesus took Barabbas' place on the cross - Barabbas was the one who deserved to die like that, not Jesus. Jesus took our place on that cross also. Thank you, Jesus.

Eme reciting her poem

Easter baskets (Yes, I know it is a snowman tablecloth- We can't find a Spring tablecloth long enough for the table! =])

Our bunnies
Sitting in her basket - the girls were playing "Farmer, hen, and fox." Liv is the hen, sitting on her nest. Love their imaginations!
Singing with the Children's Choir

Wow!

I can't believe it! I just won tickets (11th caller!) to a 76ers game, followed by a Jeremy Camp concert!!! How awesome is that? Now, if we can just work out all the particulars... I never win anything -- How exciting!

Edited to add:

My amazing friend, Bridget, has offered to keep the 3 girls overnight. My Mom and Dad will keep Danny. Now if Garr can get off work early...!

Let Your Sham-ROCK!

Our girls were in the St. Patty's Day parade on March 20th. They had a great time. A family from our church has miniature ponies and they always enter the local parades. The girls look forward to joining them for this. Abby gets to ride on "Montana." Emelyn gets to lead one of the ponies. And Olivia, so far, has gotten to ride in the cart. (I didn't get a good pic of her this time, but she was there)

Can you see how excited Daniel is to watch the parade?

Abby on Montana

Emelyn leading SuperStar (?)

Week of Firsts

It's been a week of firsts. Daniel turned 4 months old on Sunday. On Monday (4.1.08), he surprised us by rolling over (back to front) for the first time. On Tuesday, when we started to give him a bottle, he reached out and took it in his own hands, and held his bottle by himself for the first time. Today (Wed) I put away his 3-6 month clothes and got out his 6-9 month clothes. We went through four 6-9 mo. sleepers - all too short in the torso. So he went to bed in two-piece jammies (9-12 mo size) for the first time tonight.

It's going by too fast. It's funny how when it's your first child, you can't wait for them to reach these milestones. It's so exciting and amazing. Well, it's still exciting and amazing with your last, but there is an element of sadness mixed in. I don't want Danny to be doing these things - I don't want him to get bigger, or start rolling, or become independent of me. Isn't that awful? Of course, I do want him to be able to do these things -- but just not yet. I'm not ready. Every milestone that he reaches puts him one step closer to growing up and away from me. And I'm not ready to lose my baby yet. I may never be.

Chorin' Mama

So remember my blog about changing the tp roll?? Well! Since I wrote that blog, the tp roll has been changed 3 times by someone other than me!!! The mystery! I found out today - it was my hubby once, and ABBY has done it the other two times!!! She read my blog the other day, and saw my complaint, and took it upon herself to start changing it whenever it needs to be done! Wow! I feel so blessed and proud! What a great girl! (And Garr, honey, I'm sure you are reading this and I'm proud of you too!) =)