Happy Easter!

He is risen! He is risen indeed! I'm thankful we were able to celebrate the risen King with family today. Elizabeth and Kent (aka Nana and Granddad) flew down for the weekend.
I started setting up their bed Thursday and Alison thought it was the greatest thing ever...and so did the kitties. I must say the new found fascination with the futon came in pretty handy. I gave Alison a bunch of books and she laid there for a very long time reading to the cats. They were all entertained and off the floors giving me a prime opportunity to mop. It's an odd excitement I realize, but usually I have to fight Alison slipping and the cats getting fur all over my freshly mopped floors.Alison and I played outside while we waited for Ben to get home with Elizabeth and Kent. Alison greeted them with her helmet on and then insisted on wearing it the rest of the day.Friday we went to breakfast at the Bakery before heading to Jamestown. Breakfast was so yummy we didn't even eat lunch that day (unless you count all sharing a bag Combo's on the way home). We had to wait a very long time for the ferry to take us across the James River, but Kent took advantage of the time and got some great pictures. He's an amazing photographer and I'm so thankful he took pictures this weekend and shared them with me. Check out his blog for even better pictures: bostonaday.blogspot.comWe toured historic Jamestown and mostly enjoyed being outside on a beautiful day.
Saturday Elizabeth and I went out for a morning of pampering, while the men and Alison went to Walmart. The girls that did our pedicures were so enthralled with talking to us that they ended up working on our feet for over an hour. Elizabeth said she was pretty sure they used at least half a bottle of lotion on our legs and I'm pretty sure it was the best thing in the world. So lesson learned: it REALLY pays off to make good conversation with people pampering you. I knew it was dangerous to let Ben and Kent go to Walmart alone, but they were unstopable. They came home with a princess hat and new shoes for Alison. Ironically Ben picked the same shoes I've debated about getting for her twice. Now the hat, I never once thought about getting her that, but she absolutely loves it and even slept in it because she did not want to part with it for a moment.In the afternoon we went downtown to walk around and went in some shops. Elizabeth and Kent found this bunny hat and it was just too cute to pass up!
Elizabeth made Alison's Easter dress and she looked, in Alison's words, 'SO pretty!'.
I really enjoyed being at Hope this morning. Ben wrote a trumpet arrangement of 'Up from the grave He arose' and played it beautifully. He never ceases to amaze me, but this morning I was especially impressed.
We gave Alison her Easter basket after church. Ben insisted on getting her the huge duck that was twice the size of the actual basket, but she LOVES it! If there was a word for more than love, that's how she would feel about this duck.

We gave her an assortment of candy, an Elmo Easter book, bubbles, bunny ears and the duck. She took one bite of a Peep and spit it back out. Chocolate on the other hand, she couldn't get enough of. Speaking of chocolate, last week she kept coming up to me and saying, "I want teet." Her language has really taken off and it was very clear she knew exactly what she wanted, but I didn't have a clue. It took me 2 days to figure out she was trying to say 'treat'. She wanted a piece of the Easter candy I had in fun bowls on the counter. Alison ended our fun filled Easter relaxing on the couch, with her new book and princess hat. She sure is cute. Stay tuned for video clips of the weekend!