An Eggcellent Time of Year

It's springtime in Florida, which means it is time for Easter. I love the rebirth of the spring season and warm weather. Everything feels so fresh, clean, and hopeful. This year as I think of the trials we all face and some of my family who are currently facing hard trials I reflect on what Easter and the resurrection mean to me, and I am particularly reminded of this quote from a former church leader:

"Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays. But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come. No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come. We will all rise from the grave. And on that day my father will embrace my mother. On that day I will once again hold in my arms my beloved Elisa. Because of the life and eternal sacrifice of the Savior of the world, we will be reunited with those we have cherished. On that day we will know the love of our Heavenly Father. On that day we will rejoice that the Messiah overcame all that we could live forever" --Joseph B. Wirthlin."  

Sunday at church. 

What a wonderful time of year to be thankful for all that our Savior has done for us. 

I'm especially thankful for the health and peace we experience as a family. Here we are preparing for the Easter holiday fun. 

This is Annabelle's first Easter as an active participant, so we had a lot of fun teaching her how to hunt for eggs. We started a week before, so she could learn and know what to do. She caught on so fast and we were surprised that she would never put any other objects into her basket, only eggs.

I loved how she would carry her basket as she was learning how to hold it. The only way she knew how to keep it on her shoulder was to put her hand on her head, so she would walk around the house like this with basket in tow and hand on the head.

On Friday we were feeling adventurous and dyed Easter eggs.

Annabelle was either really wanting to get into the action or just eat the paper and make a mess.

Learning skills from Daddy.

Our finished product:

Since we do not have family around or many friends with kids that are Annabelle's age, we decided to try out our local Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday. Other than the slightly breezy and overcast day, it was the perfect little activity for Annabelle's first Easter egg hunt.

SHE LOVED IT! I can't get enough of this happy face.

By now, she was becoming a pro at carrying her basket.

Even after the hunt was finished, we kept Easter egg hunting.

We had such a great time. Here is a few more pictures and video of her:

Happy Easter from our blue-eyed little girl!

After the hunt, we went and played on the playground.

In Florida, playgrounds have surf board practice equipment. 

Following the park, we watched the helicopter land

and explored a fire truck.

We went to see the Easter bunny, but he was on break. Who needs an Easter bunny anyway?

The next morning before church, we got to see what the Easter Bunny brought. 

She loves playing with her ball, bunnies, and sunglasses.

However, I think the grass was the most entertaining moment of the morning.

She had a fun time throwing it everywhere.

After church on Sunday, we took a stroll outside to enjoy the beautiful weather and have one last Easter egg hunt before we put everything away until next year.

Blessed.

Miami Trip

Over General Conference Weekend we headed to Miami with some good friends to visit the Ft. Lauderdale Temple open house and take in the real Miami experience from true locals. We caravanned down there Friday after work and made one pit stop at McDonalds for food and treats. We arrived to our friend Stephanie's parent's house late, but we stayed up talking and having a good time. Annabelle got to enjoy her first sleepover with her friend Emily.

 This is probably the happiest Annabelle has even been being in a crib.

 She is finally learning not to maul Emily, but give her nice pats on the back. 

                       

The Binef's were such great hosts! We enjoyed our newly bought sheets and bath sponges and woke up to a gourmet breakfast spread. Stephanie's mom had gone above and beyond on every guest welcoming item you could think of - I was so impressed and felt bad that she went to so much effort for us when we only stayed a night and ran out early the next morning so we could tour the Ft. Lauderdale Temple. 

The Ft. Lauderdale Temple will be the second temple in Florida. It is being dedicated on May 4th.

I am so thankful we had the opportunity to go through it before it is dedicated and to share this experience with friends. We went with two other couples and their families. Both of the guys went to law school with Robert. 

Annabelle and Elle liked spending time together.

My favorite parts of this temple were the chandeliers and how much blue they incorporated throughout. It was truly beautiful and peaceful. They really tried to incorporate the beauty of Florida water. It was a very sunny and hot day. This was the best picture we could get as a group - someone was always squinting or caught with their eyes closed. Also, just to note, there are three pregnant women in this photo below. 

After the temple, we went to this place where they play Jai Alai.

It was an interesting game to watch. 

