Easter Joy in Full Bloom

Happy Easter! I love this time of year because the weather is getting nicer, the days are getting longer, and we get to spend more time together as a family. But my favorite thing about this time of year is getting to celebrate Easter and remember the greatest gift of all, the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

We have our usual traditions of opening pajamas before bed and setting our Easter baskets, in hopes that the Easter Bunny will stop by with some fun surprises. Even Bella was ready for some Easter fun!

We woke up early the next morning and started hunting for the kids' baskets. Bella found her basket first... probably because it had treatises in it. 

Caden was rockin his bunny ears all day. 

Brynn found her basket next in the coat closet, buried under the blankets. She was so excited about her quick sand kit. 

Makayla found her basket in the kitchenette. She loved her clothes. 

Caden searched and searched... we were starting to think he was forgotten (common with the middle child), but alas, he found his basket behind the kitchen sign. Caden's favorite gift was a Lego car. 

Then we got ready for church and I had to take a picture of my adorable looking kids all dressed up. Gosh they clean up nice. 

After church we got a few photos in their new spring outfits. 

Then we were off to our first Easter party. The kids loved the Easter Egg walk and scream. If you know the Collard family, then you know exactly what I mean by this. 

After that we headed over to Grandpa Bob and Grandma Kathy's house for another Easter egg/money hunt and to decorate Easter eggs. 

My parents always do so many eggs for just 3 kids, and they had so much fun counting their money!

Caden was so creative (not) and made these very realistic eggs of me and Tyler. I think my egg looks cuter than Tyler's.

And yes, Caden still rocked his bunny ears through the night. 

Happy Easter! I am so grateful for my Savior and his atoning sacrifice for me. Because of Him, I can live with my family forever!

Level 13 Unlocked! Caden is officially a Teenager

Level 13 unlocked! Caden is an official teenager!! 

I can't believe my little buddy is an official teenager. It seems like just yesterday I was holding my chunky monkey in my arms for the first time. 

Caden has brought us so much joy in the last 13 years. Here's a quick look down memory lane: 

Caden is the best son we could ever ask for. He's so responsible, kind, hard working, athletic, and smart. I'm finding that I ask Caden to help me figure out a lot of things, like on my phone or how to fix something because he knows how to do so many things. Even the other day we were trying to set up the tramp, and none of us girls knew what to do, but Caden figured it out and we were all so thankful to him. 

We started off celebrating our official teenager with his friend party. We took the boys to All Star bowling for a day of fun. They went bowling, did laser tag, miniature golf and arcade games. Caden has the best group of friends. They are all pretty competitive, so you can imagine how all the games went. 

And what a weird world we live in. We ordered pizza for lunch and a robot brought it to our table. 

Caden went on a birthday shop with Grandma and Grandpa and he picked Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. This kid loves pasta!

Then on Caden's birthday he wanted cinnamon rolls for breakfast before he headed off to school. 

I got him swig for a little mid day pick me up. 

Then he got to open his presents from the family. He got a head set for his x box and a game pass.

Caden chose our dinner for the night, which was steak, rolls, artichoke, and shrimp... and if you're wondering, Caden ate the whole thing!

We ended his birthday night by going to see Captain America at the movie theater. 

A few weeks later we ended Caden's month long celebration with his family party. We had pizza for dinner then we played the basketball game. 

Colton won 1st, Caden won 2nd, Ryan won 3rd and Carson won 4th. 

Caden opened his presents from family and blew out the candles on his donut. 

Happy Birthday Caden! I can't believe you are an official teenager now. You bring so much joy into our family. You are so witty and can constantly make us laugh with your perfectly timed one liners. You are such a good student. We are so impressed that you are taking honors classes and have had a perfect 4.0 this year. You have a great group of friends and we admire how you are always looking out for others. You are such a good brother to your sisters and support them and help them whenever you can. We love how much you love basketball and how you always challenge yourself to do better each game. Thanks for always being the peace maker in our home and always knowing when I need a hug. And there's nothing better than when you get laughing at a funny video... your laugh always makes us laugh. We love you so much and can't wait to see what amazing things are in store for you.