We only lasted for a little bit before the little ones were ready to go, so we headed to our friend Carlos' parents' home for some lunch. When we got there, they had a wonderful spread of food for us to eat! It was delicious and so nice to get fed everywhere we went (my type of vacation - ha!). After our food settled, a few of us took a dip in the pool to cool off from the heat. 

Annabelle loves swimming and playing in the water.

After swimming, our friends Pat and Heather headed back home to St. Petersburg with their family while the rest of us cleaned up and headed to catch a Florida Marlins game versus the San Diego Padres. Thanks to Robert's co-worker, we were able to go for free and enjoyed great seats.

Fun at the ballpark! 

 Here's Annabelle cheering and clapping for the team.

 Just two little girls enjoying a baseball game together.

 We had such a great time with our friends and enjoyed the ballpark atmosphere a lot. It was one of the nicest ballparks I have been to recently. 

We left the game slightly early in order to get on the road and head back home. It was a late night drive, but it felt good waking up in our own bed and taking it easy in the morning with a yummy breakfast and being able to watch General Conference. 

Split Trip to Jax

A few weekends ago we took some time off and headed up to Jacksonville for Robert to head out with his brother and Dad on a guy's weekend and for Annabelle and I to stay behind with the Fountain ladies (and Grandpa).

 When we arrived Thursday evening, Robert was able to rest for a little bit before heading back out on the road with his Dad and brother to Myrtle Beach, SC for Austin's bachelor-golf-playing weekend. 

Here's our weekend in review:

Same weekend, different activities.

Girls:

We spent time hanging around the house playing with Annabelle and watching her have a fun time exploring and pestering Blizzard.

This about sums up how the "down time" moments were spent.

Annabelle loves Blizzard, but we're not so sure if he completely enjoys her because she was always stealing his toys. However, he was very good and patient with her.

 Boys:

The boys arrived safely in Myrtle Beach after avoiding lots of deer on the way up. Although it was a very late drive, they were excited to start their Friday off playing golf where they met up with Mel's father, Rick.

He was nice enough to let them stay at his condo for the weekend. The first round of golf was great. They had perfect weather and Robert shot a respectable 87 after not having played golf for awhile. Then, on the second hole of their second round of golf on Friday, it started to pour. However, they were determined to keep playing and finish their round. As you can see, there was standing water all over the course and they were the only people on the course crazy enough to continue playing.

 Robert ended winning the rain-soaked second round too.

 Although Robert had the least amount of strokes at the end of the two rounds, he also had the least amount of clubs! While hitting his final shot of the day on the 18th hole his 9-iron slipped out of his hand and landed in the middle of the pond pictured below. Let's hope the golf ball diver he called will be able to find it on the bottom of the pond and mail it to him.

Girls:

The girls spent their Friday making preparations for the bridal shower Teri was hosting for Austin's fiance, Mel.

Annabelle went with Grandma to visit her office and show off how cute she is and then met up with me for a play date with these beautiful mamas and their cute boys.

Spencer's wife, Hayley, with Lucas (on the left) and Spencer's sister, Amanda, with Maximus (in the middle). It is so fun having all of these little ones together and watching them play and interact. Annabelle will be one active girl hanging out with these boys.

Since it was a girl weekend, we had to try to impose some girliness into this boy group. Max was a good sport.

Boys:

Sadly, Saturday was even worse than Friday and the boys' golfing for the day was completely rained out. Instead, they hung around the condo, ate food, and watched basketball.

Girls:

Saturday was bridal day! We got to go see future Aunt Mel in her wedding dress during her fitting. I colored it out in hopes to keep it a surprise for the wedding 

Afterward, Teri threw her a beautiful shower and invited her friends to help celebrate.

Opening gifts

 Onlooking guests.

 Annabelle was a hit and enjoyed her first shower. She even gave Uncle Austin a kiss during the blindfolded kissing game.

 Annabelle kept me busy - she pulled a cup of punch from the table down and it spilt all over the white table cloth. We were trying to add a few more splashes of pink.

 Boys:

The boys woke up early and drove back home to Jacksonville disappointed that their golf weekend did not have the picture perfect weather they had hoped for, but they were able to spend some good time together regardless.

Girls:

We anxiously awaited the arrival of the guys, so we could show Daddy the new park we discovered.

After relaxing and playing for a little bit with Grandpa and Daddy, we headed back home to Tampa.